Product Spotlight 01/06: Baby Apparel

wanderlustsoul

Today on the list of topics to discuss we have BABY APPAREL. So let's have our first serious baby clothes discussion! Looking ahead at the product topics, in later weeks we'll also have specific conversations on fall and winter essentials for our growing babies, so we'll be able to revisit seasonal particularities, so don't feel the need to comb your brain for every last item! This thread can focus on what to get throughout our pregnancies to be ready for those first few newborn rollercoaster months!

So tell me all about tiny baby clothes! Do you have favorite brands? Where do you get your basics and where do you get your splurges? Does one even splurge for a newborn? Did you have a special coming home outfit? Any particular stylistic preferences to warn FTMs (e.g., do you avoid teensy buttons like the plague and only get zippered onesies)? Opinions on baby hats and baby socks?

How much do you REALLY need for a newborn: did STMs find you changed their onesie 10 times a day or, like, rarely? Any shopping tips to get a good baby clothes haul (which they'll inevitably use for 10 seconds before growing out of it)--did you get used baby clothes? What range of sizes should we get now that we have a little time to plan and shop: should you buy ahead and be equipped through months 0-6 or 12, or buy as you go? How do you dress them to sleep: do you use a sleep sack on top of pjs? Baby shoes: adorable accessories or complete waste of time? And while we're talking clothes, how do you wash baby clothes? Do you use special soap? Please share!

Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlight

wanderlustsoul

Don't buy clothes because everyone buys clothes. I basically just filled in the gaps with anything we needed. 

I don't personally care on the zipper vs snaps front but I know many people feel very strongly about this. I'm a minimalist in everything I do so baby clothes too. I like to have what I need and nothing else. Everyone buys unnecessary outfits for us and he wears it 1 time, maybe. With COVID, he barely even did and I'd put it on just so he at least wore it 1 time. 

My favourite brand for sleepers is Petit Lem. It's organic cotton, super soft, and double zipper. It's the only thing I use for him to sleep in even now so I own sizes newborn-4T currently (he's in 24 months/2T). 

I'd totally recommend looking at buy nothing/marketplace as you can get bundle of clothes for super cheap. 

Sizes are different here (we go by cm so 86 cm is 12-18 months but much more precise and accurate than a US size 12-18 months, which I hate!!!). So I made sure we had 0-3 and 3-6/Size 56 and 62 and then bought as we went/used presents. My son was 8lbs 4oz so he didn't really need anything newborn sized. Then we bought as we need things. I.e. I have no short sleeve onesies so I'll buy size 92 (18-24 months) in my next H&M purchase to fill in that gap. I only buy as I need as I don't want to be wasteful. 

Love sleepsacks. We used the Ollie swaddle (amazing) and use Perlimpinpin sleep sacks now (Canadian brand). Baby shoes are a complete waste of money. Baby socks are super cute. Baby hats, you only need 1-2. I'm pretty sure 90% of my son's wardrobe from 0-9 months was gifted to us, including blankets, etc. 

I also love H&M for baby clothes - super cute, well priced, and sizing is so much more accurate than other brands. I also use a lot of European brands (Little Green Radicals is a fave). 

laurad75

FTMs try and resist the urge to buy too much before the baby comes.  People will buy you clothes - they can't help it.  

I feel very strongly about zippers vs snaps and returned all the PJ's I received with snaps.  There is a company called MagneticMe that has magnets on their PJ's which is super convenient but they are expensive.  

I'm a Carters fan and buy from their clearance sales pretty often.  I also liked BabyGap and Old Navy.  

I agree with @AKuzReve on trying to find bulk hand-me-downs on marketplace or accept any hand-me-downs you might have access to with friends.  

Socks - I really like Robeez socks - they seemed to stay on better than most and baby shoes are a waste.  We never used them until DS started walking.  

Sleepsacks - My 2.5 yo still uses a sleepsack - we love them.  I used the Halo sleepsack swaddle when he was NB until when he could breakout of them.  I think we moved to the Magic Merlin and then back Halo sleepsacks until he got too tall for them.  Now I use Kyte sleepsacks which are more expensive but so soft and cozy and don't seem to be too heavy or warm.  

wanderlustsoul

@laurad75, oh yes! We had some robeez and they were great! Actually stayed on. Magic merlin is also amazing and a great transition from swaddle to sleepsack. And I also love Kyte!

legallykate

+1 for Carter's, they have insane doorbusters and other sales so you can buy the basics in bulk, and also am on Team Zipper, we found some sleepers that zip both down and up and those were a life saver for middle of the night diaper changes. We were not good about swaddling with DD and I want to try harder this time. 

