Can you help with mittens?

Question

I baby sit my granddaughters. I take the four year old to pre school twice a week and pick her up a few hours later taking her 20 mo. old sister with us. It's COLD here but the 20 mo. old takes her mittens off immediately. Sometimes she rips them off before we even get out of the house. Help! Her little hands are freezing by the time we get back home.

Answer 1

well, this is a little bit of work, but it is successful -

First, put a long pair of socks on her hands, then put on the mittens, then her coat. Because the socks are long, and more form fitting, it makes it very difficult to remove.

If necessary, you can then attach the mittens to her coat sleeve with a safety pin.

It works - ask me how I know :-)

Mom of 5 with another on the way

Answer 2

I work at a daycare in the toddler room 18 months to 3 years. I totally understand your frustration. What I like to do when I put mittens on, is I put them on first before the coat. Sometimes if there shirt is big enough, I even pull the shirt sleeve over top of the mitten. Then when I put the coat on afterward it's more difficult to get the off. Also what is really nice is if the child has a coat with the velcro sleeves that you can tighten at the wrist, then I tighten that up and it's really difficult for the child to then get the mittens off. Not impossible of course, we are talking about determined 2 year olds!
P.S. The mitten holder things that are really cute and seem like a good idea, don't work. I bought a pair of the clip kind for my son, who is also 20 months old. He broke them the first week. Live & learn, I guess.
Good Luck!!

Answer 3

Do not put the mittens on until you have been outside for a minute. Make sure the mittens are comfortable (some cute mittens have little threads inside that are really annoying) Sweaty hands are annoying, not to mention will make her colder even with mittens on.

Let her pick her mittens, or at least make them pretty.

Try different mittens, some are harder to get off than others, some are more comfortable than others.

Try too large mittens held on by clips. Some children will not tolerate any snug things on their hands. Try a muff.

Keep her in her stroller and tell her to keep her hands under a blanket.

Depending on her weight AND your physical ablities. Put her in a front carrier and buy a coat large enough to fit over both of you.

Answer 4

Here are a few things you could try, some of them worked for my daughter when we had a simmilar problem.

~take a plain pair of mittens and glue googly eyes to the top and draw on mouths and noses. Indoors, when you don't have to go out any time soon, show her how to make the mittens talk, dance, sneeze and sleep by moving her hands. Once she thinks they are neat, keep them by the door and where she can see them but don't let her play with them until she goes out with you.

~Get or make one of those hand pouches like victorian english style and show her how to put both her hands in it. She has the freedom to take it on and off as she chooses so she will probably play with it (and keep it on) for atleast some of the time you are out side.

~make sure you are wearing mittens/gloves and get a pair that matches hers. "You can be just like Grandma!" works well.

~If worst comes to worst you can get a coat that has fold over mittens built in, she will have to leave them on because they are very hard to take off from the inside. It may be a little mean, but she will benefit from it in the end.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

Do you put mittens on before the coat? I do, so that way the mittens are tucked snug inside the sleeve, if the coat has an elasticized wrist. They are much harder, if not impossible, for the child to get off, especially wearing mittens on both hands.

Answer 6

what you are going to have to do is get a piece of yarn and tack the mittens and the coat together. This is what my mom did for us when we were little. untill we were old enough to wrap the mittens up together and stick them in the coat pocket. If she is 20 months start teaching her to wrap her mittens together to put them in her coat pocket or back pack.

Answer 7

Wish I could help. My 15 mo old does the same thing. We live in MN so I know about the cold!