Gerber vs carters

ceclarlinetlo

Experienced moms - do any of you have a preference for Gerber or Carters (or a different brand) of the basic white body suits/onesies?

Also how many of each size shirt and long sleeve would you recommend? What about pants? 

katesmama0706

Hmm. I have quite a few of both in just white onesies. I didn't really have a preference as far as quality but I did find that Carters ran bigger than Gerber did. 
For NB sized I had a pack of each short sleeve and long sleeve, but I didn't ever use pants on my tiny baby because they get changed so often that I hated pulling them on and off all day long. It'll be cold in January so you might want some, or use leg warmers so you can open up the onesie or body suit without undressing the baby all the way. In bigger sizes I had 2 packs of each I think, they were great for layering when needed. 

lindsladle15

I will second the fact that Gerber runs much smaller than any other clothing brand.
No real preference here, except price.

adorebella

I absolutely hated the Gerber brand onesies, they didn't fit my son's body type well and they felt thin/cheap. I prefer Carter's and would have about 6 white onesies in each size.

LastMango

I agree you get what you pay for with Gerber. They are cheaper for a reason, however, for as little time as baby is in each size, they work fine. I bought a bunch of white onesies and ended up rarely using any if them. 

colleenkevin

I agree that Gerber ran smaller and the quality felt cheap. The carter's white onesies are more expensive but feel thicker and softer.

Carly79

We had a decent stash (5-10) for the smaller sizes of a mix of long sleeve and short sleeve and didn't use many. Depending on the outfit or the temperature we'd put a short sleeve one on under some things but still didn't use some. I know as I packed up the smaller sizes I packed up some that had never been worn. I will add, we were in the hospital the first two weeks and he wore the clothes they had so that was a good chunk of his NB size days. We just had a lot of cute onesies so he was put in those more often.

mommy2ane

Like everyone has said, Gerber's runs small. I like the Carter's brand more but I didn't mind having Gerber's. I just kept the sizing in mind and started having him wear them earlier than the Carters.

We had maybe 10 onesies for the newborn stage. I washed three of them before he was born, and kept the with the tags on in case he was bigger than 8 pounds. We actually got about a month out the newborn clothing, which was awesome. We also had about 4-5 sleep and plays, which I wished we had more because those were really comfy for him. For this LO, I'm planning on getting more of sleep and plays since it'll be winter and colder. 

LoveIsOwlYouNeed

Gerbers tend to run small and shrink badly once you wash them.  I preferred Carter's for DS.  They didn't shrink and fit well.  

stumptownmama

I felt gerbers onesies were cut short and wide and carters were longer and narrower. The carters fit my daughter better. And I preferred the feel of carters hands down. 

scgirl6113

Yes, Gerbers are small and shrink in the wash! They feel super cheap too. I hate them! 

ThePax89

I liked Carter's onesies. Long and lean. Perfect for my string bean daughter. I never put her in white onesies. So I don't have any. 

keifekm

Carters for sure! Much better sizing and the material is softer. They are generally cuter as well. 

EISG918

Definitely Carters! I felt like they lasted longer than whatever size I bought... Like DD could wear 0-3mo onesies at 9mo - aside from her being on the small side, I found that Carters clothes stretch more. With Gerber, I always had to buy big sizes (like 6-9mo if she was still in 0-3) because they run small or shrink. I still liked them and would buy them, I just kept the sizes in mind.

I don't remember how many of each size I had but I know I always had a lot in the early days (NB-6mo) as the kids got older and didn't have as many blow outs or spit up attacks, I didn't go through as many per day from 6mo-12mo.

I'msorrymsjackson

I typically used the Gerber ones as undershirts because they're pretty thin and smaller. The Carter's ones can be worn as a normal shirt.

mfrqk6

Not to go too far off topic, but with our winter babies more important than how many onsies you have is how many zip up footie one pieces you have.  My DD was born in December and despite keeping the house warmer than usual I didn't feel good leaving her in just a onesie during the day.  

Zip up outfits are the BEST.  The little snap suits take forever and irritate the baby while you're working on them.  The zip ups are harder to find and more expensive, but you will not regret having several of them.

LastMango

mfrqk6 said:

Not to go too far off topic, but with our winter babies more important than how many onsies you have is how many zip up footie one pieces you have.  My DD was born in December and despite keeping the house warmer than usual I didn't feel good leaving her in just a onesie during the day.  

Zip up outfits are the BEST.  The little snap suits take forever and irritate the baby while you're working on them.  The zip ups are harder to find and more expensive, but you will not regret having several of them.

Preach! DD lived in zip up sleepers for the first 6 months of her life. They work for bedtime and daytime and are so easy to get them in and out of. And def go with zippers NOT snaps. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

AlabamaRedhead

I still love Carter's for my son, their clothes just last longer and are so soft and comfy! 