_orchid_

My UO: I prefer snaps to zippers! I could never figure out how to get my kids legs out of the zippers for diaper changes without taking the whole thing off. 

I liked Carter's for my long, slim baby and baby gap for my shorter, chunkier baby. Carter's always has sales, and baby gap has fairly frequent sales too. I was able to get a lot of BG stuff at resale stores, which I was ok with bc it holds up very well. The only jeans that have been able to handle ds2's thick, delicious thighs are gap so I'm always buying those second hand. 

Ds1 was 8.11 and 21 inches long, never needed nb for him. DS2 was 9.5 and 19 inches long, and lived in nb the first 3 weeks. We didn't have much nb so when he was a few days old we took a family trip to Carter's so I could run in and buy a few things.

People bought tons of clothes (and still do). I buy a few special outfits a year. I bought a neutral outfit for bringing baby home and both boys came home in that outfit. Will probably use it again but not sure bc it will be June and they came home in October and January. 

klj0228

My first grew incredibly slow for the first year and a half so she wore her clothes for a long time. 

My favorite place for basics is Primary.com I love that they have no tags and no logos. They are not cheap, but also not expensive and they do have decent sales sometimes. 

Not many people bought outfits for our first and if they did it was usually something I wouldn’t choose for her myself. In those cases I put it on her once, sent the person a photo and then it went to Once Upon a Child. 

klj0228

I forgot the zippers vs snaps conversation. I am opposite of most and prefer snaps in the newborn phase. I like that the snaps go down both legs instead of having to squeeze one leg out with the zipper ones.

I also love the magneticme brand, but don’t buy them myself because they are expensive. 

mc0303

I had a small baby (4.5 lbs) and actually ended up rushing out to buy a ton of preemie clothes. Can’t really prepare for that one. Best place to get it was on Amazon. 

He stayed in newborn and 0-3 for a while so thankfully we had been gifted so much. Carter’s was our go to for bulk onesies and footie pajamas. Lots of sales. 

Also when he was a newborn, I rarely put pants on him since he was all swaddled up. I found these cute shirts that snapped and looked like chefs coats. 

I’d usually buy the basics from
Carters (onesies) and then the rest from Primary.com. I love their stuff and how colorful it is. 

We swaddled traditionally using muslin swaddles (Aden + Anais) or the SNOO swaddles. 

And I’m 100% Team Zipper. I had a VERY active newborn (still is) and would move around like a crazy person during every outfit and diaper change. 

klj0228

@mc0303 my mom went out and bought preemie clothes for my little lady. All of her NB clothes swallowed her. We also did the little chefs coat like tops without pants. 

wanderlustsoul

Am I the only one? I hate Carter’s. Their sizing makes no sense at all. A 24m is 32-34” but 28-30lbs. Who are these babies that fit into that? Very few I’d imagine. My DS is 32” and just over 23lbs, and he’s pretty much 50% for both weight and height. 

_orchid_

@AKuzReve I don't go by weight measurements on clothes. Ds1 is tall and thin (like always 95%+ for height, and 70% for weight), and Carter's has always fit him well bc it's cut narrowly. Both my kids are typically a size ahead of their ages- ds1 is 7 and currently in 8-10, ds2 just turned 4 and is in 5/6.

DS2 is big too, but built more broad (like a linebacker). His height is typically 80-90% but weight is always 95%+. Carter's clothes are too narrow for him- once he was out of nb, 3 month stuff was hard to get over his shoulders. He needs clothes that are cut wide. 

Just looked up ds2's 12 month stats bc I knew they were in my phone still- at his 12 month check up he was 27 lbs and 31.5 inches. That's pretty much spot on for him always being ahead a size. Also, he was exclusively breastfed, his favorite food is broccoli, and he is a legit giant 🤣  my back pretty much always hurts LOL

ellieemc26

Silly FTM question.  So snaps v. Zippers is just a preference for ease of getting clothes on/off?  

_orchid_

@ellieemc26 pretty much! Honestly not sure how much we'll be using either as this will be a June baby. We used the open bottom gowns for the first few weeks to make diaper changes easy and then went to pants over a onesie. 

marebear15

@ellieemc26 - Yes, I prefer the bottom-up zippers because you don't have to undo the entire sleeper to do a diaper change. The open bottom gowns are good for this too. 

sugarcoateddonut

I shouldn't have to buy very much for this baby. We were gifted so many clothes for DD (and my mom went/is going overboard...only grandchild so she is very spoiled lol), and my SILs have kept everything from their sons and daughters so I should be pretty good!

