Yes, he needs one, just so you can take an adorable picture of him wearing it standing in some fall leaves or next to some pumpkins.

My 2 year old and 4 year old both wear vests if it’s cool but not worth a jacket. We get a lot of use out of them especially in the mornings.

MIL loves vests. I hate them. I would just put on a lightweight jacket. MIL sends a new one every other year or so. I have two boys. One loves to wear them and one doesn't.

They keep my kid’s core warm when he doesn’t feel cold (usually when running around a ton in 40-50 degrees). If your kid runs cold, you’ll never need one; but if your kid runs hot, super useful! They’re also good for layering on the 1-15 really cold days we get a year in DC (the mornings after nights when you worry about pipes freezing), which are insufficient in number to buy my quickly-growing kid some expensive down coat... but on which he’d otherwise be quite cold in his winter jacket built for the 30ish degree minimum DC typically has.

My mom always bought them for our boys. Never wore them. There is no in between weather here. It's either fleece zip up or full on winter coat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a toddler boy? Stinkin’ cute and utterly useless.

+1

+2. Vests are so so cute on little kids.

I spent about 16 year in mid-Canada, and my understanding from the people there was that if your body core gets cold, blood is shunted away from the extremities (hands and feet get cold) to perfuse vital organs. Alternatively, keep the core warm, and the blood vessels in the periphery don't clamp down to shunt blood back to the core.

This link has a good illustration:
https://www.refrigiwear.com/blog/why-and-when-to-wear-a-vest-for-warmth

Protecting Your Core

Vests provide more warmth than most people realize, and even help keep your extremities warm. How is that possible? When your core temperature starts to drop, the body reduces blood flow to your extremities, increasing blood flow to the core in an attempt to protect your organs. By keeping your core insulated and warm, blood flow remains constant to your extremities, keeping them warmer. That is why often a long sleeve shirt with a good vest (and the right gloves, hats and pants) are enough to keep you warm when being active in cold temperatures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the look of vests and have bought a couple for myself over the years, figuring people wear these so they must have a purpose, right? But never once was I comfortable in one. If it was chilly enough to wear one it was chilly enough for a jacket. The only times I wore those vests I was too cold. For that reason I didn’t buy them for my kids.

Well said.

Really? I'm the exact opposite. I never bought one because I figured it was a waste of money. Then there was a really nice one on sale for super cheap off-season, so I bought it. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. After that one wore out, I got another at full-price because I loved it so much.

I get cold really easily, but I hate wearing a heavy jacket when it's not really that cold outside. I also like to wear heavy sweaters because I'm cold indoors as well as out, so it doesn't work for me to wear something lightweight and throw on a jacket to go outside. Thus, a vest works great for me!

I actually really love vests for little kids because they are super easy to put on, which means less of a battle, and they are much more comfortable than something bulky. We used them with both of my kids when they were about 1-3, and I found them way better than a jacket. Plus, they're smaller to store if the weather gets warmer later in the day and you want to take it off and put in your bag.

You can layer under it or just throw it on over a t-shirt if it's a little too cold to go without anything over the top. My kids didn't really like sweaters, so it was vest or jacket, and sometimes a jacket was too much.

They are staples for my two boys. We get a vest (not puffy) and a fleece jacket w/ a hood. It's the perfect combination for fall and spring, when the day might start off pretty chilly, and get warmer -- but still cold enough to need a jacket. They just remove the vest after it warms up and wear the fleece.

Anonymous wrote:I love the look of vests and have bought a couple for myself over the years, figuring people wear these so they must have a purpose, right? But never once was I comfortable in one. If it was chilly enough to wear one it was chilly enough for a jacket. The only times I wore those vests I was too cold. For that reason I didn’t buy them for my kids.

Well said.