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Do baby clothes drive you nuts as much as they do me? Some tags have a span of months, others just have a month listed. Does that mean they wear them STARTING that month or ENDING that month. And hand-me-downs can be completely different than new due to wear. So how in the world do you deal with baby clothes?
Last year, I had enough. Enough! I was sick of trying to fit my youngest daughter into her sisters old clothes and had clothes with the same size label of different brands that were small and others that were giant. So I decided to scour the stores and find out what was REALLY equivalent sizing. After hitting up nearly every store that I’ve ever purchased kids clothing at, I compiled a spreadsheet of all the height & weight requirements with their label. Stores I shopped included:
- Target (Circo & Cherokee)
- Kohl’s (Jumping Bean)
- Carter’s Brands (Carters, Just One You, One More Year, OshKosh)
- Old Navy
- Gap Kids
- The Children’s Place
- Gymboree
- Walmart (Faded Glory & Garanimals)
- K-Mart (Small Wonder & Wonderkids)
- JCPenney (Okie Dokie)
You can download the whole PDF of children’s clothing sizes. They are almost small enough that you could print the PDF and cut out the charts and tape them end to end, to keep a copy in your purse. Personally, I would just save the PDF to Evernote or something.
I did notice several things while I was comparing all the charts last year when I compiled the list.
First of all, Carter’s is the only brand that doesn’t “skip” a size. Every other brand appears to jump at some point. Carters, however, has both a 24 Month and 2T size — and they are different. I keep them both together because they aren’t different enough.
Second, Carter’s tends to be more generously sized until size 2T. Then I find that they are shorter than most other brands. That may be why I tend to quit using them at that point — it’s my favorite brand for birth – 2 years.
Third, I find that there are three brands that tend to run big for the size:
- Carter’s (until you hit 2T)
- Old Navy/Gap Kids
- Gymboree
Incidentally, I find that these are also the best ones to find used, quality and shrinkage-wise.
Here is what I’ve found are approximate equivalent (labeled) sizes and approximate weights with any exceptions noted.
NB 5-8 lbs
0-3mos/3mos 7-12 lbs
3-6mos/6mos 12-16 lbs (except The Children’s Place)
6-9mos/9mos 16-20 lbs (except Old Navy/Gymboree, which run big and The Children’s Place/K-Mart which run small)
9-12mos/12mos 19-23 lbs (except TCP which runs small and K-Mart runs big)
12-18mos/18mos 23-26 lbs (except Okie Dokie/Gymboree/Old Navy/Carters run bigger, Target brands run small, and The Children’s Place is HUGE)
18-24mos/24mos 26-29 lbs (Carter’s 24 mos & 2T are both slightly different in length yet fit best into this group)
Once you get past this point, the sizes vary quite a bit more and the chart really is the best way to go.
Why go through all this? Well, because whether an item is big or small, when I find it’s time to change sizes, I pack away all the clothes in that size. It helps me keep it straight in my head easier — see these posts for how I store and manage children’s clothes.
Anyway, I hope that this research might be helpful to anyone struggling with managing baby clothes or even first time parents or grandparents who are wondering what size to buy.
Have older children? Check out these posts printable clothing size charts for girls and boys clothing:
24 Comments on Baby Clothing Sizes – Charts By Height & Weight for Common Brands
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Buying clothes for your new baby is so lovely – all those tiny vests and socks. But getting the right size for your baby or young child can be tricky, especially as wriggly babies and reluctant young shoppers aren’t always easy to measure.
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brian
20 February 2018 at 6:14 PM (6 years ago)
You put a lot of work into this.
In all that work, did you come across why these companies don’t just advertise by size? I keep thinking confusion in customers and customer’s families leads to buying clothes that won’t fit. For example, my 7 month old is in the 97th percentile for length. He stop fitting aged based labels around 2 months. But that meant that our family, the kindness they have, were buying clothes that our little one would never fit. Cha-ching for the clothes makers.
Anyhow, that’s my two cents
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Besan
22 December 2017 at 1:53 AM (7 years ago)
Thank you so much for doing this. I got to the point where I said the same thing, I had it trying to figure out what fits. I made my own chart ( which took a couple of hours) and lost it. I was so mad until I found this. Thank you
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Tamika Collins
23 February 2017 at 4:19 PM (7 years ago)
Help!!! My son is 8 months, and I’m going crazy I don’t know what size to buy him for spring /summer. I’m shopping online at gap, children’s place, and carter. I’m so confused on what to get 9-12 months or 12-18. So are single sizes. Thanks so much
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Jen
23 February 2017 at 1:38 PM (7 years ago)
OMG I totally made my own spreadsheet when I was pregnant and was given a ton of hand me downs! If only I had found this first! haha
Well now that my little man is at 6 months your clothing comparison chart is super helpful! We have a fluffy bum in our house so to accommodate his cloth diaper we have to go up a size in his clothes.[Reply]
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The easiest way of getting clothes for kids in different sizes and weights including brands, is possible by having a look to your blog in which charts are prepared according to height and weight. Very useful information is suggested by your post.
