Carter's brand- do they run true to size?

[jubilee]

I am stocking up on baby boy clothes and love the cute outfits, sleepers and such that Carter's makes. And with an outlet store across the street, it's hard to resist! My first son was 9#, 13 oz-- so immediately wore a size 3-6 months. This baby seems to be growing at a normal rate, so hopefully will be in the 7# range. Will purchasing 0-3 month size be a waste? How long does a typical baby stay in the 0-3 size? I know everyone says to buy 3-6 month size, but unless you have a big baby won't you get a lot of wear out of the smaller 0-3 size? I don't want to waste money, but also don't want the baby to wear stuff twice the size he should be in either. Help! :)

[Momof3Labs]

The Carter's sleepers seemed to run true to slightly big, generally. Colin was 8lbs 4oz at birth and wore the 0-3 month stuff for 6 weeks. Looks like we will get about 10 weeks (or less) out of the 3-6 month stuff. He's weighing in at 14 lbs at 3 months, but is 26" (very long - a string bean)!

We got so much 0-3, 3-6 and 6-9 month stuff as gifts that we won't use most of what I bought when I was stocking up.

Hope this helps!

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[joodyjr]

I really like Carters.. but I thought they were a bit longer than other brands in same size. Not enough to be a problem, just an observation.

[Melanie]

I found them to be totally inconsistant. I have three onesies I bought from them, all a similiar style, all a different fit.

As far as their sleepers I found the terry cloth ones to run larger than the regular stretch cotton ones.


Mommy to Jonah

[egoldber]

I agree with Melanie. With Carters it really depends on the line or style. Some are defintiely more generous than others.

HTH,

[twins r fun]

I agree, also. The terry cloth sleepers run big. I clearly remember my boys staying in a particular size sleeper for a good month after they had outgrown that clothing size. I find their other clothes, such as one piece cotton outfits, shrink a lot. I love Carter's though. We have an outlet here and I get probably 1/4 to 1/2 my boys wardrobe and all of their pajamas there. Make sure you're on the mailing list to get the 20% off coupons sent to you.

As for sizing, my now average size son who was born small (5 pounds) stayed in 0-3 and 3-6 at exactly those ages, but after that has been outgrowing sizes about 2 months ahead of what they say. So I would go a size bigger than age for a baby born at an average weight. Just get some 0-3 so he doesn't look lost in the beginning, but expect the bulk of his first 3 months to be spent in 3-6 month clothing. Just my guess, of course!

Nicole

[cara1]

Funny, I think Carters runs small. DS always outgrows his Carters outfits before anything else. (I guess mainly the footed sleepers.)

[Melanie]

Oh, and I found their "fancy" boys clothing (like for Christmas or Easter) ran quite big and I had to buy a smaller size.


Mommy to Jonah

[suzska]

Evan was 7 lbs 1 oz at birth. I had all 3-6 month Carters footed sleepers. He could wear them from the start, but he was swimming in them. I really wished I had bought a few 0-3 months ones, just so he'd look more comfortable in them. If there's ever a baby #2, they will definitely be getting some 0-3 months footed sleepers. I also found that the terry cloth ones didn't seem to shrink as much as the jersey knit ones (can't remember now if the terry are 100% cotton or not, which would make a difference).

I was given one newborn BabyGap outfit (without feet) as a gift, and it was the only thing that Evan looked "right" in until he grew into the 3-6 months size. Of course the matching hat didn't quite work because his head was in the 97%+ range while the rest of him was in the 25-50% range.