Baby Clothes 101

Since having a baby I can tell you that figuring out what sizes your kid needs can be kind of confusing. In the last 4.5 months I have learned a lot about baby clothes so I thought that maybe I would share my knowledge. I did get a lot of information from this post by Danica Holdaway. So check that out for more tips.

 1. Don't be afraid of second hand clothes. This is my biggest money saving tip. I purchase the majority of Claire's clothes off of KSL from mom's who are done having babies and have big bags of clothes for about $40.00- $50.00. When Claire is ready for the next size up I just browse KSL for a while and find a good deal. I always make Zack go with me to pick up the clothes or I meet the person selling them at a public place because lets face it you can't always trust people these days. Most of the time I get pretty good stuff out of the bags of clothes, whatever we don't like or want I take to DI or give to my friends/ family. I always wash the clothes before Claire wears them as well.

Along with KSL the other place I get clothes is the DI (Utah's version of the goodwill). They usually run about $1.00 a piece and I have found carters brand, baby gap, H&M, seriously all the high end name brand baby clothing from DI. It's great. In fact I think I might take Claire out to DI today just to see what they have. Sometimes I walk away with great finds, other times its hit or miss. Another good store is ROSS, they have cheap clothes as well.

2. Always wash clothes before your child wears them. I wash everything we get straight from the store. I don't know, I just feel like they are gross and I know that when I am shopping I touch everything so I am assuming that a million other people are as well so wash everything.

3. Storage. Storage can be tricky. I purchased these plastic bins for $3.59 at walmart and they fit perfectly in her closet. These are storing all of her newborn and 0-3 month clothing because we are now in 3-6 month size. Our closet is a little packed because Claire's nursery shares a room with our office/storage so she only gets half the closet for her baby stuff.

Down below the closet shelf we hang up all of her dresses/outfits. I know she has a lot but hey she's a girl and that's what's fun about having a girl.

The rest of her clothes go in her dresser. We purchased this from Wayfair and so far I have really liked it.

 The top left drawer is her accessory drawer, which holds hats, bows, shoes, socks, tights, bracelets, and headbands. All the stuff a little girl needs.

 The top right drawer holds all her outfits, onesies, and shirts for the current size she is wearing.

 The middle right drawer holds all her current size pants she is in. (I told you I post real life pictures, I mean these aren't even folded just kind of thrown in there, I will work on that).

Sorry this picture took long ways, but the left middle drawer holds all her current pajamas. We love jammies so she has a lot. 

The bottom left drawer holds the 9-12 month clothes, yes we have a pink floyd shirt for her. I saw it at Target one day and had to buy it so she could match daddy.

The bottom right drawer holds all of her 6-9 month clothes. Once she gets to this size I will be searching for clothes again on KSL/ DI to get more because we need more for sure.

4. Sizes. Sizing can be really weird. I have noticed that most stores have a 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and then 12 month size. At least Target, Walmart and Ross are like that. Carters has sizes newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. 3-6 month and 6 months clothes are basically the same except 6 month clothing is a little bit longer.  Right now Claire fits into some 3 month stuff from Carters, 3-6 month clothing from Target and Walmart and 6 month clothes from Carters. The 3 month stuff is kind of tight around her tummy but she fits it length wise because she isn't very tall yet. I haven't gotten a swimsuit yet for her so I don't know how that is going to go but I basically heard that you have to size up a ton in order to get one that fits.

5. What you need. As far as what you need goes, I would say get at least 2-4 white short sleeve onesies in every size for layering/ extra outfit in the diaper bag. Get at least one pair of jean leggings in every size, probably 2 to be safe. I would say probably 4 dresses, enough to rotate once a week if you go to church or once a week as part of your normal outfits. You will need a jacket in every size for the days that is cold. Socks to cover those tiny baby toes. 6-10 onesies and 2-3 pants that you can mix and match so that way your outfits can last longer and you don't get sick of clothes so fast. For pajamas I would say at least 5, but for me we get about 15 because I just love a baby in pajamas.

I have been loving dressing Claire every morning in all of her cute clothes. Being organized and having everything its place helps the routine go smoother, especially for Zack who really doesn't know what size she is in at the moment. Having one drawer with her current clothes helps him so he doesn't have to know, he just opens it up and picks what he wants her to wear for the day. I hope this post helped some of you new moms, and for the experienced/veteran moms what other tips do you have for me that I could use?
Thanks for reading!
XO
Caitlin