[dakotabluebaby]

Ok so I have been good. I have not bought any clothes, we are set to be approved end of Aug, beginning of September (although three weeks ago it was said to be beginning of Aug )

Like I said I have not bought any clothes, but that has not prevented the amazing blessing of neighbors, friends and strangers. I am approved (or will be) for ages 0-3.

I don't want to turn anything away, but its piling up FAST. So far I have recieved a bit of everything. I know they also get a stipend for clothes, but the stuff is just so cute!

What do they really NEED verses is nice to have? For anyone that is really good at math could you break it down by size? Oh and what's the difference between 48 months and 2t?

[arubagirl]

48 months is a size 4 ... 2T is just slightly bigger then 24 months. I had on hands tons of stuff for ages nb-4T as those were the ages we applied for... now I have narrowed it down to a certain age and free cycled the rest of the stuff....


nice to have 2 diaper bags... I had one just for the visit's that way anything the bio parents sent for the child I would keep in the bag for them to use at the visits ( toys wise, bibs a specail cup etc. a baby swing and bouncy seat... I had both a infant and toddler car seat. highchair or booster seat. check garage sales for great baby stuff... most things are nto used for very long and are like new!

[Withay]

I wouldn't recommend a used carseat, unless you personally know the original owner and know for a fact that it has never been in an accident and is no more than 3 years past the manufacture date.

I, too have multiple diaper bags. I keep one for each child for visits and then have a couple that I rotate for my own use. By using a diaper bag for each child for visits you know that nothing that gives any of your personal information is inadvertently left in the bag for the family to see.

As a general rule, if an item is listed as a 'month' size (ie: 12m, 24m, etc) it has snaps in the crotch for easy diaper changing. Things marked 'T' (ie: 2T, 4T, etc) have no snaps. There are some 'month' items that do not have snaps, but very very few 'T' items with snaps.

As for 'needed' items. I have found (having had over 100 fc who were infants/toddlers) that the following is a pretty complete list - as far as clothing goes.

Newborn - 10 onesies, 10 gowns with elastic at the bottom, 7 pairs socks, 4 sleep-n-play outfits, 5 bibs, 3 stretchy hats

0 - 3 months - 10 onesies, 10 gowns with elastic at the bottom, 7 pairs socks, 4 sleep-n-play outfits, 8 bibs, a couple of pants/shirt outfits for boys or a couple of dresses for girls, 3 stretchy hats

3 - 12 months - 10 onesies, 10 gowns or pj sets, 7 pair socks, 10 bibs, 5 outfits (pants/shirts for boys; dresses or pants/shirts for girls), jacket in fall/winter, hat

12 - 18 months - 4 undershirts, 7 nightie or pj sets, 7 pair socks, 1 - 2 pair shoes (dress and play), 10 outfits (learning to feed themself can be pretty messy), 3 long-sleeved bibs for mealtime, 12 rubbler or plastic backed toddler bibs for drooling, jacket for fall/winter, hat

18 month - 3 years - 4 undershirts, 7 pair socks, 1 - 2 pair shoes (dress and play) 7 nightie or pj sets (one piece that zipper are great for fastening up the back to prevent diaper diving), 10 rubber or plastic backed toddler bibs (if child is a drooler), 10 outfits, jacket for fall/winter, hat

The above amounts will let you do laundry approx. one time per week (sometimes twice).

Regardless of age you should consider having a spare diaper bag that you keep in the car with a couple extra diapers and an extra outfit and bib for emergencies.

I also use a diaper service for cloth diapers. I provide the plastic pants and pins. I find that this actually works out to be less expensive than disposables when you have multiple children. It costs me $120 per month total for 3 toddlers in diapers vs. $75 - $l00 per month per child for disposables. If you go this way I recemmend having at least 2 dozen pairs of plastic pants per child. This way you can change them with every diaper change and only wash them every other day. (You also don't have to rinse the messy diapers)

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[newmommyneedshelp]

I think a used cat seat, provided you inspect it and log on to check for recalls is just fine. If a child/carseat is in an accident - the insurance company almost always takes the car seat.

[dakotabluebaby]

Withay Thank you SO much!!!!
That is exactly what I needed. I went through and I have Almost enough clothes for 1 1/2 children per size. Almost all boys though, so I'm sure I'll get all girls

I am so glad I asked about the sizes because I had no clue.

I will say though I would not be comfortable using a used car seat unless it came from someone I knew very well. I found a good car seat for $50 that goes from newborn to 40lbs, which covers our age range. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened just because I wanted to save 50 bucks.

Thanks so much for the replies!