Cutting Down On Frustration: Baby Clothing Sizes Revealed
I spent an hour or so on Saturday night weeding through the boy’s bin of upcoming sizes. I do that once a month or so. (Yes, on Saturday nights. Shut up.) I still had a few of the bigger 12 month items in there, and also pulled out all of the 18 month items. Today he’s wearing one of the 12 month outfits that I just pulled out, and it will probably be the only time he wears it. Apparently Nike is short and wide. He’s swimming in it in width, and yet I can see his ankles and belly button.
Baby clothes can be frustrating for any parent. Who knows before they have a baby which brands fit true to size and which are way off? Well, parents of the blogosphere…(that’s you!). We can help!
I’ll include a list of my opinions about clothing here, and you can add yours in comments. Hopefully we can help expectant and new parents to pull the right sizes out of the bin early enough that they actually get some wear out of them. Everyone’s baby is different (mine’s long & lean…must be nice) so be sure to let us know your baby’s shape along with your opinions. Feel free to include comments about quality as well as size. Also, I’m in Canada but over half of my readers are in the US and Europe/Asia so feel free to include stores and brands from wherever you happen to be. I favour indie companies myself, but will focus on mainstream brands here. You? Comment on whatever you like!
Here we go…
Baby Gap: For us, Baby Gap has been fairly true to size (slightly small). They fit our long and lean baby perfectly. the 6-12 month size fit him from about 5-10 months. I love the quality – everything still looks almost new when I pack it away. Snaps in all the right places, and very comfortable. We have pants up to 2T with crotch snaps, which are hard to find and much appreciated. Adjustable waistbands rock.
Carter’s: Fits slightly small, but very soft and lovely.
Cherokee (from Zellers): Fits slightly small. Sleepers shrink and are fairly low quality. Other clothing seems much better and also fits truer to size.
Children’s Place/Baby Place: Fairly true to size. The 6-9 month pants fit him from 6-9 months. The shirts were a little bit larger, but very close. The quality of the shirts was fairly low – flimsy, I guess, but for the time he wears them they’re fine. The pants were all great quality. All items are very comfortable.
Little Tikes: I didn’t even know they made clothes until last month! They seem to fit a little large. The outfit we got was lovely plush fleece with soft seams and a quality zipper. I really like it.
Mexx: Fits large. The 4-6 month size fit the boy from about 6-10 months. Great quality – they still look brand new after months of washing and wearing.
Nike: Short & fat. Great for the wider variety of baby. For the long & lean, buy at least one size larger than you think you need in order to get the appropriate length. Quality isn’t as good as I would expect for the price.
Old Navy: Slightly small, but not too bad. The jeans in 12-18 months fit him from 9 months and he’ll be in them for a while yet. Decent quality for the price. I find the pants better quality than the tops. We love their jeans.
Please Mum: As true to size as any we’ve found. At ten months, the boy’s in 12 months from Please Mum and it fits perfectly. 18 mos is slightly large, as you’d expect. I love the quality. I also love the sales. They have regular 50% off sales and scratch & save days in store.
Snugabye: I’ve found them a little on the small side, and have had some that seem high quality and some that seem lower. I love the convert-a-foot concept!
Tommy Hilfiger: Fits very large. The boy’s currently wearing 3-6 months in a polo shirt and in the jeans, and he’ll be able to wear them for some time yet. Some of the fabrics are low quality in the tops. The pants seem to be very high quality.
WalMart – George: A little on the small side. The 12 month size fit him from about 8-9.5 months. They still fit in girth, but they’re too short. Cute, and decent quality for the price. (All gifts, I have to mention that I refuse to shop there. Read this blog for a few reasons why.)
Walmart – other: Everything we received from Walmart (all gifts) shrunk terribly and fit for about a week. In this case, you get what you pay for. At 3 months, the boy was in their 12 month diaper shirts, and he’s not that huge. If you must buy from Walmart, buy big. And buy their George brand. Crappy quality, but I don’t expect anything great to come from Walmart.
