Budget Shoes/Clothes for a new child

[amberlynnhawkins]

I'm needing to get new shoes & clothes for my 6 month old son, who's growing like a WEED!! We got SO many clothes of all various sizes at baby showers before he was born, and we were sure they would last longer. However, at 6 months, he's already in 12 month clothes (and in some cases those are too small already). We got 12 month shoes for him (when he was 2-3 months old) and they're already too small too!! We're hitting yard sales whenever possible, but they never seem to have shoes that will fit!! Any suggestions on the best places to find clothes & shoes (especially shoes) at a budget price?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[allyphoe]

A baby who isn't yet walking doesn't necessarily need shoes. (I think mine didn't have shoes until she was over a year - we did a photo shoot outside when she was ~10 mo old and I know she didn't own shoes then. She walked early, too - just not anywhere she'd need foot protection.) When she did have shoes, I got Robeez on ebay for a couple dollars a pair. As long as the ankle elastic held them on, and she didn't trip over the floppy toes, I figured that was a good enough fit.

 

[Styx Fan]

I agree about a baby not needing shoes. Neither of my kids had anything but a pair or 2 of fun dress-up shoes until they were walking outside. It's tempting to buy all of those cute little mini-shoes, but just not needed. When I did start buying shoes for the kids I bought them at resale shops and clearance racks.

Shoes are something I am somewhat picky about and would never buy used shoes that looked at all worn on the inside. That just does not sound comfortable as shoes conform to each wearers feet over time. Clearance racks were my best friend (and still are at times for DD7). I would buy shoes when I found them for very cheap and just save them until they fit.

I bought clothes for my kids pretty much everywhere. One Christmas my son had a new shirt from Gymboree, vest from a resale shop, hand me down pants and shoes from k-mart and a bow tie from a garage sale. Dress shoes were never required to be as good quality as daily shoes. He was adorable and I always got many compliments on my kids clothes.

When they were little I knew all the best resale shops, and the cycle for when the great sales were in the nice shops. Then I resold their clothes many times for not much less than what I paid for money for the next season. Now they are older so it is harder to find as much super cheap.

For a baby and toddler there are wonderful sales in stores and great finds in resale. You can find many things resale brand new or like new. Kids just shoot through the clothes too fast to wear them out and bibs keep them looking good, too. I made a game of making them well dressed on the cheap

 

[shaylyn]

Check Craigslist for clothing sold in "lots" (a big bag of 12-18 month clothes, for example).

Babies don't need shoes, just socks to keep their feet warm. (and we are only weeks from summer, barefoot is the way to go!)

If you want shoes, go with a pair of Robeez (best baby invention in the past 18 years IMO ) I'd suggest size 6-12mo. They run fairly large.

 

[4selphs]

I agree with the OPs who advised you not to put shoes on your little guy. Mine did just fine with socks or going barefoot. Robeez are a good option and they have some generic ones at Target which cost a little less than buying new Robeez.

I mostly buy all of my kids' clothes at consignment sales. They are similar to consignment (resale) stores, but are usually run by churches, schools and sometimes individuals. Someone in my area recently started a website which lists all of the sales in the area. Typically the sales begin in late winter/early spring for Spring/Summer clothes and late summer/early fall for Fall/Winter clothes. I would do a google search for consignment sales in your area and be sure to look at signs in front of churches/schools to see if one may be going on during the above time periods. What's great about the consignment sales is that if register with the sale in time, you put some of your old items that your son has outgrown into the sale, you can usually shop early and have a better selection of shoes/clothes to choose from while making money on the clothes you are selling. (There is sometimes a small fee to consign your clothes and the sale will keep a portion of your total sales about 20-30%). Usually there will be a half price day on the last day of the sale when some items will be half-price if the owner decided that half was better than nothing.

Until the consignment sales begin, you might want to check out some yard sales in your area. Sometimes when I am too lazy to get my clothes together for the consignment sales, I will sell in my yard sale for less money than I would ask for the same item at the consignment sale.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to pass along some info I wish I had known when my DS was 6 months old. (Didn't start going to consignment sales until he was 2). Hope this helps and you have some of these sales in your area.

 

[DisneyCher]

Don't waste money on shoes yet. Your son will learn to walk better without shoes.

DH & I have a son a little bit older than your and we scour clearance sales, and have gotten some amazing bargains. A consignment shop near me also has simple kids' outfits for about $1 or $2. Yard sales or flea markets are a good place to look for everyday kids clothes, too.

