Buying clothes for 'growing into'

[JMarie]

Okay, so EVERYONE is having sales right now, and I'm wondering if I should start stocking up for Aidan. I just love getting a great deal, so I'm having a really hard time resisting all the sales emails I'm getting lately! I was thinking of getting clothes for next fall and winter and was actually wondering if I should even bother, since I don't know how he will grow? Should I stick to basics, like overalls, pants, and tops, or will I be okay buying things like jackets and sweaters as well? I'm trying to stick to stores with good to great return policies, so at least I can exchange something if it doesn't fit. Does anyone else do their shopping this early, or did you at least wait until the baby was born? TIA!

JMarie
EDD 2/23/03
Aidan Christopher

[Melanie]

I bought mostly up to size 6-9 months, and a few 12 months. However, there are some things I have for the wrong season in the wrong size. Even after he was born I bought the wrong things ahead of time. He zipped through size 12 so I bought some winter stuff in 24 months and now he's slowed at 18 months for quite a while now. I was rarely sorry b/c I kept the receipts and tags on, and I knew I wouldn't have the money to do tons of shopping once Ds was here and I was a SAHM.

Even in the summer you might need one jacket occasionally, so it couldn't hurt, but I wouldn't go crazy beyond 3-6 or 6-9. In general, I think babies run a bit ahead of the sizes.


Mommy to Jonah

[aka_mama2be]

JMarie,

I too am interested in what folks will say regarding this. BUT Can tell you that I have a HUGE bin filled with "future" clothes for Tristan where I have done this...tons of overalls etc...

And even as recent as about 5 days ago was buying girl clothes for a baby. All the gals at check out say, "Oh you're having a girl"...and I say "actually I am having a boy"...mind you a pink frilly dress will be in my hands :)

I have almost as many girl clothes as I do boy clothes...They are all siting in their bins in the closet waiting. In the event I can't use them I'll give them away. They were all such great deals!!!

And I love girls clothes with emboidried insects, flowers etc...if it has emboidry on it I buy it!!!!

I'm a nut!!!

[Momof3Labs]

I've been doing this too, though it is hard to determine how big Colin will be next winter. He is 14lbs and 26" at 3 months - a string bean!

I have known quite a few babies lately that are in 12 months sizes by their 6 month birthday, so I would suggest that you not buy anything smaller than 12 or 18 months for next winter. The true test is whether you would be upset if you weren't able to use something - if you would be upset, then wait until next fall. I got tons of stuff at a resale shop that was moving (50% off), and stocked up on boy and girl stuff since I didn't know what we were having - and didn't care if it got packed away for the next baby! I have not bought a coat or snowsuit for Colin for next winter - decided to wait until the fall and see where he is at growth-wise (unless I find an amazing deal before then).

One thing I found was that I got TONS of 0-3, 3-6 and 6-9 month stuff as gifts, so I didn't need anything that I bought in those sizes (except onsies). And although it was fun shopping while I was pregnant, I missed being able to do it for the first few months of his life, because we were using all of those gifts! But now I'm having fun again!!

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[egoldber]

In general, I found that Sarah (who has mostly been a 50th percentile baby after she caught up from her slow weight gain) was "true to size" until 12 months. At 12 months, she really needed 18 month clothes and is now (at 16 1/2 months) wearingly almost exclusively 24 month and 2T clothes.

If I were you, I would NOT stock up now. Baby clothes are ALWAYS on sale and it is hard to predict what size your DS will be when. It is also VERY fun to shop with your baby and pick out things you need then. Personally, if I had "stocked up" before Sarah was born, I would have still felt the urge to shop and ended up with too much.

HTH,

[sparkeze1]

I totally agree - you never know not only what size your baby will be in a given season, but you don't know what style of clothing you'll like. My DS is 9 mo and he wears anywhere from 12mo - 18 mo sizes. And I thought I would like to dress him in stuff like jeans, khakis, overalls, onesies, etc, but I found that I prefer one piece playsuits, tees, and sweatpants. I just like to see him look comfortable and also with his gigantic CD butt to fit, it's a little tougher to buy ahead of time.

Plus, if you buy all that now, you won't have any shopping to do later! What fun is that? :)

[kathsmom]

Hi, JMarie!

I agree with the others about not stocking up too much. DD was pretty much true to size until she got to the 5T/little girls 6-6x size. I now have a very difficult time fitting her! Her swimsuit this past summer was a girls size 10 and she is only 6 years old!!

DS has surpassed the sizes going by age. He is just about out of the Carters 3-6 months size, especially the sleepers and anything with a snap crotch and he is only 3 1/2 months old now. I am getting ready to try the 6 month size on him soon.

HTH and good luck!

Toni - mom to Katherine (5/19/96) and Andrew (9/23/02)

[JMarie]

Okay - I've been convinced not to go on a shopping spree. I think I will probably go ahead and pick up a few basics - onesies, cotton sleepers, socks - but stay away from the shirts, pants, and outerwear-type items. I would hate to get all these clothes and then be stuck returning them, or deciding that I didn't like them down the road. Thanks for all your input!

