Shopping Ahead of Time for Toddler Clothes

Hi M.,

I wish sometimes my child would wear the normal sizes. SHe is 2 and a half and wears 5/6. That's right, clothing that fits five year olds. She has always been ahead in wearing her sizes because she is so very tall! I generally buy the bigger sizes, and if they are a bit big, let her wear them till she grows into them, which is usually abt a month. LOL I agree, there are awesome sales going on now! I say carefully shop and get other sizes too, she will wear them in time. :)

Hugs and Blessings,

K.S.

Hi M.,
I do buy lots of cloths on sales. I go only for good brands - "Polo", "Nike", "Reebok", "Izod" and etc. If its under 10 dollars I will go for it. I don't like Old Navy, at least not the boy's stuff. I have lots of friends that do like it, but every time I would buy something from them there will be something wrong - it shrunk, or ripped off, or the colour got washed and etc. The last time I went there shopping with a friend I bought a red sweatshirt for my son and when I washed it all my son's underwear turned pink or purple. Buying ahead might be tricky but if you go for good sales at "Sears", "Macy", "Oshkosh" and "JC Penny" you can find end of seasons cloths with 75% off. Good quality cloths stays in good shape and they sale good in consignment stores. Than even if you end up with something unworn you can always put it in a consignment store and sale it. Believe it or not few times I sold worn cloths for more than I paid for them. The only thing I don't buy is shoes, but than before I hit the "Stride Aid" I would check the "Nordstrom Rack". If you go there in September, you can find good winter shoes. I always buy 1 size bigger. The first couple of months my son would wear them with tick socks and by the end of the season usually we are down to cotton socks but they still fit. And, yes, around 2 they slow down on growing. There is a little advantage between 2 and 3. When you get her potty trained she will be able to wear the cloths that seamed tight on her with the diaper but they will fit well with underwear. Hope I was helpful.

Hi there -
My daughter was 2 1/2 in August, and she's usually 50-70th percentile in height & weight. She made it through the summer in 2T clothes. I had bought a few 3T summer things that she wore, just "floated" a little. She's just now hitting a growth spurt, but still fits comfortably in most 2T things. But you never know when & how much each child will grow.
The biggest impact on clothing has been what my daughter is *willing* to wear rather than what fits. I hear/read that this is fairly typical for this age. Buying consignment & eBay clothes for my daughter had become a fun hobby the first couple years, but suddenly at 22 months she refused to wear most things, and insisted on running around naked or in just a onesie (in December!) This was the subject of many a tantrum - getting dressed became a huge struggle until I just let go and let her wear what she wanted and/or kept her in the house until she'd bundle up.
She's become slightly more flexible again, but at least 50% of all the cute 2T things I'd bought for her in advance she hasn't worn at all. She only likes certain colors, textures, styles (most preferably purple, shiny, flowery, "girly", skirts/skorts rather than pants) but it's not always predictable. You won't know until next summer what kind of clothes your daughter likes to wear, and by that point I'm sure she'll have some opinions and let you know very strongly what she doesn't like. I've found the best thing is to take my daughter with me when I shop and let her give a little "feedback" before I buy. Although if I'm on my own and prices are great, it's worth the risk sometimes.
Someone had a good point, that anything you buy and can't use you can consign and redeem some of your money. Or share with a friend or your favorite charity.
Good luck and have fun.

I have a daughter that has just been through this. With summer shirts it didn't seem to matter that they were the next size up since they were short sleeved. With pants it was more of a problem. We ended up sticking with shorts for summer and knit pants for cooler days. The knit pants seemed to work well in the 2T sizes because they don't look too small even if they are snug. For winter time, we have gone with the next size up so she can be warm and grow into her clothes as the months go on. I do have to add elastic to some of her waistbands on her pants to keep them from falling down, she is kind of skinny around her waist. Hope this helps.

My daughter is 2 1/2 today. She is just about 31 inches tall and 31 lbs. She has grown about 5 inches in the last year and gained about 5 lbs. This summer she has fit into 2Ts but many of her shirts are 3Ts (Hopefully they will fit next summer too). The 2T shirts just seem too short and show her belly. She can wear both 2T and 3T dresses (again, hopefully, she will wear the 3Ts next summer again). I hope this helps. I have learned not to buy ahead on shoes- My kid's feet have not been predictable. I hope this helps, S.

I don't know how other kids run, my my daughter (who grew right on time or slow) was only in size 2 and 3 for six months each! She's tall for her age and always outgrew the length first, so if it was summer they could be cropped pants or if winter we tucked them into boots. In the northwest (I didn't check where you are) they should be able to wear most of what you buy ahead, even if it's only for a month at least. The hardest thing I've found to buy ahead of time is shoes!