Surviving the winter with Cuddl Duds

Cuddl Duds long underwear

This winter has been an exceptionally cold one, in fact it has probably been the coldest in my lifetime and it's been a real challenge keeping my little one warm and protected from the elements.  Although there are plenty of winter clothes out there for toddlers, the trick is to find the right garments that balance warmth, comfort and safety. A lot of kiddie winter outfits are bulky but not really warm so  I decided the best thing would be to dress her in warm layers starting with long underwear (thermals).

When I first started shopping for these, she was still wearing clothing in size 18m and no matter how hard I searched, I simply couldn't find any thermal clothing for her size. Everything I found was either in really tiny infant sizes or really larger toddler sizes. I guess the manufacturers believe that 18 month olds don't need to be warm? Not entirely sure.   Either way I pretty much gave up looking for these until I stumbled across the Cuddle Duds brand in a Kohl's store.  Even though they didnt have anything in her size, they did at least have a 2T/3T size which I decided to try out. They had two different types of long underwear sets; a silky touch 100% polyester fabric and a cotton/poly blend textured thermal fabric. I decided to get one of each to try out. I bought one in parasol pink and one in the fairisle stripe pattern

I was worried these would be way too large for my toddler, but interestingly enough they worked out fine. Yes the bottoms are a bit long, but because they are very fitted towards the cuffs, we figured a way to make them work and she has grown a lot in the last few months. The photo below shows my daughter wearing the 2T/3T size thermals. She was 20 months old at the time.

The silky touch version is by far the best, they are easy to clean and come out of the laundry looking new. They also feature a roll over wrist cuff  to keep her little hands warm. This set is so awesome I ended up looking for the adult version and getting the black set for myself.

On the other hand,  I didn't really love the cotton/poly blend thermal set in the patterned print. Not at all.  It is just not really ideal for a messy toddler. The fabric is difficult to maintain because it stains really easily, and after only a few months it already looks like we have had it for years, especially the white neckline and cuffs.

Overall I'm glad I found the silky touch sets for my daughter and myself. They are so comfortable and most importantly they keep us warm!