Baby Fashion: Your style or mine?

Who doesn't love shopping for baby clothes? Say no and I'd call you a liar. Even Dads and uncles are secretly in on it with the old 'I had to return some socks and chanced across this pair of baby jeans that err happened to be next to customer services'. A likely story!

The problems can arise however, when that top or jeans clashes with your baby's 'style'. As superficial as it sounds, many new parents are fashion conscious when it comes to their tiny! Not just anything can touch this newborn skin yanno...



Mom of two, Kourtney Kardashian is open about choosing stylish items for her son Mason and daughter Penelope
 

A few celeb Moms have spoken publicly about choosing or at least moulding their child's fashion choices. Kourtney Kardashian, Rachel Zoe and even UK reality TV-ite Chantelle Houghton have expressed the importance of dressing their babies in a style that reflects their budding personalities.

That's all well and good, but for many of us young Mom's with a limited bank balance, the reality is that we rely on gifted items for the little one.

The question is: what do we do when the item isn't 'our' style?

 

My advice is to prepare yourself for receiving such items. Grin politely, sing out a fake 'thanks' and try to 'work' them. It's bad practise to discard or give them to Charity when people have spent money on your child. Even if inwardly you feel like:

 
Put it this way, I vowed that Seb would escape the grip of Disney and wouldn't have any associated merchandise. In his first year, he received countless Disney pyjama sets and now sports a snuggly Mickey mouse bathrobe. I use them but, for example, make sure his Disney sets are the very last ones in rotation; you know worn on wash days, so they aren't seen too often.

Here are some practical tips for working unwanted baby items:

• If it's a top that you don't like, layer over it with a jumper or cardigan.

• If it's a coat you don't like, get the baby involved in some age appropriate messy play. The quicker it gets dirty, the longer it can stay in the wash basket ;-)

• Funky looking socks could make great hand puppets. They were funny to begin with and now can perform in front of a drooling audience!

• Trousers or skirts are more tricky, but just take them out once in a blue moon and be grateful baby will outgrow them soon!

Love Mama x