Tips on Buying Clothes for Growing Children

As a parent, it can seem like one minute you have a little baby bundle of joy on your hands and then the next a full-grown teen. As children grow, it may feel like a full-time affair trying to make sure your child has clothes that fit them. It can also feel like a major strain on your wallet to get brand new outfits every time their height increases.

Therefore, if you’re looking for ways to save when buying clothes for your kid, you can predict your child’s height with a height calculator and then go on the hunt for hand-me-downs, slightly bigger sizes, thrift finds, and clearance items.

Predict Your Child’s Height Using a Height Calculator

There’s no way of knowing exactly how tall your child will be since there are many factors that go into someone’s height. That being said, a height calculator can give you a good estimate. All you have to do is put in their gender, age, and current height, and it’ll tell you their predicted height as an adult. With this number in mind, you can have a rough idea of how tall your child will be and up to what size clothes they’ll need as they grow, which will come in handy when getting hand-me-downs and shopping.

Additionally, f you’re curious about how your child’s height compares to the general population, you can also use a height percentile calculator. The calculator takes gender, age, height, and country into consideration to determine whether the person’s height is taller or shorter than a certain percentage of their peers. This comparison can help you guess what age group’s clothes you might need to be searching in to properly dress your child.

Search for Hand-Me-Downs

After you’ve used a height calculator to predict the height of your child, keep an eye out for hand-me-downs from friends or family that may one day be the perfect size for them. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed about accepting or putting your child in hand-me-downs. With all the other stresses and financial considerations with being a parent, there’s no shame in embracing the generosity of those around you and saving money when you can. Also, if you want to be more mindful about your family’s impact on the environment, this can be a great way to reduce your footprint.

When your child finally grows out of their hand-me-downs, you can pay it forward and pass them on to another family, or you can even save them to get another round out of them if you’re planning on having more children.

Buy Clothes Bigger than Usual

Remember that it’s always better for your child to wear clothes slightly too big for them rather than being too small. For certain items that aren’t worn regularly, like a winter jacket, suit, or raincoat, it may be a good idea to get them a size up. That way, they’ll still function for your child but you’ll be able to make them last through several seasons.

This trick of buying slightly larger clothes also helps with babies and toddlers in particular as they grow at an incredibly fast rate, but also children at any age before they reach the start of puberty. To get the most bang for your buck, stretch the lifespan of their clothes by dressing them in outfits a size or two bigger than what they should normally have.

Shop at Thrift Stores or Clearance Aisles    

Maybe you’re already a bargain hunter, or you have a close friend who seems to have a special knack for sniffing out a good deal. In either case, these situations can be handy, because when it comes to buying clothes for growing children, thrift stores and clearance aisles are your new playground!

It’s also important to keep in mind that many thrift stores contain clothes that were never worn, and clearance racks can be perfect for out-of-season shopping. It may seem strange to buy clothes from a thrift shop or to buy a coat on clearance in the middle of summer, but these decisions will certainly pay off in the long run.

It can hurt a little to shell out a bunch of money on clothes that your child will only wear for a year or even just a few months. Finding significantly discounted, but still only gently used, clothing items can ease that blow.

If you have a growing child, then you’ll be needing to regularly update their wardrobe so they have clothes that fit their ever-changing height. To save while getting them clothes, you can predict their height with a height calculator and then be on the lookout for hand-me-downs, slightly larger sizes, and second-hand clothes.