That covers most of what we’ve gotten over the past year. Let me know what you think.
Anyone with older children? How do their clothes match up in terms of size and quality?
How about the American stores like Target etc.? Let’s help those new parents out!
(And, honestly, help me. I still don’t get it.)
I’ll keep this one open indefinitely so we can keep sharing the wealth of knowledge that is parent bloggers.
Come back Wednesday for an interactive post on organizing the plethora of kids’ stuff filling your home!
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Tags: 
parenthacks, 
children’s clothing, 
brands, 
shopping
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:59 pm
I was always so surprised by the variations of sizes. Now that Becca is older, I always have her in a size larger, if is a tad big it is better than a tad small.
Cloth diapers changes everything … we always had larger pants for everything. Not that I minded, some cloth diapers and covers are cute enough on their own in good weather!
I do find Target brand fit small for the size … but the T’s and shorts are UBER cheap yet do not fall apart. I do not shop at Walmart by principle …
Oh now that Becca is out of diapers she has a permanent plumbers crack going…all clothing peeps think all kids are diapers till they are like 5! But both Gap and Old Navy have adjestable waist bands that helps!
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March 4th, 2007 at 7:56 am
I agree with this clothes are so weird in sizes.
My daughter wears 3T shirts and 12 month pants. It is just crazy. I don’t consider her strangely proportioned either.
Anyways, great post.
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March 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
You’ve identified my pet peeve. The only brand that we have found that fits my daughter to a “T” is Old Navy; Gap is too big on her, which is a shame because I love some of their outfits. The worst are the pants — dresses and tops are usually o.k. Right now, at 3 yrs and 4 months, she is wearing 2T Gap pants. Roots has the strangest fit I have found anywhere; sometimes it is right on; sometimes it is way, way too big, and sometimes it is wide and short. I bought a bunch of 3T t-shirts last year that were way too short on her even at age 2, although way too wide at the same time. Their stuff is risky.
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March 5th, 2007 at 7:54 am
It’s been so long *sigh* since I got baby clothes, I can’t remember where I got mine. I have to agree that Target has some pretty good toddler clothes. I bought some shorts there for my youngest a year ago, and they still look pretty new.
Thanks for the info!
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March 5th, 2007 at 8:28 am
It would be great if folks could comment on the fit for certain kids as well — I noticed a few — but I’ve got a tall skinny minny. So gymboree fits her if she goes the size down (although now she’s probably 2T — she 2.6) — I found baby gap to be small and old navy fairly true to size as well as Children’s Place.
Target it depends on the brands — I like the oshkosh — and the pants that have the adjustable waist — those are great!
Cool idea for a post, Nicole!
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March 5th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Great idea! The clothing inconsistencies drive me nuts.
My 2.5 yo boy is very small all around. Very skinny and almost average in height, and a long torso. In order to keep pants on him I need to dress him in size 18 mos. Walmart pants are too short. Target pant fits quite well – no ankles showing, and they’re a good quality. Old Navy has the best sweats for him – perfect in waist and length. I’ve been very happy with ONavy shirts. My favorite shop is Janie & Jack. Their sizes run large, allowing us to get more wear out of them, which is great considering the price. However, I have found that the sleeves on their long-sleeve pull-overs are short on my son. They’re more like 3/4 length. That is not the case with sweaters and button-up shirts – they fit properly.
I also have a 6 mo old son, pretty average in size. Baby Gap infant sizes run small on both boys. They grew out of those quite fast. But the toddler sizes seem much bigger – 2t is way large for my son. Children’s Place and Carters has been an accurate fit on both boys. Gymboree runs slightly large, so I feel we get more wear out of those. Disney Store has a very slim fit. Take them out early! And the PJs come in even sizes only, so they run small.
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March 5th, 2007 at 9:32 am
I have found that Old Navy always shrinks up by a full size after washing and that Roots clothes never shrink and wear very hard.
