high quality baby clothes that won't break the bank

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm starting to wonder if actually more of the pilling happens because DD sort of "army crawls" all over the place. (Like literally almost every waking moment not spent feeding, she's scooting around on her belly) The pilling is happening on 100% cotton onesies-- I think cat & jack are the worst offenders.

Adult clothes in the washer/dryer aren't having problems.

Sounds like that is the problem then. Fortunately this phase is relatively short lived. Most of the cat & jack stuff we have is a poly-cotton blend though. Anyway, I love the primary onesies and pants, and have not had any issues with wear on the fabric from use or washing, it's really really soft feeling too. But, mine is just rolling, not yet army crawling, so drooling, occasional spit-ups are the most damage we're dealing with from a laundry point of view.

What kind of surface is your kid army crawling on? Is it scratchy?

[Anonymous]

We don't have a dryer at home so I just hang everything up overnight. It's really not a big deal. I do laundry a couple of times a week though so there are always clothes and I'm not waiting on something to dry before he can wear it

[Anonymous]

The best brands I have found are Polarn O. Pyret and Tea Collection (but NOT for leggings). The POP leggings have gone through about 30 washes for my 15 month old toddler at this point and look brand new. Tea collection dresses are GREAT and hold up awesome. I always wash on normal cycle and put everything into the dryer.

As a baby, she lived in baby gap. I think it's great and the best quality.

Buy all of the above on sale (always!) and now buy some stuff used on poshmark/ebay as well.

[Anonymous]

I've had bad experiences with Cat and Jack lately - I can't seem to get stains out that I can from other brands. It's like I'm feeding my kid oil or something... Or one of my favorite t-shirts is now looking bleached where I use the stain remover (Oxy Clean) so much, which doesn't seem to happen to his other shirts. DS2 is now crawling which also is ruining the knees of all of his stuff (mostly hand-me-downs anyway so I'm not too bummed).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:do they exist? so sick of all of DD's clothes pilling/fraying immediately. she wears cat & jack, gymboree, carter's, things on that level. maybe we just need to spend more? is there a middle ground between these brands and something more expensive?

I purchased and also recycled many used children's items including clothes. Back in those days (my kids are now 6 and 9) I scoured community list serves and Craigslist. These days the "Buy Nothing" and other community Kids-Stuff and other For-Sale Facebook Groups are a good source. Even today I get things like the occasional winter coat or rain gear from there. And I'm redoing my dining room (which gets a lot of hard, hard use because kids are still young, so I really don't feel like spending $$$ on what inevitably is used as their craft table) and even my living room (new-ish rug, gently used club chairs) from Facebook for-sale groups. Kids grow up, people move, and are happy to off-load. Don't be shy about negotiating on price--people often price too high, forgetting that (a) it's not new and (b) you have to do the work of driving over there to pick it up.

[Anonymous]

I read an article about how the majority of germs are killed in the dry cycle. Hanging baby clothes, especially those with poo or spit or daycare germs sounds so gross to me! Let alone the time and space to do so - the hot dryer is was zaps those germs!

To answer the original question, I have noticed fading the most from gap clothes, shockingly. I use all of the other brands mentioned, and they usually die a death from stains, not fading or pilling.

[Anonymous]

I put everything in the dryer. However, most of my kids' clothes for the first couple years are either hand-me-downs or purchased at consignment sales so at that point if they still looked good I could be confident they'd look the same after washing. Mostly a mix of Baby Gap, Carters, Osh Kosh, some European brands. Those seemed to hold up the best, based on availability for consignment.

[Anonymous]

Really? All our clothes are from Target, Old Navy, Carters and I don't have this issue with pilling and fraying. I'm on kid #2, so yes, some of the clothes have faded from washing and drying, but they are still in great condition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had bad experiences with Cat and Jack lately - I can't seem to get stains out that I can from other brands. It's like I'm feeding my kid oil or something... Or one of my favorite t-shirts is now looking bleached where I use the stain remover (Oxy Clean) so much, which doesn't seem to happen to his other shirts. DS2 is now crawling which also is ruining the knees of all of his stuff (mostly hand-me-downs anyway so I'm not too bummed).

Target's clothing quality has gone really downhill since they switched their labels from Circo to Cat and Jack (it's the same thing, they just switched names and started using crappier fabrics). I wish they'd go back to Circo quality clothes. I miss the all cotton clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? All our clothes are from Target, Old Navy, Carters and I don't have this issue with pilling and fraying. I'm on kid #2, so yes, some of the clothes have faded from washing and drying, but they are still in great condition.

Same, almost everything we own is a hand me down from Target, Gymboree, Carters...I wash on the hottest setting and dry on the hottest setting. Nothing pills. In fact, the only things that don't hold up are the more expensive lines!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Target's clothing quality has gone really downhill since they switched their labels from Circo to Cat and Jack (it's the same thing, they just switched names and started using crappier fabrics). I wish they'd go back to Circo quality clothes. I miss the all cotton clothes.

100% agree. I never buy Target tops for my kids because it's impossible to find all cotton anymore. And the polyester pills quickly.

To answer a previous question, in my experience the Hanna Anderson outlet carries the same quality as the stores, not a made for outlet selection like some places. They do have a "seconds" rack with items with problems but those are separate. Haven't been to their outlet in a few years but some good deals, though you can also catch similar deals during their big sales. Quality is great, thick and long lasting cotton.

I buy a lot of H&M kids clothes, too, because they are cheap and 100% cotton but they are typically a thin cotton. Since my kids stain everything, that is our bigger issue with going through clothes, and I use these for play clothes without worrying about destroying them.