I personally like sleepers with zippers because I fumble the snaps in the dark. I also love the sleepers with the foldover hands for newborns! So much easier than trying to keep mittens on their tiny hands.

Carters is my favourite place for sleepers and clothes. I find they hold up the best out of the chain options. Old Navy has the cutest little girl things IMO, but the quality isn't the best. DD is a big kid (99% for height and 95% for weight) and Carters was also the roomiest for us. 

Little and Lively is another favourite of mine. They are based in BC.

Primary looks so cute! I will have to look into shipping to Canada. 

ellieemc26

Thanks guys! all these little things I wouldn’t have even thought about...

mc0303

Oh and the Zippa-Dee Swaddle from Sleeping Baby! We’ve used it since LO turned 6 months and started sleeping in a crib. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. We have the Flying Squirrel suit now and it’s so great too. 

wendy838

@mc0303 lol I googled what a flying squirrel suit looked like and I was not disappointed 

mc0303

@wendy838 😂😂😂 I wish it were as cute!!! 

ramzlau

I am going to be the UO here. 

I strongly dislike Carter’s. I have tried it, but I just feel like the quality is so poor. After a few washes is looks so worn. 

And we received no clothes as gifts for DD. So don’t necessarily expect it. We are older and most of our friends have had kids before us, so I think they all had the same thought of buy what’s on the registry. Not that I am complaining at all, we love to shop for DD! 

There are some great sales right now just about everywhere. Janie and Jack have 60% off and I can always find good deals at Gap, H&M, OshKosh or Cotton On. I also really like Cat & Jack brand from Target and for long babies the Burts Bees. 

Infant clothing is so weird in that every brand has its own sizing. So don’t be surprised if a newborn in one brand it half the size of another brand. That would be my biggest caution about buying a lot now. 

For swaddles I only used muslin ones from  Aden&Anais and Sleepeas/Sleep Sack from Happiest, but I will probably try Magic Merlin this time too. 

I don’t mind zippers or snaps when I am changing, but H would basically undress DD all the way when there were snaps from shoulder to foot, and he hated how hard it was to get her hands/feet through the Burts Bees onesies. 

Omie_Wise

I also dislike Carter’s because of the quality. I am very picky about my kids’ clothes. I actually really hate when people buy me clothes for my kids because 9/10 times, I hate it. There’s something about boys that compel people to buy sports apparel, when we are not sports people. I also have a deep love for fancy boutique brand baby clothes. By time they are a toddler it’s all about the Gap because it washes well and holds up to my crazy kids but when they are small, give me all the cute boutique stuff. We also use wool for our cloth diapering so we have a huge collection of baby woolies. 

laurad75

I have to agree with those that said Carters is low quality.  I buy Carters because it's cheap and DS ruins so much of his clothes anyway.  

@Omie_Wise I dislike a lot of my gifted clothes too.  For some reason, I hate baby clothes that say dumb stuff like 'I'm Mommy's favorite' or 'I'm a cutie', 'future heartbreaker' - I hate it all.  And the sports stuff... that's just not my style.  

_orchid_

@Omie_Wise surprisingly we haven't been gifted too much sports stuff for our boys... Probably bc DH is a huge Star Wars fan so we have loooots of SW clothes 😆

I think best advice for FTM is don't go crazy buying a ton yet and try a few different brands/styles to see what works. The only stuff I'd definitely be sure to have on hand is maybe a dozen nb/3 month stuff (maybe a few preemie outfits if baby is measuring small) to just get you through the first few days at home. Between spit up/poop 12 outfits should last 2-3 days lol

Is lucie's list still a thing? I used that a lot for ds1 when thinking about #s of items, etc. 

DoubleUp8

DS was 8lbs 1oz and 22" long. He fit into newborn size for only about 3 weeks because he was so long. We used Carter's when he was a baby because they have good sales, and most people gift them to you because they are everywhere. I don't find the quality that low, but I guess I'm not to pick for clothes he will wear for a few months. Once he got bigger than 24 months/2T he was too skinny for Carters. I found Old Navy jeans or Granimals pants at Walmart fit.

Once he got onto boy's sizes I started buying Walmart Wonder Nation jeans in the slim style. They fit him and have reinforced knees so they stand up to his active little boy life. I also like this local thrift store we have call Once Upon a Child. It is a franchised thrift store chain, but they usually have some nice things for decent prices.

