Keeping up with baby's wardrobe...

[BeatingtheOdds]

I need some advice. My DD just turned one and we're finally getting into the territory of me needing to buy her more things as she's growing out of the things we stocked up on/gifts purchased before she was born.

I'm wondering, how do you shop for your kid's clothes? All at once per season? Or do you go out and pick things up separately? How and how much do you budget? I feel totally overwhelmed! I'd like to go out and maybe do one " big" shop but I love to use my coupons and get things on sale so I don't think it would work out too well to do it that way. I feel like I'm constantly shopping though, just buying things here and there as the need arises and when I have coupons/things go on sale. Like I said though it's really starting to make me feel overwhelmed. I do like to use Once Upon a Child/ kids re-sale stores too but I can never find everything that I'm looking for when I shop there.

Also, how MUCH do you have in your kids closets? I never know if I have too much or too little but I do run out of things before I do laundry. Help!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Oh I hear ya! With 4 kids I'm constantly buying new clothes and doing laundry.

For DD, since she's the only girl, so I had little hand me downs I did the following.
Shirts- buy a little big. I could get extra time out of them. If your DD is still in onsies buy a little big and roll the sleeves. I also bought onsie extenders. DD is long in the torso so they fit in the arms and chest but were too short, the extenders were a life saver.
Pants- wear them for winter season, and either cut them off to make shorts for summer or add some lace ruffle if the leg is a little short. That mad them appear longer and I'd get another month or 2 out of them.
Many of her dresses became tops when they got to short. I'd just pair them with leggings.
I don't do huge shopping sprees even now because they are still growing. We usually go twice a season if they have a growth spurt. I try to buy stuff that can transition from one season to the next. T- shirts and hoodies or sweaters, t-shirts with long sleeve Tees underneath. Skirts that look cute plain or with heavy cable knit tights.

Shop with your coupons. Shop the clearance. I buy clearance stuff that would be a year up. So for your DD buy 2t for this season next year.
Check places like Kohls, if you have one, they usually have some really good 80% off sales.
At her age I'd also be shopping at Walmart and Target, a lot. Oh and Old Navy, they usually have good deals too. (Basing this on you living in the US, on my phone so I'm not sure where you are from) I also do a lot of shopping at the outlets.

As for the number of outfits, I try to have 2 weeks worth of clothes for each kid, mostly because I hate doing laundry and put it off as long as humanly possible. But also avoid trendy styles. Stick to the basics that you can mix and match.

Oh and I will totally admit that my kids spent a lot of time in cheap sweatpants and sweatshirts if we were just kicking around the house. I'd save the few nicer outfits for when we went out.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am constantly buying too. Luckily it is to save money in the long run. Always shop end of season clearance for the next year. Browse thru the target clearance racks frequently. Gymbo has good sales you can combine with coupons. A lot of our play clothes are from there and target. My boys have loads of little shorts and tops I get for $1-5 at target. When they are little look for deals in one piece outfits...rompers and such. May cost you $7 or so for a Carter's romper but it is the full outfit!

 

[bumbershoot]

I bought as I needed. For 2 years I bought a bit big because we used cloth diapers, and then got extra wear from those clothes when he decided he was finished with dipes by 2.5.

I don't buy all that much, even now. I buy what he needs and it tends to be the same pieces just in different colors/washes.

Laundry is the one household chore I don't mind, though, so that might make me different than some. Washing, drying, and folding his wee little clothes was just about my favorite thing to do. Sigh.


OH, and he has one cousin who is 1.5 years older and they've been sweet enough to send things out as they wish. That has been fabulous!

 

[kellyjeanie]

I shop ahead too, though you can get burned if your child grows faster or slower than you expected. I have enough clothes so I'm not constantly doing laundry, but not so many that I have to buy more dressers. I keep a bin for the next size up, label it clearly, and keep it where I can look through to make sure I'm not duplicating. When the season hits, I pull it all out and decide what holes I need to fill in. I'm a bit of a Gymboree addict. But right now if you went into Gymboree, you can find summer stuff dirt cheap!!

With shoes when they're little I try to keep a size ahead so I can shop sales. That stopped working for me for my oldest, he started skipping sizes but for my DD and younger son they still hit all the sizes in order so I can try to make sure when they outgrow the old shoes I have some new ones ready to go.

However, there are some people who just go and get whatever they need when it comes up. Nothing wrong with that, it's a viable strategy! Maybe you could budget a certain amount, and then when the sales start happening for the upcoming season, go and get what you need all at once. If the shopping is stressing you out, this might be a better solution.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

I only have a 4 month old, but have been shopping for next year already. Macy's had some really good clearance prices when combined with a savings pass.

