Bundle Up! Keeping Kids Warm In Winter

Here in the Philippines, we only have two seasons, the wet and the dry season. The dry season which is also called as summer, starts in late November and ends in May. The rainy seasons on the other hand starts in June and lasts till October. Other countries have four seasons namely- Spring,, Summer,
Fall (autumn) and, Winter. At this time, it's already the Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, it started in December and lasts until February.  While the  Southern Hemisphere will have the Winter Season on June, July and August.

My kids would often ask me if we have snow here in the Philippines. For them, Winter is fun as what they see on TV and photos of their cousins in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Making snowmen, snowball fights and marveling over the beautiful icicles that have dripped from window ledges. But cold weather can also be dangerous, in children and vulnerable people, conditions like hypothermia are a real risk to their health (and it doesn’t have to be half as cold as you might think!) To keep your precious kids safe over the colder months, here are a few things to bear in mind.

Keep Your House Cozy

Keeping your house warm in winter and cool in summer is essential, but especially so when you have babies and kids. Their smaller bodies can’t regulate temperature as well meaning it’s easy for them to overheat (or lose too much heat). Invest in a couple of thermometers for your home to keep an eye on the temperature. An efficient heating system for the winter and air conditioning for the summer is extremely important in the home. Call out a gas engineer for heating and a residential A/C repair for air conditioning if either system isn’t performing as well as it should. On top of this, you can keep your home cozy by having plenty of blankets to wrap up on while you’re watching tv in the evenings, and making sure you’re using duvets with the correct tog rating on your kid's beds. Ideally, you should have two duvets. A lighter one for spring and summer use, and a thicker one for autumn and winter. 

Choose The Right Clothing

When it comes to clothing, it’s important to get it right. You want to keep your kids warm but without them overheating which will only make matters worse. Since kids are up and about more and running around more than adults, they can quickly warm up. For this reason, lots of thinner layers are better than a few very thick ones as you can adjust depending on what they are doing, or if the weather and temperature changes. On cold days a good thermal base layer will really help to keep the cold out, this could be thermal leggings and a long sleeve thermal top or vest. Regular clothes then go on top of this, but avoid fabrics like jeans or heavy cotton as if they get wet they’re not going to dry out easily. A jumper, light jacket and then a winter coat on top will keep them toasty, but the coat can be removed if you’re sat in the car or go inside at any point. Don’t forget thick socks and waterproof footwear, hats, gloves and scarves. 

Fuel Them With Snacks

When it’s cold, your body burns more calories to keep you warm. As soon as your child starts running out of calories, they will start to cool down. Having some snacks on hand when you’re out and about can help to keep them fuelled up and reduce grouchiness in general as well as keep them warm! If you know you’re going to be out of the house and it’s cold outside, you could pack some flasks of soup or hot chocolate which can help to warm them up. You can also buy ‘food flasks’ for things like pasta dishes- perfect if you’re out for the day but finding somewhere serving hot food will be tricky.