Now that winter is on the way, everyone’s thoughts turn to keeping warm; in particular mums want to make sure that their kids stay warm and dry. This means rushing out and buying a range of kids coats, gloves, scarves and hats and other waterproof items. It is always difficult deciding what style of coat to buy, if you buy something thick, it should keep them warm but they might find it a bit restricting and difficult to run about and play, this means they might not be very keen to put it on. If you buy something more light weight and something that they find easier to wear, it may not keep them warm enough. I find with kids coats you generally get what you pay for, cheap coats tend to not be as warm and they do not always ware very well. If you spend more they do the job better but of course with young children they tend to grow out of them very quickly and it may only fit them for one winter.

I have always bought cheap hats and gloves because they tend to get lost quickly so I buy several cheap sets. Of course they are not ideal when it’s snowing because they are not waterproof and if the children are playing in the snow they very quickly get cold and wet hands. If you want to save money on kids coats for your children it is worth looking in charity shops and on the internet auction sites because children grow so quickly and their coats are often in great condition because they may have only worn them for one winter. I know there have been certain brands of coats I have found for amazing value in charity shops and they have hardly been worn.

When you get home and the kids coats come off, most people have the heating on and everyone is nice and warm, but there is an expectation that you should be able to walk around in a t shirt. I am very much of the opinion that you should be wearing more clothes in the winter and have the heating turned down a bit. This is partly because with rising fuel bills it keeps the cost down, but also I think it is much healthier to not be in stuffy tropical temperatures at home, I suffered when I was a child with asthma when I went into centrally heated houses because I was used to cooler temperatures and draughts, this is also the case with children who suffer with eczema.

If you are trying to keep warm outside in very cold temperatures it is better to layer to keep warm which also means you can easily take layers off one by one if you get too warm. This means that kids coats may not need to be too thick and constricting in order to be warm as long as they have enough layers on underneath.