Besides the purpose of letting them play in the rain? Just wondering if it's worth it getting her rain boots/coat!
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We've rarely used ours. I've gotten them in the past because daycare has asked for them (because they'll supposedly play outside when it's wet), but usually not everyone does it, so they end up never going outside because not everyone has the gear, so our rain gear hardly ever gets used.
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I think the boots are super helpful, because toddlers move slowly, jump in every puddle along the way, and love to splash. And, at least a water-resistant coat with a hood is nice for the same reason. But, you could definitely make do without.
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@Adira: Mine never asked for it either... And she never asks to play in the rain or anything, and we rarely have to walk far in the rain. Plus in the winter I would just double snow boots as rain boots if needed...
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We use rain boots all the time but have never bought rain coats. They wear the boots for lots of our outings, e.g. to farms, nature reserves, stables, etc., as well as for walks after it rains.
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We live in the Pacific Northwest, and we walk a lot, so it's worth it here. If we lived in a less rainy climate, it might not be though.
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I think if I lived in a driving area, I wouldn't need them. I never had rainboots growing up and didn't need them because even during the worst rain, at most we were running to the car, or from the car to inside.
But now, my daughter is walked to and from pre-k every day, and it's about a 15 minute walk. So now she has rainboots, raincoat, and her own umbrella.
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We definitely don't need rain gear here but both my kids have rain suits and boots. We love them. It keeps us outside all year. Even on days boots would have sufficed it's nice during that lay down tantrum phase. I spent less on rain gear than I would have spent on rainy day activities & playplaces.
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Suburbs and in the South.
We do have a raincoat. It helps when we're running to the car and it's raining. It can just be used for a regular coat too since the inner is lined. We do not have rain boots. At the preschool I teach, kids wear rain boots and then bring another more comfortable pair of shoes to play in at school. That's just too much for me.
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Rainboots yes, but make sure they go to her knees!
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@Freckles: Good point lol!
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We live in the PNW, so YES. I would never send her to school without rain gear. We bought a Muddy Buddy suit this year, but I'm pretty disappointed with how quickly it lost it's waterproof-ness. I really love REI rain pants + a good waterproof jacket.
Our school does 3 hours of outside play per day (rain or shine), and we always do at least an hour outside on Fridays ... If I was just going outside time to and from the car, I'd skip the rain gear.
Crocs of all places has great rain boots (true to size), and they are usually buy 1 get 1 free (just subscribe to their newsletter).
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@littlejoy: I agree on the Crocs rain boots, I bought my son the ones with the big handle so he can pull them on easily.
I dunno, I didn't buy rain gear for my son until this year, and he did go to a nature preschool where they really did go outside every day for at least an hour unless it was pouring rain. I bought a Hatley rain coat this year and it's underwhelming, I think he used it once.
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Here in the PNW it's essential. Especially for boots.
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I live in the midwest and we primarily drive everywhere. LOs daycare has a huge climber inside for rainy days, so they don't go out in the rain. I've tried to get him to go play in the rain before, but he's not interested. I've never bought rain gear. I think the answer to this question depends a lot on your lifestyle and your LOs personality.
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It probably depends where you live. We bought rain boots for my son because last year we walked almost everywhere and so it was worth it. If you're just going to/from cars all the time, it won't matter as much. Same for a rain coat.
But it is still fun in the spring-fall time to have the option to play in the rain a little bit. Even post-rain, he'd wear his boots on walks so he could jump and splash in puddles without getting too wet and cold.
It's probably not necessary gear if you're not walking somewhere every day no matter the weather, but it can still be fun to have.
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Depends on where you live...here in the PNW it's so necessary - boots and coat at least - unless you want your kid to come home with sopping wet muddy clothes everyday! Rain does t keep kids at our daycare inside unless it's crazy heavy which is rare. We also go out in the rain on weekends or we'd never leave the house.
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Rain jacket I'm kinda meh on. If it's a halfway decent windblock, then it is still good to use on just colder/windy spring & summer days. Or just as a lightweight layer.