I'm not sure if it's just my local one, but my Once Upon a Child has a 10 items for $10 sale towards the end of each season.

Also I am going to try to visit a Just Between Friends sale for the first time next month. Maybe see if there's one in your area? They seem to have them here about four times a year.

 

[christygobar]

For the most part, I do 2x a year....spring/summer and fall/winter. I am a HUGE consignment shopper. We have large sales (JBF is one of the companies, but I use another), and I get almost her entire wardrobe through there for the upcoming season.

Since she is 3 and still growing yearly, she doesn't get much more than that season's use out of clothes. I supplement with 1-2 bigger purchases from the Children's Place because I like their solid color shirts and leggings. However, I use coupon codes and free shipping and try to stick within the limits of the deal (if free shipping is at $100, that's what I try to stick with).

The rest of the year, she really only gets clothes if we find something we just can't refuse because it's too cute. As she outgrows clothes, they get stored away. I am expecting DD2 this week, so she's going to get all of those hand-me-downs for awhile

I don't shop ahead TOO much because we just don't have the space for it! However, I did that more when she was younger and growing faster.

 

[Maggie Lizer]

I buy in advance, with a caveat: I didn't start until I got a decent idea of how fast my boys grew. My older one is a skinny-mini, so I anticipated him wearing new clothing sizes at the age on the label or a bit past; e.g., he was just switching over to 12 mo. clothes at 14 months or so. My younger one is a big guy and grows out of things as he approaches the age on the label; e.g., he is 5.5 months and will need 9 month sized clothes by the time he hits 6 months.

It gets much easier when they go to 2T, 3T, etc. - then the clothes are more or less good for a whole year.

 

[HM]

My neighborhood had a baby and kids garage sale twice a year. We got a lot of staples that way and picked up other items at the store occasionally. Since they grow so fast, most used clothing was in really good shape and I saved a ton of money. Plus, I could sell my outgrown things and make money to buy new things.

 

[dsneprincess]

I also buy ahead and off clearance racks. My kids clothes are mainly Kohl's, Target, Disney Store and Walmart. Little kids clothes are really cute from everywhere, they don't care that their clothes aren't the ones the cool kids wear and I don't have to stress that food spilled or diaper malfunctioned if the outfit was $5 total. (ex. DS2 just had a carsick incident while we were on vacation, shorts were $1 pair from Walmart clearance.....they didn't warrant a stop at a laundromat as I didn't have to feel bad throwing them out.) I shop price over quality with kids clothes because they outgrow long before they wear out!

P.S. this changes as they get older....with girls faster than boys, I think!

 

[Happyjen27]

I buy used.

I buy slowly as the deals crop up on a facebook garage sale page my friends and I created. Last night I got a pair of size 6 Gap jeans in perfect condition from a friend for $4. They look brand new.

My husband asked me last week 'are we hurting for money that badly?'

No, however, they are only 6 years old and are okay with gently used clothes I buy from my friends. North Face backpacks are 99 bucks, when they are teenagers and have those wants, I want to provide them with the things they want. I'm saving gobs of money now so I won't mind buying name brand new stuff when they are teens.

 

[Happyjen27]

It gets much easier when they go to 2T, 3T, etc. - then the clothes are more or less good for a whole year.

This is so true!!

 

[ellone]

I don't buy ahead. I did it once for my older daughter and ended up with clothes that were too small for her. Currently she is 4, but wears size 6. Although it looks like she'll be in seven before spring.

I buy mostly Gymboree. I get on all their mailing lists so I get the 20% off coupons. Then stack with sales. This past weekend they had 40% off previously discounted (and yes some long sleeved stuff for fall was included). So it was 40% off the discounted price and then 20% off for my coupon. Got some great deals.

 

[MrsPete]

I decided that for each size, I would keep one copy-paper box full of clothes -- it's plenty for a small child -- and I stored them as follows:

- I brought home copy-paper boxes (because they're readily available, and the uniform size made them easy to stack in the closet) and labeled them by size.
- When I bought things "ahead" from a clearance table or a consignment store, I "filed them" in the appropriate box.
- If something was labeled 2T but fit like a 3T, I filed it under 3T.
- When the child reached a certain size, I'd bring out the box and wash everything. If she needed "fill in items" -- for example, if she had plenty of tops but no pants -- I'd go buy that.
- I never bought at full-price unless the items were needed NOW.
- When the child outgrew a certain size, I'd keep ONLY one boxful. I never kept things that were stained or damaged, figuring that I didn't really want to put them on a younger child anyway.
- I kept shoes and coats separate because they were too bulk for this system.
- If I'd had both girls and boys, I might've organized things as 6 month Boys, 6 month Girls, etc. But since I had only girls, it was easier.