 

[Zhoen]

Freecycle.

People give away free baby stuff all the time, like you said, "they grow like weeds." Go to www.freecycle.org to find out if there are listings in your area.

My daughters are growing up perfectly happy in hand-me-downs and yard-sale-treasures. When they were little, I also had GREAT luck at JCPenney, sticking to the clearance rack and using their "$10 off any $50 purchase"-type coupons. I know they are having that sale this weekend, but you might need to poke around the website to find them, print them and take them with you (usually they have them in the store, too, but not always. It never hurts to ask if you don't see them.) Stacking that discount on top of clothes that are 75% off definitely helps a lot.

A note on quality... I am not "above" shopping ANYWHERE... but I have not had good luck quality-wise with the "wonderkids" brand at Kmart. Just my 2-cents.

 

[Mickey527]

I keep my grandson well clothed by shopping the clearance area at Kohls.
I buy for the next season though so you might need to check out consignment sho[ps for right now.
He is 5 and wearing size 6 so I am buying winter stuff in size 7 and 8 right now. I find carters pants for $2.40 and shirts for $1.60
I have always bought a size or year bigger ie: when he was 6 months I bought size 18 months when he was 4 I bought 5-6

 

[Zhoen]

Oh, and if there's a Salvation Army store near you, ours has 1/2 price clothes on Wednesdays... yours might too. (And don't let the name bother you, I have found every brand imaginable there, and things in every condition from New-with-tags to I-wouldn't-clean-my-toilet-with-this.)

Around here (Maryland) our local Goodwill store does not have much in children's things, and their prices kind of suck for what they DO have. Again, just my 2 cents on a very local experience.

 

[GatorMama]

We didn't put shoes on our son much until he started walking well... And he only has a few pairs that fit him now: tennis shoes for general play (free handmedowns from a friend), brown dressy sandals ($5 at BRU.. and I bought a size up but he still wears them a smidge big with no problem), flip flops ($2- from the Easter Bunny), loafers ($6- he needed something for some of his dressier outfits. These were at the children's place on clearance) and knock off crocs (free handmedowns from a friend)

 

[Zhoen]

I forgot BRU! Thanks Gatormama! Yeah, their seasonal clearances are fantastic! I've gotten shoes there for $2.40 (originally $12.99) before. They aren't the "custom fitted striderite) ones... but we've never had any issues with them.

 

[sk!mom]

Babies actually need very little in the way of clothes. Where must of us go wrong is that there are just so darn cute and the stores offer so many cute choices.

Shoes- skip them until he's starting to walk. Then buy one pair at a time. I think good shoes are important but I could always find the next size on sale.

Clothes- Let everyone know that you'd love hand me downs. Then hit the sale racks at Target, Old Navy, etc... The challenge again is to not overbuy.

 

[crisi]

As everyone else has said, skip the shoes until he is walking. And even then, really limit shoe time.

Generally, you don't want hand me down shoes - hand me down clothes are WONDERFUL and in addition to all the wonderful suggestions above for freecycle/thrift stores - find someone with a child a little bigger than yours and let them dump their old clothes your way - but shoes should wear to fit your child's foot and stride, not have your child's foot and stride have to work with the way another kid's shoe fit. Keep 'em barefoot as much as possible. Special occasion hand me down shoes are fine (they were worn once for a wedding for the kid who had them, your kid will wear them once or twice, too).

When my kids were little, Old Navy had cheap toddler shoes. They certainly weren't wonderful orthopedic shoes - but they protected little feet from stepping on stuff and kept little feet warm.

 

[1Princess1Prince2006]

I agree with other posters in that shoes aren't needed for a 6 month old so don't worry about wasting money on that. I had big babies and socks or bare feet were good enough for them. Heck, even at 6 and 8 they still prefer not to wear shoes.

As for clothes, I would look into Ebay or Craiglists with items that are sold in lots, cosignment shops or sales or places like Goodwill and Salvation Army. I can remember one time with my daughter it being mid-season and her growing out of all her clothes. The cosignment shop in my town was my new best friend! I was able to get a brown grocery bag of clothes for only a few dollars. It was definitely a life saver!

 

[tinker&belle]

Gymboree has everything for 12.99 and under right now.

