The Coats Our Kids Actually Wear
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Welcome to Coat Week on the Strategist, where we’re asking everyone — from New Yorkers to people living in the coldest parts of the U.S. — about their favorite coats and trying out every puffer we can. For more, head over to ourCoat Week hub.
Getting your kid to put on a jacket when it starts getting chilly outside is one of parenting’s most annoying battles. I summoned the moms of the Strategist for aroundtable chatabout the coats our kids tolerate — and actually like — and, more important, the coats that keep them warm. Here’s what’s worked for us when dressing our kids for cold weather and the outerwear we rely on every season.
Start with vests for layering
Ailbhe Malone, senior editor:The best thing we bought, and I would never have thought of until I became a parent, was a gilet, which is like a Patagonia tech-bro vest. It’s afleece vest from Uniqlo. Aoife wears a gilet year-round. She can wear it underneath her puffer as a layer, or with a long-sleeve top, or over her rain trousers.
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Jen Trolio, senior editor:My kids would probably not abide a vest for style reasons, but Boden makes some puffer coats where the sleeves zip off. It’s atwo-in-one coatthat can be a winter puffer or just a puffer vest.
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Liza Corsillo, senior writer:We had aPatagonia fleece vestthat Arlo has now outgrown that I got secondhand. That was very useful. It was nice to have it to put on over a sweatshirt when I couldn’t force him to wear an actual coat.
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Simone Kitchens, deputy editor:Ramona is a big vest kid. She has awool fleece from Alweroand a cotton and knit one from Zara.
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How much should you spend on a kid’s coat?
LR:What’s a good price for a coat? Under $100?
AM:I only really buy secondhand, and it would be under $50. All our Mini Rodini is secondhand.
Lauren Levy, Strategist lead editor:I also prefer under $60ish, but I feel I am cheap in this department.
LC:Around $50 if I can find it.
Winnie Yang, senior editor:I am willing to pay $135 used for Patagonia for Andie, who’s almost 10, since I know it will get amortized over two to three years.
JT:That all seems right! Just this weekend my 3-year-old niece was tromping around in a Patagonia puffer that was Nora’s (who’s 7 now), and it’s been through so many kids and looks great. I bought on sale at Nordstrom after Christmas for 90 bucks and now four children have worn it. But most of the time it’s probably between $50 and $100, depending on the brand, how long I think they will wear it, how warm it is, etc. I bought two of thestriped Primary puffersyesterday for $47 each, but that’s about what I always pay because I always buy specifically during a sale. I’m not sure I can imagine spending $78 on one, which is the “full price.”
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Julia Edelstein, senior editor:For a winter coat I will buy it large and spend about $150. For all other coats I am extremely cheap (under $50). I’ve bought cheap winter coats at TJ Maxx and my kids hated them. That said, I do look for a sale and I also take my sister’s hand-me-downs.
SK:I got this cottonPatagonia downin yellow on sale for $80 last winter; it’s still going strong this year. I buy them so big, usually two sizes up, so I plan for two to three winters. I got it in a 4T (when she was 2) but wish I had gotten a 5. She also has a size 3-5Mini Rodini jacketfrom last year, which is going to fit her for a few more years.
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What size coat should you buy?
AM:How many sizes up do you buy your coats?
LC:One, usually.
LR:And that can last two seasons, usually?
WY:Yes. And with the Patagonia, because it’s giant, I would say you can buy a size up and they might end up wearing it for two or three years.
LL:That’s a pro tip, guys.
Down versus synthetic down
Alexis Swerdloff,New Yorkdeputy editor:Do you all insist on down or no for a kids’ everyday puffer? And which non-down options are actually warm? I am my mother’s daughter when it comes to thinking that a puffer must be down! But I hate spending over $150 for L.L.Bean or Patagonia.
JE:My older son is very allergic to feathers, so I go with artificial down.
WY:Andie will only really wear the synthetic down (Patagonia Nano Puff) unless she’s very, very cold. In general she runs hot and insists she doesn’t need a coat, and this is the year we’ve decided to let her make her bed and lie in it.
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Our favorite places to buy coats
LR:People have mentioned buying a lot of Patagonia already. Also Primary and Boden. I bought theL.L.Bean downafter Alexis got one for Sam and it’s been a good one. I also like to try different things. I love the 100 percent down water-resistant coats from Zara. Both of my kids wear a version of those. They’re like 60 bucks, really stylish, and extremely warm.