Worked great. Sometimes I "missed"; for example, I might've here and there bought a Christmas dress that fit perfectly in the summer, but this system prevented me from realizing too late that I'd bought another Christmas dress, failing to realize that I had one in a pile in the back of the closet.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

I got a kid who skipped sizes at least twice and who has growth spurts at the oddest times. He is not a gradual grower--he has gone to bed one night and then the next morning has outgrown his shoes.

What works for me:

Always make sure you have one or two things (sweats and shoes, tshirts, undies) around in the next size up, but dont overbuy.

If I buy clearance ahead, I make sure its seasonless or can be layered. Short sleeve tshirts that can be layered & hoodies are goid bets, an occasional pair of jeans or sweats, good quality shoes (only ones that are on the wide side). I will also buy layered look tshirts that I can cut the sleeves out of. I pick up cool tshirts as I see them, usually a size up, but will buy them bigger if its timeless.

Always have around swimsuits in a couple of sizes if you live somewhere that gets cold. They're hard to find in November. I always pick those up on clearances.

I shop consignment/garage sales for diaper bag/car extra outfits. (Boy stuff is ususlly not as great as girl stuff at those places--much more worn, more stained)

Pants are tricky. Adjustable waist fits best, but they are difficult when potty training. If I had a girl, I might stick with leggings and dresses in that phase. Those you very easily buy ahead.

Speaking of potty training, I had 3 weeks worth of pants/undies then. There were a couple days of 7+ outfit changes. Sometimes getting to the laundry gets delayed.

At this stage we have two or three weeks worth of tops and a weeks worth of bottoms. A zillion pairs of undies and 14 pairs of socks that are never around.

I am not a wardrobe buyer--does not work for us. If we hit a growth spurt in the legs, I'll hit Crazy 8 for a few pairs of jeans and then stalk sales for a few more pairs. Growth through the torso and I will pick up some bigger shirts--usually long sleeve so I can get some extra life out of the short sleeves.

You'll find what works for you!

 

[wiigirl]

I don't buy ahead. I did it once for my older daughter and ended up with clothes that were too small for her. Currently she is 4, but wears size 6. Although it looks like she'll be in seven before spring.

I buy mostly Gymboree. I get on all their mailing lists so I get the 20% off coupons. Then stack with sales. This past weekend they had 40% off previously discounted (and yes some long sleeved stuff for fall was included). So it was 40% off the discounted price and then 20% off for my coupon. Got some great deals.

x2 for Gymboree

 

[msmama]

I always had great luck with outlets if you have any near you. I don't really like Gymboree, but I love the Gymboree outlet (odd I know). Crazy 8 is Gymboree cheaper cousin and I've had good luck there, too. Gymboree was just too much $ for what I felt we needed it for (though the quality is good).

Anyway Carter's outlet was where most of our staples come from at that age.

 

[angierae]

My DD18 is grown now, but we did a lot of garage and mom to mom sales. If I had another one (which I have no plans to do!!) I would probably never buy them "new" clothes until they started school. Around here there's a mom to mom sale almost every weekend and I could easily outfit a kid from birth to kindergarten without buying anything new.

 

[maplevale]

I am lucky that my ODD grows really slow

For starters I dress my kids like myself.... in the summer shorts and tanks, in the winter pants, t/tanks and sweaters. It means that come October they don't have to swap over all their tanks/t's for long sleeve shirts. Leggings can be worn from Septmber to June (here!), stand alone or under a dress and can even been worn as they get too short more like a capri. Bottoms I almost exclusively buy in solid colours so you can get more wear out of them.

When DD was 1 I was buying stuff on clearance for the next year. It worked well (because 80% of her wardrobe she could wear year round). As she has gotten bigger I don't mind not buying on super clearance because things last her a full year or longer (like I said - slow grower) and I much prefer to pick up 1-2 items as I need them (usually when I am doing groceries!)


I like the suggestion of the copy boxes! We have 2 girls -- and SIL had 2 girls. As a result my YDD has an obscene amount of clothes.... SIL WAY overbuys - at one point my YDD had 32 pairs of pants in size 18-24/2T (all that fit decently).... and most had come from her. You don't need that many clothes! Keeping up with laundry is easier if you have less!

 

[Elleshoodat]

DS turns 3 next month, and for the past couple of years we've been doing two "big" shopping trips a year -- one in the spring, and one in the fall.

We go to the Carter's outlet and are on the mailing list so get coupons and points, but I don't know what I'm going to do this year. Carter's stuff, at least for boys, gets less "cute" as they get older.