What to wear winter hiking
As the weather turns colder, the nights get darker and it’s so nice to stay snuggled on the sofa, it’s easy to stay inside. However, the colder weather shouldn’t stop you enjoying what you love doing, and bringing your baby and children too!
Now, it may take a bit more planning and preparing ahead of time, and definitely more layers, but winter shouldn’t hold you back.
So let’s talk about layers. This is important to keep you and your children warm, dry and able to move.
The three layer system:
Base layer - designed to keep you dry and removing sweat. This should be made out of lightweight, breathable materials. Examples include gym tops, merino wool and thermals
Middle layer - designed to keep you warm and retain your body heat. This layer will include fleece, down and synthetic options, as well as merino wool. Think fleece and down jackets
Outer layer - designed to keep you warm and insulated and to protect you from the weather, the rain and the wind. Most of the time you can use a soft shell jacket or coat
However, it does depends on the environment you’ll be out in, whether you pick a heavy duty rain coat or a soft shell jacket.
This layering system is the same for you and your children, but remember that you will have to keep monitoring your baby and toddler and adjust their layers if necessary.
Now it can be quite hard to find the right layers for babies and toddlers, so here are a few of my favourites:
Baby base layer - https://muddypuddles.com/products/kids-thermal-baby-grow-green-sage
Baby middle layer - fleece pyjamas or fleece babygrows!
https://muddypuddles.com/products/half-zip-fleece-top-green
Baby outer layer - https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/kids/babywear/baby-rainsuits/
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/kids/toddler/rainsuits/puddle-junior-rain-suit-p12648.aspx/pink/
Toddler base layer - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/base-layer-top-baby-ski-first-layer-warm-grey/_/R-p-335301?mc=8655669
Toddler outer layer - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/kids'-hiking-softshell-jacket-mh900-tw-7-15-years/_/R-p-12702?mc=8645487&c=graphite%20grey_graphite%20black
Additionally, you need to be mindful that if your baby is in a soft carrier front or back facing, they are going to be sharing your body heat, so you may need to adjust what they wear.
Babies, in particular around 4 - 11 months old, will become bigger, taller and heavier when in the carrier, so what they wear does matter.
Now I’ve made the mistake of putting him in a soft carrier with a pram suit on, before I knew properly how to dress my baby in the winter. And please don’t worry, you won’t get any judgement from me if you have done, or do this too.
But ideally, it’s not the best thing to do, to prevent them from over heating and to keep their spine safe.
Instead, you should put baby in the layers he/she would wear indoors, and then use a carrier cover, like the Orzbow cover, or a maternity coat or fleece, such as. . . To keep baby warm and snug close to you.
For more info on how to dress small babies in the winter, read here.
If your baby or toddler is in a structured carrier, they are more exposed and likely to get colder quicker than you. Think about wind resistant outer layers for them, like hats and snoods, and using the rain cover your hiking carrier came with to protect them more.
If your little ones are in an all-terrain buggy, then you can wrap them up in blankets, muffs and all the accessories needed.
Accessories
So the accessories to think about for you and your children:
hats
gloves
scarves
snoods
wellies
walking boots/shoes
socks
puddlesuits
waterproof overalls/dungarees
Wearing the right layers is key to keep you and your kids enjoying the activities you love throughout the winter. Don’t be afraid to experiment and find out what works best for you.
This layer system is the same for you and for your children, so make sure you have the right layers on as well. The more comfortable you feel, the more your children will be too.
Happy walking!