When I was pregnant I thought I might be a hardcore mom. The kind that cleans everything like crazy and is super germ scared. Turns out I’m not! haha! But when I was in that phase I loaded up on Dreft and washed all the clothes we got (which weren’t many while I was pregnant since the sex was a surprise!). When Kye was born and the baby boy clothes started pouring in I washed everything first and washed it all with Dreft. I thought it was kinda stupid but I didn’t want to screw up so I stuck with it for a little while. Then he grew out of newborn clothes and had somethings he hadn’t worn. Well since they had been washed I couldn’t sell them on EBay as new and since they were missing tags I couldn’t return them to the stores. I decided then to change things up!
Now I have a pretty good routine down. When Kye becomes a new size I go shopping and buy him cute little outfits and such. I then leave ALL the tags on them and when he grows to a new size I return all the un-worn items and use that money towards the clothes he needs in his new size! It’s a really great system! Most stores now surprisingly have a 90 day return policy. AND our Carter’s outlet in Lake Park takes anything back (as long as it has the tags) with or without a receipt without a time limit! I bought a “baby’s first christmas” outfit after Christmas last year when I was pregnant because I was dying to just buy my child something! I got it for like $4 or $5 but of course I bought a 9 month size because I counted up and knew my child would be 9 months old at Christmas (my my my how sizes lie!). I returned the outfit recently without a receipt and they gave me $12 for it! Awesome!
Kye has followed a pretty typical pattern. When he was born he wore a Newborn Size (never was small enough for the preemie) then about 3 weeks later he went up to the 3 month size. When he turned 3 months old he started wearing 6 month size. And he just turned 9 months old…so of course he’s now wearing 12 months!!!
This time I made a pretty big boo-boo. Around Thanksgiving time (Kye was still 8 months old) I went ahead and figured out all the cute holiday looking outfits Kye would need for Christmas. The Children’s Place always has a 15% off coupon and they have awesome sales so I ordered everything he’d need from there. I remember when he turned 6 months old that they don’t make a 9 months size in their clothes. It’s either 6-9 months or 12 months. Since he was in 9 month sizes at 6 months old I at first ordered 12 month stuff for him and realized they were HUGE so we reordered everything in the 6-9 months sizes. Well this time around I knew better so I ordered all his cute outfits in the 6-9 month size. It was the size he was currently wearing so I figured it’d still fit fine by Christmas and that the 12 month stuff would still be huge!
Well that next week (the week he turned 9 months old) I took him out to run some Christmas shopping errands and he was being very fussy. When we got home I realized that his jeans were too tight! I looked at the size and they were The Children’s Place (hand-me-downs from Colt!) size 6-9 months. My heart sank. It was time to move him up to the 12 month sizes!! I tried on some of the stuff we had bought in the 12 month size that seemed HUGE before and it fit just right!!! Thankfully I was able to re-order everything for the holidays in the 12 month size!!! And we have a store here so I was able to return all the other there! I also had bought some 12 month sized summery type clothes on clearance awhile ago thinking it’d be warm when he hit the 12 month size so I returned all of that too! I also took back some stuff to Polo that he didn’t wear (our outlet also allows returns without a receipt with no time limit!), Gap stuff (90 day return with receipt), and of course lots of Carter’s stuff! Since Carter’s has such a great return policy I always wear that stuff last since I know I can return it if needed 🙂 These are all my returns!
With the pain I went through with all the returning I was able to go ahead and get him lots of wintery 12 month sizes! What’s so funny to me though is HOW MUCH the clothing stores vary in their sizes. Not that I’m a name brand whore or anything (well…maybe a little) but Kye only wears decent quality stuff. I don’t really buy him stuff from Walmart, Target and such (although I’m fine with him wearing it! I just don’t spend much money on their stuff!). I get such great deals at brand name places why would I? Plus I like that his stuff still looks new after I wash it, doesn’t shrink much, and will be able to be used for the next boy we have someday! Anyway I started reading the tags of his clothes and here are how the sizes break down. I only referred to the weight requirements as that is WHY Kye grows out of clothes…his tummy gets too big for the waist while his legs still typically don’t go to the bottom of the pants! For 12 month size:
Old Navy and Gap: 22-27 lbs
Carter’s: 20.5-24 lbs
The Children’s Place:16-22 lbs
Yes, you read that correctly. Kye will be wearing a size 18 month in The Children’s Place when he starts to wear a 12 month size in Old Navy or Gap!!! Stupidity! Currently Kye is 21.9 lb so he’s almost in 18 month for TCP and isn’t quite big enough for Old Navy and Gap stuff size 12 month yet. I personally feel like the Gap and Old Navy brands are closer to true size since they will actually fit him at more appropriate ages. It made it tough to get cute holiday stuff for him. I ended up buying 12 month sizes of The Children’s Place and am trying not to wash them! Then I bought a couple cute Gap things and washed them like crazy in hot water haha!
The lesson I’ve learned with Baby Clothes…LEAVE ON THE TAGS!!! KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS!!! (oh and btw…I totally wash all his stuff with regular detergent now too, Dreft is a rip-off in my opinion!)
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LOL I do that too. I don't take the tags off and I have a lot of clothes but I just plan on giving them as gifts to people. (most of our friends haven't had kids yet- imagine that!)But i am horrible about tags on other things too. My BF Desiree- it drives her crazy whenever she sees one she takes it off. SO far she hasn't found the tags on a statue in my living room, the lamp in the foyer, the lamp in Macy's room, our dresser, the baskets in the office or the towels in our bathroom!!! HAHAHAHAHA Why I don't take them off I don't know…. I wouldn't return it, but… Who knows?!!