Monday, February 21, 2011

Baby Clothes

Ahh baby clothes. This is one area where you can definitely save money when it comes to having kids. It is great if you can get gently used hand-me-downs from friends and relatives, but if not, there are other ways to save some money. Garage sales, thrift stores, and freecycle are good too. But what if you do need to supplement and buy some new things? You can often find great clothes that are cute and on sale at Target and Walmart for steal, also check out your local outlet centers, most states have a couple. One thing I can not stress enough is to bag up your clothes when you get home from the store and staple the receipt to the bad or store the clothes with the receipt. Why? The doctor may SAY your having a small baby, but it is really just a guess and that little one couple pop out weighing 10 lbs! Or you could end up with a baby that is smaller than you thought, or (god forbid) go into labor early and end up with a premie. Either way, it is a good idea to keep the tags on (I know it's tempting to nest and wash and fold them all but try to hold out, okay?) and keep the receipts where they will be easier to find. Try to buy mostly 3-6 month clothes at first, you can roll up sleeves but it is hard to make something bigger than it is.

Through trial and error I have learned that baby clothes, like adult clothes, fit differently from brand to brand. In my experience, Gerber runs really small so I would avoid buying newborn clothes from the Gerber brand unless you know you are coming home with a premie. Geranimals (walmart's brand) tend to fit larger than expected, especially width wise, so plan accordingly. I find that Carters brand fits pretty true-to-size, but again your baby may be different so your mileage may vary.

You can print coupons for clothes off of Gerber's website and I would sign up for their mail offers, you can get coupons that way as well.

I believe you need more clothes for newborns-9 months than you do as they get older. Little babies come with a lot of spit up and drool and super poop, and you will likely be changing their clothing several times a day. I find with older infants and toddlers, about a weeks worth of outfits that mix and match, a weeks worth of jammies, and a few seasonal items such as jackets and coats is really all you need if you have daily access to a washer and dryer. If you have to use a laundry mat, you may need more.

I also highly recommend getting footed sleepers that ZIP rather than snap, especially before your baby is sleeping through the night. It is hard to get all those snaps in the right spot when you are half awake at 3 A.M.

If you plan to have more children, save all of your baby clothes that you can in storage totes or bags by size as your baby outgrows them. Even if you end up getting a different gender the second time around, you can have a garage sale or craigslist the clothes you have to get money to pay for the ones you need. You can also try craigslist to "swap" with a mommy that needs girls clothing when you have boys clothing.

Any more advice out there from knowledgeable mommas?

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