Clueless about clothing sizes...

[Judegirl]

My dd is almost 7 weeks old, and weighs about 12.5 pounds, at about 24-25 inches. She's outgrowing some of her newborn stuff already, and today I dressed her in a Gymboree 3-6 month outfit and it was snug.

I'm not experienced enough to eyeball all of her clothes and ascertain whether they'll fit...and I really don't want to try everything on her every few weeks! Are there any rules-of-thumb, so I can make educated guesses at what might fit? Any brands that run large or small? Or are there weight ranges that generally correspond with sizes? How does everyone else decide what to start trying on when? (Am I the only one who has NO idea when I hold something up whether it's for a newborn or a toddler?)

I'm afraid she'll outgrow things I never even take out of the drawers if I don't figure this out soon - her clothes are organized by the sizes on the labels.

One more question...if the label says "3 months" does that mean it should fit up until 3 months, or it should fit AT 3 months?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer me a clue!

ETA: Most of her stuff is Oshkosh, Babystyle, Gymboree and Little Me.

Jude

[Buffys Mommy]

Jude,

I've found that some manufacturers run very big and some run small. And some (like Gymbo) have some big and some small items.

As for the labels - If it says 3 months it means it should fit up to 3 months. I've found that my dd runs fairly true to size (i.e. she's in 6 - 12 month clothes right now - but can fit some 12 - 18 months gymbo although they are big on her). I also know lots of kids who were at least one size "ahead".

As for the closet - I still find things with the tags on after she's outgrown them, but I've gotten much better. Recently I found some onesies that were given to us that I misread as 12-18 months. They were actually 12-18 pounds. So you're not the only one who's not good with sizing. What I do is about every six weeks I go through her closet. At six months, some of her stuff was too small, but some still fit. At 7 1/2 months, I pulled out any 3-6 left and moved the 12 - 18 month stuff into my "active" area of her closet. At nine months, I plan on pulling out most of the two small stuff. I also keep a box in her closet for stuff that's too small. As I discover an outfit doesn't fit any more it goes in the box. As the box gets full, I give it to a friend who just had a little girl a month ago. We're not having any more so this is a good system for me to get the old stuff out of the house, and my friend loves not having to buy much for her little girl.

Sarah Michelle 10/13/03

[Imperia]

Someone recently asked about how Gymbo ran and myself and a few others wrote a pretty comprehensive description of how their pieces run.

You can see that thread here:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=8&topic_id=21773&mesg_id=21773&listing_type=search

Different brands fit different babies better than others. Gymboree and JAnie and Jack fit long slender babies best. Gymboree in general does run big. I find it very odd that a 3-6 month outfit by Gymboree would not fit a 12 pound baby as it should fit until she is around 17 pounds. My DD is a little over 12 pounds and most 3-6 gymboree falls off of her. Your DD isn't even too tall for 3-6 gymboree, I don't think, but a lot of people believe that you should measure clothing more by height then weight. I think it just depends on your overall child's build to be honest.

One of the main things I would reccomend is to pretty much ignore the months on the tags and go more by height and weight. You will eventually get the hang of sizes don't worry. Oh and BTW Gymboree has a 6 month return policy...if you bring something back with your receipt within 6 months (with tags on it) they will give you a refund. I had to do this when I overestimated my DD's size.

Oh and in my experience:

Oshkosh runs short and wide
Little Me runs small
No experience with Baby Style

Imperia

[KYBelle1102]

My DS is fairly proportional (in the 35-45th percentile in both height and weight)...He stays pretty true to size, but certain things fit differently.

I agree with the assessment that OshKosh tends to run short and wide. He usually outgrows those items in the stride (crotch) before the actual length. Gymbo one-piece items (mostly the pjs) make me nuts at times. Don't think about washing them in anything but cold and drying on low. (I don't have time to pay that much attention to the laundry.) Every pair of Gymbo pajamas we've bought have shrunk so much after the first wearing that it was like trying to stuff DS into a sausage casing.

Overall, for as fast as the kiddo goes through clothes, I love Carter's, especially for sleepers. Don't pay a whole lot of attention to their weight ranges because they have a ridiculously narrow range on their sizes. I use length on their clothes mostly.

Basically, it's a lot of trial and error. If your baby is bigger in one direction than the other (weight vs height), then use that as a guideline.

[Little Ladybug]

Was the Gymbo 3-6 month item that you put on your DD an actual outfit, or was it a sleeper? If so, that would explain why it seems a little snug - Gymboree's sleepwear is cut very slim for safety purposes - It will fit her longer than you think. If the snug item was actually an outfit, maybe that particular piece is just running small?

[Judegirl]

Thanks all...that makes sense. My dd is not long and slender by any means (I think OshKosh may work out well), and the Gymboree outfit was a bodysuit that was VERY snug, with pants that fit fine. I checked out Imperia's thread and my experience seemed consistent with that of others.

I hope that at some point I'll be able to tell by eyeballing...right now it seems like I'll just have to keep trying things on her.

Jude