About this time last year, I wrote a post about how to find best deals and save on diapers (see Mommy’s saving tips: diapers). I did a lot of research and comparison, and shopped around for the best deals. And I bought hundreds of diapers for DD. Therefore, I could accumulate some saving tips on diapers and share with you.
At that time, since most DD’s clothing was given by relatives and friends as gifts at baby shower, I didn’t have too much personal experience on how to shop and save on baby clothing.
Approximately one year later, today I can say I am eligible to give you tips on this issue.
1. Remember the seasons for newborns
When you have a new baby, relatives, friends and coworkers are eager to give you gifts, expressing their happiness and love. You may receive a lot of baby clothes at baby shower, especially when you have a baby girl.
That was what happened when I had DD. Since DD was due in June, I received a ton of baby summer clothing, most size-newborn, some size-3-month, and some size-6-month.
As a result, when DD arrived, I didn’t need to worry about her summer dresses at all.
When winter came, DD turned to be 6 month. I noticed a lot of baby clothing I received from baby shower, though marked for 6 month, was for the summer. They were short-sleeved and too thin for the winter.
People forgot the seasons. They only remembered that DD was born in the summer. They didn’t think that 6 months later it would be winter time.
So those short-sleeved summer dresses were no use to 6-month-old DD. When the next summer comes, she will grow far beyond those 6-months dresses. What a waste!
Therefore the tip number 1 is: remember the seasons for newborns. If your baby is due in the summer, make sure those size-3-month clothes are good for the fall, and those size-6-months are good for the winter; if your baby is due in the winter, tell your relatives, friends and coworkers not to buy thick size-3-month clothes or long-sleeved size-6-month ones, or give you receipts so you can exchange them later.
2. Buy bigger sizes for babies of 6 month +
Remember the old saying, babies grow like weeds. That is absolutely true for DD. Although she was slightly above average in height when she arrived, she kept growing since birth and always remained in the 95 percentiles in height at her age group (see Grow baby grow).
What does this mean? It means I have to keep buying new clothes to catch up with her growth. And I learned a lesson when I first shopped baby clothing for her.
It was December when DD turned to be 6 month. As I described as above, I noticed a lot of baby clothing I received from baby shower was marked for 6 month but for the summer. They were short-sleeved and too thin for the winter. So I decided it was time for me to buy some winter baby clothing for DD.
I went to the store and bought 5 pieces of clothing, two marked size-6-month and three marked size-9-month. They should be ok to cover a winter for a 6-month-old, I thought.
I was wrong.
After I cut the tags and washed the clothing, I found out the two size-6-months were already tight on DD. And the three size-9-months were tight on her two months later. The winter was not over yet!
DD grew too fast. And some baby clothing manufacturers make the clothing just fit the age, leaving little room to expand. To make things worse, some baby clothing shrink after being washed.
Therefore, to be safe, I always buy baby clothing 6 month in advance for DD. Since most baby clothing sizes are divided by newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month, 18 month and 24 month, I round up if I cannot find the exact size. For example, when she was 8 month, I bought a size-18-month dress for her. When she was 16 month, I would say, the right size for her was 24 month.
How about seasons? You probably would ask.
My answer is, after babies pass 6 month, we don’t need to worry about seasons any longer, because THEY GROW LIKE WEEKDS. I am pretty sure DD will outgrow her size-24-month clothing before her second birthday.
3. Buy neutral style for boys and girls
Do you ever think your baby’s clothing is too girlish or boyish?
I do. As a 16-month-old, DD already has four bags of clothes. After she quickly outgrew them, I folded them and put them away.
But these clothes will be no use for my second baby if it is a boy. They are too pinkish or have too many laces for a baby boy.
Again, what a waste!
To prevent storing hills of baby clothing at home and save money for better usage, I would suggest you to buy baby clothes with neutral style (if you can find them), if you plan to have more than one child with different genders.
Another solution is to barter with other mommies.
Related Post:
Mommy’s saving tips: diapers
From Lina, Mommy's Saving Tips, Second Year | Lina | 
November 15, 2009 1:00 pm | 
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