Summer wardrobe for crawler

[s_gosney]

so jumping off of the walking baby thread...I assume DD will start crawling sometime over the summer, and I guess maybe walking too since summer here lasts till October sometimes. So, what kind of clothes are recommended for this age? It gets pretty hot here with high humidity, so I was thinking shorts or those long shirt/dress with diaper cover combo thingies (lol...can you tell I'm new at this?:)) But, I'm sure her poor little knees will be rubbed raw. What to do? TIA!

[kaitlinsmommy]

I would definitely not have too many dresses, especially long ones. I went nuts buying dd adorable Gymboree dresses in 6-12 months and she could hardly wear them because they are not good for crawling. They just get in the way & frustrated my baby. It is the one thing I WISH someone would have told me. During the crawling months, she wore shorts with t-shirts, one-piece shortalls (like Carter's) or cute onesies. Bloomers would be good too.

And you're right - her knees will be all red in the beginning. But it seems knee skin toughens up and gets used to it. I've seen knee pads for crawlers in the OSA catalog - not very attractive though.

[khakismom]

ITA with Kim. Avoid dresses. I did the same thing with my first, buying tons of 6-12 size dresses, she hardly wore them. It is REALLY hard to crawl in a dress. I think as long as you avoid dresses you'll be fine. Capris would be great because they're summery, but protect the knees. :)

[amp]

Although I don't have a girl, I would agree with Maureen about the capris to protect the knees. DS loves to crawl everywhere, even and sometimes especially when his clothes come off, but then it hurts his knees, so he does this weird hand and foot crawl so he can stay off of his sore little knees. Granted, they can adapt, as I'm sure many moms will tell you, but I know my son just prefers to have his knees covered after a few minutes. At least if you have some capris and lightweight pants, you'll work her up to more bare knee time slowly!

[s_gosney]

Thanks ladies! I will definitely look into some capris. I saw some outfits the other day like the one here
http://tinyurl.com/ysa8d
They call them dresses, but they really seem like more of a long shirt. Any thoughts on these or do I just need to hold one up to her to check the length?
I think we'll not be going the knee pad route...:)
ETA: so far, we've only bought things of medium quality, like carters stuff. Is now the time to take the step up to gymbo or hanna stuff or will she just wear holes in the knees of it no matter what it is?
Thanks!

[parkersmama]

I think that Gymbo and Hanna stuff will hold up well to crawling. Amy Grace is currently crawling and the knees don't look any different than the rest of her outfits. I don't know about Carter's, etc. I don't remember having a problem with them with the boys, though. My kids never really got holes in the knees until they were older (2 yo, maybe?) and were starting to be really hard on pants, playing outside, on the playground, etc. Now, we go through about 6-8 pairs of jeans per winter for each boy! Yikes! Someone did tell me that girls aren't as hard on their clothes so there's hope for us yet! :)

[jubilee]

For your boys, have you shopped at Sears for jeans? The carry Levi's and other name brands. Sears has a Kid-vantage program that gives you a new pair of jeans if the old ones wears out before they outgrow them.

[parkersmama]

I haven't shopped there but someone else reminded me of this the other day when I was lamenting our holey knees! I definitely need to see if that'll work for us since we go through so many. We have a new Sears but the people who work there couldn't be less friendly and helpful if they took lessons in it. Also, my boys both wear slims and they are sometimes hard to find. Parker has been wearing the slims with the adjustable waists from Gap and I still have to tighten the elastic! How's that for skinny? He got that from dh, no me! LOL!

[jd11365]

Lotion the knees at night... I put knee pads on Kayla...or extra wide adult wrist bands work just as well too...

HTH!

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
May '03

[kaitlinsmommy]

DD had Carter's outfits just like that & they were perfect for crawling. The shirt was not very long. How cute!

[s_gosney]

Great! Thanks so much for all the help ladies. Now it's time to have fun with shopping! :)

[kransden]

My MIL lives near a Cater's outlet and bought dd a bunch of sundresses. (Look for the ugly pink Carter's sundress http://k3www.com/baby/girl/dresses.html )They have several very cute styles and colors. She looked adorable, they were easy, and didn't get in her way when she started crawling. They washed well too! I loved them.

They have them at Target and BRU.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02