 

[amberlynnhawkins]

Thanks, everyone!! I should have been a little more specific... for the most part, we ARE keeping him barefoot (since we live in Alabama, it's already around 90 degrees constantly). I was mostly meaning shoes for church, special occasions, etc. I hound the clearance racks wherever I go (in store & online). 99% of his clothes are clearance racks, presents, yard sales, etc. We're not picky. The other 1% is only for the rare special occasion or emergency (and even then it's typically a sale price). So far, I think I've found my best deals on brand new on clearance on Old Navy's website or Walmart/Target in store. As fast as our son's growing, I'm just finding it almost impossible to estimate his size in a year & stock up on end of season clearance though (he's 6 months & already almost 22 lbs, 30 inches long)!!

 

[crisi]

Maybe I'm dense, but why would you need seasonal clothes in Alabama? One of the benefits of living somewhere less seasonal than where I live (Minnesota) is that you don't need to make sure that the snowpants bought end of year clearance can fit next year.

(I got a great deal end of year clearance on ski boots for my daughter this year. And it not June yet and they don't fit.)

 

[amberlynnhawkins]

Maybe I'm dense, but why would you need seasonal clothes in Alabama? One of the benefits of living somewhere less seasonal than where I live (Minnesota) is that you don't need to make sure that the snowpants bought end of year clearance can fit next year.

(I got a great deal end of year clearance on ski boots for my daughter this year. And it not June yet and they don't fit.)

I hope you don't take this to be me starting a fight or being mad or something along those lines, because I'm not. But I've lived in Alabama my entire life, and while there are some times that the seasons are less defined, but we still need seasonal clothes. This past winter was pretty much a record for the state, in that we had multiple snowstorms and record low temperatures (yes, it DOES get below freezing at times in the South). And the summers are typically brutally hot. I know our winters aren't usually quite so harsh as those further north, but we definitely do need seasonal clothes. I was just meaning it would be nice if I could predict if my son will be in an 18 month, 24 month or larger next year so I could pick him up jackets, long sleeved shirts, stuff like that. Because even if it isn't a record cold winter, he'll still need basic clothes for chillier temperatures than it is right now.

Again, I hope this doesn't come across too harsh, I'm just clarifying my point.

 

[crisi]

I hope you don't take this to be me starting a fight or being mad or something along those lines, because I'm not. But I've lived in Alabama my entire life, and while there are some times that the seasons are less defined, but we still need seasonal clothes. This past winter was pretty much a record for the state, in that we had multiple snowstorms and record low temperatures (yes, it DOES get below freezing at times in the South). And the summers are typically brutally hot. I know our winters aren't usually quite so harsh as those further north, but we definitely do need seasonal clothes. I was just meaning it would be nice if I could predict if my son will be in an 18 month, 24 month or larger next year so I could pick him up jackets, long sleeved shirts, stuff like that. Because even if it isn't a record cold winter, he'll still need basic clothes for chillier temperatures than it is right now.

Again, I hope this doesn't come across too harsh, I'm just clarifying my point.

No, not too harsh at all. I didn't think about jackets, but of course, December and January at the very least would be cold enough to want long pants and jackets. Just probably no need for snowpants, parkas, and an extensive collection of sweaters for every day wear.

Summer clothes are the same both places - you can only take off so much

 

[Styx Fan]

When trying to estimate your child's growth remember they grow much more the first year than in subsequent years. Our doctor said DS should triple his birth weight the first year. Imagine if that rate of growth continued forever after! Most kids will end up growing about a full size (or maybe2 ) per year....note I said MOST kids and ABOUT. Everyone knows some child that didn't follow that, but you will soon see about how much yours grows a year.

If in doubt, go for a 3 for 13-23 months. If they are big they will grow into them at some point. Too small and they never get worn. I always go for a little big at the beginning of the season so they will fit the entire season.

I so wanted to buy DD7 a size 7 in long pants last fall. She has pretty much always gone up a full size each year. Her birthday is in September. But i ended up with 6x as the 7's were just too long. They just barely made it through the winter She was a bit long in the ankle for a couple of weeks as it took forever to get to capri and short weather around here. And I wasn't finding her size in resale that I liked as they had out mostly summer also. And I wasn't about to pay full price when in a couple of months back to school sales will run. Finally found her a couple of pair of jeans at a garage sale to tide her over the summer.

The clothes just run bigger when you jump from one dept to the other so the first size in the new dept is tough. So 6X to 7 was a a leap.