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May 2017 Moms
Cubslove12
member
Baby Clothes Recommendations!
Cubslove12
member
I started washing the baby clothes and I realized that I have ALOT of really cute dresses, which would be fine if she has a party to go to every day... I've been trying to do some research on what I need and it's confusing. I thought I would enlist some 2nd time moms help!! What do I need? She's measuring in the 49th percentile, and I live in Chicago- so there could be 2ft of snow or it could be100* in May :-). I'm looking more for the practical items/ how many and any suggestions on brands/styles?.... I'm assuming other moms are starting to have the same thoughts/confusions.
Sleepers-
Onesies-
Bottoms-
Socks-
Bibs- (what are the cutest/best drool bibs?)
Receiving Blankets-
Swaddle blankets?
Other suggestions?
Sleepers-
Onesies-
Bottoms-
Socks-
Bibs- (what are the cutest/best drool bibs?)
Receiving Blankets-
Swaddle blankets?
Other suggestions?
Re: Baby Clothes Recommendations!
I think that you have to take into consideration the fact that they will have to change clothes at least once a day and potentially during the night too. Then figure out how often you want to do laundry. For me about 10-14 daytime outfits and 8-12 sleepers work well from 0-3 and 3-6 months. I know that sounds like a lot but they go through them fast and for me laundry slows down when I have a new baby. We use 4-5 swaddle blankets because those also tend to get dirty with blowouts and pee leaks and 2-3 other blankets for tummy time/car seat. I don't put a lot of bibs on baby at the beginning but we do have quite a few burp cloths to wear when burping baby. Socks depend on how many footless outfits you get.
Married 8/27/2011
BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012
BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w
BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014
BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d
BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017
BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
On that note, (and not in an attempt to highjack this thread, but I figure it's related) I had similar overstocked wardrobe issues w/ DD so I have a ton of baby girl clothes. I'm not looking to make a pretty penny off them, but I would like to do something "good" with them. Anyone have any recommendations? Short of dropping them off at Goodwill, here are my current ideas:
1. Find a mom in need, or just a friend or friend of friend, and give them to her. I don't really know anyone who fits this category right now.
2. Sell on the internet and donate the proceeds to one of the nonprofits I volunteer with. I did post a few of our best outfits to a BST page, thought they were reasonably priced, and no one was interested.
3. Sell at a consignment store (Kid to Kid or Once Upon a Child) & donate proceeds. I've heard you don't get much bang for your buck.
4. Sell at a consignment sale (Rhea Lane's, etc.) and donate the money. Has anyone done this? The prep process seems like a lot.
5. Sell on a Craigslist as a lot and donate money. Given some pregnant woman violence that has come out of these transactions, this creeps me out. But maybe I'm being ridic.
6. Have a garage sale and donate the money. Ehhh... It's getting hot here and I have so few weekends left before LO arrives.
May17 Siggy Challenge
Labor
@Cubslove12 I was gifted an amazingly large supply of gently used clothes and my mother shows her love through gifts (usually clothes), so my numbers are not based on need and just what I currently have. My only tip would be to shy away from shirts when they are under 6 mo. Any outfit that had a shirt and pants the shirt was always creeping up his back when held. Onesies worked better. We also didn't utilized bibs much, but had about 25 prefold diapers that we used as burp rags. They are so absorbent and it is easier to get stains out of white. We have soooo many socks, so I have no idea. But in the beginning only 1 or 2 pair actually fit and stayed on.
Here are numbers that we have (which is wayyyyyyyy more then needed):
Newborn
Onesies 24
Pants 16
Shirts 3
One Piece/Sleeper 20
Sweater/Sweatshirt 4
0-3
Sleepers 22 (13 warm)
Onesies 42
Top/Bottom Outfits 5
Summer One Piece 3
Collared Shirts 4
Sweaters/Jackets 10
Bottoms 16
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
While some say they don't like separates, we personally preferred onesie with a bottom for overnight since most sleepers were snaps (and such a PITA when you button them wrong in the MOTN).
So far, this LO has tons of short sleeved onesies, as well as a few long sleeved and a few sleepers all the way up to size 9mos. When he outgrows them I plan to just sell most of them on local BST for cheap. We also have a bunch of neutral socks from DD and a bag full of NB sized from a friend but we don't expect to use them much during the summer. We'll see on that though!
Also, I wouldn't get confident about sizing right away! DD was born around 50-70% and after a couple months she shot up to 90-99% and stayed there since.
Sorry if this all seems like a jumble, I'm totally distracted by DD who is fighting nap for the second day in a row. Sighs. Shoot any more questions you may have!
My $0.02 would be to not buy too far head and know that sizing varies SUPER widely between some brands and some fit skinny vs chunky babies better. I think I remember the Koala brand from BRU running nearly 2 sizes smaller than Carters for example. I thought I was getting a haul of clothes for the next size from my sister once but because they were a different brand they were actually too small!
May '17 labor memes
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
May17 Siggy Challenge
Labor
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
I think a lot of it has to do with personal preferences. My aunt had a surprise daughter late in life and that little girl is in a dress every.single.day so if you want to dress your daughter in dresses everyday, go for it!
I hate baby socks just like @hp_momma said.
DD wasn't much of a drooler, we rarely used bibs until she started real food. On the other hand, my friend's kid was constantly drooling and in a bib 24/7.
DD was born in Texas in April. She basically lived in Rompers when we were out and a onsie at home. If it was chilly because of our air conditioning, I threw a swaddle blanket on her. When she was sleeping it was a onsie and a sleep sack. I probably had about 5 for her. I treated them like blankets and basically only washed them once a week as long as there wasn't a blow out of anything.
