Help me find gloves for a 2.5 year old boy - difficulty: Canada.

December 1, 2015 6:52 AM

My 2.5 year old son can't seem to keep gloves on his hands. They fall off with the slightest touch, not to mention when I hold his hand to walk to preschool. Can you recommend any kid (and adult) friendly gloves or mittens for a 2.5 year old? The heartier the better, as we live in Toronto, Canada.
posted by evadery to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (16 answers total)

Not really answering the question as asked.... but can you get a coat that has a "thumb hole" built into the cuff of the sleeve? That anchors the glove/mitten in place and can also keep snow from getting onto the wrist area.
posted by saffry at 6:59 AM on December 1, 2015

When I was that age, we always had really long mittens that went under our coat.

Also: strings.
posted by jb at 7:06 AM on December 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

Similar to what jb said, I got these mittens for my then 2.5 year old from Once Upon a Child at Bayview and Merton last year (not sure if they still carry them - call and check). I also got mitten clips from there as well.
posted by foxjacket at 7:12 AM on December 1, 2015

Mountain Equipment Co-op has quite a selection of kids gloves and mitts, including these ones that appear to cinch up pretty good and are available in infant size.
posted by fairmettle at 7:15 AM on December 1, 2015

Yeah, strings. Tie a piece of string to the cuff of one glove, thread it through his coat sleeves, and then tie it to the other. They'll still come off but won't go so far.
posted by Ned G at 7:24 AM on December 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

We used mitten clips at that age.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:25 AM on December 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Gap has "fleece mittens" with very good cuffs, my son loves them, he's 4 and wears the M/L toddler size. Not waterproof so I have to dry them every night but he wears them which is better than prior years where he'd only wear little cotton finger gloves (from H&M).

When it's bad out or you want to play in the snow Stonz "Mittz" really do stay put but they don't allow a lot of movement and I am wary of sending them off to school because of the price.
posted by lafemma at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2015

Are the gloves made out of wool or acrylic? I wonder if maybe he's subconsciously removing them because he finds the fibers irritating. My mom switched me to cotton, fleece, and chenille gloves after she realized I was allergic to wool around the same age.
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:39 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Our 2-year-old wears this set, and I don't know what magic they use, but the mittens NEVER fall off (no clips required). Every other kind we've ever tried comes off in minutes.
posted by Cygnet at 7:56 AM on December 1, 2015

There are VERY warm Head brand mittens that you slide on and the zip up up the sides. I got them every year for my little one at Costco. These are the mittens.
posted by ReluctantViking at 8:43 AM on December 1, 2015

Recently for my two year old I gave up on expensive mitts and bought stretchy/fuzzy ones from dollarama. I'll layer them when it gets colder. They seem the best at staying on him and squish really easily into my pocket. I live in toronto. These mitts would not be warm enough for a day of tobogganing but they'll be fine for our school commute which includes walking
posted by biggreenplant at 8:43 AM on December 1, 2015

I've had a couple of pairs of the SnowStoppers foxjacket linked to, and the concept is great and they work well at first, but over time we've had problems with the falling apart (the lining particularly). That said, a 2.5 year old isn't going to be wearing one size for that long, and while they are whole, they are great.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 9:06 AM on December 1, 2015

We also used the snow stoppers.
posted by dpx.mfx at 10:46 AM on December 1, 2015

I think strings are considered a strangulation hazard nowadays. I have had good experience with mitts with really long arms. I buy them second hand, so that I don't cry when they get lost. I also have tons of 99c mittens and glovers. MEC has a good selection and your higher end consignment store or even VV should have lots.

Most little kids can't manage to keep gloves on so I used to use mittens.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:54 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I took a different approach- I just bought a billion pairs of cheapie stretch mittens from the dollar store. Yes, they're always falling off or getting wet or disappearing, but there's always more where they came from.
posted by that's how you get ants at 2:18 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

For my 2.5 year old I just bought 2T-4T mittens from LL Bean. I put them on before the coat (sides of mittens are Velcro, so they're pretty easy to get on) and then jam his hands through the coat sleeves. Once they're on he can't get them off. He's pissed but that's not the question you asked :)
posted by Ollie at 4:14 PM on December 1, 2015