I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but I was seriously shocked by how different sizing was between infant brands. I should have assumed as much, seeing as women’s clothing sizes don’t mean much of anything. So after my baby shower for Lucas, I washed all of his new clothes and put them in the closet by size (thinking I was so smart for being so organized before he came. HA. Ohhh the time I wasted trying to organize.) When it came time for him to wear certain outfits, some were too small and some were too large. The ones that were too small really irritated me, because that meant that he never got to wear them and I was already packing them up for storage (if I have any real tip as far as clothing goes, it’s to keep your receipts and don’t wash everything. Keep those tags on and just wash enough for your LO to wear when they get home from the hospital. You’ll be able to trade clothing for what you need then. Most stores have a decently lenient policy on store credit/trade.)

The biggest offender? Gerber. Indefinitely. I have no respect for you, Gerber. You make crap products. (Gerber really used to be the ideal image for infant products. What happened? I’m unenthused about everything they make these days, and their clothing is no exception.)

Gerber outfits not only ran small, but also shrunk like crazy when washed. Some of the 3-6 month clothing that I had purchased for Lucas looked premie-sized by the time it made its way through the wash. Putting Lucas in his “correct” size Gerber outfit always looked similar to me trying to fit into skinny jeans on Thanksgiving day. Poor kid.

I’ve found Carter’s and Baby Gap to be the most true-to-size (and comfortable for my LO! Super soft cotton, and really minimal shrinking after laundered.) I buy mostly Carter’s.

Let’s be honest: Infant clothes cost almost the same as full-sized adult clothes. I buy myself clothing very infrequently. Seeing those tiny human clothes being worn for a few short weeks, and then packing them up in like-new condition is hard to stomach (especially if you’re pretty frugal like we are.) You’d better believe I’m the mom stretching baby clothes to the max before drying them.

What we need is a universal sizing system for infant clothes. Our LOs are not all the same, and “3-6 months” doesn’t actually mean 3-6 months most of the time. My LO wore tiny clothes for a while, and then all of the sudden was SO stinking long and in 9 month clothing (at like 4 months.) Now he’s nearly 9 months old and wearing 18 months. Hello, something is wrong with this system. So major-brand companies, if you’re reading this, we need pounds and inches on these tags. And how about you all have a lunch meeting together and bond over some Chipotle and baby sizing to decide on a universal system.

Here is a chart to help you navigate sizing:

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-Katie

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