Rain boots I like because we just do lots of random walks around the block. Not so much when it's actually raining, but the kids love to go out once it stops and splash in every puddle they see. In theory their preschool does the same (outside if it's rainy, maybe not if it's raining), although for the toddler room, it's really hit or miss. Plus, like someone above mentioned, we've used them for field trips to the farm and a lot during the shoulder seasons when it's wet-ish and muddy. Or, you know, on bright sunny summer days when toddler fashion says to
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I love having rain gear- jacket, pants, and boots (one piece suits for younger ones). They are great for really muddy days, too (we have a legit, long "mud season"). If we don't go outside every day things get hairy. Its less expensive than snow gear, so it never really bothers me to buy it! For my older one we've been getting Hatley raincoats/pants, and croc mud boots. We have an Oakiwear rain suit thats great for toddlers.
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Rain boots - YES.... rain coat, probably not.. but they're cute!
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We're in a city and rarely drive/commute by walking and public transportation, so yeah we have always needed it!
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Yes. My kid practically lives in full raingear (think deep-sea fisherman). It rains a ton here and the kids are always outside. It's also required at daycare/preschool.
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I live in a drive everywhere suburb but I get a lot of use from rain boots/rain jackets! DD loves to help me outside with yard work and rain boots are so easy to clean, that's what she primarily wears in the spring, summer, and fall. She loves splashing in the rain too so that's where the jacket comes in
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Boots yes because we live in a city and walk everywhere. If we didn't walk (in suburbs) probably not.
We don't have a rain coat, I don't think that's too necessary even with our walking. He uses his own mini umbrella though. Now that I'm typing this maybe a raincoat does make sense because he isn't so great with the umbrella. Hmmmm. -
Definitely, daycare takes the kids out in damp weather (not rain) so we have rain boots, rain pants and a jacket that works as a rain jacket. My kids love to wear their rain boots. We also don't have a car, so we walk everywhere and need weather-appropriate clothing.
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We've had a tonne of use out of our wet weather gear, it's great if we want to go outside or to the park on winter days when it's fine but the grass or playground is still damp. My big girl also goes out riding her bike if it's just light drizzle.
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@snowjewelz: I think it very much depends on how the climate is were you live. We could definitely not do without here. Rain days are only have the story, the following days the soil and sand etc. are still wet because it's not warm enough to dry within a couple of hours, and they go out at daycare then. So these days the rain gear especially the boots and pants are super helpful to save their clothes.
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Rain boots definitely (I totally agree - we love the croc ones). We get a lot of use out of ours, and not just on rainy days.
Rain coat - not so much. My sons just have wind breaker type coats, which are typically waterproof. I did have a rain coat for them when they were tiny, but that's just cause it was cute lol
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DS loves his rain boots because he can put them on by himself. They are nice during the winter because it is often more wet than cold where we live.
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Boots and coat - yes. Umbrella - no.
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Rain boots are a necessity for us. We get a decent amount of rain but we live in a rural area with a dirt driveway. If we want to play outside at all after any amount of rain, we need boots. Our yard gets pretty muddy and slushy. But because of where we live we are never walking anywhere so I find a raincoat unnecessary. If they ask to play in the rain it's because they want to get wet.
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I try not to buy more than we need. Rain boots have been a necessity, but I've gotten away with not buying a raincoat.
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We have rain coats but totally unnecessary. The only reason we bought them was an unfortunate trip to the zoo and stopping on our way to pick them up. We've never had boots and never needed them.
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I live in NY suburbs so if we're out when it's wet it would be intentional. I think I will get her rainboots in the next size that she can wear now and hopefully for rest of the year!
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Absolutely a necessity! We play outside rain or shine. We also frequent a county farm and it can be very muddy, so I invest in Hunter boots.
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@snowjewelz: We are in Northern Westchester and the farm I refer to is Muscoot Farm. My kids love it there! Have you been?
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@Alba4: Yes!!! I grew up in Northern Westchester too. Miss it everyday!
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I'd say yes. Rain boots for playing in puddles. They've been essential since our eldest was a toddler. The rain jacket is good, but sometimes not needed depending on the weather. Our best rain jacket is from Oshkosh B'Gosh, warm while keeping dry. Every other jacket we've gotten since then hasn't been as good or too plasticy.
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