Baby gift for premies -- help me with size

[The Mystery Machine]

At 1 year no way would he have been able to wear 24 months. His sizes usually corresponded with his age or a little smaller. The 2T sounds like a good idea.

Mine also corresponded with their ages more or less, but my mom kept buying them BIG clothes!
She just did not understand my girls were small and grew slowly, and my youngest stayed in the same sizes for 2 years.
That drove her insane.

 

[Pooh Crew]

As the mother of triplets, may I suggest something other than clothes or diapers? How about three photo albums? or a silver one with their names or birthdate engraved on it? or three tooth-fairy boxes in anticipation of all those future lost teeth? three of those "first year" calendars with stickers so she can remember who did what when? Maybe even toys for that older age range? Clothes are so hard to buy for the future. My trio ranged from 2 to 4 pounds at birth and while my daughters were always a little small for their age, my son was always at the top of the growth charts.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

How about the preemie boppy pillows? I was given one after my late son was born. I appreciated it so much because he was so tiny and the regular boppy just swallowed him. I used mine alot. Here's a pic:

 

[Caradana]

Tar Heel, I think it's great that you want to use your bargain-hunting skills to find an awesome gift. I just got my grandmother three gorgeous, yellow planters with drip plates from Pottery Barn - and I spent $8. I was thrilled with the bargain, whereas I would've felt like a total cheapskate giving my grandmother an $8 gift card. I can appreciate where you're coming from with this one.

The beauty of baby clothes is that just about every baby eventually fits into 18-24 months. It might be when they're a year old ... it might be when they're three ... but eventually, little baby bodies fit into those clothes. I would just recommend a spring or a fall style/weight so that there's some "swing" in when they can be used, annually speaking. Buy them in peace and know that their mom will use them at the right time.

 

[Tinkerbelle'sMOM]

I'd forgo the outfits for next year. Like someone said, with preemies, you just don't know, especially with multiples. If you want to get them things they can use in the hospital, receiving blankets are great...we use them in the Isolettes, all the way up until they go home. Little socks are handy also. Snap front t'shirts are good also. Bigger size diapers for when they go home...they will be going thru at least 80 diapers a day. You could get blankets embroidered with their names on them, many parents get those as gifts and place them on top of the isolettes to keep noise and light out.

 

[katerkat]

The beauty of baby clothes is that just about every baby eventually fits into 18-24 months. It might be when they're a year old ... it might be when they're three ... but eventually, little baby bodies fit into those clothes. I would just recommend a spring or a fall style/weight so that there's some "swing" in when they can be used, annually speaking. Buy them in peace and know that their mom will use them at the right time.

I would say get something like a short-sleeve, long-pant romper. That way it can be worn in any season (my son is wearing long-pant rompers this summer on days we're mostly inside), with a jacket or sweater in the winter. I would probably get size 12 month, though. My son was full term, 7 pounds, and now weighs 19 pounds and is 31 inches tall, which is terrible for sizing. 3-6 month shorts, but needs 18 month rompers/jammies for the length, but fits 6-12 or 9-12 onesies and tshirts. I never thought I'd be reusing his summer stuff from last year!!

 

[Aidensmom]

It's really hard to say, some preemies catch up faster, and you also have to factor in their genes, would they most likely grow to be small for their age or big for their age if they were born on their due date?

My son was 4.5 lbs when he was born, wore 9 months clothes at age 1, and now at almost age 5 is just now growing into 4T's. He has my genes, however, so he was pretty destined to be small anyways.

A gift card is a good idea, you could always get them a small gift in addition to a gift card, like hats or something, that would not be so dependent on size.

 

[katerkat]

Just to add a pic of what I mean - this is from Gymboree and is one of my most favorite outfits on him. (Even though you can fit three of him in there!) This day it was about 85º and he was still pretty comfy, and later in the evening when it got cooler, we just popped a sweatshirt on him.

(I don't know why it's a double picture??)

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

How exciting for your friend to have triplets! Now about sizes - One of my best friends had a 25 weeker last year. She weighed 1 pound 9 ounces and was 12" long. She is now 16 months and can still fit in 6-9 mos. It looks like she's be in 12 months soon. It was touch and go when she was born so I got her a small soft stuffed animal for her bassinet. I figured that if the unthinkable happened, the parents would have something small to always remember their precious little girl. Thankfully she is doing wonderful now. After the baby got out of the hospital, we had a baby shower for her and got her clothes in smaller sizes for her to grow into.

 

[golfgal]

My oldest was not a premie, he was 8 lb 1 oz at birth. He would never had fit in 24 month old clothing at a year, 2 years, yes, but not a year. I rarely buy more then a season ahead for first babies because you just don't know how they are going to grow.

My suggestion would be to give them a gift now, something small like an animal for their cribs if allowed or something more practical like gift certificates to the hospital cafeteria, gas cards, etc. They will be driving back and forth to the hospital a lot and probably eating more meals then they like in the cafeteria. Then, when the babies come home, you can get them something fun like clothing.

If you really want to do clothing now, get some non-onesie t-shirts, some pj type outfits that snap up the front, no zippers or back closure. There is a really good chance the babies will come home on Apnea monitors and dealing with the wires, etc. can be a pain with some clothing styles. I would get those in 0-3 month or 3-6 month sizes.

 

[huey duey & luey]

My triplets were born at 31 weeks weighing 3'14, 3'2 and 2'14". at one year they were wearing mostly 12 months clothing (some 18 months). FYI CP and old navy clothing seems to run a little smaller than the gap or gymboree
hth and congratulations to your friend