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LL:We’ve had some of those.
LC:We have aZara corduroy jacket that’s lined with fleecethat got Arlo, when he wore a sweatshirt under it, through most of last winter. It’s very sweet and surprisingly really well made.
LR:I am testing a7AM Enfant pufferthat’s pretty stylish. It kinda looks like some of the Zara ones. We haven’t worn it yet, but we are also trying aMini Rodini puffer. Mini Rodini has the best patterns. They all sort of have the same style, with the big patch pockets in the front, which I really do like. They are on the pricey side, though.
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AM:We have a Mini Rodini raincoat I just bought again in the next size up. It doesn’t get as cold in London as it does in New York, but typically she’ll wear the raincoat and then a cashmere or proper wool jumper underneath. And for when it gets cold-cold, I bought her akids’ Barbourthis year. And then I just really likeH&M puffersas well. They’re very fun but actually warm.
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WY:The one that Andie wore for three years was a Patagonia. I thought it was great because it was one of those three- orfour-in-oneswhere you can zip out the fleece liner. You can wear that separately and there’s a shell. Or maybe the liner was puffy, I don’t remember. You have all those options and then layering is not annoying because they zip together.
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JE:My younger son has alightweight jacket from Mayoral. I really like that brand. They have very cute kind of upscale boys’ clothes. He has this really nice fall jacket that he’s in his third year wearing somehow. For winter coats, he was really hating his coat, so I took him to Bloomingdale’s and he picked abright red parkaand he happily wears it now. He loves it. It’s kind of insane looking. It’s Jordan, the Michael Jordan brand; it’s super-cozy and warm. It’s fleece-lined and down. It still fits well in the second year. And then my older son has a Ralph Lauren winter coat that is also is kind of attractive looking. These are their winter coats, which I feel like you can’t buy super-cheap because they have to be warm. But in the spring, I buy thesebasically disposable coats from Amazon.
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LL:Lily needed a new winter coat and I foundthis Tommy Hilfiger onethat was very cheap on Amazon. She just wants a pink coat that also has something fuzzy inside, like fleece. She loves to wear a fuzzy coat.
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JT:Nora also wants the pink and the fuzzy. Taking your kid to TJ Maxx and letting them pick out a cheap fuzzy jacket they want can be a great strategy too.
LC:I buy a lot of Old Navy kids’ clothing and I think they have some of the cuter stuff for boys. The coat that Arlo wears the most isan Old Navy coatthat is really, really warm. I wash it with everything else.
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JT:Crewcutshas some decent coats sometimes. Eliza’s heavier puffer is from Crewcuts because she was going through an animal-print phase, so we have acheetah-print puffer. She’s wearing it for the second or third year this year.
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JE:I’ve also brought pretty good coats from the Children’s Place in the past. My kids used to have a lot of stuff from there and they used to have these cute, almostletterman-looking fall jacketsthat were very preppy looking.
JT:Do any of you buy your kids more fashion or dress coats that are not warm enough for winter or the right material for play, but look nice at the holidays? Nora, my fashion child, also loves a fancy coat.
AM:I got her an Oshkosh Samantha Parkington–like coat last year. But she just wore it to parties and stuff. This year I bought her a silk bomber from H&M. It’s very nice. It’s like the one that Ryan Gosling wore inDrive.
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How to wash your jackets at home
AB:My main thought on coats is that it has to be washable.
LR:How do you wash down? Would you wash that yourself? Just on normal? Do you use special detergent or just regular detergent?
WY:You can definitely wash it yourself. You just want to make sure when you dry it that you use tennis balls or something to fluff it up. We wash our Patagonia down all the time.
LR:I just sent three down coats to the dry cleaner and they charged me $25 each for kids’ coats. I was like,I probably should have just done this at home.
JT:I rarely take my own stuff to the dry cleaners, let alone my kids’ stuff, so that would be a dealbreaker from buying it in the first place.
WY:We do it like once a season unless it gets totally disgusting for some reason or there’s some greasy stain.
JE:Or unless they puke on it.
More From Coat Week
- How 7 People Who Live in the Coldest Parts of the Country Stay Warm
- The 9 Very Best Women’s Parkas
- The Best (Actually Stylish) Maternity Coats, According to Experts
- What Are the Nicest-Looking Coats Under $300 (That Are Actually Warm)?
The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
