How to keep my kid's feet warm?

[Danno]

I haven't worn alpine boots in 25 years, so I am not sure what the best steps are here. My kiddo is 9 and in a ski racing program, so she's no stranger to snow. But she often complains about her feet getting cold. We tried "toe warmers" without success, not surprisingly they seemed to be uncomfortable inside her boots, but I suppose we could try again. I tell her that I unbuckle my (tele) boots after every run, but I'm not sure whether she will do that consistently because kid, and I'm not sure if it helps all that much anyway.

Her boots seem decent for kid boots: https://www.nextadventure.net/nordic...irls-2020.html

What are good ways to keep her feet warm? Don't want to spring for hotronics every season! What are your tricks (either for kids or for you)?

[dcpnz]

Well you said you didn't want to go this route but I put thermic heated footbeds (like hotronics just different brand) in my kids boots. Best money I ever spent. No more whining, way less lodge time, much more skiiing.
Batteries last a few years, just buy a new footbed for ~$30 when they get bigger boots.
And make sure snow isn't getting in her boot - wet liner equals cold feet.

[scmartin69]

Lotsa options:
Make sure boots are warm to begin with. Put on boots at home if drive is short or at least in the car en route. Run heater to the floorboards where boots/child are sitting. Old racer buddy used to run a hairdryer on his in the locker room pre entry...
or maybe just buy the Hotronics


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[BCMtnHound]

Cut a square of cheap blue foam sleeping pad and have her stand on it between races? It's ghetto, but if waiting in one spot for awhile, it works.

[Dee Hubbs]

Are the boots dry to start with? If I ski one day and my boots don’t go on the boot dryer overnight, 6 hrs of fan blowing (not heat) my feet will freeze the next day because of moisture in the boots.
Other cheap fixes are off the shelf footbeds with an insulation layer (foil) on the bottom keep some warmth in her feet. Or merino wool lined footbeds, or felt foot beds.
Re: toe warmers. They need air to activate, so the earlier they are applied (at home before drive to the hill) before putting boots on, the longer they will last. If they are bulky under her toes, they can go on top of her toes and work just as well.
Kids are tough to diagnose, they usually don’t react to the cold toes until it’s too late.

[whyturn]

Can you get intuition liners small enough? What about the neoprene boot glove?

I definitely have this issue due to exposure on toes in overnight stay outside.


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[Name Redacted]

Boot glove?
Better insoles?
Heated boot bag?

[EWG]

Well you said you didn't want to go this route but I put thermic heated footbeds (like hotronics just different brand) in my kids boots. Best money I ever spent. No more whining, way less lodge time, much more skiiing.
Batteries last a few years, just buy a new footbed for ~$30 when they get bigger boots.
And make sure snow isn't getting in her boot - wet liner equals cold feet.

I just rip the heating elements out of the old footbed and put them in the new ones (no cover fabric makes it easier)

Things to check:
Are boots wet? (mentioned earlier)
Are boots too big? (if so clamping them down can cut off circulation)
Are boots too tight at top of instep where foot meets ankle? (daughter has this problem and I'm still trying to solve it)
Use footwarmers (my daughter always has, seems to help more than battery warmers.)

Also - go to Larry.

[Danno]

Her boots hadn't been skied in 8 months, so they were dry! But I will certainly try to always make sure they're dry and warm, even more than I have.

I just rip the heating elements out of the old footbed and put them in the new ones (no cover fabric makes it easier)

Use footwarmers (my daughter always has, seems to help more than battery warmers.)

Also - go to Larry.

I'm confused, you have hotronics (or similar) but think the little one time use stick on the toes warmers are better?

Larry is a last resort. I mean, my kid can barely tell what fits her, she says everything is "good" or complains about everything, I can't even imagine how a session with Larry would go! Plus, all she really complains about for the most part is cold feet, nothing else.

[EWG]

Her boots hadn't been skied in 8 months, so they were dry! But I will certainly try to always make sure they're dry and warm, even more than I have.



I'm confused, you have hotronics (or similar) but think the little one time use stick on the toes warmers are better?

Larry is a last resort. I mean, my kid can barely tell what fits her, she says everything is "good" or complains about everything, I can't even imagine how a session with Larry would go! Plus, all she really complains about for the most part is cold feet, nothing else.

Alright, you asked.

My daughter is the same way - just general complaints or positives without any specifics. Simply put, a pain in the ass to fit a boot to. And now that she's older she's still the same way.

She always had cold feet, so after dealing with a few seasons of it I bought old hotronics, installed new batteries in the battery packs, and hooked em up. $50 experiment. She swore it didn't help, so went back to footwarmers, which helped more than anything, according to her. On cold days actually ran both - hotronics and toe warmers. Finally took her to bootfitter when she was 13-14 or so. He thought the cuff was pushing down too tightly on her instep. Got a different boot, messed with it a bit and it got better. Then it got worse again last year (probably due to foot growth), to the point where, if you didn't watch her, she would ski with all her buckles undone. At 50mph+ sometimes. Literally.

So we started a quest to find a boot that fits, now that her feet are done growing. Some of that is in the WTF is wrong with my boots thread. Finally found one that seems to work, and will take her in to get it heat molded as soon as they have availability. I'm hoping that solves the cold feet problem.

Bootfitters convinced me that the cold feet were due to a poor fit. I suspect that top of the instep or the calves (since she is short, the cuffs tend to come up high into her calves...)

Maybe some of that helps you.

