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.)
"...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.)
posted by Lady Steed at 2:37 AM
3 Comments:
I would invite you to my baby shower. Only having a few clothes for each child seems like a dream come true! And useful gifts at a shower? Count me in.
I think we should switch the tradition of giving clothes as gifts from the baby shower to the first birthday. Babies that can't even sit up or move don't even need clothes; some onesies or sleepers will do just fine.
I am the parent of two little girls and thankfully did not receive too many outlandish outfits, but I did get a few. It always seemed such a waste to me to receive something that was probably only going to be worn once or twice and was obviously uncomfortable for the child and difficult to deal with for the parent.
I concur! I do love dressing my little kids, and had a steady source of hand-me-down clothing for both my girls and boy when they were 0-3 years old, so that was nice. I can appreciate that when I cared for my little babies (like 8 months old) and put a cute little hand-me-down outfit on them that when we went to Costco and their noses were running and they were fussy, that people did treat them better. I do think people tend to like babies more when they are dressed up. This being said, having been through some babies, I no longer buy baby clothes whatsoever when I'm expecting a baby, in fact I've given most all of the clothes away. I needed Penelope in a onesie for a good 6 months, and then after that it was just simple baggy dresses that she could wear over them. A onesie and a little hair bow, I simply could not get enough. I still sort of crave that little baby in a onesie thing, it is so sweet and pure and heavenly. I appreciate this post, thanks for sharing! And you are totally right, I wish more people would think this way. I just went to a ridiculous baby shower and the clothes were awful and expensive and I kind of wanted to scream. But I didn't. Glad you did, though!
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