Patagonia Baby Micro D Snap-T Jacket

A well-made, moderately soft, full-length zip-up fleece hoody that my 3-year-old daughter has enjoyed wearing on many family adventures. She lovingly calls it her "mountain hoody." As good as a fleece probably gets for a toddler.

Admittedly, reviewing a piece of gear that my 3-year-old child wears is a bit difficult, since it’s hard for me to gauge some factors such as warmth, breathability, and comfort. This review is based on what I’ve seen while my daughter has worn the Patagonia Baby Micro D Snap-T Jacket, getting her personal feedback, and comparing what I've noticed to other similar jackets, fleeces, and hoodies that she owns.

Conditions:
My 3-year-old daughter has worn the Patagonia Baby Micro D Snap-T Jacket for nearly 5 months (autumn and winter) in ridges and valleys of central Pennsylvania. She’s worn it while camping, bike riding, playing in the leaves, going for mini hikes, sled riding, and general everyday use. 

Construction & Durability:
There are a LOT of kid’s clothes on the market that are poorly made. If I were to guess, some companies just assume they’ll only be worn for one season and then the parents will move on and buy something new. Well, that is 100% not the case with the Patagnoia Baby Micro D Snap-T Jacket (or any other Patagonia products my daughter has worm for that matter). This jacket has been well worn and played in regularly and it shows minimal to no signs of wear…no fraying, no holes, and no stretching. Best of all, the zipper is fully in tact. Something I can’t say for some of the other zip-ups my daughter owns as she is at the age where she tries to sip and unzip her own jackets and pulls very hard on them when she does so. 

Fit and Comfort:
While I can’t exactly speak to comfort, I can say the fleece is soft and based on my daughter’s desire to wear the hoody, is likely pretty comfortable. As for the fit, we chose to go with a 4T option, as she was in-between 3T and 4T at the time of acquiring the jacket. Like most kids clothes, I always size up when in doubt and we made the right call on this one. It’s pretty true to fit, maybe a hair on the short side just in the torso when considering how the elastic edge on the torso. I like that the sleeves are full length, maybe a little bit longer than other brands of the same size. Together, it's fit makes for a fairly roomy, more active-friendly fleece. 

Pockets and Zipper:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about my daughter and jackets, it’s that she loves when they include pockets! The buttoned chest pocket is more a design feature for her—she’s only used it once or twice—but the two hand warmer pockets are used all the time. She loves these pockets, whether it’s to warm her hands or to stash away something interesting she found on the trail (usually rocks or flowers). 

The full-length zipper has never been stuck or snagged. There are very few zip-up jackets that she owns that I can say the same for. 

Features:
Like many other Patagonia products, this jacket is made in a fair trade certified factory and features 100% recycled polyester microdenier (hence the name Micro-D) fleece. Does my daughter understand what any of that means? Nope, but that’s okay, some day she will and until then, it’s nice to see some companies considering the impact of their products. 

A Confusing Name:

The name of this product is somewhat confusing, at least to me. I understand why it is the way it is—the company simply uses certain words as an identifier, such as using the word “Baby” in any product from newborn to 5T—but I think with so many identifiers, it actually stymies clarity. No one calls a 4 or 5-year-old child a baby, but they typically wear the size that Patagonia categorizes as “Baby,” instead of using a better identifier like “Toddler”. The same could be said for their confusing use of the term “jacket” here. Yes, it is a full-zip, hoody with long sleeves, but the fleece isn’t thick enough to warrant this a jacket in cold temps. It’s a mild-weather outerlayer or a cool-weather mid-layer. Most folks don’t call that a jacket. And what most folks actually do call a jacket, Patagonia calls a hoody (case in point, the Baby Reversible Tribbles Hoody that my daughter also wears, is actually a jacket). The company’s product naming is seriously confusing. 

And for what it's worth, my 3-year-old just calls it her "mountain hoody" anyways, given the company's logo on the front of the fleece. She's much less concerned about the confusing name than I am. 

Background

My 3-year-old daughter enjoys being outside daily, regardless of weather conditions. She's worn a variety of jackets, hoodies, and other layers to keep warm in the colder months.