Makeshift Ziploc bag "snow boots" for babies

No snow boots for your baby? Here's Ashley's inventive solution:

We live in the Midwest and usually get a few pretty good snows each winter. We got a few inches of snow the other night, so I decided to take my 14 month-old daughter, Sophie, out to play in it for the first time. My only problem: she doesn't have any winter boots. Since she won't keep shoes on (even the kind with elastic in them) and would outgrow a pair of boots before she got the chance to use them more than once or twice, we never bought her any. When I was dressing her to go out in the snow I first put her in some thick pajamas (the kind with the non-skid feet). Then I slipped some Ziploc sandwich baggies over her feet and tied some pieces of scrap flannel over the baggies to keep them on. Then I put her snow suit and coat on her. We played outside for maybe 15 or 20 minutes and her feet stayed dry and warm.

I heard a variant on this hack when we were up on the mountain for a bit of snow play last month. My daughter's (cheap) snow boots had leaked, and she was miserable. A mother noticed her anguish and suggested that next time I slip her sock-covered feet into plastic bags before I put the boots on. This wouldn't work for a full day, but for some casual snow play? Perfect!

Related: Old tube socks protect exposed wrists from snow

Comments

[Nutmeg]

As kids we weren't the most well off family so our boots leaked all the time.

We ALWAYS put plastic grocery bags over our feet before we put our boots on so our feet wouldn't get soaked when we were in the snow.

I wouldn't have thought of that for a baby though, especially since until just now I forgot all about putting grocery bags on our feet.

[shirky]

we used bread bags, they are more sock shaped

[Ln]

It's an interesting idea, but I would be really concerned about keeping those toes warm enough around here (we live in Wisconsin and it's -4F here at the moment). I guess as long as the toddler is happy, she's probably not getting frostbit, though.

I grew up putting my feet in sandwich bags inside my boots too. Ah memories...

[lace]

I had forgotten that we did this when we were kids!!

[Sandy]

I had forgotten about the plastic bags on the feet too! Even if you had new boots at the beginning of winter, they'd always end up leaking by the end with how much time we spent outside. There was no way my parents were going to buy more than 1 pair of boots a year for each of us, so as soon as we got a leak, it was time for the plastic bags!

Thanks! We're moving to Montana from the deep south. My husband will think I'm so snow-savvy when I pull out this hack!

[Jill in Atlanta]

Our routine was kid sock, bread bag (or newspaper bag) then dad's socks, then boots!

[Lo]

My mom used to put the bags on over our shoes, because we wore the plastic boots that went over our shoes, and the bags helped them slide off more easily.

I wanted "shoe boots" that didn't go on over my shoes SO BADLY but I think they were more expensive.

[baby boy]

That a great idea. we never thought of that, we always buy a peer boots.

[Kelly in Cincinnati]

Love this idea! Never heard of the bag trick before. Thanks!

[planetpeanut]

Darn you Murphy's Law! I've been trying to hack the freezing temp footwear problem for two months. We're going to visit grandparents in MN at the end of the month and I am not about to purchase boots or snow gear for a 4 day stay.

Naturally, I found a perfect pair of boots for our one year old daughter at REI this morning (half off, big enough for next winter and a color of pink that will irritate daddy-hee!). I should have looked at my favorite blogs before I went shopping!

[Julie]

As others have mentioned, this (bread bag) was standard practice when I was a kid. Those red rubber boots that went on over your shoes were impossible to get off without the bags.

Having bags for my feet was also standard practice when I was doing a lot of (winter) backpacking. Having dry, warm feet makes all the difference between a bad and a good trip! Even great boots sometimes get wet/leak.