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The Truth About Baby Clothing Sizing From A Baby Clothing Maker Like most new parents, an important part of getting ready for baby is organizing all those teeny tiny, super cute new outfits! You’ve washed and folded them and arranged them in size order, so you’ll have just what she needs as new baby grows... Fast forward… you bring baby home and that gown you didn’t use right away because it says 3M doesn’t cover his feet! That gorgeous and super expensive outfit that Aunt Agnes gave you at your shower that says NB–3M, and that you’ve been saving for that perfect occasion, is too small and baby is only 6 weeks old! Sound familiar?
What are new parents to do? Don’t panic… Here’s everything you need to know about baby clothing! •
First, this may be obvious, but it must be stated. Just like you, babies come in all shapes and sizes. Just like you, a baby may be one size in one brand and another size in another brand. Just like there are no universal sizing standards for men’s and women’s clothing, there are no universal size standards for baby clothing.
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To make it complicated, baby boys & baby girls are on totally different growth charts, but baby clothing is cut for the average of both sexes. So a footie, for example, for a 6M girl or boy is cut the same size, even though a 6 month old girl that weighs 15.5 pounds is in the 50th percentile and a boy the same age that weighs 17.5 pounds is also in the 50th percentile.
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To make it even more complicated, baby clothing companies are often multinational. Your favorite French brand maybe designed for French–sized babies. Often times, that does not translate well to their American customers.
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Sizing parameters – Why will one brand have sizing that says 6–9M when another brand says just 9M? Great question. There should be no difference. An outfit sized “9M” is designed to fit a baby up to 9M – it’s the top of the size range for that garment.
To sum it all up – using age as a size indicator is a terrible way of buying clothing! Could you imagine going to the store and asking where’s the 21–25 year old section? Where do the 35 year olds shop? Makes no sense at all but this is the standard.
Now that you know that age does not indicate size, how do you keep your baby in the right sized outfits? 1. Look for height & weight guidelines on all hang tags and use that as your best size indicator (not age). Many clothing companies (like Magnificent Baby®!) include this information on every single hang tag. Also, keeping in mind that all babies are different – a guideline is in fact a guide, not a rule, but it’s still the best way to pick the right size for your baby. 2. Don’t wait until your baby is 3 months old to wear something that says 3M because chances are by the time he actually is 3M, he will be too big to wear it. Also One Size does not mean one size fits all. It means that the manufacture only makes the item in one size OR that its one size fits most. 3. Use your eyeballs before you make a purchase and before you cut off any tags. Even if an outfit says an age range on the tag, if it looks more similar to items in another size range (like if it would fit a baby doll or a giant), chances are you are right. 4. If you want to organize your baby’s clothing into piles, do it by height & weight from the tags that you’ve already checked so that you can get plenty of use out of it. If an outfit you have didn’t come with height & weight specs on the tag (or you have an outfit that’s been previously worn by someone else’s baby), use the eyeball approach and compare it to similarly-sized items that you know have height & weight specs. 5. Wash and use outfits as you go. If your baby has a growth spurt, you maybe able to go back to the store and exchange the items she couldn’t use for a bigger size if the item is still saleable (original condition, hang tags intact). 6. Don’t assume that one brand’s items will fit your baby across the board. This is especially true if you are buying from an international company that manufactures in different countries and makes different styles. A footie is not always a footie. Use height and weight guidelines printed on the tag or take the eyeball approach. 7. Mentally get over the fact that your 4 week old is in a 3M size because as you now know, age as a size is meaningless. Now, could somebody point me to where I can buy a size 21 year old? How about a 242M size?
This handy guide is brought to you by Lauren, co–founder of Magnificent Baby® – the Smart Close™ Magnetic–Fastening baby clothing company, and a new mom herself. She is addicted to Smart Close™ and only freaked out a tiny bit when her 7M baby needed size 12M outfits even though she wrote this. Lauren and her partner Lawrence, also a new dad, live in New York City. To find Smart Close™, please visit www.MagnificentBaby.com 152 W. 36th St, Suite 202
P 917 338 7475
New York, NY 10018
F 917 338 6775
Make life easier with Smart Closetm