How do you choose a coat for a toddler?

How do you choose a coat for a toddler?
September 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Where we live, coats are not an option. And not just one. We have the cooler, rainy fall to enjoy which necessitates a coat/jacket that usually is worn again in the cooler, rainy spring. We also have three to six months of winter wool or down coat weather, depending on how the weather gods treat us each year.
So I’m surfing around and trying to decide what will work best for Caroline. The “I like everything to coordinate and look nice and appropriate for the setting” person is thinking nice jacket for fall/spring, winter jacket with snowpants, and nice coat for church. (We do dress up for church.) To help you understand my line of thinking… Off the top of my head, I’m thinking I have five (?) winter coats for different kinds of dressing. (Rest assured, all bought marked way down on clearance except the toggle coat from LLBean.) So three really isn’t that many for Caroline, is it?
However, being a new mom I’m sure I may be missing something completely in my sleep-deprived, foggy mommy brain. (Have I mentioned Caroline now has six teeth and she’s been popping them through every seven to ten days? You do the math and figure out how many nights of uninterrupted sleep we’ve had in the past month. ONE. And it was six BLISSFUL hours of uninterrupted sleep last night.)
Ok, so any suggestions or guidelines or shortcuts for me and all the other new moms who read here? Especially beyond the “look at consignment shops” which I already will, but don’t hold out a lot of hope based on what I’ve seen. Does anyone else out there dress up their little girl for church with a special dress coat or am I just weird?