Hellobee Boards

I can really only answer 1, 4 and 5, because I learned the most from the mistakes I made and I have a boy, so we don't have a huge wardrobe!

1. I used a lot of Carters basics, and I found that we were always ahead in sizes, so at 3 months, we were using 6 month clothing, same in 9 and 12 months. It slowed down at 18 months, and now at 20 months, we're in 24 months and some 2T. I used a lot of onesies and pants with no feet or one piece outfits because I don't like when the baby has an exposed back.

4. No sweatshirts because I don't like the hood, if a baby is asleep it's a PITA to remove to lay them down. Baby Gap makes some awesome reversible cardigans, I think I had 5 of those, loved them so much!

5. I made a rookie mistake with the coat, which was to buy a puffer jacket. I'd skip it and use a thin fleece, which is okay to use in the car seat. Don't get something with a hood that doesn't come off, it's extra bulk that you don't need in the car seat too. If you're worried about the baby being cold in transit, get one of those shower cap covers for the infant bucket. We also had a one piece bunting, the kind with no legs, just a big sack, for days when we didn't use the car seat. I loved that thing, so easy, just zip in and plop the baby into the bassinet attachment of the stroller. It also had little "mittens" that folded over the hands, no need to get separate mittens! Love that feature!

1.) I have found Carter's stuff to fit really well in general. I've never noticed it was too big or too small, but just right!
2.) I would buy enough for about 1.5 outfits a day, just in case!

3.)I never bought too much ahead incase of a weird or unpredicted growth spurt, but both of mine have been in the clothing that was their age (0-3 when they were 0-3 months old). If anything, they were in it about two or three weeks past the age difference (we would get out of 0-3 when they were about 3.5 months old).

4.)As for the cold weather stuff, TIGHTS TIGHTS TIGHTS! I was worried about our little girl getting cold, so she wore a long sleeved onsie under everything and tights! She kicked her socks off, and with tights she couldn't do that and her entire leg was then warm. We found cheap-ish tights at target (I got the thick kind, not the opaque kind).

5.)We also used a bunting, that went over her entire body, not a coat. This way you know that there isn't a breeze getting up to her tummy. But, this did make it difficult to put her in the infant car seat (she was born in March, so she was getting really big when it got cold). I think @Looch's idea is great, get the shower cap covers for the infant car seat. We never used one, but had friends who did and their baby always looked toasty

1) Do you find Carter's sizes run small?
I find that it seems to run on average size. My LO is a bit on the larger size (70-85%) so she always outgrows the clothes before the size on the tag.

2) How many "outfits" did you cycle through in each size grouping?

Once she started daycare at 3 months, we like to have about 8-10 daycare outfits and then maybe 2-3 weekend outfits and 3-4 sleepers. Thats really all she needs.

3) How quickly did your LO grow out of sizes? Again, we pretty much follow the tags. She just outgrew 12 month stuff as she turned 12 months.

4) For those who live in cold weather areas, how many sweatshirts/sweaters/etc did you have
Just remember that they can't wear bulky clothing in a car seat. So a light jacket is more useful than a big heavy one.

5) Again, for colder weather folks, what kind of jacket did you use? Just a light sweater and then a blanket worked bets.

re:Carters sizing. I think it depends on the item and where you buy it from. I know it doesn't make sense but I think Carter sizing from Carters is different than Carters for Target or for Kohls.
M is 4 months and in leggings some 6 months are getting tight and some are just right with room to grow. Onesies in 3months are definitely tight and 6months are just right with some room to grow.

I probably cycle through 4-5 daycare outfits and another 2 that you keep at daycare for accidents.

@looch: does the car seat cover keep wind, rain, snow out? I want to get one of the fleece JJ Cole ones but an infant one will be too small before winter ends. And the toddler one might not fit a infant seat.

@looch: Thanks! Exactly what I'm looking for! It can get chilly here by September so even though I suspect she'll be out of the infant seat by 6 months I think it's safer for me to get this now.

I'm interested in this too! We are due 9/25, which as new englanders know, could be 80 or 30. I plan to work with layers...she has a little fall jacket we bought on a whim at 77 Kids, but we aren't buying a winter coat. We have a carters one piece fleecy snowsuit thing and a carseat canopy, so I figure between all of that and blankets we should be okay for the most part.

1) Do you find Carter's sizes run small? Have you found that certain items run larger than others here?

- they ran right on-size or a little big for us - keep in mind a 3 in carters means 0-3, 6 means 3-6, etc. However, Maddox has always been in the 15-20%. His peers in the 75-95% are out-growing the 12m size at 8months old!

2) How many "outfits" did you cycle through in each size grouping? I don't want to overdo it, but at the same time she'll be going to daycare and I'll be back at work so laundry will probably only be done twice a week at the most. I have a separate stash of sleep n' plays so I'm talking traditional outfits here.

- I don't need more than 7-10 outfits per season, max and I do laundry once a week. I think the most you would need is two outfits per day. I waaaaay overbought and it makes me sad that I haven't used all of his clothing.

3) How quickly did your LO grow out of sizes? I know each baby is different, but I'm curious to hear how your babies progressed through sizes in the early months.

- We were done with 3m clothes around 5months and at 8m old we're still using our 6m and 9m clothes. The 6m stuff is getting a little small, but he's a smaller baby. It all depends on how quickly your LO grows. Their growth slows down around 6-7m.

4) For those who live in cold weather areas, how many sweatshirts/sweaters/etc did you have for LO as an infant in any particular size grouping? Could you have used more or did you have too many?

- Three. Didn't need any more.

5) Again, for colder weather folks, what kind of jacket did you use?

- He was little, like your LO so we used blankets and a bunting that fit over his clothes. You can't use a jacket in a car seat, so it was more of a pain to use one than not. I just put him in an outfit with a sweater on top and then covered him in a blanket. If we went for a walk, I put him in the bunting and put a blanket over him.