Uh.. feeling a little frustrated, my four month old son decided to grow like a weed the last 2 weeks, he had been in 0-3 clothing and SOME 3-6 months that I had been given as gifts or bought, but as of today it seems as if nothing is fitting him, his pants are too short, his onesizes are to tight and his shirts are to short in the arms......

So I went shopping, I only bought good deals and stuff and spent about 38.00 on a few cute outfits for fall, but I bought no sleepers or anything. I looked at Once Upon a Child (resale) and another no name resale store and the prices were MORE than I paid on the clearance racks at Childrens Place and Old Navy, I just do not know how we are going to outfit our child every 3-4 months, and what stinks is that we do not have anyone that gives hand me downs,,,,

SO ladies share your secrets, how do you keep up with changing sizes, do you buy a year ahead hoping things will fit when the season comes??? I am just at a loss!! Thanks in advance

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When a baby is as small as yours I definitely try to buy a year ahead. I always try to look for clearance at Kohls and Target. I was at WalMart this week and saw some really good clearance deals. I don't buy clothes at WalMart usually because the quality is often not as good as other comparable stores. I also have found that I can shop clearance racks and get deals as good as or better than Once Upon a Child for new instead of used clothes. Still, if I need something right away I will look there just as you did. My advice would be to buy what you need now and look ahead for what your budget will allow. With my first son, he also had a tremendous growth spurt and wore a lot of 12 month clothes by the time he was six months old. But, he wore those clothes for almost a year, so we got good use from them! Enjoy shopping for little clothes! I have to go the the big kid section now for my older ones and the clothes aren't nearly as cute!

My 3 are grown..I remember those days. Kids will grow like weeds in spurts, and those labels 0-3 months or 12 months almost always meant by a half...a 6 month old usually wore 12 mth clothing. The key is not to overbuy in any one size, because ultimately, your baby will outgrow it. I scour the clearance racks at Kohls...the clothes are made well and are very well priced. I never bought a year ahead with a baby because if you buy summer clothes and they are too small, then what? I usually bought 6 months ahead if I could. Even some summer clothes came with sleeves and long pants...so check the clearance racks for those, and they will be good for the fall. Once your child starts growing in less spurts (after a year), you can start planning out farther ahead. And be glad that right now your baby isn't like my teenager and tells you what they will/won't wear....yet!

Here's a few things that I do:
- Swap clothes with friends with older kids or kids in larger sizes
- Ask local day cares if they get donations and are willing to part with them. My friend's MIL owns a daycare and receives a lot of clothing from parents that no longer need/want it and she loves passing stuff along
- Craigslist !!
- Hit the sales at Target, Walmart, Sears (they have a policy about clothing wearing out so good for older kids), Old Navy, Ross, The Children's Place, Gymboree, Kohls. I do a lot of online shopping and buy in larger sizes where I can. Outlet shopping is great too if you have one nearby.
- Check out Goodwill and other consignment shops. Especially when the seasons change and they discount their stuff further
- Base your buying pattern on your kid's growing pattern. DS #1 was always in the next size up so I would guestimate the size when I found a good sale. Don't take the tags off until you need them because you can get more money reselling them if they don't fit on Craigslist or eBay if they have the tags.

HTH!

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SuperSavinMommy
SAHM of 1 son (born 8/06) and due 6/17/08 with son #2

My son was born in April (4 years ago). I spent a lot of that summer going to garage sales. I still do. Put your son in the car seat and hit some garage sales. With this being Labor Day weekend, you might still find some sales. When you are only paying 50c or $1 it doesn't matter if he is only in them for a week compared to paying even $5.

Also Jared is 4, I have clothes for him until he is 8. I have gotten things from Freecycle, garage sales and some from clearance at Old Navy, and Target. Like right now, I could go and get things for next summer.

Remember, your child doesn't need to look cute 24/7...meaning you can get him play clothes - as he starts eating real food and playing you will find this to come into play even more. I had/have clothes that the kids wear just at home and clothes "for public" when I want them to look good. Also, boys are harder to find used jeans/pants that don't have holes in them starting around age 3 or 4. So when Old Navy recently had their $7 - I bought 2 size 6 and 1 size 7 for him.

Try putting an add out in your local Freecycle and see if you get any replies. People may have some that they would love to get rid of or watch to see what people are offering - no you won't know what they are like till you get them. But remember your son doesn't have to look "cute" 24/7.

I get TONS of hand-me-downs for Maggie. Other girls in the family.

I was going to suggest Freecycle as well. Also, is there a Goodwill or Sali Army in your area? I've gotten good deals on baby cothes there. And ask some other mothers in your neighborhood if they have any old clothes to get rid of. Or look on E-bay. Sometimes you can get good deals there.

I see you only have 1 child now..I don't know if you are planning on having any more, but save all "neutral" the clothes you buy now so you will have some for future.

And, as a mother of 2 boys, I have found this: sometimes it pays to get better quality clothes. Oshkosh & Wranglers are 2 examples. I pay about $15 - 20 per pair of Wranglers Straight leg cowboy cut jeans (DS's 11 & 13 years old will NOT wear anything else!) but they LAST through all my boys put them through, & I can usually pass them down thru both boys & onto another mother I work with with 2 boys. so, for me, it's worth it.

(and when I say "put them through" - I mean breaking, showing & working with cows, riding horses, school, 4-wheeling & the like!)

First of all, all that growth suddenly slows down when he reaches age 2. You'll find a lot of 24 month and 2T clothing out there. Take that as a lesson that you won't have to stock up much on that size BUT you'll have lots to chose from of really cute outfits.

Yes, most of us stock ahead when we find cute items for cheap. Create boxes to store each size so you can find them again later. Usually the upper shelf in the child's closet is a good place for these boxes. Be sure to include shoes and winter wear, too.

