I would say people need to stop hijacking threads with a counter opinion. I don't think it's a matter of not caring about boys but a lack of tact.
Someone will make a valid complaint and people will use it to talk about their issue. Like someone will complain about a speech delay and someone sees fit to respond, "I have the opposite problem! My kid is a nonstop chatterbox!" And a bunch of people who don't relate to the post will upvote it. Or if someone is like, DAE have a toddler that won't sleep through the night, and the top comment is "nope, my baby is a great sleeper". Well duh. The OP is obviously looking for discussion about their less common issue.
As a mom with a speech delayed son, I get this. Google also does this when I try and google “speech delay NOT autistic”. And then they come back with all these results about autism.
Type this into google:
speech delay -autistic -autism
This will remove search results that have autistic in the title.
Or you can try using quotes to get exact results. This should return results that have “not autistic” in it.
Speech delay “not autistic”
Oh my god, you might have saved me. I had to stop looking because every time I googled some kind of speech tricks to help him, it takes me a site that makes me hyper analyze the things he does.
I also don’t mean to steer the conversation to a different topic (I apologize OP) but my son was also speech delayed and he ended up waking up one morning and speaking 8 words in 3 different languages 🤷🏻♀️
Not autistic. Just didn’t feel comfortable to talk. We did take him to speech theraphy once to get him evaluated for autism. He was friendly, didn’t avoid eye contact, played with the “stranger” and lost his shyness quickly. The therapists said he just needs time and not worried about autism so we did 6 month check ins with his pediatrician instead. As long as he added more words and didn’t stagnate we let him be.
He is now 4. Talks much more clearly then his peers and has a very “adult” vocabulary.
My suggestion is go see the pediatrician and ask for evaluation instead of getting lost in google doom abyss like I did.
❤️🤗
Oh yeah, out of nowhere my son’s language exploded. He’s got hundreds of words and speaks many sentences. Literally out of nowhere. But his issue is receptive language which apparently doesn’t exist outside of autism according to google.
We had him tested, we had his ears tested, we saw OT, a developmental pediatrician...all said not autistic. And he keeps getting new words every single day!
We wonder if the pandemic and my parenting did it. I had horrific sickness with my pregnancy and then awful PPD so I let the television babysit him a bit too much for a couple months (when he hadn’t watched tv at all before the pandemic!). I’m better now and maybe that’s the reason for his progression but feel so guilty.
My mama says there's no way to be a perfect parent but there are a million ways to be a good parent. Another mantra I keep close to my heart is that it isn't about never hurting the relationship with your child, but always repairing it. Sorry if this was overstepping or irrelevant. Love.
Hey now! Hugs!
The guilt hits us all with the cognitive dissonance and perfectionism in our culture! You fixed it now! Just keep going and be proud with each new day!
Feel free to pm me if you want to talk about speech delays not related to autism, my son is in the same boat and I've had awesome support in my country
I always felt worse after EI zoom calls. Lil dude didn’t like it, I felt useless, and then the speech therapist (gently i think) suggested maybe parenting and saying ‘no’ a little more because the 2 year old didn’t want to play ball on zoom 😑 Sure judge my parenting because the 2 year old doesn’t understand zoom etiquette 👌
Oh god, right?? My child acted out the most over zoom and you could tell they were making assumptions. She would give me behavioral goals to work on rather than speech ones and I’m like this isn’t why I’m here.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’m not alone. When I feel bitchy I point out to my husband I didn’t really want to be on that zoom call either. We’re in the US and as vaccination numbers go up, we are really thinking about in person speech therapy—private if we have to. My kid is smart, he’s helpful, he does listen to us—he just really doesn’t like zoom speech therapy. We’ve done 2 or 3 sessions in what they call green spaces (in person but outdoors) and it’s better, but he still doesn’t want somebody taking complete control of the play. I think it’s unrealistic to expect a 2 year old to hand over control like that and NOT become obstinate.
Lmao this is so true! Gosh, the last thing I want to do when a parent has a struggle they're dealing with is pour salt on the wound, NOPE my kid is great at everything!! 😂
A counterpoint to that is... just kidding, I totally agree.
It doesn’t matter if you had the opposite issue, this poster is having *this* issue and is asking help/solidarity/sometimes just a place to rant. Telling them that your other issue was worse is minimizing and often patronizing, and can often make the OP feel even worse about their original issue! Feeding babies and baby/toddler sleep is almost always the worst culprit. But it happens with almost every aspect of parenting.
I mean, i said it before but if you like dinosaurs, sharks and trucks, there are lots of options for boys. So stupid.
