You’re so ready, you’re so excited! You’re on your way to explore London with your little(s), you can’t wait to watch their eyes light up as you ride the famous Eye. All of this is so surreal, until ..boom, you’ve been plagued with the reminder that it’s freezing and there is currently snow all over the ground.
Do you have the appropriate clothing for your kiddos? The right outerwear? The correct footwear? Are they going to need equipment to snowshoe their way through the streets of London?
Forget clothes! What if it gets too cold, what if you don’t feel comfortable venturing out certain days? Do you have enough activities to keep your child(ren) entertained? Do indoor places for children even exist in England? (They do, we promise!) You probably don’t even know what hotel you’re staying in since you’re currently in full blown panic mode.
Oh my ..that wasn’t even the worst thought yet. What if your child gets sick? Catches a cold? Decides to cut all of his or her teeth on your two week adventure in Great Britain? Is the Black Plague still a threat?
Don’t fret! Don’t leave the precious ones at home! We are here to, hopefully, share an article that will leave you feeling like an invincible, super prepared, travel parent.
Essential Clothing Items
A great source for proper dressing is brokendown at this website: http://www.coolantarctica.com/fezkids/kids-cold-weather-clothing.php
We used that site as a source to pull some basic information from. Below will be some brand-specific clothing options that we’ve researched ourselves. We tried to keep a budget-friendly plan (and simple!) in mind, but some things can be worth the extra cost.
Base layers:
Tank tops/undershirt:
- Infants/Toddlers: Carter’s Short-sleeve Onesies
- Kids:
Thin long-sleeved shirt:
- Infants/Toddlers: Carter’s Long-sleeve Onesies
- Kids: FLOSA Thermal Long-Sleeve Undershirts
Leggings: (great for boys and girls, keep those legs warm!)
- Infants/Toddlers: TwinkleBell Fleece Leggings
- Kids: FLOSO Thermal Long Underwear
Second layers:
Sweater:
- Infants/Toddlers: Disana Wool Rompers (0-12mos) Smiling Pinker Sweaters (6mos & up)
- Kids: Vifuur Knit Sweaters
Pants:
- Instead of suggesting a specific brand, I am going to suggest finding a pair of loose or thick pants (depending on how much you want to/need to layer your kiddo). Jeans are great for going over leggings! Wool pants are great, as well. You can easily find something like these at websites like: Amazon, Carters, OshKosh, Target and even Walmart.
Outerwear:
Jacket:
- Infants/Toddlers: Jojobaby Winter Jacket
- Kids: North Face (has a variety of great, winter jackets. Worth the splurge!)
Snowsuits:
- Infants/Toddlers: Aivtalk Snowsuit
- Kids: Oshkosh (Oshkosh has a variety of snowsuits with jackets included!)
Gloves/Mittens:
- Infants/Toddlers: N’Ice Mittens – Waterproof
Scarves/Neck Warmers:
- Jastore Scarves (will fit most ages)
Hats:
- Vivobiniya Winter Hats (will fit most ages)
Footwear:
Socks/booties:
- Infants/Toddlers: Wee Dreamers Wool Socks
- Kids: https: Smart Wool Socks
Snow boots:
- Infants/Toddlers: Kamik Snowboots (5mos +) Kuner Booties (0+)
- Kids: Kamik Boots (Big kids 1-12 yrs+)
Extra Outwear:
- Sleepsacks (Infants/Toddlers): Woolino Sleepsack
- Blankets (Kids): Disana Merino Wool Blanket
Hopefully, you’ve finished packing your kid’s suitcase without much stress. Let’s move on to the inevitable boredom that will come if the weather gets too cold. You may be stuck indoors, or maybe you can only go out for short periods of time. This list below is help give you some ideas that may make your cabin fever a bit more tolerable!
Getting creative when it’s too cold!
- (All ages) Heated pool in your hotel? Get some exercise with you and your kiddo!
- (All ages) Is there a local library or center that offers storytime or activities for your child’s age? Google it!
- (All ages) Museums, kids play spaces, art galleries, a pet store (yes, the pet store!)
- (Babies, Toddlers) Mini blow-up pool; fill with those toys you bought
- (Babies-School Age) Painting in the bathtub; messy, but an easy clean-up
- (Babies-School Age) Glow-in-the-dark activities
- (All Ages) Make a scavenger hunt for your little ones in your room. Make a bigger one and expand it to your whole hotel!
- (All ages) Take some rug-friendly tape and stick it onto the floor. Make sure you have some legos, blocks, and cars so that you spend some time driving those cars on the “tape roads” in your lego city
- (Babies, Toddlers) A homemade sensory blanket for your baby DIY Sensory Blanket
- (Babies-School Age) Coloring books and crayons
- (All ages) Reading books
We can hear your breathing a sigh of relief now that you have a couple of back-up plans to avoid a meltdown from total boredom. Let’s talk about the one thing you can’t avoid, it’s eventually going to happen–your kiddo is going to either get sick, hurt, or develop some sort of pain.
Health for the cold; keeping those babes perky
- All natural/organic hand sanitizer Dr. Bronner’s Hand Sanitizer
- Tylenol/Advil for children
- Teething Green Sprouts Teething Ring
*Tricks for teething (freezing a wet rag)
- All natural kid’s cough medicine Zarbees Natural Cough Medicine
- Little remedies Nose Saline Spray
- Nose Nose Frida
- Thermometer (Rectal or Head scanner)
- Vasoline
- Diaper rash ointment
- Bandaids
- Heating pad
- Drops for colic/gas Gas/Colic Drops
We hope that you’ve made it this far and that you’re feeling more prepared for your upcoming travels. Traveling with kiddos, little or big, can be quite a challenge. While it’s bound to be full of adventure and grand memories, we hope you can make even more of your trip with our handy-dandy list. Safe travels and most of all, enjoy the time with your family!
Written by: Ashley Wainwright
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