Winter is a wonderful time to stay inside and enjoy the warmth. You can do your shopping online and reduce trips to the shops and decrease the risk of travelling in cold and icy weather. However, we can’t stay inside forever and the older children get, the more they want to be out and about.

Parents do their best to help their children and babies stay warm in winter. It’s not easy though and it is not always easy to convince kids to keep their coats on. If severe cold weather is experienced, most schools will keep children inside, but it can be difficult to keep kids inside at home if there is a huge pile of snow outside to play with.

Also, many people don’t own or use a car when going out and about, so it’s not a matter of just quickly darting between places of warmth. Some mothers will have to walk children to school with little ones in tow. It’s always best to bundle them up in layers and do your best to keep them dry, but even with the best intentions overexposure can happen. It’s good to know what to look out for.

Hypothermia can happen when a child’s temperature goes below normal due to exposure to the cold. The child may shiver and become lethargic and clumsy. Their speech may become slurred and their body temperature will decline. If you suspect your child is hypothermic, call 999 at once. Take your child indoors, remove any wet clothing and wrap them in blankets or warm clothes.

Frostbite can happen when skin and outer tissues become frozen.  The child might say they feel like their skin is burning or numb. It tends to show on the fingers, toes and nose and the skin will turn pale, grey and blistered. Frostbitten skin needs warm, not hot, water and should not be rubbed. If the condition does not improve after a while of applying warmth and a hot drink, then seek professional help.

Even babies bundled up in their prams have exposed little faces, so it’s important to not take them out if temperatures are extreme. One way of ensuring a baby stays warm is to wear it in a baby carrier close to you, so your own body heat ensures their warmth and protection.

It’s also important to remember that the sun can still burn when it’s cold out, so if you expect to be out for any length of time, say on a crisp winter’s walk through the woods, then don’t forget sun screen.

Unfortunately, we don’t experience temperatures in the UK that are cold enough to make frozen water unquestionably safe for us to walk on, so it’s best to train children from a young age to never walk on a frozen river or pond. This can be impressed upon them when they are still babies and toddlers.

Enjoy the winter, enjoy the snow, stay warm and stay safe.