Where do you buy cute baby clothing that isn’t expensive? How do you find good baby basics without cartoons? I’m sharing my best tips for how and where to buy the best clothing for baby boy!
Insert another blog post that starts with “you guys always ask me…”
But really…
You guys always ask me for my favorite places to shop for Miles, so let’s BREAK IT DOWN. Here are my favorite places to buy affordable little boy’s clothing.
But first…
Some answers to questions you guys had.
FAQs for Buying Baby Clothing
How much do I really need in each size?
This is hard to gauge, I know. I probably Googled “how many onesies do I need” like 100 times. Then of course you have people telling you not to get newborn sizes because your baby will grow out too fast, but my son fit in newborn stuff for at least a good 6-8 weeks. So, the answer is some of it is a guessing game. It’s impossible to know what size your baby will be at birth and if they’ll pack on 3lbs in 2 weeks or take weeks to even get back to their birth weight.
That being said, you don’t really need A LOT. It’s 1000000x easier to do laundry 2x a week than to have a hamper and nursery overflowing with clothing. If I had to give you a guesstimate based on my own experience of what I used and would suggest for each size I’d say:
- 7-10 pairs of footed pajamas – I highly suggest ones with built-in mittens.
- 7-10 onesies – sleeve length depends on the weather where you are. If it’s transitional weather, get a variety.
- 4-6 pairs of leggings/sweatpants
- 2-4 lightweight shirts or sweaters
- 2-3 warmer sweaters/sweatshirts for cooler climates
- 1-2 pairs of baby slippers – these booties are my holy grail baby foot product. Babies can’t kick them off and they keep little feet warm.
NOTE: Of course, you’re going to have a few cute or novelty things because babies are cute and who can resist. Again, the temperature will also dictate other items like a snowsuit, bathing suit, hats, etc. My best advice is to try not to overbuy and you can always get Target or Amazon 2-day delivery.
Seriously, how do baby shoe sizes work?
I’m not positive, but pretty sure the devil developed baby shoe sizes. I had newborn shoes Miles wore at 12 months. It’s confusing. Miles pretty much only wore Hudson Booties until he started trying to walk for this reason. Then, I started with the Surprize by Stride Rite shoes from Target because they come in 6-12 month and 12-18 month sizes which was easy to gauge the size.
If it helps, I found Miles was a size 3 to 4 starting around 10 months. Around 12 months he was consistently in size 4 and around 18 months he was consistently in size 5.
To see all my favorite baby-to-toddler shoes, check out this post for shoes for early walkers.
How to do determine the right sizes for clothing?
In general, I found Miles to be pretty spot on with most clothing. Typically he would graduate to the new size when he hit that age. For example, he switched to 6-8 month stuff right at 6 months. For things like shirts I could often size up just a little to get more use of things. That being said, every store is a little different. So, in the round-up below I included notes for how I noticed each store ran as for as sizing.
How do you find clothing without cartoons all over it?!
Baby clothing LOVES to have cartoons and silly slogans all over them. Plenty of people like them, but personally it’s not really my style. And, I do get questions a lot on where to get stuff without words or cartoons, so I know other people want them, too.
In the stores I share below, they ALL have cartoon and word outfits. You just have to get good about browsing through it and weeding out the good stuff. I just takes a little legwork to look beyond the cartoon stuff and keep eyes peeled for the plain stuff.
Ok, now I’m going to break down each store I shop at for Miles’ clothing and what I like getting at each spot.
Target
Target has good options for newborn to toddler. They don’t really run tons of blockbuster sales (like, say, Old Navy), but in general, their basics are well-priced so it’s not a place I feel like I have to wait around for a sale to shop.
Cloud Island Sleep n Plays
Target had my favorite sleep-n-plays for 0-6 months by Cloud Island. They had fold-over hand covers (GENIUS! Every sleep n play under 6 months should) and super easy zippers
SIZING: Runs true to size or just a little small.
Cat & Jack for Basics
I didn’t love the baby Cat & Jack stuff because I never found great deals, but once Miles was 9+ months I loved the Cat & Jack line for basics likes jeans, tees, and sweatshirts. They have great pieces without graphics and cartoons all over them. You can get tees and shirts for $5-7, sweatshirts and sweaters for $8-$12, and bottoms from $5.
SIZING: Runs true to size
Stride Rite Shoes
I loved the Stride Rite shoe line for Miles when he started walking. They are a great transition shoe. See my whole post on baby to toddler shoes.
Old Navy
Old Navy is a great great great spot for baby and toddler stuff. They come out with new stuff every few months and run tons of great sales!
Tip: Old Navy is almost always cheaper online. They often run an additional 30% off sales on their website that don’t run in stores. So my best advice is to wait until there’s a sale then stock up. They run sales all the time and you can really stock up and save during the sales.
Bottoms
The Old Navy sweatpant leggings were our go-to 3-9 months. Ain’t nobody wanna try to pull stiff, complicated pants onto a baby. Plus, I’m pretty sure babies prefer comfy pants if we were to poll them. We had these in every color and they were the only pants he wore until he was about 10 months old.