LoneStar21416

Where have you all found the best places for zippers vs. snaps if the zippers are harder to come by?

katesmama0706

@LoneStar21416 I don't know that I could say I found them more in one place vs another, I think it's mostly hit or miss. I didn't mind the snaps, I think they made changing the baby easier, especially at night when I didn't want to undo the whole jammies to get to the diaper, but the zippers are nice and fast. We've got a good mix of both zippers and snappers from Carters from Target and Kohls and a few directly ordered from Carters.com during good sales. 

karaelaine1991

Echoing what many others have said; as far as quality goes I think they're about the same and I liked them both, but DD was in the 90th percentile for height for most of her first year, so Carter's always fit her better.

Wholesome

Amazon: Leveret.  Hatley.  You can also view similar options to see other brands.

Note: Zulily does Leveret occasionally but just a warning, it can take them several weeks before they ship your order.

scgirl6113

I agree that zippers are nice but I hate having to almost completely undress them to get to a diaper. We prefer the snaps for this reason at night time! 

ashanne88

LastMango said:

mfrqk6 said:

Not to go too far off topic, but with our winter babies more important than how many onsies you have is how many zip up footie one pieces you have.  My DD was born in December and despite keeping the house warmer than usual I didn't feel good leaving her in just a onesie during the day.  

Zip up outfits are the BEST.  The little snap suits take forever and irritate the baby while you're working on them.  The zip ups are harder to find and more expensive, but you will not regret having several of them.

Preach! DD lived in zip up sleepers for the first 6 months of her life. They work for bedtime and daytime and are so easy to get them in and out of. And def go with zippers NOT snaps. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

Yes yes yes to zippers over snaps.  SO much easier.  The worst is getting the snaps off from each other and then having to start all over because they were mis-matched (DH seems to be particularly challenged by this).

ashanne88

I like Carters over Gerber.  Honestly though, DS almost never wore white onsies and when he did they seemed to get poopy or barfed on almost immediately.  Gerber definitely runs smaller.  Side note: I've also found that OshKosh runs smaller than Carters even though they're both owned by the same company.  So if you purchase online be aware of that.

MrsElizabethPlano

For me Gerber was too wide or too short, it was made for the chunkier babies. I had slim babies so Carter's was my go-to. 

kaytastic25

@ashanne88 it's the worst when your half asleep trying to do it! Lol I won't buy anymore snap jammies EVER!!! Snaps be gone! Lol I don't think it's hard to unzip, pull feet out, change diaper, put feet in, zip...back to bed. But snaps are like which goes where, I'm half blind. It's dark...I messed them up now baby has a huge hole in the crotch because I refuse to start over lol 

KimC85

I had a chunky baby and Gerber onesies were still to wide for her. They are a really awkward fit. 

laujam31

carters hands down.  Gerber runs smaller!!!!  FYI Koala baby in babies r us also runs significantly smaller

MayaVill

Carters is better among the cheap brands in my opinion. They do run really big in size tho. Idk, maybe to make parents feel better. If your kid is an average 6 month old, he/she will probably need 12-18 months in carters. I buy carters, but only the summer clothes. The quality isn't super, but babies grow so fast and u won't need them for too long. 
But as far as the amount, I would estimate a change of body suit a day. So it depends on how often you're willing to do laundry;)

karaelaine1991

MayaVill said:

Carters is better among the cheap brands in my opinion. They do run really big in size tho. Idk, maybe to make parents feel better. .

If your kid is an average 6 month old, he/she will probably need 12-18 months in carters I buy carters, but only the summer clothes. The quality isn't super, but babies grow so fast and u won't need them for too long. 

But as far as the amount, I would estimate a change of body suit a day. So it depends on how often you're willing to do laundry;)

This hasn't been my experience.  Up until recently DD was always in 90th for height and 70th for weight, so long and lean but still on the higher end of the spectrum for both, and she's always been exactly on target for carter's clothes. 

MayaVill

Interesting. Even my 10 month old right now that is small(30 percentile) needs 18 months now. My first was in the 90 percentile and always needed 12-18 months bigger than actual age(except for at birth). I find that h&m is more accurate. My small baby could use 4-6 months until 6-7 months. My 10 month old is wearing a 18 month size pj from carters right now that is too short in the legs already. 

karaelaine1991

MayaVill said:

Interesting. Even my 10 month old right now that is small(30 percentile) needs 18 months now. My first was in the 90 percentile and always needed 12-18 months bigger than actual age(except for at birth). I find that h&m is more accurate. My small baby could use 4-6 months until 6-7 months. My 10 month old is wearing a 18 month size pj from carters right now that is too short in the legs already. 

That is interesting! Makes me curious about how clothes will fit #2 haha - carter's have always fit like they were made just for DD; I'll miss that if it's not the case for this LO.