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Erin D
19 April 2016 at 7:39 PM (8 years ago)
This is helpful! It is more annoying to come accross since you risk not even using something if it doesn’t fit anymore when you swap your clothes to the next size, but you find something that’s so small it’s like the previous size.
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Ade
5 November 2015 at 10:31 PM (9 years ago)
So, just to make sure, if some item at Carters is labeled as 6m, it’s supposed to go from 3 to 6 months?
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Thank you so much for doing this. I just ordered some stuff online. I know how Carter’s clothes fit her. But I wasn’t sure about the brand I was ordering so your size chart comparisons really helped me. Definitely sharing.
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jen Reply:
May 26th, 2015 at 3:35 PMThanks for the comment. I’m so glad it helped!
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Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your hard work.
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Carolyn Hartung-Pearson
21 March 2015 at 11:44 AM (9 years ago)
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JustMe
24 February 2015 at 5:02 PM (9 years ago)
I didn’t have time to read, I have several little ones hounding me, but was just wondering if you noted that Garanimals brand runs small? I have a 1-1/2-year-old niece I am adopting. I have had her since birth. She was tiny at first, but now she’s twice her age in clothing! She’s wearing 3T and even those are snug! I’m wondering if maybe the Garanimals are just small or if my baby girl is just big, or if maybe I should have her pediatrician do some testing or something!
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jen Reply:
February 24th, 2015 at 5:15 PMI have noticed that they tend to run a little small, but I don’t think it would be super out of sync with the other brands. It could just be that your little one is bigger than “normal.”
My son was in size two clothes on his first birthday but has leveled off since then. He has always been in twice is age clothing and many others I know have had the same experience.
Garanimals does have some shrinkage issues also, if I remember correctly. Do you notice new vs. old size differences? Maybe take something to the store to compare…
Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry too much unless she seems unhealthy in some other way, too :).
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Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your hard work. Our daughter is in a weird stage right now for fitting, 6 months is too small, 12 months a bit too large, and 9 months is hard to find. Plus we have cloth diapers, which some clothing manufacturers fail to make room for. Appreciate the resource to help us organize and find clothes that fit!
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jen Reply:
October 27th, 2014 at 3:44 PMI’m glad it could help! I need to do big girls next :).
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Beth W.
18 June 2014 at 12:17 PM (10 years ago)
Thanks for all your research. I am as frustrated with you, but I noticed something that you didn’t touch on. I came across your site because I just bought a bunch of used onsies, and one of them is size “L.” It’s Carter’s “Just One Year.” I gathered from my search that it’s supposed to be 6-9 months, but I can’t believe the tag only has “L” and no lbs. for sizing. Lame!
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jen Reply:
June 19th, 2014 at 6:52 AMI have run across those occasionally, but it’s either uncommon or older because I don’t find them a lot. Thanks for sharing!! I agree–totally lame!
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K.J. Martin
14 November 2013 at 5:45 PM (11 years ago)
Thank You for your efforts!! VERY thorough and helpful!!
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jen Reply:
November 15th, 2013 at 11:31 AMI’m glad it helped! Even now, I find I need to refer back to it :).
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katie
14 October 2013 at 10:53 AM (11 years ago)
THANK YOU FOR THIS!! You have no idea how happy I was to find your site! I was wondering the SAME thing! My son is 9 months but still fits in some 6 month pants, mostly is in 9 months but also is in 12 so I am going nuts trying to keep it all organized and separated for when I pack it away. Thank you, this really helps me a TON!
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jen Reply:
October 14th, 2013 at 12:06 PMI’m so glad that it helped! I couldn’t be the only one going nuts about it :).
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Thank you for this! I always try to buy things on sale, and trying to guesstimate the size is the most challenging part. My girls are petite and do not follow the age range for sizes, but their weights are more accurate to guesstimate for me.
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Happy Little Homemaker contains articles, tips and tricks for the top 5 priorities of the Christian woman's life - God, taking care of yourself, Marriage, Parenting & Homeschooling and Home Management.