JMarie
EDD 2/23/03
Aidan Christopher

[suzska]

I'm always buying ahead for Evan. But I've been lucky in that he runs pretty true to size. He'll be 2 in March and is wearing 2T and 3T stuff right now. He seems to outgrow the arms of shirts before he outgrows the torso of the shirt, which is why he's wearing a few 3T's right now. But he's still in 2T pants.

I've always tried to stock up on the basics. I always go out and buy the next size of PJ's when Penneys or TRU has one of their sales. Since I don't like to do laundry too often, I try to make sure he has at least 7 PJ's in any given size or "style" of PJ's (long-sleeves/long pants vs. short-sleeves/shorts). But we started out with 6-7 footies in each size. Socks are always good. But I now just buy them at Old Navy (unless I find them on sale somewhere).

Layers are also good. Meaning, if you find T-shirts on sale, go ahead and buy them because you can always layer something over top. Jeans or twill pants are okay, too. The only thing we may not get to use too much are the 2T shorts I bought when our KRU was closing last year (it moved in with the TRU). But I only paid a couple bucks for those, so no biggy. He got a bunch of 12M clothes from my Mom for Christmas last year--she bought them on clearance from Lands' End. I wish I had gotten her to actually give them to me before Christmas, because he didn't get to wear them too much. But he did get to wear them. And there was the 24M Steelers snowsuit that I bought on clearance last year for $12.50. He's only worn it once this winter, and wasn't too thrilled with the experience--but then he has something against zippers right now.

I have Rubbermaid Roughneck containers full of clothes that he's grown out of and of clothes he hasn't grown into yet. I rarely pay full price for anything, and Evan always looks "sharp!" I don't go overboard, but I try to make sure he has about 2 weeks worth of outfits right now. He only wears them around the house, but I'd get tired of seeing the same thing everyday! I suppose if he starts pre-school someday, or starts playing outside more, the number of outfits we'll need will increase.

I also keep a list of everything I buy (size, color, type, etc.) so I can refer to it every now and then, and decide what I might need and try to keep an eye out for those items. Once I think he has enough of one type, I move up to the next size. So far this is working for me.

HTH!

[AngelaS]

I shop ahead and have for both girls with good results.

My first dd was only in the 50% for both height and weight for her first couple of years. So she generally wore her age in size. :) It depends on what brands you buy as to how the sizes run. I found that OshKosh and Gymboree ran true to size. Gap and Old Navy ran big and Target stuff often shrank and ran small.

Once you get a feel for how the brands fit, you can kind of guess what size your child will be. Also as they grow, they start growing slower and wearing one size longer.

For example--at one year dd wore 12 to 18 months clothes. That summer when she was 18 months, she was wearing mostly 24mo/2T stuff. She continued to wear 24mo/2T stuff thru the winter. Early the next spring, she started wearing some 3T stuff and that size lasted her thru most of the next winter.

So, she needed both fall and winter gear in 2T and 3T stuff and every size since then. :)

Coats and outwear I always buy ahead. At the end of the season all the stores mark their Columbia coats WAAAY down and you can buy a brand new one for $40 as opposed to $120 the next winter. Coats are more comfortable and easier to put on when they're a little bit big anyway. LOL

I do lots of garage sale shopping too, so if I see a nice jacket for $3 or $5 I pick it up. If dd can't wear it in the upcoming fall, it may fit her in the spring or even next fall (or both!). And for that good of price, if she only wears it a couple of times, that's okay. :) I can always resell it.....LOL

[egoldber]

I also buy ahead, but I wouldn't recommend doing so until after your baby is born. Until then you have no idea how big they will be, how fast they will grow, etc. And it just seems like there are always good deals to be had on kids clothes.

[atlbaby]

Hi,
Just wanted to say--being a (very) big fan of lists here--that I love the idea of keeping a list of clothes they have so that you actually can *remember* what you need when you are actually in the store!! I'm actually kicking myself for not thinking of doing this before (and shocked because just about everything has a list in my life :) )
I'm currently starting to get Arielle some 24M clothes, bc she is beginning to get too big for her children's place 18M things--always the first to go I've found. I so loved the jeans with the plaid on the cuffs :(

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[sarsah]

I have a 2 1/2 year old DS and a baby boy on the way (due 5/16/03) and I always buy their clothes at the end of the season. I save a ton that way and can dress them in Osh Kosh, Carters, Gymboree, etc. at rock bottom prices. I keep the receipts and leave the tags on, so depending on the stores, I can return some items if they don't fit. Also, since I pay so little for the items, I can often consign them and get more than I paid.
Items like t-shirts and sweats are fine if they are a little big, so those are a safe bet. I also buy winter coats a year ahead since we live in GA and get such little wear out of them.

So far I've done a pretty good job at estimating the sizes. Mostly I only buy stuff I really like -- if it's just 'ok', then I leave it. I also keep a spreadsheet of what I've bought so I don't end up with 100 pairs of jeans and no shirts, etc.

Sarah....