idahodogs
Advanced Beginner
ID USA
Member since 4/22/08
Posts: 419 |
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Date: 11/15/12 4:57 PM My first child is due at the end of January. Family and friends have started to bring over baby/toddler clothes, and I am overwhelmed by the volume! I don't even know how to begin to sort/store it all - or if we'll really need it.
My husband and I are pretty minimalist with our own clothing - we tend to wear the same few items to death, then replace them. I do laundry about every other day.
My instinct is to weed out the clothes I like the most and pass the rest on, but maybe I'm totally underestimating how fast babies get messy? Additionally, I am having a hard time telling how big of a kid is going to fit into these clothes - some brands' 6mos. is the same size as another brands' 12mos.!
How do I know what to keep? How do I sort what I'm going to store? I know a baby is not going to like a marathon trying-on episode to figure out what fits and what doesn't  ------
- Labore est orare (work is prayer) - John Ruskin |
SewRaeMe
Advanced Beginner
CANADA
Member since 3/20/08
Posts: 240 |
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 3 members like this. I would sort the clothes into definitive boy/girl and size, I wouldn't do anything else until you have the little on home. Often times you can go through several sleepers, nighties or whatever a day, changing from the eyeballs to the toes every couple of hours. Some children seem to double their size very quickly and others not so much.
Once you get into a bit of a routine you will quickly see what is going to work and what doesn't and purge from there. ------
Formerly The Canadian |
michellep74
 
Intermediate
CA USA
Member since 7/19/07
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1 member likes this. First of all, congratulations! I just had my first in June, so we just went through this/are going through this.
You're totally right about brand sizing being really variable. We've found that Gymboree, Old Navy, and Carter's seem to run pretty true to size.
Our daughter was small (just over 6lbs at birth), and she outgrew her NB-sized clothes pretty quickly. If your baby is bigger, he/she will probably outgrow them even faster. Bottom line: you probably don't need a lot of newborn clothes.
Another thing that people didn't think of with us was what season it would be when our daughter was a given size. For example, with us having a summer baby (and it being a really hot summer here), we had a number of footed sleepers in the NB and 0-3 month size that never even got worn before she outgrew them. We also have short-sleeved onesies in her current size (6M) that will probably barely get worn because it's too cool for them now. Bottom line, use seasonally appropriate judgement to help you decide what to re-donate.
Err on the side of having too much rather than not enough sleepwear for the baby. It seems like every time we move up a size, we end up having to make a Target/Babies R Us run to pick up more sleepwear for her.
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--Michelle
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Blog: http://happilycaffeinated.blogspot.com/
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Nancy K
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NY USA
Member since 12/28/04
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2 members like this.
Date: 11/15/12 6:15 PM Babies spit up, their diapers can leak, especially if you are breast feeding and the bowel is fairly loose. I always had an extra outfit with me in the diaper bag. It's easy to go through a couple of outfits a day. It depends on how often you want to do the wash.
There is no way to determine how quickly your child will go through sizes. My dd was small and a slow grower. My son was always in the upper percentiles of growth and went through sizes much more quickly.
Don't stress about it, you'll worry enough about other things. If your baby doesn't wear everything you can always give them away.
Store it by size. ------
www.nancyksews.blogspot.com |
Mel.J
Intermediate
AUSTRALIA
Member since 7/30/02
Posts: 2622 |
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1 member likes this. I'd sort it, choose your favourite things in the first couple of sizes & and keep the rest in tubs/bags. You may find you don't need a lot of extra, or you may find that you have some weeks where your washing routine goes out the window and the extras come in handy. You may find that your taste changes depending on what works for your baby.
Once you have hit the 3 month point (or so) you'll probably have a pretty good idea what you need & like, then you can filter the rest of it for re-donation.
All the best.
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Mel (Melbourne, Australia) |
a7yrstitch
Intermediate
TX USA
Member since 4/1/08
Posts: 4375 |
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Date: 11/15/12 11:30 PM Sorting and storing for a while is an excellent suggestion. Our guys skipped two or three sizes right fron the starting gate so they were in spit up cycles in bigger sizes than expected - translating to more clothes. Same with the master the feeding spoon phase. And the learn to feed themselves phase, and so on.....
You'll need to pack extra whenever you leave the house and always have changes on hand for night time surprises. Extra sheets, too.
What do you think, moms of young ones, would it be reasonable to classify the clothing by a neck to crotch measurement since the sizing is erratic?
Brace yourself, Idahodogs, babies/kids grow and change so quickly that they cycle through loads of stuff.
And, it goes on, and on....I had a rough case of flu when our guys were about three and five. Hubbie finally said that he felt like all he did was wash loads and loads of little jeans and that he never seemed to catch up. 
Ask a mom or friend to come help; that's what we're here for.
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I have no idea what Apple thought I was saying so be a Peach and credit anything bizarre to auto correct. |
dfsews
Intermediate
NE USA
Member since 4/17/06
Posts: 606 |
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Date: 11/16/12 0:48 AM It all depends.
Babies and young toddlers do go through many more clothing changes than adults. But you and your spouse are probably continent!
DD could poop out a diaper like a champ. One sitter was even angry about it. This despite using rubber pants over the diaper, larger size, more $ diapers, etc.
Then DS1 came along-Reflux Boy vomited over a dozen times a day, and his outfit was changed often. Finally I just bought rompers and he wore those for the first 18 mos of life. When DS2 came along and I was going through the old clothes, I was amazed at how many rompers I had!
The child will go through growth spurts and seemingly overnight, nothing that fit last week will work anymore.
So keep it all for now, and see what you need. You can always have a garage sale or give it to another expectant Mom. And the next baby you have may be completely different.
Enjoy your new adventure of Parenting! |
TamNearPDX
Beginner
WA
Member since 1/16/08
Posts: 203 |
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Date: 11/16/12 0:56 AM Congrats!!
I like all of the advice above  . My dd was 10 weeks premature and actually got to wear preemie and newborn clothes. I found that I used the single piece outfits the most... No I can't sort laundry to find 4 tiny matching pieces to an outfit when I'm sleep deprived!
Kids don't start to wear out clothes until a bit later - they outgrow them for the first couple years...
You will do great!! |
TamNearPDX
Beginner
WA
Member since 1/16/08
Posts: 203 |
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Date: 11/16/12 0:57 AM People LOVE to buy for babies!!! |
Elona
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CA USA
Member since 8/24/02
Posts: 7400 |
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Date: 11/16/12 2:30 AM As others here have said, keep it all for now! You will certainly being doing laundry more often than every other day, oh my, yes. Babies are amazing leaky creatures, and many times you will find yourself delighted to have something--anything--clean and dry ready to hand, even if it's not quite the right size at the moment.
And then there's the magical growth thing: They do indeed grow overnight, and something that fit a day or two ago will suddenly be so short that putting the kiddo into it will cause the footies to pop off.
It's going to be quite the adventure for you. |
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