When in doubt, err on the side of too big. My DD wears only flip-flops in summer (I've finally learned to not even bother buying her sandles) and boots in the winter. Boots are great because I can buy 1.5 to 2 whole sizes AHEAD of her current shoe size and she can wear them all winter and sometimes into the next year. BTW, usually half-sized shoes are what are on clearance so if your kid wears size X, immediately start looking for size X.5.

I buy large with winter coats, too, since for the first part of the winter we can survive with lots of layering. By the time December and January comes, the weather turns horrid and that is when winter jackets go on clearance. I buy a large jacket for her for the current winter with hopes that jacket will still fit next year.

So lets calculate ... your son is 4 months old now. By January he will be 9 months old. At a minimum, by a 12 month coat although I'd probably be looking for an 18 month.

When he outgrows something, make do. Unsnap those onsies and tuck them into his bottoms. My parents regularly cut the feet off my footsie PJ because I was too tall and skinny to fit the bigger size properly. Layer, layer, layer. Go ahead and use the short sleeved shirts UNDER his other clothing. Let him crawl around in shorts during the winter while in the house when you're keeping it warmer inside. You can put those socks that are a little too big on him to keep his legs warm. It is okay if the heels don't hit exactly right. Do they make tube socks for infants? They should.

Lastly, DD is extremely petit so almost all her friends are larger than she is. That is great for us in terms of hand-me-downs but we find ourselves not being able to reciprocate. So now, I trade up. When I find great buy-ahead deals on items that DD won't wear for a while, I loan them out to the moms who give me hand-me-downs. That way I don't have to store the item (like a beautiful wool dress coat that DD won't wear for at least another year), some other kid gets to enjoy it, and I'm going to end up with the item anyway.

And yes, like any other kind of shopping, you have to price compare clearance racks vs consignment stores vs thrift stores vs garage sales. You're still starting on this journey. You'll find the best places to get the great deals.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

What a cutie! I miss those days! Here are a few more tips:

- Buy separates. Mix and match to your heart's content. One of my children was long-waisted so it seemed any all-in-one outfits only lasted a week

- Darker colors usually hide stains better.

- Depending where you live be careful about buying too far ahead. Growth spurts (and lack thereof) threw off my great winter and summer clearance purchases.

- Speak up when asked what you or your son want for Christmas and birthdays. I found sizes vary depending on the manufacturer so depending on your family could you ask for a gift card? Or perhaps your mother/mother-in-law would like to go shopping w/you and help pick the Thanksgiving/Christmas outfit?

- Re: holiday outfits, avoid holiday designs - a regular red sweater can be worn for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day.

- When your son gets a little older simplify his wardrobe. I try and only buy denim shorts for play and khakis for good. Trying to match the red shorts, green shorts, etc. gets too cumbersome.

- Count out the # of outfits your child really needs per week w/how many loads of wash you do. Looking back I had way too many clothes for my children. Some were rarely worn.

- Watch the store forums on Mommysavers for when your favorite stores have sales.

Finally, enjoy and don't feel guilty if you splurge a little. Babies are way too enjoyable for that

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The higher the hair, the closer to heaven.

your son is so cute!!

We were lucky enough to have a ton of handmedowns, including boxes of boy clothes we haven't used yet. I wish you lived near and I could lend them all to you. That is so hard to be on your own with no handmedowns and running out of the clothes you've stocked up.

My only advice is to keep good track of what you have, because it stinks to put a new outfit on, only to find he's practically outgrown it already! I have these closet organizers but you could make some by decorating a "doorknob hanger" shaped piece of cardboard or something.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

Lots of great suggestions here.

Here is what I do:

I shop my local Salvation Army and thrift stores about once a month. At our SA store, every Wed is 50% off clothes day. They normally sell infant and kids clothes for $1.99 to $3.50. So Wed is half off those prices.

When I get a chance (which isn't often), I hit a few garage sales if they are close to me. You can usually find baby/kids clothes for about 50cents a piece.

Find a good Mommys group in your area (try meetup.com, church, etc.) Through these places I have met my closest friends, and we are always mommy trading between us. My friend Michelle gave me her 5 yo daughters handmedowns when I was preggo with my daughter, and I just recently returned some of them and added a bunch of other handmedowns from my daughter to her new baby girl.

I have bought a bunch of baby/kid items through craigslist from other moms who live in my area. I just purchased like 40+ pieces of CP, Gymboree, and Gap 2T girls clothes from a mom who lives 5 minutes from me for $50 all in excellent condition.

Check out the following sites:

freecycle.org (I gave away a bunch of infant items and received a toddler bicycle for my son)
freepeats.com (gave away a few diaper coupons)
kizoodle.com (kizzed off a bunch of kids clothes/household items and then used the credits to get larger kid clothes, books, coupons, etc.)

I definitely shop a year or two ahead for my kids. My son is currently wearing 3-4T clothes. So I am always on the lookout for 4-5T clothes for him at Salvation Army, Craigslist, etc. My daughter is currently in 18months size. But she already has a TON of 24-2T clothes, so now I am looking for
3T clothes. And just last night I went to Payless Shoes for their BOGO sale and bought her two pairs of shoes for $8.08 in size 4 and 4 toddler (she wears size 3 now).

And try to keep track of when your stores have their best sales. Like Children's Place, usually August for summer clothes, Dec/January for Fall clothes, May/June for Spring clothes, etc.

I rarely buy my kids brand new, store bought clothes. But when I do, hit the CP mega sales and stock up then. Or the Sears or JC Penney extra 50-75% off sales. Those are my three favorite sales to hit.

Sandra