**edited to add whose feet stayed dry.....question about snow pants/bibs

[HappyLady]

**EDIT - My DH put on my DD's boots and I put on my DS's boots.  As a reminder, my DH put the pants inside the boot and I put them outside.  My DD came in earlier than my DH and DS and as I was helping her get her boots off, I noticed her pants were pulled over her boots.  I asked why and she said she got snow in her boots so my DH put the pants over her boot after that.  Then she said, "Looks like you were right, Mom."   :lol:   Of course I know now it'll all depend on the pants and the boots themselves, but we know now at least with my DD's gear she needs the pants over her boots.  :)

 

Please don't laugh as I feel silly for not knowing the answer to this.   :)  We currently have a few feet of snow so my DH wanted to take the kids out in it to play.  He was getting one kid dressed and I was getting the other dressed.  Both kids have bibs with the lining in the legs that have the elastic at the bottom and then the outer shell.  I put the elastic part over the boot and my DH tucked the elastic part into the boot.  To me, it makes sense that if the elastic part is over the boot, snow can't get into the boot at all.  My DH says that snow won't get in because of the outer shell that goes over the boot.  I think the outer shell can rise up over the boot allowing snow to get in.

 

Admittedly, I don't ever go out in the snow, nor have I ever worn snow pants/bibs.  My DH loves the snow, skis, etc, but I'm still having a hard time believing him. :)   I've always dressed the kids my way and they've had any complaints.

 

So, is there a right or wrong way?  What's the general consensus on this?   :)

[Tess in the Burbs]

I would have put the liner inside around the outside of the boot.  To keep snow out.  

[Farrar]

Not a stupid question. I didn't even know snow bibs existed until I had kids. This is what I get for growing up in the south but raising them where it snows.

 

My experience is that the elastic lining isn't always wide enough for the boot. Also, that it can slide up and down when it's on the boot. So I say put the elastic liner around their ankles or socks and put the actual pant leg over the boot. It's pretty good protection. Certainly better than the "just wear all your clothes at once" that I grew up with on the rare occasion it snowed.

[PinkTulip]

I live in snow country and ski about 40 days a year. Elastic always on the outside of the boot.

[Sherry in OH]

We put the liner inside the boot and pull the outer shell down over the boot.  The outer shell by itself is a snug fit on the boot.  When the liner isn't put inside the boot, both parts of the leg ride up.  

 

We tend toward cheap snow pants.  Perhaps with better quality gear, the fit is different.

[MiMi 4under3]

Elastic over the outside of the boot to keep snow out.

[redsquirrel]

As someone who grew up with snow and playing outside in lots and lots of snow, and dressing lots of siblings and my own kids and nieces and nephews...I can almost go either way, lol. Sometimes it is difficult to get the liner inside the boot and it squishes up and gets very uncomfortable.  I do tend to put the liner inside and the shell outside, especially if the boot opens up enough to make it easy. But, sometimes you do what you gotta do.

 

My kids are long old enough to do this themselves and they tend to do whatever is easiest.

 

And if you play in the snow long enough, it won't matter because snow will get down your boots no matter what. If it didn't how would you know when to come in?

[happypamama]

I tuck the elastic liner inside the boot, with the shell pulled down over the boot.  That seems to work well for my kids.

[ErinE]

We put the liner in the boot with the shell on the outside. The liner doesn't fit around our boots. We haven't had problems with the snow getting in.

[Anne]

We always put the liner inside the boot and the pant leg outside. My kids were usually playing in several feet of snow, so there was no way that the liner was going to STAY outside of the boot, no matter what.

 

But as Red Squirrel said, it doesn't really matter - the snow is going to get in and the feet are going to get wet. It's inevitable.

 

:-)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I put the elastic liner on the outside of the boot.  It would drive my kids crazy if it were tucked inside.  And, I believe it does a better job of keeping the snow out.

[Farrar]

So funny that we're all split on this. I wonder what the design intention is. Like I said, some of them that we've had it can't be that you're supposed to put them on the boots because they were so small and the boots were so big. But that could have just be a design flaw to the individual (cheap) snow bib.

[skimomma]

It snows 6 months of the year where I live.  I am very versed in this.  The liner for sure goes on the outside.  Very serious snow pants (which we all have) actually has a hook on the edge of each liner to hook to the laces of your boots...evidence that it is meant to go on the outside.  In the end, it probably does not matter in most regular sledding or playing situations.  But for serious outside-all-day in 4 feet of snow, the liner goes on the outside!

[SKL]

Depends on the kind of boot, and what else they are wearing.  Try it both ways and see which works best.  :)

 

Personally I think snowsuits are overrated.  After my kids outgrew their size 1.5 suits, I never bought new ones.  I would send them out in layers including long johns / leggings and sweats (however many layers they need for the cold).  It's easier to adjust to the temperature, take the kids to the bathroom, etc.  I live where it snows a lot, and this method hasn't failed us yet.  :)

[DhanyaCali]

We go inside the boot with the inner elastic liner, outside with the outer layer. That way the snow has to make like , a z to get in next to skin, you see?

 

Massachusetts Represent!!!!!!

[Guest]

Well, as you see, clearly people with equal experience can differ in their thoughts about this. In our household, DH tends to put it outside the boot, I tend to put it inside. It's not all that big, so it seems to me that the design intention is not to put it outside the boot.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

**EDIT - My DH put on my DD's boots and I put on my DS's boots.  As a reminder, my DH put the pants inside the boot and I put them outside.  My DD came in earlier than my DH and DS and as I was helping her get her boots off, I noticed her pants were pulled over her boots.  I asked why and she said she got snow in her boots so my DH put the pants over her boot after that.  Then she said, "Looks like you were right, Mom."   :lol:   Of course I know now it'll all depend on the pants and the boots themselves, but we know now at least with my DD's gear she needs the pants over her boots.   :)

 

 

Heehee.  This makes me happy because I'm on the "winning" team!