When I first found out I was pregnant I couldn’t wait to buy those tiny little clothes. Until I actually HAD to start buying them and I realized how much I spent for how little use was gotten out of them! Luckily, the second time around I’ve learned a few tricks to save some money. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Don’t buy baby/toddler clothes too far ahead of time because you can’t assume that they will be in a particular size clothes just because they are a certain age. My son was in size 3 months by only 2 months old, and he was in 9 month clothing by the time he was 6/7 months old. For example, in September/October when they put out all the cute holiday clothes for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, don’t buy your child a 9 month old outfit just because they will be 9 months old at the time that holiday will occur. Especially if the store doesn’t have a good return policy. At my baby shower, I received a range of sizes of clothing, including some 12 month and 18 month sizes. People bought me 12 month summer clothes since I had a June due date. Not only was Joey born a couple weeks early in May, but he was in 12 month clothing by March! So he never was able to use that 12 month summer outfit. And it can go the other way too. Your child may be smaller, and might still be in 3 month clothing by the time they are 6 months.

Shop at the stores with the best return policies. For the exact reason that I never know what size my son will be, I like to shop at department stores because they have the longest return policy times. Macy’s will allow you to return clothes up to one year after purchase. This is especially helpful when I am purchasing a holiday outfit. The holiday clothes tend to fly off the shelves quickly, so I buy them ahead of time in multiple sizes for each outfit, keep the tags on, hold onto the receipts, and then I return whichever sizes did not fit. I recommend stapling the recipe to the tag so that you don’t loose it. If more than one outfit is on a particular receipt, staple the receipt to one tag and then rubber band the tops of the clothing hangers together in the closet so you know which outfits go with that receipt. What I love about Macy’s is that they put a return label sticker on the back of each items tag so you never need a receipt to return it. Just last week (the last week in March) I got around to returning Joey’s Christmas outfits in the sizes that he never wore.

Buy clothes that you can stretch over the different stages of your child’s growth. Pants that fit, especially jeans and khakis, are hard to find. Even the ones that match the size your child is in, are usually still way to big in the waist and constantly fall down. Then when they do finally fit, they only do so for a few weeks before they become too tight. My husband and I have found that the jeans from The Children’s Place are a great solution to this problem because they have adjustable waist bands. We were able to pull the waist band in to the smallest size possible and then as his waist grew, we loosened the pants one notch at a time. The length isn’t a problem if they are wearing sneakers and you can roll them up at home. Or put a small stitch in them and then let it out as your child gets taller.

Onesies are another great way to stretch the life of your child’s clothing. Since they get tucked into the pants, they look fine if they are a little bigger and they also still look acceptable when they are hugging the body because people assume that’s what they were meant to do.

Don’t buy super fancy clothes for the holidays or special occasions. Chances are they will only wear them that one time and then outgrow them before the next holiday. Instead, buy a fancier outfit, but not super fancy that they can’t wear it to an everyday occasion. For my son, I like to put him in a button down shirt with a pair of jeans or in the winter a nicer shirt with a puffy vest. The layers make him look more dressed up, yet he can use the outfit more than once.

If you receive a lot of clothes at your baby shower, especially in sizes that are specific to a particular season, I recommend returning them as soon as possible. Like I said earlier, I received a lot of larger size clothing at my shower, and my son was not able to use a lot of them because it wasn’t the right season by the time he fit into them. And by then it was too late to return them.

Lastly, don’t go overboard when you buy clothing. Babies and toddlers have major growth spurts, so they might not need 22 shirts in one size! Especially newborn clothes. My son was out of those before I blinked.

Oh, and P.S., Joey is not even 2 yet and I’m buying him 3T clothes!