Welcome to Fall
Hi everyone. Welcome to Fall!
As the trees lose their layers, we need to start piling ours on. This is especially important for the little people in our lives. They deserve the chance to joyfully dig in the mud, roll in the grass, and climb the slimy, wet trees year-round without worrying about cold hands, and that requires planning on our part.
If you don’t have personal outdoor experience or if there are financial barriers in your life, it can be really difficult to dress a child appropriately with quality gear. In this post, I will offer you some basic techniques for keeping little people warm outside no matter the weather, and I have some suggestions for places to seek out affordable, quality outdoor gear.
First off, let’s talk about base layers, an integral stage. Children need to have a thermoregulating, lightweight layer that is comfortable against their skin, wicks moisture away from their bodies, and doesn’t bunch up under other clothes. It could be derived from natural fibers (silk or merino wool) or synthetic (polyester). It should not be cotton-based as once cotton gets wet, it stays wet and cold.
In an urban setting, the mid-layer can be just about anything (t-shirt and corduroy pants, for example). If they’re going to be outside all day, the mid layer should be something other than cotton, and the thickness can be relative to the outdoor temps: long-sleeved shirts and lightweight pants in fall or a fleece layer and wool pants in winter.
The outer layer is the next vital layer. Everyone in the Pacific NW knows about raincoats/shells, but there are some details that can be easy to overlook when it comes to the little ones. For example, is it waterproof enough to lay in the puddles? Do they have the ability and care to tighten up the wrists and zip up the jackets so the gear can actually keep them dry? And the most important question of all: are there pockets for treasures?
Kids’ shells can be soft to the touch and have a high level of waterproofing, but be less breathable, or more like the typical adult shell with a level of moderate to high waterproofing, crinkly, and greater breathability. Some kids run hot, and some kids run cold so make those decisions based on your child’s unique needs and preferences. The full-body suits work well for a lot of kids but are not good for children who are learning to use the toilet as they are tricky to undo fast enough.
My kids like to use their hands for getting messy no matter the weather so gloves and mittens don’t stay with them for very long. On really cold days, I stick a set of biodegradable hand warmers in their pocket just in case.
See below for a few gear sources:
Quality gear at typically higher prices
Iksplor for Merino wool thermals in baby and small kid sizes
Polarn O. Pyret (POP) for raingear in particular
Patagonia for everything
Moderate cost, but dependable:
Keen for shoes and boots
Primary for puffy jackets
For affordability, check out the following places:
Next Adventure’s Bargain Basement -used gear that can be in great condition, but check the tags and look closely for rips in raingear
Mountain Warehouse- particularly for Merino wool thermals (read the fine print on other items to ensure wicking materials were used)
Sierra Trading Post- for good rain and winter boots plus an assortment of general clothing
Costco- for the best machine washable, comfortable, and affordable thermals in child size XS and up
Resale shops that have good options depending on what’s come in recently:
SweatPea's Resale Sellwood
Beanstalk Resale in NE Fremont and Montavilla
Hoot-n-Annie in SW and Beaverton
Katelyn's Closet in Multnomah Village
Cedarwood parent Natanya Epstein spends lots of time exploring the Pacific Northwest outdoors in all seasons with her two children.