I LOVE swaddle blankets. I use them for everything. I stock up on those. I have probably 2 for each room. I use them for swaddle/blanket/spit up/tummy time/ etc. I also have one in the car and one in the diaper bag. They are so light and are perfect for our hot climate.
Sizing is crazy. Old Navy runs large. Carter's runs small. It's all about trial and error and what fit's on your kids body. DD was long and lean (and still is) buying clothes for her makes me want to put my head through a wall.
1st Baby 5/12/17, Henry
I'm a FTM so no real experience but I kinda went with "how often do I want to do laundry?" And over-assumed that maybe 3 outfits a day would be a good guess. I then sorted all our clothes by size. (Not what it said on tag but what they sized up to each other as. So I have some 0-3 in my newborn stash if it matches more those sizes)
after I sorted I counted how many outfits I had (sleepers counted as a full outfit) and then determined what I still needed.
I have a smaller stash of newborn than bigger sizes because I figure I can send someone out to get more if I need it depending on the size of baby when born. (I know a few babies born into 0-3 and didn't want to waste too many newborn possibly)
plus I know that since we are team green, this baby will get an influx of blues or pinks once my family knows so I operated on a barer minimum
where are people getting good prices baby pants? Just like legging/sweat pants. I feel like they're next to impossible in solid basic colors. ETA. That don't have Ruffles or lace or bows anywhere
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May '17 labor memes
NB- 4 sleepers, 7 onesies, 4-5 cute outfits (dresses with bloomers or tops with shorts) and a few pairs of socks. I don't think most babies stay in this size long so I think we'll be ok.
0-3 or 3-6- 6 sleepers, 10 onesie/pant outfits, 10 random onsies, 2 hoodies, 10 cute outfits.
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
I'm hesitant to give to Goodwill as my mom and I donated a lot a few years ago (breakable things, electronics, etc) and they basically threw it all in a big dumpster to be sorted. I can't imagine some of that didn't get broken.
They also sometimes have those clothing dumpsters in parking lots, and those are legit, as we had one in the local fire dept parking lot in our small town.
My last baby had reflux and constantly spit up requiring many outfit changes. I had probably 15+ onesies and 15+ zipper pajamas in each size and I had to do his laundry probably 2x a week to keep up. I had so many burp cloths, swaddle blankets and bibs which were nice and definitely got thoroughly used. I don't think you can have enough of the baby basics, unless you enjoy doing laundry. Nicer outfits, a ton of hats or socks are not necessary IMO.
carters brand clothes have held up the best for me. I don't like most of their patterns and sayings but they have survived many washings. Gerber and the children's place clothes seem to be of the lowest quality to me.
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
Married 8/27/2011
BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012
BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w
BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014
BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d
BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017
BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
It will be coming into winter here when LO arrives so most of my clothes are the footed sleepers, I have about 10 NB and 10 0-3m, also a few long sleeve onesies and footed leggings... I have more socks than I really need and I only bought 2 hats because from memory, they're so hard to keep on!
Also get singlets! Even if it's hot where you are, a singlet and a diaper are great around the house. Singlets don't seem to cop the abuse outfits do so I have less of those 8 total split between Nb and 0-3.
DS1 was born in summer and pretty much just lived in short-sleeves onesies or singlets, but I was given a heap of these so can't remember exactly how many I would've needed.
DS - January 2014
TTCAL | April 2016
CP | June 2016
CP | July 2016
1) Target brand clothing has a unique return policy.... you get up to 1 year! So that's alway my first piece of advice. I love their Cat & Jack line but other brands that are included in the 1 year are Circo, Cherokee, Mossimo, Merona... Keep the receipt! So, you can take comfort in buying a lot of things and then returning what turns out to be the wrong size. For example, I bought a bunch of Cat & Jack onesie sets... identical patterns/prints but 1 set in NB and 1 set in 0-3... who knows how big DD will be when she arrives. I'll just return the set I don't use later. (for a refund, not just a credit)
So in general, you can buy target specific brands, and buy more than you think you need.... and once baby is here you can decide then if it's worthy of keeping (just don't go crazy and rip off all tags and run them in the wash... tackle that one a day-by-day approach, ya know?)
2) Personally I dressed my first in onesies more than anything else. I live in New England so I totally get the crazy weather but I still think you'll want mostly summer stuff plus some pants/sweaters/light blankets for cool nights.
3) I can't say enough about Aden & Anais swaddle blankets.... great for bedtime and for general blankets... I have 4 so I usually have a couple regardless of my laundry rotation.
4) Also, never underestimate the white onesie. My first LIVED in these. You can "dress them up" with different pants or sweaters but also just have them as backup.
Another is (another Target plug lol) is to buy "Flour Sack Towels" in the kitchen section. They're super absorbent, you can actually use them to boost cloth diapers if you go that route, and they're really thin so you can toss one in your purse and it's not bulky at all. They're not really soft but they're HUGE so you fold them in half once and they're great. OH and they're ridiculously cheap so you could buy a gazillion without breaking the bank at all.
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
I agree with the folks who hate infant socks- they are terrible. We used these for DS and they are AMAZING. Super warm, adorable, and they don't fall off.
As far as where to acquire goo, affordable kid stuff, I am a huge fan of Once Upon A Child (creepy name). I wouldn't recommend selling stuff to them, as you don't get much money back. Instead, I've sold to swap.com (mostly newborn heavy winter stuff that I know I won't need), then either used the credit on that site (which is awesome, and also has maternity stuff) or at Once Upon A Child.
Human sons: 11/2015 & 05/2017
*formerly kayemjay*