Traveling in winter with a baby is still possible and you won’t be stuck inside the whole time, if you are well prepared for dressing your baby for winter. The recommended baby gear below is our must-have list of winter travel gear for babies and toddlers. Each of these baby travel gear items is small to pack and will ensure you can still enjoy being outside while keeping your baby warm in winter. All of the products in this list are what we have used with both of our babies during the winter here in Canada.
The first step for keeping your baby warm in winter is dressing your baby in layers. This infographic created by Ella’s Wool gives all the steps for dressing your baby for winter.
Ella’s Wool Tube Leggings
Wool is the perfect base layer for keeping your baby warm in winter. Go for a full base layer of merino wool, then use the merino wool knit leggings as a warmth layer on top. You can also use the Tubes by Ella’s Wool on their own. Until March 31, 2019, you can get 15% off all Ella’s Wool Tube Leggings with discount code BaCaTr1. If you prefer to buy them on Amazon, check pricing for Ella’s Wool baby base layer and tube leggings.
Why merino wool as a base layer?
- Merino wool is soft, breathable, cozy and warm.
- Merino wool can absorb moisture and still feel warm when wet.
BellyFit Jacket Extender
Baby wearing is the best way to ensure your baby stays warm. The BellyFit jacket extender enables you to continue to wear your favorite jacket throughout your pregnancy PLUS it continues to work over your baby carrier. This was one of my favorite products that I had purchased when we had our daughter. I used it again when I was pregnant with our son and to carry him last winter. You don’t necessarily have to be in the middle of winter to use this. The soft shell works great to block the wind, so it’s great for chilly spring or fall days too. An added bonus is that it packs small for travel and you don’t have to pack an extra jacket for when you aren’t baby wearing.
Other great features:
- There is an option to purchase an extra-warmth layer for the especially cold days.
- The zip adapters are great to ensure it will work with all your jackets (Dad’s included!).
MEC Ride Warm Down Filled Stroller Bag
On the days when I couldn’t baby wear or wanted to use the stroller, this down filled stroller bag made it so easy to get out of the house. We love these so much, we own two of these. At 100 cm (39 inches) long, our 3 year old daughter still fits into hers. We’ve even used this stroller bag in a sled while skating. We typically used a fleece bunting suit on our kids when in the stroller bag, but on some days, just indoor clothes was good enough. We recommend this one specifically because it’s large enough that you will get at least a few years use out of it, yet it’s light and compresses easily which makes it great for travel.
Other great features:
- Adjustable hood with hidden drawcord.
- Slots in the back allows it to fit seats and strollers with a 5 point harness.
- Down filled ensures light and easy to compress.
MEC is a Canadian store (we know how to keep warm in winter, eh!), which ships to the US. If you’d prefer to order from within the US, try this down stroller bag off Amazon.com.
Bunting Suit
Since we were using the BellyFit extender and stroller bag so much, a bunting suit was all we needed to complete the winter wardrobe for our babies. The first winter with our daughter, we purchased a snow suit that never got worn (thankfully, it still fit the next winter). We recommend getting a bunting suit with fold over cuffs for two reasons:
- It ensures full body coverage (i.e. pant legs won’t ride up and expose skin to the elements).
- You won’t need separate mitts.
Again, the bunting suit we bought was from MEC. For our international readers, here is a comparable bunting suit from Amazon.
Stonz Booties
These Stonz booties are water and wind-resistant to keep the wind and cold out. With the adjustable toggles, they won’t fall off and you can put them on right over the fold over cuffs on the bunting suit. Don’t forget the liners for extra warmth. They also have soft, skid-resistant soles recommended for developing feet.
Weather Shield/Rain Cover for Stroller
Even if the temperature is not that cold, it’s important to block the wind since your baby’s face will still be exposed. We always had a weather shield for our strollers to make sure we could get outside during the winter and still keep our kids warm. Even in -25°C (-13°F) weather, our kids were still toasty warm inside the stroller.
Toque/Hat and Mitts
Though the hood and fold over cuffs on the bunting suit can be sufficient, we recommend bringing extra hats and mitts. For the toque, we look for ones that fasten with Velcro under chin. This will help prevent your baby from taking it off. Extra mitts are important to have in case your little one gets their hands wet (i.e. from sucking, etc).
For walking babies, in addition to the Stonz booties consider their “Mittz” gloves and a snowsuit, which is more suitable as an outer layer (preferably water resistant or waterproof) with wool leggings as a mid-layer. You’ll also want to bring along some extra mitts.
This post contains compensated links. We were provided samples of Ella’s Wool Tube Leggings for the purpose of a review. All opinions are our own.
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Nice to hear about your experiences traveling with your child in the winter. I’ve never even been in snow!