Keep kids warm in winter with 'no gloves'

My toddler won't wear gloves, even while complaining about being cold.

Sound familiar? I invested a lot of time online in finding the warmest, most waterproof gloves for my child. They weren't cheap. To make sure we didn't lose them, I went to town to buy some elastic to thread the through Toddler Vegan's sleeves. Obviously, the recipient hates their gloves, and they just drape down in the sandpit or water tray.

We changed our tactics. Toddler Vegan was invited to choose their own oversized vegan children's coat online. It's purple, has sleeves which cover their little fingers, and a massive fake fur hood which fits over their cycling helmet (with a fleece hoodie underneath). We can do the coat up to the top of Toddler Vegan's neck to keep the hood on, meaning we need neither a hat nor a scarf. Most of our neighbours have commented on this dreamcoat. We also ordered vegan children's snow boots and insulated trousers.

Out and about in relative comfort

Hands get even colder on windy walk. What can we do? Aside from staying inside, we souped up our bike and buggy rides with hot water bottles and blankets...

Keep warm on a baby bike seat

Toddler Vegan has a front mounted bike seat. The first moderation we made was to add a windscreen to shield then from wind chill. I noticed this helped, as they spent more time looking forwards, rather than crouched down.

We then began to add a hot water bottle for hand warming to the headrest, using scarfs or reins. You could also try a heat pack, or mini hot water bottle for pockets. Toddler Vegan buries their hands into the scarf from time to time, or plonks their head on it. If tied loosely, the hot water bottle sort of hangs between Toddy Vegan and the headrest, warming their chest.

Hot water bottle tied to bike seat headrest

How to not get cold in the buggy

The buggy hood and raincover have always been a 'no no', according to toddler vegan. We don't have a sleeping bag either, as they likes to stand and fidget around, and sleep curled up in a ball. (I am not recommending this as a risk free way to travel).

A table attachment we added for snacks has now come in handy for holding a hot water bottle or blanket. Toddler Vegan can move the hot water bottle around as suits them. We can move the blanket onto their hands, but only if they're asleep and don't know about it.