I really loved the looks of this jacket and love LL Bean. My son hated this jacket. The fleece pulled everything up when he put it on, very frustrating for a 4-year-old boy who is very busy, and they were always inside out when he took it off. Eventually he refused to even wear it. Thank goodness for the return policy and we picked a different jacket that he loves!!
The idea of the three in one is great. I have a jacket with a liner as well;howver, my sleeves are not fleece so my arms easily slip in and out. The liner in this jacket was not an issue for one son although he would get frustrated. It was a huge issue with my other sons. It is difficult to get arms in the fleece sleeves. The openings around the cuffs are too tight and do not work well with ski goves/mittnes. The jackets look great and are durable, but the lining really needs to be redesigned. I would also like to see LL Bean make replacement liners. One of my kids left the liner on the bus, so now he just has a shell.
My 8 year old is like many...rough on clothes and hates to shop. (So, LLBean is the answer.) However, he likes this 3-in-1 a lot. He's not one to keep it assembled, he likes to leave on the fleece indoors until he feels warm, and then he casts it aside. Great with just a turtleneck layer in moderate Winter temps. Washes well; stains release from fleece easily.
This is the first 3-in-1 coat that I've bought for my daughter and it has some draw backs I hadn't considered. Because the internal part is fleece, it can't be worn over sweaters. Everytime my daughter takes it off the sleeves turn inside out, even though she may only be wearing a t-shirt under it! There's another child at her daycare and I see their coat hanging up with the sleeves turned completely inside out as well. Also the cuff openings are very narrow so it can be difficult to get winter mittens under the cuff. I would advise getting a real winter coat, especially if your child already has a rain coat and fleece. When you shop at LLBean and pay top dollar for something, you expect they've done the research on the product.