[toast2266]

My feet definitely get cold if I don't unbuckle them every run. When I'm standing around during beer league races, if I don't unbuckle, I'm skiing on numb stumps. Maybe start by just instilling the unbuckling habit in her brain?

[EWG]

My feet definitely get cold if I don't unbuckle them every run. When I'm standing around during beer league races, if I don't unbuckle, I'm skiing on numb stumps. Maybe start by just instilling the unbuckling habit in her brain?

Yeah, I didn't mention this below, but I 100% agree with this and this has helped my daughter some.

[Danno]

Thanks for that, I will work on her with that stuff.

I did explain to her that the trick is to keep your feet from getting cold, that once they get cold it is really hard to get them to warm up. So I will work on the idea that she should be unbuckling after every run, because if she waits until her feet get cold to start doing that, it's too late and it won;t work.

[canyonrider]

Low hanging fruit- don't underestimate the value of extra core and leg insulation. I've had fairly good luck with my kids by making sure they go with 1-2 layers more (usually something puffy) than what I would wear at a given temp.

[Hood26]

I would head for a boot fitter for little consultation.

1. Make sure the shells fit
2. Replace insoles (probably recommend an off the shelf. Sidas worked for my boys)
4. Over-the-calf 100% merino ultralight socks. Icebreaker or Smartwool. Yes, Darn Tough last longer but that synthetic fiber also makes the foot sweat
3. Never let her buckle the bottom two. Just set them in the unbuckled position all day and leave it be unless the coach says to buckle them.

Get her setup together and have her boot up while watching whatever show on TV she wants. If she can’t make it an hour without forgetting they are on her feet, then something isn’t right.

This is all my observations as a non professional boot fitter who has a good boot-fitter patiently helping me get my boys (9 & 11) and wife’s boots right, so I don’t spend all day listening to crying about their feet.

[auvgeek]

Assuming her boots fit properly and she's in an UL sock, here's what works for me in plug boots:

1. Warm, dry boots to start. Not too hot or they're super soft.
2. Keep your core extra warm. Extremities stay warmer when your core is warm.
3. Unbuckle ALL buckles except when skiing. Leave the bottom ones undone whenever possible.
4. Neoprene boot glove with chemical toe warmers between the plastic boot and the neoprene. My foot touches the shell everywhere without a liner -- no way I could fit a toe warmer inside the boot.

Just my $0.02.

PS. Larry's out for a bit. Elaine at Larry's shop would be my rec if you decide to take her in.

[Meadow Skipper]

Low hanging fruit- don't underestimate the value of extra core and leg insulation. I've had fairly good luck with my kids by making sure they go with 1-2 layers more (usually something puffy) than what I would wear at a given temp.

^ This. If the core is overheated, it will pump warm blood to the extremities to ‘cool down.’ This is why your arm and hand veins bulge when you’re overheated. Conversely it’s why your veins disappear when you’re cold - the core retains heat. Get her an insulated vest or a puffy.

Grandma always said “When your feet are cold, put on your hat.”

[TBS]

^^^my Grandpa always said, “if yer feet are cold you ain’t working hard enough”

[ZomblibulaX]

$5 make your cheap kids boots warmer: spray foam insulation. Bear with me. The operation is seemingly a pain in the ass but it works a treat.

IF there is no boot board in there, there’s probably a bunch of vertical fins instead, to create a boot bottom without having a solid lump of plastic. Which means a bunch of air beneath the foot, that is cold as balls because it’s a few mm from the elements with no insulation. So... run blue painter’s tape around the perimeter inside the boot, right above the bottom, then spray silicon spray or wd40 on a rag and wipe it everywhere you don’t want foam to stick (i.e. above the tape). Vvvveeeerrrryyy carefully spray foam into the voids in the boot bottom, keep the nozzle right on the bottom. You don’t even need the foam to fill all of it, just reduce the amount of air your kids’ toes have to heat up. Let it dry, scrape off the excess with a flex blade/putty knife, put foil tape over the top of the foam. Voila. It sounds a lot more involved than it is, but it works awesome.

And yeah, puffy vest, neck gaiter, extra layer around the middle so their ass doesn’t freeze to the chair.

[BCMtnHound]

Not sure the extra layers work as effectively with thin and momentarily inactive young women. The surface to mass ratio just doesn't work in their favour when standing still or without some form of external heat source. Maybe put the electric or chemical heating elements near her core immediately after activity, along with that extra puffy might help, but if my beanpole 8yr old daughter is any indication, once she stops moving, she gets cold extremities no matter how well dressed she is.

[OldGuyOnSkis]

Heated socks? Easier than switching elements on the insole.

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[BCMtnHound]

^^^my Grandpa always said, “if yer feet are cold you ain’t working hard enough”

Heh, along with a boot to the ass and a 'I'll give you something to complain about'.

[BFD]

make sure your daughter is wearing socks. Was always a problem in our family. But I would also say the chemical toe warmers.

[volklpowdermaniac]

Another lower hanger : I have a problem if I wear my ski socks from the house to hill... I always go no socks or athletic socks to the hill then put on my ski socks right before they go on my boots....my issue was my feet would sweat, sometimes a lot but often just little amounts then go into my boots just a little wet and that would f me up. Now I’m sure to make sure my feet are bone dry before going in the booties. But don’t ask me, I wear size small as fuck boots and jam my toes in there with zero space and have had a perenial black toe for as many ski seasons as I can remember...

[TBS]

Heh, along with a boot to the ass and a 'I'll give you something to complain about'.

For me It was “you wanna cry? I’ll give ya something to cry about”

And he did once kick me in the ass hard enough that I landed about a body length from where I started