SIZING: Runs true to size
Pajamas
I personally liked the Burt’s Bees and Cloud Island pajamas the most (linked in this post) but I do have to give Old Navy and shoutout for the footie pajamas because they aren’t that expensive when you grab them on sale and really do the job. Plus, they usually have great seasonal prints.
SIZING: Runs true to size
Basics
Old Navy is a good place to grab basics. While there are some crazy graphics, they also have a good variety of tops and bottoms that aren’t plastered in graphics or cartoons at decent prices. Just browse through it.
Seasonal/Trendy Tops and Rompers
Old Navy is great for like holiday stuff as well as cute trendy items. I find they do better with girl stuff for trendy things, but they have it for boys too, just usually a little less.
Sizing: Almost all Old Navy runs TTS
H&M
H&M doesn’t run tons of sales but things will go on clearance. In general, I typically just pick up 2-3 cute things instead of waiting for clearance to stock up because by the time things are on clearance they are picked over.
Trendy Tops
I love H&M for trendy, fun tops that don’t break the bank. I’ve gotten a few of my favorite sweaters, t-shirts, and sweatshirts for Miles there. Just note, there are a lot of crazy obnoxious clothing, too. You just have to browse through and you’ll find awesome gems! And, I find the quality is great.
Sizing: The bottoms at H&M run true to size but their tops almost all run large. He wore his 9-12 month stuff from H&M until he was almost 18 months
Carter’s
Carter’s is one of those stores that marks prices up and then just runs sales constantly. They always have some sale or “extra bucks” deal going on. So, you just have to play the game a little. They have a free membership that gets you some points and discounts. But, in general shop the “daily deals” and sales, and browse the clearance racks.
Carter’s also is notorious for cartoons and little sayings, so you just have to be willing to weed through it.
Onesies
Carter’s had some of our favorite onesies packs. They are a good price and nice and soft. My only complaint is it is hard to sometimes find packs that don’t include random cartoons. It’s like there will be 3 great basic onesies and then they have to throw in that one random one that says “Daddy’s Little Angel” or “Mom’s Stud.” But, they usually have at least one set each season that’s just colors, and there are more options on Amazon.
SIZING: Runs true to size
Sleep Items
I like Carter’s fleece sleep-n-plays for winter and just regular pajamas, too but only when on sale. I don’t find them worth it full price. Again, sometimes it’s hard to find a 2-pack without one random one with annoying cartoons, but they exist or buy them singularly. It just takes some digging. I wait for these to go on sale to buy them. I also loved their sleep bags for summer sleep.
Sizing: Fits true to size
Shorts
We’ve gotten almost all of Miles’ baby shorts at Carter’s. They are good basics and nice quality. And when they have sales you can stock up on them for about $8 each.
SIZING: Runs true to size
Burt’s Bees Baby
Burt’s Bees Baby can be pricy but they are really well worth it. My tip is sign up for their emails so you know when they have sales or shop their Amazon storefront where they’ll put old patterns on discount.
Sleep n Plays
Once Miles no longer needed the hand covers that the Cloud Island Sleep n Plays had, Burt’s Bees were my favorite pajamas for Miles. I stock up on Amazon or when they have a sale.
Sizing: I found 0-12 month stuff ran true to size, but anything over 12-month runs small. So, if you’re buying over 12 months always size up. Note that they come in snug fit so don’t get those if you have a chunky baby.
Rompers
I LOVE the short sleeve rompers from Burt’s Bee Baby. We had a few pairs that Miles lives in this summer. I love rompers because it’s just one piece of clothing and that makes things EASY.
Sizing: I found 0-12 month stuff ran true to size, but anything over 12 month runs small. So, if you’re buying over 12 months always size up.
George Hats
Our favorite baby hats are George Hats. The smallest size fit Miles perfectly his first summer and now we’ve moved up a size and still wear them in toddlerhood. The hats are great quality and come in a really great variety of patterns and styles.
Sweet n Swag Shoes
Sweet n Swag was our first “first shoe.” They are essentially just little leather moccasins. They have a nice fabric interior so they are comfy enough to wear without socks, and the elastic opening makes them super easy to get on but they don’t fall off. Great for early walkers! And, whenever he wore these we would ALWAYS get stopped and asked where they are from because they are seriously so cute.
Amazon
There’s not a TON I get on Amazon, but you can snag some good deals on sleep n’ plays as well as basics and accessories like hats, shoes, and outerwear like jackets.
- The Amazon Essential one-piece Pajamas are really decent for the price.
- Amazon sells Burt’s Bees and often has discounted patterns and colors. I never have paid more than $11 for one.
- Our FAVORITE rain boots are from Amazon (pictured left)
- The only winter baby hat that I could find to fit Miles was from Amazon
- We also got some good toddler knit hats from Amazon.
- It’s also where I bought our Hudson Booties when Miles was a baby (my go-to baby footwear)
- These Hanes rompers are great for basics for the price (you get a 2-pack). Just note they run super small so size up!
