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overtonhayes
member
Advice needed on registering for/buying clothing
overtonhayes
member
I'm only 23 weeks, so we don't have an estimate of baby's full-term size yet. I've heard that these can be pretty inaccurate anyway. We're pretty sure that baby is going to be big, because DH and all his siblings were around the 10lbs mark; as were my mother and all her siblings. Then again, my dad and his siblings were around the 7lb mark, and I was 7lbs 8oz. I've heard that babies tend to take after their mother when it comes to size. I'm pretty small myself, and I've also heard that because of this it's very unlikely I'll have a big baby. I've even heard that doctors will probably induce me rather than letting my baby get above 8 or 9lbs.
So my question is this: how do I handle registering for/buying baby clothes? I guess is makes sense to have a lot of clothes for a larger baby anyway, since at some point baby will grow into them. But it seems that most clothes for 3MO give the weight range 8-12lbs. If baby takes after DH, she'll outgrow those in a few weeks! I don't want to go buying 3MO clothes for my newborn and then find that she outgrows them really fast, but then again I also don't want to be so prepared for a big baby that if she is a 'normal' newborn size I have nothing for her to wear.
Does anyone know anything more about this "baby's size will take after their mother's size" (I obviously didn't: my mother was a large baby and is a large woman, both in height and weight) thing? And what do you recommend I do for clothing?
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Re: Advice needed on registering for/buying clothing
My DS was born in July. And spent most of the time in his diaper and the side button shirts (these provided ease in diaper changing) and we swaddled him. He was only 6 lbs so we needed the Newborn stuff. If you want to register for clothes, pick a few different sizes NB, 3M, 6M of the basics (onesies, socks, gowns). Do not wash any of the NB stuff so in case you have a large baby you can take it back.
Before having my son, I worked at Babies R Us at the registry desk. I never suggested putting clothes on a registry. Few of reasons: 1) usually you register in the season before the baby is born and the clothes will not fit the weather once the baby arrives. 2) Clothing sections are ALWAYS a mess and it makes it hard for guest to find the actually item you want. (which will cause returns later) 3) And the big one: People will buy you clothes even if you do not put any one the registry.
If you really want an outfit, put it on your registry after the showers so you can get the % off. Most places send out completion coupons and you get a discount on the items left on the registry.
Hope this helps
Drop everything you're assuming about your baby's size. Nothing regarding your size or your husband's size really have anything to do with it. And the measuring ultrasounds can be off by more than a pound, so don't put much stock in those, either.
I'm small framed; 5'6" and115, H is also not very big at 5'10" and 180. I was 7lb 8oz at birth, H was 8lb 4oz. We had a 9lb baby girl, two days early. Our good friends just ha a 9lb 2oz baby boy; she is 5'1" and 100 lbs, he is 5'9" 175. Another set of friends had sort of the opposite experience; she's 5'4" and prob 140ish, but her husband is an ogre at 6'4" and 225. Her baby was 7lbs 1oz. As you can see, no rhyme or reason to any of this.
I didnt register for any clothes but received a lot anyway. I returned all the newborn stuff for 3m stuff; kept two newborn-sized sleepers that she never fit in. I recommend that you get a small amount of newborn things but only wash a couple, and keep receipts. My daughter, as I said, was born at 9lbs and fit in 3m clothes for a few months. Even if you have an 8lb baby, he/she will lose weight after birth, and 4-5lbs is a lot of weight for a baby to gain. That takes months, not weeks. HTH.
I wouldn't register for any clothes because you will likely receive a lot of clothing as gifts. Buy some basics in each size and have them washed and ready to go. We had about 4 pairs of pants, 8 onesies, and 4 sleepers in the newborn size. I did laundry often (like every other day) but he was only in newborn for 3 or 4 weeks.
There is absolutely no way to predict the baby's size. Even ultrasounds can be +/- 2 lbs so the best you can do is be prepared for any size.
Don't waste your time registering for clothing. BRU, Target and BBB will all tell you not to. Nobody will ever be able to find what you registered for unless they look online and remember what the item was. There are no pictures on the registry lists in the stores.
People will buy you clothing at your shower and also when your kid it born.
Emily 8.8.08
Madeline 1.2.11
William 8.5.12
DS was 8 lbs 10 oz and I think he was in some of the Newborn sized clothing for about 2 weeks. Unless you have a really small baby, I would only buy 3 month clothes and let them be a little big. Its insane how fast DS grew out of NB clothes.
You can only rely so much on family history for size. DH's family are not overly big people, yet his aunts had big babies (think 11-12 lbs), he also was big. I was not, neither was my brother, but all my grandma's babies were big. My kids were all big (9-11 lbs, sorry, no induction for size). I learned quickly not to stock up on clothes, because either I got them as gifts, or they sized out quickly. Keep the tags on, and exchange anything that won't work. And you also can't predict how quickly they will outgrow their clothes. 4 of mine were in size 12M at 6 months, and one fit 3-6 M at 6 months. At one year, ds wore size 2-3, and all his sisters but one were 18-24. The smallest (E) wore 12M at one year.
Take your time and only buy what you need for now, buying ahead before the age of two isn't necessary.