How to Get FREE + Great Deals on Baby Clothes

I'm an Amazon girl. I have Amazon Prime and order EVERYTHING off of it. So naturally, when I found out I was pregnant with Adelaide, my first thought was - can I build a nursery and get all her clothes and stuff off our Prime?

My husband is also getting his MBA right now so we are a one-income family and being someone who never likes to pay full price for nice things, another one of my first thoughts was "how can I find great CHEAP baby clothes?! And which ones will last the longest?"

So I did a ton of research and also a bunch of experimenting to come up with some great insights I wanted to share with other Mommas, especially first time Mommas!

You can get clothes for FREE if...

You get a Gap/Old Navy Credit Card. I know, who ever wants another credit card? I made fun of my husband for YEARS for keeping his....until I was 4 months pregnant and needed maternity clothes and then again when I was 8 months pregnant and needed sleep n plays. Then I realized that:

1. ANY Gap, Banana Republic or Old Navy purchase gives you Gap Cash to use on ANYTHING. And it adds up VERY quickly. Sometimes they just give you Gap cash just because!

2. You get offers in the mail for an extra 10-70% off and your OWN 50% off shopping day once a year

3. These brands run a BILLION sales and you can combine all of the above

...what I'm saying is I got all of my maternity clothes on points. $500 worth for free. And I got over $600 of baby clothes for a grand total of $30. If you time it right this is your golden ticket, ladies!

You can get nice clothes for SUPER CHEAP if...

1. You look for Gap and Old Navy sales. I promise they do 50% off + clearance literally every other month. I got so.many.clothes for under $5 a piece.

2. You buy in bulk. Try to buy sleep n plays and onesies in sets of 2, 3, or 4. The price is usually 10-20% cheaper and its usually the same outfits as any store sells singularly, too!

3. You shop at Kohls or Marshalls for your "Designer" baby clothes. I've gotten all my favorite brands (Baby Gap, Carters, Gymboree, etc) at both of these stores for literally 40% cheaper than going to the store they are from. I also got a bunch of Kohl's brand onesies for $2.70 each (see one of them in the pic below)...... they are a nice material AND adorable AND not every baby is wearing them...just saying!

Keep in mind that some clothes work longer for some babies than others....

One thing I learned after Adelaide was born is that the clothes that are the best bang for our bucks are ones that I bought for her body type (can you BELIEVE I'm saying this about an infant?! LOL). What I mean is that some clothes fit long, slender babies well; some fit shorter babies well; some fit wider babies well; some fit babies with smaller heads well (my baby has a HUGE head, whomp whomp), etc. So I wanted to share a few quick notes on some of the brands for those moms who want to keep bargain shopping.

1. Baby Gap - fits long, slender babies and is the longest length-wise fitting brand of sleep n plays (the jumpers babies can sleep in with long sleeves and footed feet). These sleepers lasted the longest in each size for Adelaide (she has a long torso). Their dresses also are a bit longer and last her for forever. For reference, she's 4 months old, and still in 0-3 months at Gap (excluding sleepers where she is in 3-6 everywhere).

2. Carters - So I LOVE Carter's fleece sleep n plays, especially since Adelaide didn't like to be swaddled after she was 6 weeks old and we moved her to her crib at 9 weeks. I put her in fleeces with a lightweight sleep sack and I know she was warm. HOWEVER, Carter shrinks quickly so do NOT put them in the dryer. Secondly, Carters runs a bit short in length, so my long baby grew out of them quickly. I just keep buying the next size up though...

3. Old Navy - These outfits are usually thinner fabric but are half the price of Gap's AND have really cool diaper features. The sleep n plays, for example, have the bottom buttons by the diapers positioned so you can SEE THROUGH to the line to see if it's blue (dirty) or yellow (clean). SUCH A GAME CHANGER for when my hubby is watching the baby!

4. Carters from Costco or Sams - I find these to be some of the thinnest fabric material and they last the shortest period of time. These are cute, usually on sale, but haven't lasted very long for us...read: they don't withstand our washing machine.

Fun fact - Carters sells clothes everywhere and each sister brand (i.e., Just One You from Target for example) is made by completely different companies. And sold differently. And priced differently so you cannot return or exchange or by the same things at Costco, Sams or Target or even Walmart and get the same thing at Carters the store.

5. Cat & Jack from Target - Love these. They run true to size, are super affordable and cute. If you buy after the season is over, they are on clearance so you can buy at a great price for when your babe is older!

6. Gymboree - if there is one thing I can say about them is they make socks that ACTUALLY stay on babies' feet. This place can be expensive BUT the socks are so, so worth it, especially if you're like me and hate it when you bend over with babe to pick up a sock and then *BOOM THROW UP ALL OVER YOUR NEW SHIRT...THE SECOND ONE OF THE DAY*

7. Koala Baby from BuyBuy Baby - These are usually really cute and keep their shape. Unfortunately, though, they are a bit shorter and wider so Adelaide hasn't been able to fit in these :( I'm sure they work for many other babes though!

8. Amazon - there are so many other brands on Amazon. I love Rosie Pope for cute true-to-size, maybe even larger, printed patterned pants. If you buy designer clothes on Amazon for future baby ages (i.e. so Adelaide is 4 months now, if I buy 9 month clothes) they usually have random sizes on a mega discount while trying to move their inventory. Try it.

A final fun fact: Anything you buy off of your Amazon registry goes towards your Diaper Rewards (if you spend $1000 you get $100 worth of diapers and/or wipes. We still haven't bought diapers yet!!)

Okay, that's a long ramble for now, folks! Hope this helps and happy baby shopping!!

XO,

Kaylee