Baby Sized Clothes

MiromiM · November 2015

So it's been bothering me. A lot. I keep trying to come up with clothes for DD for the holidays and suddenly! Bam! She's grown out of a size. My daughter, who at one point was in newborn clothing has suddenly grown like gangbusters and now is in 6 month clothing before she's turned 3 months!? What is going on! And that's when I came to this realization.

For this, I'm going to use 3 months as a comparison because most of our babies are either already 3 months or will be soon. Therefore, I will be comparing size 0-3 or 3M

For Gerber this is 8-12 pounds/3.6-5.4 kg
For Carters this is 8-12.5 pounds/3.6-5.7 kg
For Old Navy/Gap is is 8-12 pounds/3.6-5.4kg

Wait! Three month clothing has a max of 12 pounds, 13 if you squeeze a little? Some of us are seeing a big problem with this. And we should. According to the WHO 70% of girls and 90% of boys are more than 12 pounds at 3 months. Yeah. So the clothing companies have totally set us up. 3M doesn't mean they start wearing that size then, it means forget about making it fit by the time they get to that age.

jbettles · November 2015

Bahaha! It's all a big conspiracy. You buy a ton of 3 month clothes, thinking baby has 3 months to wear them... And he's outgrown them by the time you remember you stashed some in the second drawer down of his dresser! (This is how it actually went down for me this time around).

jen83mn · November 2015

Clothing sizes really confused me at first! Some brands have sizing 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 month, etc. Other brands just have 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, etc. I learned that 3 month is really 0-3, 6 month is 3-6 months, and 9 month is 6-9 months, and so forth. My dude never fit into newborn and was wearing 0-3 since birth (he was 8 lb 10 oz at birth). He moved into 3-6 month clothing between 2-2.5 months old. He's also a really big baby though, in the 98th percentile for height and 86th for weight. I think clothing is sized based more on average babies, not those who are either bigger or smaller on the growth curve. I knew my guy would outgrow his clothing ... and fast!

I just wish all brands were sized the same. I had some 0-3 month Gerber clothing that he was never able to wear because Gerber sizing runs small and is better for thinner babies.

Petunia21 · November 2015

Yes!! It took me a while to figure out Carters sizing 3M meant 0-3 mo, not to start wearing it at 3 months. Luckily I figured it out before he was born, and I just had to rearrange his clothes in the dresser. I would have been mad if I wasted a bunch of cute clothes because I couldn't figure out sizing.

BrandiLaw87 · November 2015

You make a good point, baby clothes should be sized by weight catagories not age. DS was a big baby and like PP, didn't ever wear newborn size. He was also always ahead of the month sizing. This LO is the opposite. We had to go a buy her NB clothes because we didn't have any small enough to fit her. She is now 10 weeks and just started fitting 0-3 months properly. I don't consider her a small baby either, her weight is average but she is pretty long.

ETA: She was 10lbs 11oz and 23.5" at her 2 month appointment last week.

caityrose · November 2015

My lo is on the small side so she was in newborn till about 9/10 weeks. She did fit in 0-3footie pjs earlier though. She's in 0-3 now but they're still a little big even but we'll be starting 6 month pjs as she's outgrown the length especially the ones that have been washed a lot. She's only 9 lbs 10 oz at 12 weeks so for us she'll be in them past 3 months even

shelbydd · November 2015

My son is around the 14lb range give or take (he was 13lbs 4oz at his 2mo checkup) and still fits in the majority of his 3mo clothes and is also wearing some 3-6mo clothes. The 3mo/6mo/9mo etc.. is supposed to be a transitional size between the 0-3mo/3-6mo/6-9mo etc.. example is if your baby is too big for 0-3 but 3-6 is baggy on him/her, 3 month would be a good size. At least that's how carters sizing works.

Don't go by those sizes so strictly. Babies are little people, they come in all shapes and sizes. There's no such thing as a 25 year old size because not all 25 year olds are the same height, weight, or shape. My best friends son is almost 6 months old and my son is almost 3 months old.. they wear a lot of the same sizes because her son is thin but very long and my son is short but chunky.

AmandaNacora · November 2015

So this is what I was told, when it says 3 or 0-3 there's months is the oldest age that size will fit for. It doesn't mean that they SHOULD fit in that size at 3 months but that most babies by 3 months are too big. So a baby who is 3 months and wears size 6 months is a perfectly normal and healthy baby. Does that make sense?

babs02 · November 2015

What bothers me is the fact the sizes all vary. Right now my son is in between sizes. I've found that carters and old navy/gap fit him best because he's tall and skinny. He's growing out of 0-3 or 3m. But right now has an off brand (Nickelodeon) onsie on and it's newborn size. Next week it will be too short on him but it's still a little big in the chest/ shoulders. His pants are circo I'm pretty sure 0-3 month and they are almost shorts on his long legs.

I agree with pp's though. Sizes should be based on weight and length. And possibly have regular and long for pants.

Kayciejoe56 · December 2015

After rearranging ds dresser several times, I just stopped sorting by size. Right now I have one main drawer for his onesies, with 3 baskets. I just sort them by "getting tight" (I use these under other clothes or pj's) "fits perfect" or "a little big". Every once in a while I'll glance at the size, so I know what size to buy next in which brand, but this works way better for sorting the laundry. I move them down the line, until they don't fit and get tossed in a bin for storage.

About once a week, I go into the next drawer and try something on him, just to see if anything bigger is fitting yet.

chelseajeanene · December 2015

I have a 17 pound 12 week old and I struggle with clothes too. I've stopped sorting by size too. So many brands just run so small! My son is quite chubby but he is pretty tall so he needs 6 month onesies for length. He's tall but his legs are stubby so he's all torso. He fits into 6 month pants but his 0-3 pants still fit great because his legs aren't as long. I can't buy him solo pants at stores because I can't trust that they'll fit. He can't wear jeans or non-stretchy pants even in bigger sizes because his thighs are too plump. Poor baby is stuck is sweat pants until he has a growth spirt with those legs haha

jen83mn · December 2015

chelseajeanene said:
I have a 17 pound 12 week old and I struggle with clothes too. I've stopped sorting by size too. So many brands just run so small! My son is quite chubby but he is pretty tall so he needs 6 month onesies for length. He's tall but his legs are stubby so he's all torso. He fits into 6 month pants but his 0-3 pants still fit great because his legs aren't as long. I can't buy him solo pants at stores because I can't trust that they'll fit. He can't wear jeans or non-stretchy pants even in bigger sizes because his thighs are too plump. Poor baby is stuck is sweat pants until he has a growth spirt with those legs haha

That sounds just like my big dude! He's 13 weeks and 16 lbs 9 oz., with a HUGE belly and chubby cheeks and thighs, and he's in the 98th percentile for height. He's in 3-6 month or 6-month onesies, but has to wear 3-6 or 6-9 month pants because his belly is so big, but 6-9 month pants are too long on him. I can't believe how fast he's growing!

chelseajeanene · December 2015

@jen83mn it's mind blowing how fast they're growing! My son was such a tiny baby sr birth and when I look at him now he looks nothing like the baby I brought home!

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