While their adult clothes seem to disintegrate within a month, GAPs clothes seems to wear well, as do OshKosh clothes.
So, while I can’t comment on sizing so much, I can attest that if you are getting donations from friends or buying second hand, you can never go wrong buying GAP, OshKosh and Roots.
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March 5th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Target is good – Old Navy too – like other posters, I buy big (eg 2T pants and then cuff them all winter for my not 22 month old) – right now they are all the way uncuffed and fit pretty well and should last till shorts weather (he’s the long and lean type) – he still wears a lot of 12-18mo shirts from Old Navy, Target and the Gap but the sleeves get a bit short – the 2T fit well for shirts, sometimes I have to cuff the sleeves on those.
Adjustable waistbands on pants are the key – costs a couple of bucks more, but even Target has some adjustable brands (Levi’s, OshKosh)
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March 5th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Our kids are older and we still have a hard time finding jeans. They’re both long and skinny … we have to buy bigger sizes for the length and then cinch them up with a belt.
Don’t you find that adult clothes are also really hard to fit? I don’t know about you guys, but I have a little “roll” so those ultra low rise pants just don’t do it for me!
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March 5th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Our 7 month old has been small, 5th percentile, on height and weight, but 55 to 75 percentile on head size!
She stayed in onesies 0-3 until 4 to 5 months, and she’s still in 3-6 onesies. Because of the head to torso differential, I had horrible luck with Gerber onesies, the head holes were too small even when they would fit her body, but great luck with Children’s Place onesies, which were cut generously for her all over. Carter’s onesies were about middle of the road.
Because she’s 5th percent, all of her long sleeve shirts just end up needing rolled up in order to accommodate her slow to expand tummy, but shoulder to crotch growth spurts (long torso, relatively short legs). However, we have noticed pretty good luck with some of the Babies R Us brands (gifts). Also, I second the comment about Gap’s quality. A red jacket and pair of embroidered jeans, which have seen many wears and washings, have done very well. The red has never run or faded, and the jeans embroidery has never frayed in the wash (they were 0-3, so she wasn’t active and I don’t know how they would have stood up to child exuberance).
As for sleepers, I love Carter’s Baby of Mine (I think that’s the line’s name) and OshKosh. Gerber, again, wears ok, and is good if you’re going through a leaky diaper stage as they are cheap, i.e. you can buy lots and keep moving them through the wash, but we are running into the problem that they are getting too short toe to shoulder (I think they shrank in the wash) and they do fade.
Socks have been particularly difficult for us, but I have found that I love Carter’s with no skid treads and Baby Gap with the same. I received a pair of Baby Gap no skid tread for 0-3, and they were the two pairs of socks those first few squirmy months I knew would always stay on throughout the day. Outside of those, I had received a pair of booties (Carter’s, I think) which had a wrap-around-the-ankle high collar that velcro’d, so the socks underneath stayed put all day long.
And, as someone who has an intense drooler, the drool bibs are worthwile for us, but skip ones that tie and go for the velcro closures.
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March 5th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Great Idea!!!
I find that even Old Navy is sometimes off on size! My daughter has two pairs of ON jeans, one is 5T one is regular 5. I thought they’d be the same, but the regular 5′s are way too big!
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March 5th, 2007 at 11:45 am
My favorite is Hanna Andersson. My son Oliver usually goes through two sizes of Carter’s before outgrowing one size of Hanna’s. Yes, they are usually a little big when we get them but they generally have cuffs on wrists and ankles that can be rolled up. I saw a picture of my son from last June wearing a sleeper he can still wear! That’s 14 months to 23 months. Alas, he is outgrowing it now. Buy Hanna’s by your child’s length/height and you won’t be disappointed in the fit.
Baby Gap tends to fit Oliver well too. Old Navy shirts are okay but pants are a disaster on him.
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March 5th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
This is *such* a good idea! I like what you have to say about those brands. I have found that Little Me tends to run big (my baby weighs 19 pounds and is 27 inches and is wearing a size 3mos romper labeled for “up to 12 pounds”), and Ralph Lauren tends to run small.
