On the way home from the bank, Carson cried from the backseat, “No go home Mommy, no go home.”
Not really wanting to go home either, but without a plan, I asked Carson, “Well, where should we go?”
“Target Mommy. Go Target.” God I love that kid.
So off to Target we went, in search of a good time.
After an exhaustive search of the Dollar Spot and scoring some much needed items like a dust mop and other plastic crap like margarita glasses for ONLY $1!!!, we headed to the infant/toddler clothes section. Not surprisingly, I found a plethora of adorable little dresses for Ella and hardly any cute boy clothes for Carson.
Shopping for kid’s clothes, while mostly thrilling, also makes me so incredibly frustrated.
Every brand has it’s own sizing. There is NO ORDER to the madness. Size 6 mos in one brand may very well be the exact same as size 3 mos in another brand. I don’t really care if the size actually corresponds the the actual age of my baby (although it would be nice if the world revolved around me and my petite children), but it would be nice if I could reliably pick the correct size for my children.
And another thing that completely baffles me about sizing is why some brands completely skip 9-12 mos! Babies don’t just go from being the size of a 6 month old and suddenly wake up one day and are a rotund 12 month old. Or! OR! I don’t like it when brands have a generic 6-12 mos. I need smaller increments!
One more thing that confuses me, and truly confused me at Target yesterday, was understanding the difference between size 24 mos and 2T. I held up two pairs of shorts, one 24 mos, one 2T and there was NO discernible difference between the two. NONE!
Also, it seems that whenever I find something that is cute, more often than not they are out of the size I’ve estimated I need to buy. Of course they have oodles of EVERY OTHER size and NOT EVEN ONE of the size I want. Case in point, yesterday at Target, they had several Lightning McQueen shirts. Some of these shirts were hideous so obviously they were teeming with size 3T. The cute Lightning McQueen shirts were only available in size 18 mos and 5T.
I feel like since I’m a mom, and have been for 2 1/2 years, I should have a better handle on children’s clothing sizes. But I’m still a novice. Possibly I just need more practice shopping. Or a margarita. In fact, I’m going to go make myself a margarita in one of my Dollar Spot margarita glasses now.
Cheers!
Wish we had Target here in Canada. But this whole T issue has always baffled me too. Maybe if I’d taken a margarita with me it would have made things much clearer. The brilliance of that!
We’re in the 4T/4 zone now; what I’m finding is that there is no size 9; 6, 6x, 7, 10, 12 … my 8 yo is sick of wearing floods but swimming in 10s. The irony LOL!
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I honestly think the T sizes run a tab bigger. Both of mine wear a size larger in Target clothes though!
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Margaritas? When can I come over?
Unfortunately, sizing for bigger kid (and even adult) clothing isn’t any more reliable. I mean, there is no way I can actually be the size I have to buy for myself! Really!
It can be such a frustrating experience.
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this is a tough one for me too; my 16mo is in 18-24 months but 2t is too big.
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I have found with my three kids that there was a very slight difference in the size between 24 mos and 2T. 24 months tends to be just slightly smaller.
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Jodi is right about the shirts at Target. The 24 months are often onesies, which neither of our boys wore after a year. Thank goodness the youngest can wear 2T now.
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I really think they should screw the age sizes altogether and just do the weight ranges, like they do at Sears. Of course, I’m speaking as someone who’s 3 year old wears size 5. So maybe my gigantic children are making me believe that the age sizes are out of whack.
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Swistle is right — it’s a “line” thing. Designers make clothes for a “fit model” who is around the middle size of the line, and then “grade” up or down to the rest of the sizes in the line. Typical children’s lines are as follows:
1. Babies (0-24 months).
2. Toddlers (2t-5t).
3. Boys (4-16).
4. Little girls (4-6X).
5. Girls (7-14).
This doesn’t help much with figuring out the exact differences between 24 months and 2t, but it helps to understand that a “24 months” garment has more in common with a garment for a round, diaper-wearing 6-month-old than with a garment for a tall, active 4-year-old.
I didn’t read all of the comments, so this may have already been answered. Size 24 mos generally refers to the approximate age the child will outgrow the garment, but size 2T refers to the age the child will actually wear the garment. Therefore, size 24 mos is smaller than size 2T, but this does not account for differences between brands.
The difference between size 4T and size 4 is that the “T” sizes have more room in the rearend to accomodate a diaper. The size 4 will generally be slimmer. Again, though, there can be dramatic (and frustrating) differences between brands.
I hope this helps. I have 5 yr old twin girls with completely different body types, and shopping for them has been a challenge, and it only seems to get harder as they get older and growth spurts seem to be less frequent, but more dramatic.
He asked to go to Target? That kid’s a keeper, lady.
Also? I’m baffled with the whole clothes thing, too. Bah!
You’re going to love a picture I plan to post soon, that I took of a piece of clothing at BRU recently. *cackle*
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my daughter is going to be a target obsessed kid. we are there EVERY OTHER DAY. no lie. i don’t have trouble finding clothes anywhere else but there though. my daughter is just turning one next week and has been in Circo brand 18 months for the past couple of months. but oddly enough everywhere else she is ‘normal’ sizing. but seriously, who can pass up a $3 pair of shorts?! not me
24 mos=2T…I don’t know why they can’t figure that out.
The second-hand store that I take my boy’s stuff to won’t take 9-12 month clothing. Wha? Why? How? I bet charities across the area are ONLY stocking 9-12 month clothing, but all three of my kids went through that stage…so wha? Why? How? Ugh!
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