Those dreaded waterproof dungarees
1.4.2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
At first glance, you might associate waterproof dungarees – or mud pants – with a happy childhood. On second thought, you might feel conflicted about them. Plenty of kids certainly feel uncomfortable wearing them. Researchers are calling for a rethink on the garment.
For many people, daycare centre cloakrooms present the ultimate test of patience – for kids and adults alike. Trust me, I’ve been there. As have countless early years practitioners. For daycare staff, however, the cloakroom chaos is amped up to the nth degree. On rainy days, before taking any of the little ones outside, they’re forced to confront the scourge of waterproof dungarees. Twenty times.
Eventually, a horde of mini Michelin men (and women) traipse out into the woods, all wrapped up and well-protected, clad in yellow wellies and fluorescent thermal dungarees. All set to experience the great outdoors. Well, almost. As long as you ignore the barrier presented by their dungarees’ rubber coating, designed to keep their clothes clean and the mess to a manageable level. A coating plenty of kids aren’t keen on.
Many children hate waterproof dungarees.
I can understand the hatred described by Virve Keränen, a researcher based at the University of Oulu in Finland, in this article by «Der Spiegel» (in German). I’ve experienced something similar; my own kids disliked the numerous pairs I bought for them. That’s why I find it interesting that the researcher, alongside her colleague Susanna Kinnunen, made waterproof dungarees the subject of a research paper.
A controversial garment
On the surface, the research is about dungarees. Go deeper, and you’ll find it’s about exploring the role of young children in society, the ways they demonstrate resistance, and structural issues in day-to-day life. All of these things can be explained using this controversial piece of clothing. «Our aim is not to criticise mud pants, but to examine and shake up the practices and rules surrounding them,» says Susanna Kinnunen.
Finland, a country that’s topped the World Happiness Report rankings since 2018, is apparently unwilling to put up with the unhappiness of a few kids in brightly coloured, rubber clothing. And seeing as the practice of mud-pant wearing extends from Scandinavia, all the way across the wet, cold heart of Europe, the issue affects plenty of people.
Mud pants
Is your child willing to wear mud pants?
- Yes,we don’t have any issues there.84%
- No, if they wear them, they’ll protest.16%
The competition has ended.
Waterproof dungarees: the great equaliser
From a child’s perspective, there are good reasons not to like mud pants. When little ones are sent out in full outdoor get-up, they’re more likely to be walking on slightly damp grass than splashing through knee-deep puddles. Kids who’re keen to run, climb, kick and jump feel restricted in their stiff dungarees. Mud pants are mostly convenient for adults, as they don’t have to do as much washing and changing. As a result, everyone’s forced to wear the same thing. And that creates a problem.
Feeling restricted in their movements, kids use what little range of motion they do have for small acts of defiance. Barely two minutes into wearing their dungarees, they’ve yanked down the suspenders and wriggled their boots out of the elasticated loops. They waddle and stumble, tugging and pulling at their mud pants, all to express their discomfort. Plus, the dungarees are perfect for hiding stones and sticks. Doing all this gradually helps them regain a little bit of autonomy. The children’s book linked below (in German) tells a very similar story.
Children's books
Leon und Jelena - Die Matschhose muss weg
German, Raingard Knauer, Ruediger Hansen, 2017
In the book, the children and their carers decide to solve the issue by talking about it. The kids get to vent their frustration about their dungarees getting in the way while they’re playing. In turn, their carer explains that their parents can’t spend all their time doing laundry. In the end, the children wash their dungarees themselves. That’s how things would pan out in an ideal world.
Most of the time, however, personalised ideas fall short in the face of generalised reality. As a consequence, children are left with little chance of getting their way. The authors’ analysis demonstrates that carers are aware of that and often feel sympathy for kids as a result. At the end of the day, however, they’ve got a job to do.
Reluctant cloakroom bouncers
Daycare staff feel obligated not to send children home to their parents wearing soaking-wet clothes. They also need to keep mud outside and the inside of the daycare clean. Plus, they need to keep track of time, all while often dealing with issues created by staff shortages.
The result? Tedious assembly line-style work. On one side, there’s a line of children who absolutely refuse to be dressed in rubber clothing. On the other, there are adults needing to get on with the job. And sometimes, even the best tricks don’t help matters.
Source: Katja Fischer
What if gentle persuasion doesn’t work? The Finnish researchers describe how the drama surrounding waterproof dungarees shapes relationships, behaviour and power dynamics between children and adults. Out of sheer helplessness, early years practitioners turn into cloakroom bouncers to get defiant children under control. As a result, these kids are wrestled into their dungarees like mannequins.
Or they’re subjected to social pressure, told that «the whole group’s waiting» for a few children refusing to wear their mud pants, and that their parents «would definitely be upset» if they got their nice clothes dirty. Sometimes, they’re told they won’t be allowed to do things. «If you don’t put on your dungarees, you can’t play in the sandbox,» for instance. And, of course, everybody’s gear needs to be inspected one last time before a single welly boot touches the ground outside.
Their clothes are wet, but it’s all good
«Mud pants can reveal a great deal about the expectations society places on children, and about the significant role even small objects play in everyday life,» say the researchers. There’s a lot attached to this garment. Not just sand and mud, but sometimes negative feelings carried by children long into adulthood. When I think about it, those irritating moments from my own childhood are just as vivid in my memory as the happy ones.
So I’m glad that, during the messy but fun preschool phase, when I picked up my kids in the evening, they were rarely wearing the same clothes they had on that morning. Instead, every other day, their carers would hand me a plastic bag containing their dirty laundry. Wet clothes? No bother. The thing that actually annoyed me more was washing their dungarees.
Header image: Shutterstock/TanyaYarr
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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