Columbia Baby Boys' Pigtail Hat

I had one of these hats for years, picked it up at a garage sale. I loved it more than any other hat because of the way it was cut, fit perfectly around the face and excellent coverage over the ears. Other hats like this, I couldn't get my boys to keep on if it slid down over their eyes, or I wasn't happy with the lack of coverage over the ears. I really like the double layer of fleece around the ears and the single layer up over the head, plus the tassels are just too cute.Why the ears? All four of our babies are fall babies, born going into six months of cold weather. We learned the hard way with our precious first that uncovered ears = multiple ear infections = expensive doctors visits = increasing strengths of antibiotics = secondary infections and side effects from all the infections. We finally got the ear infections under control with goldenseal drops and hats like this but the doctor and I have wondered if the food allergies and eczema she still struggles with at age six may have been caused by damage to the stomach lining from all the (necessary but unfortunate use of the) antibiotics. So we love this hat, and when a few more in any size popped up for three bucks and change from my wish list, I ordered them all.Upon getting them however, I quickly realized that my kids might have fat heads. (I love you guys. Maybe I should say large noggins.) the "one size" sizing was too big on the brand new-born, though not by too much, it will fit him soon, and too small around the circumference on the two, four and six year olds. So for us, this size will be good for the first year but not much beyond that, in case other parents are confused about the sizing. Thus four stars instead of five, I wish the sizing was more specific.A side note? I am a seamstress, so a hat that is too small is more of a challenge than a bummer. I traced off the two pattern pieces and started adding room until I got a larger size that fits all the bigger kids too. Yep, they all have the same size head. Well almost - the two year old's is slightly bigger. I found that adding two inches around the head, one each in the center front and center back, gives a snug fit. to increase the size, or give more room I may add an inch more to make it one size larger. I found that it does not slide over the eyes (major reason kids rip their hats off) if I add half an inch to the top of the bottom piece and half an inch to the bottom of the chin strap. No vertical adjustments were needed for the top pattern piece.

While the product quality is everything I would expect of Columbia, the sizing is very misleading. I ordered 18-24 months for my 9 month old, thinking it would fit this winter and perhaps next (if I was lucky), and the hat is sized OS (one size), and will be lucky to fit for the next month. I'm keeping it, because I paid so little for it, and he'll need a nice warm hat for trick or treating. I'm a little disappointed, but moving on to bigger and better fitting things!

My son is 2 and this hat was a little tight fitting; however, we still use it. I like that it has the Velcro straps under the chin to keep the hat on and protect his neck and ears from the cold weather. We bough a red Columbia jacket that matches.

Runs very small

This had was too small for my 2 year old grandson's head. So I returned it. It was a cute hat.

It's pretty tight on my one year olds head, he has an average size cranium.

Don't have to worry about my little grandson's ears staying warm this winter -- this hat is perfect! He can't pull it off either!

This is so cute on my son and keeps him toasty. The size is nice as it fit him ok (just a bit big) at 2 months and I think it will fit up to one year or longer. Washes well.