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March 5th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I came over from parenthacks; this is a great and helpful thread. I have a 7 month old daughter who runs 75-90 %ile on height and right at 50 (or just below) %ile on weight.
Our 3-6 month Baby Gap jeans and shirts are too short now, but the 3-6 month Baby Gap onesies are just right (she couldn’t wear them until 6 months b/c the shoulders were too wide). Overall I’ve been very pleased with the fit we get from Baby Gap and they seem to be good quality. I’m not sure how Carter’s are actually sized (does 9 months mean 6-9 or 9-12?) but she is in 9 months and they are already beginning to get too short through the body (she has a long torso). I really like their clothes for comfort (lots of soft knit) and they seem to wear well (lots of hand-me-downs that are still in good shape). I’ve generally been pleased with the “Just One Year” line by Carter’s that is sold at Target. I second the opinion on Gerber onesies running small; we were out of the 3-9 months by the time she was 6.5 months old. We’ve had a couple of Gymboree items (dresses & sweater) that were pretty much accurate in size for her. Little Me has tended to run short in the body around here.
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March 5th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I agree with all the sizing notes offered so far, but I have a strange “rule of thumb” to add. I have found, no matter what brand makes them, that anything with a professional sports team logo on it runs really, really small.
I don’t know if they’re made by companies that don’t normally make baby or toddler clothes, or if there’s some other reason, but when buying something with a sports logo on it, buy up!
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March 5th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I learned from my first born that you can’t always go by the sizing on the label. We started laying the clothes on top of each other to get an idea of length and widths.
Carter’s: Seems accurate, soft and comfortable.
Target/Circo: Way too small. Wears too fast.
JC Penny/ OkieDokey: Somewhat small, good quality.
Koala Kids: Way too small. Anything cotton shrunk a lot.
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March 5th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I have actually found the Carter’s one piece things (onesies ect) to be on the smaller side but the separates run huge. I got my boys matching outfits for Christmas pictures and my chunky short boy and my taller lean guy were both drowning in outfits that were supposedly the correct size.
Sprockets runs smaller I have noticed. I have a bunch of 2t things that I am worried might not last the season since they fit my eldest so well right now.
I think the brand that I have had the least trouble with is Gymboree. Everything is spot on even if it is dang expensive.
I third the Gerber onesies running small. I learned the hard way to buy a size up.
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March 6th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Does anyone know how to keep the elastics on the “adjustable waistbands” from chafing your kids waists? I’ve got two very slender kids who can’t keep their pants up normally but both complain of the elastic bothering their skin.
I find Childrens place pants run shorter than Please Mum’s, the Gap or Old Navy. At this point I’ve got a 4 year old that is still wearing her 12-18 month Gap capri’s as long shorts, so the tag size has become pretty irrelevant. I hold stuff up to check arm and leg lengths (or at least get a ballpark idea).
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March 6th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
great list you’ve got here – I can’t think of anything you’ve left out!
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March 6th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Oh – this is so a list every mom should have!!! Thanks!!
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March 21st, 2007 at 11:31 pm
You forgot Gymboree, best sized clothes that don’t shrink. Gotta love gymbo. (they ship to Canada
)
Target seems to run a tad small, they carry cherokee,too.
Love Carters stuff, even for my older kids.
As my kids grow they tend to be in smaller sizes.
My 7 y/o still wears 5′s
My 4 y/o is still in 3T
My 10 year is not quite a size 8.
My 2 y/o still wears 12-18 months (gymbo)
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March 24th, 2007 at 12:04 am
My son will be 1 in 3 days. He’s in the 95th percentile for height but only 40th for weight. guessing his clothing size has been difficult. Baby Gap has worked well. Any clues on belts for babies?? He can we 6-12mos in Gymboree a little short baby gap 12-18mos fits him well. Anyone else have this problem..
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