We used muslin swaddles (Aden + Anais) for sleeping and will probably do the same for this baby, but with less underneath (a onesie instead of fleecy footie PJs). I liked snaps because I could keep DS's upper body in the footie jammies at night, more an issue for a late fall baby then for these June babies. I did pick out a new outfit for the new baby (just cotton footie jammies and a hat). My biggest recommendation for a coming home outfit is make it easy. You will be really tired and want something that doesn't take too much effort to wrangle the little one into. 

wanderlustsoul

My goal now to buy consciously and sustainably so I’ve been spending more time on finding fair trade boutiques and of the sort. The clothing industry is such a disaster and I try to look into their labour practices before buying. 

tilournextadventure

Yes @Omie_Wise! I hate gifted clothing. And I made it a point if people bought us stuff nothing of saying on the front. Dinosaurs, cool. Dad's favorite, I will hunt you down. 

Agree with many that Carter's is cheap and they have sales frequently so it's nice on the budget when babies grow quickly. Out of the baby stage, we are cat & jack lovers. They fit DS just right and Target's return policy is great. I am in the mode, kids bang up and dirty the hell out of clothes at all ages, but they are in their size for a such a short period of time, so we are budget conscious in that way.

Baby shoes are a no until they are walking outside. We do buy higher quality shoes because feet are important. 

When babies start crawling, pants inside the onesies to keep clothes on. This was a great tip another mom had on my previous bmb. 

sgrn18

So I’m a 50/50 on Carter’s.  I love them for the 0-24 month sizes but not for the toddler stuff.  Again it’s more based on how your child is built than anything.  DS the was in 24 mo-2T by 1 year old in Carter’s.  Oldnavy sizes fit him more accurately as an infant.   DS is a few months away from 3 years old and wears a 4T.  He is tall 97% for height and 90% for weight.  Kohls has the brand Jumping Beans which seems to hold up really well for playing and washing and is longer for the talked kiddos.  We also buy a lot of Granimals from Walmart for “daycare clothes”.  I don’t feel as bad about him destroying a $2.50 shirt lol.  We do size up in Granimals though.  

MelissaMay82

Some of my favorite brands are Burts Bees, Touched by Nature, Lamaze, and Hanna Anderson, we often dress DD in organic. 

For sleep sacks we used Burts Bees or Halo.

We didn’t do shoes for DD until she was walking outside, she currently has crocs, Ugg’s (DH made me, I didn’t want to), little pitterpat (Etsy shop based in MT), and we just got her some Northface winter boots.

As a FTM what surprised me was the difference between NB and 0-3. DD was 7lbs 3oz and 19” long, she was swimming in 0-3. 

I also dislike being gifted clothes for DD, I got so many at my baby shower (which was annoying but that’s a whole different story) that DD didn’t even wear because wrong fit for wrong season. 

Maggie1202

@MelissaMay82 MIL went NUTS on clothes for the baby for Christmas and, I am not kidding, 90% of them were for the wrong season based on the size she bought. So not only did I not like the clothes, but they don't even make sense. I swear, people just see something they think is cute and buy it, not thinking about how babies grow! 

ramzlau

Anyone have Kyte or Caden Lane? I am getting targeted on Facebook and would like to buy a few pieces of comfy/cute onesies just to have. 

wanderlustsoul

@ramzlau, love Kyte. Sooooo soft. 

wanderlustsoul

@Maggie1202, seriously! I got sent shorts for my son. It’s winter. Hello! He’s already in 24m in most things so these shorts will never be worn. 🤦🏽‍♀️ What a waste. 

_orchid_

@AKuzReve hang on to them!! For some reason shorts/bathing suits seem to be something we can use long past their listed size. Idk if it's because the lengths can vary, but with some pairs of shorts we've been able to use for 2 full summers in a row

wanderlustsoul

@_orchid_, they’re super tight and my son’s belly is ridiculous (and cute!). 🤣 and his butt. It’s the running obsession in our families. But im definitely keeping it and will hope for the best. 

_orchid_

@AKuzReve fx! Depends on when you potty train too- those diapers take up a lot of space and then once they're in just undies clothes fit differently. 

Omie_Wise

@ramzlau Kyte is SO soft. I like how you can choose different weights depending on what you need. I can buy them from a local boutique, which I love because I try and spend as much as I can locally. 

ramzlau

@Omie_Wise Oh good to know that they have retail in boutiques! Will check locally!