Your baby is not a dress up doll

I have serious issues with kids clothing, specifically baby clothing. More specifically, clothing for baby girls.  People look at me like a lunatic whenever I start giving my rant on this subject so I wanted to share what one blogger, Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook wrote that eloquently summarizes my feelings on this:  

"...it wasn’t until my son was born that I noticed how much less space the boys’ clothes section is given in the square footage of a Gymboree or Baby Gap compared to the girls’ section. Marketing efforts begin early, apparently. I realized how much of the shopping is more for the parents and grandparents. Having variety in clothes seems like an idea more suited for grown ups. Kids’ don’t need that much variety; they already get an entirely new and different wardrobe every six months!"


People, babies are not dolls to dress up, they are tiny new people. Your baby does not need to be a fashion icon. It needs to be cared for, it does not need a fancy outfit everyday of the week. With my my babies I often did not dress them when we were at home. I just kept them swaddled in a blanket and they were just fine.

Save your money. Save resources. Save space in the landfill. Stop buying 200 hundred outfits for baby girls!!! Stop making the gift opening portion of baby showers (especially for baby girl showers) an hour long bacchanalia of opening up gift after gift of adorable and trendy baby clothing--it's disgusting consumerism run rampant that make me sick every time.

The next time you are shopping for a baby shower gift, get the new mom something truly useful like some diapers, nursing pads, nipple cream or a wonderful classic board book or a gift card. Find out what she really needs instead of indulging your own shopping habit.

(hmm...I bet this rant just got me uninvited from all future baby showers.)