FYI #1: Not all Baby Clothes Sizes Fit Equal

Hey Everyone! 

So when my son was born, he was a bit smaller than my husband and I anticipated.  Given, he was two weeks early; however, he ended up weighing at 38 weeks, when he was born, what he weighed at my 36 week ultrasound.  Now keep in mind, doctors warn you ultrasound weigh-ins are a super rough estimate and can be off by a couple of POUNDS (which is a crazy amount when it comes to the weight of a newborn!).  

Anyway, my husband was born a month early and weighed over 7 lbs, so we kind of thought our son would be born similar.  

Wrong!

He came in at 6 lbs 13 oz, at 38 weeks gestation.  

Now, before he was born I bought A LOT of clothes.  And I mean a lot! 

I even bought in all different sizes, so I had a little bit of everything.  

Unfortunately, I ran into two problems once he was born...

1. I bought all his clothes in the late Spring and Summer, when Carter's  and The Children's Place were having sales, and so everything I got him was short sleeve...and with a crap ton of buttons.  

Oh buttons, the bane of my existence.  

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Just do yourself a favor, when you become a parent, anything with more than three snap buttons...THROW IT IN THE TRASH!!!

Your best friend, when you have a screaming baby on the changing pad in the middle of the night, you're exhausted, and baby is flailing all over the place is zippers.  Oh glorious zippers.  Quick and easy!  

So long story short, I had nothing warm for my freezing cold, little newborn to wear.

2.  I barely bought newborn clothes. 

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Like with the newborn diapers (which we also barely bought any of!) I was told "Oh baby won't be in newborn very long, maybe a day or so, so stock up on the bigger sizes."

Wrong, WRONG, WROOOOOONNNNNGGGG

I ended up having to send my mom to the store to get us newborn clothes, right after he was born, because even the few I had were too big!  He was born at this in-between size, where preemie clothes were too small, but most newborns were too big.  

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So back on the topic at hand here...Not all baby clothes sizes are created equal.

Something I realized later after I had already organized my son's clothes (before he was born), was that as I dressed him, clothes that were marked as the same size would fit him way different.  

It's like women's clothing!  

But even more annoying!

Babies can't try on clothes!  It's not only difficult to change a baby (especially if they don't like being on the changing pad to begin with), but you are supposed to wash all baby clothes before having baby wear them.  Which means, removing the tags, and not being able to return them. 🙄

My son has gained a good amount of weight (he weighed in at 11 lbs at his 8 week appt), but he is still running on the slimmer, long side.  

Baby clothes sizing is sort of odd because it ranges from Newborn, 0-3 months, 3 months, 3-6 months, 6 months, 3-9 months, 6-9 months, 9 months, etc.  

The reason why this is odd to me, is that a baby grows an insane amount the first year of his or her life!  A crazy amount!  My son literally outgrew his newborn diapers from one day to the next!  You can pretty much just watch them grow before your eyes!  It's crazy! 

So to have a generic sizing of 0-3 months is insane to me!  Just to show you how much he has grown since birth here is a comparison of him at 2 months old and 5 days old...

Yes, that is the same baby on both sides! 😳

Crazy right?!

Socks! Oh my God, don't even me started on freaking baby socks! Socks come in 0-6 month size!  I put a pair on my son when he was born and they instantly fell off.  I ended up finding, after doing some serious digging on Amazon for some smaller socks.  But in stores I have yet to find any.

As I was reorganizing his clothes for the hundredth time, I noticed this...

6/9 month Disney Baby Onesie

12 month Gerber onesie

Put them on top of each other...

Do babies normally shrink when they hit 12 months?

Now I know both onesies are a different brand.  But it's just weird to me how sizing works on clothes.  My husband has it so easy!  He has his measurements, he goes to the store, or even online, sees his measurements, and done.  

For me, I have to try on three billion pairs of pants to get that perfect fit, because every pair of pants (even the same brand!) will fit different.

WHY?? 

But as a new mom, this is something that I feel could be made easier.  Even adding something as simple as "Slim Fit" or "Wide cut" next to sizes.  How hard would that be?

So just as an FYI for new parents:  

I have found that Carter's and Gerber onesies run on the smaller side.  They run long and slim usually.  Cat & Jack onesies seem to run a little larger because my son has outgrown all his newborn but still fits into this newborn 3-pack onesie set I got from Target.

The Children's Place, at least for the newborn runs pretty average I think.

 

 

And then the Disney Baby seems to run on the wide side, so for pudgier babies.  

As far as other brands, I need to observe more as my son grows. :)

The Romance Bookie :)