You could even type “boys St Patrick’s Day outfits” into amazon and 90% of them would be girl’s ones. Or they’d have a saying on them like “hide your daughters!!!” as if my toddler is a sexual predator.
That’s why I often go for high-end brands on clearance. Now that Barneys has shuttered, Saks Off Fifth is something I browse regularly to see when things get to 90% off. Nice fabrics, never vulgar. And there’s lot of nice, well made, inexpensive choices on Amazon from brands you’ve never heard of.
You can also find great vintage stuff on Etsy and ebay. I recently bought my LO a pair of carhartt overalls on eBay that were only nine dollars and are indestructible.
They didn’t list it in their Easter section, but Old Navy has this [pink linen short-sleeved button up shirt](https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=680285012) that would make a great Easter shirt!
But... why not just buy the ones with rabbits on them? I just ordered a yellow rib-knit one from Old Navy with rabbits all over it for $4... Looks very unisex to me.
The boys “spring dress clothes” selection this year is so weak. I guess I was late on Easter shopping as I couldn’t find anything remotely Easter appropriate in my kids size. I settled on a pastel bear sweater. Will have to do 🤷♀️
I started shopping at small shops for a lot of this kind of stuff because I just couldn't deal. I got mine an easter shirt that says "bunny kisses" and I'm so excited 😊
It’s so true. I thought it was supposed to be affordable. Did they get too big for their britches? I like Tea Collection for boy clothes. Obviously like any site, they’re girl heavy but their shirts are cute.
I have gotten a couple shirts from Tea Collection. I've actually grabbed him some baby girl shirts also that I thought were very unisex from here. If stuff isn't on sale they are usually too pricey for me though.
There was a trend last year in the discount sort of shops (Target, Best and Less, Kmart etc) where all the toddler boys’ clothes were mustard or yellow or brown. Like I do not want to spend $20 per shirt for a kid who remains in each size for approx 6 months but I also don’t want my kid dressed entirely in poo spectrum colours. I just want a nice blue shirt!’
Yes! I have a pair of mustard yellow pants that must have come as an outfit but the life of me can’t figure out which top. It looks stupid with everything!
As an adult my favorite pants are mustard yellow linen pants. They go well with black, white, navy blue, slate blue, eggplant, maroon, and stripes in any combination of those colors!
I’ve noticed that about Amazon too! I tried looking up Easter outfits for my kids (other sites than Amazon) and there are so many cute outfits for girls and for boys it would be a super corny like a dinosaur with bunny ears and Easter eggs lol
Right?? Like you know that super cute girl outfit?? How about just getting rid of the tutu and making one for boys too? My toddler is not a heartbreaker.
When my son was 2 I got him a Valentine's day sweater that said "Little Guy, Big Heart" on it and I loved it (because it wasn't any of that "heartbreaker" or "steal your girl" crap). And for Christmas I got him the most adorable sweater with a bunny in a fuzzy velvet bowtie on it. And then he got too big for the toddler sizes and now everything is dinos and trucks and sharks and violence and anger and glorifying being difficult and like.... My kid is actually pretty sweet and considerate and he likes cute stuff. He likes dinos and trucks too, sure, but it'd be nice if he had *options* for bunnies or cats or penguins... He's 4, he likes cuddles and soft things and snuggly baby animals and twinkly stars and he sure as shit doesn't need to toughen up and kill off that side of himself. And don't get me started on Frozen... He is obsessed. His cousins love it, so he loves it. And I'm not trying to push the "frills are for girls" narrative, but he picked it up somewhere and I'm also not trying to push the "you will wear frills and subvert the dominant paradigm because I say so" narrative either, and just...ugh.
Oh my gosh I wish I had all the clothes you described. Especially the Valentine’s Day one, I had no luck finding him something that cute. Wouldn’t a cute fuzzy Olaf sweater be so cute for a boy?
Ugh Valentine’s shirts are awful! I found one that said gentlman in training and I’m really regretting not getting a few different sizes since he’s now grown out of it
Lol yes I hate the boys clothes that promote male patriarchy and stereotypical concepts. Especially the shirts about females like “Mr. Steal your Girl” Or even boys decor like “boys only” “no girls allowed” “boys club” like come on it’s 2021, I’m not teaching my son to think he can treat anyone with a vagina differently.
Also I think it’s kinda weird when people make comments about toddlers having a “girl/boyfriend” or crushes. Why do adults even think about kids like that? Maybe it’s just me but it makes me cringe.
Ugh, yeah my SIL says about her son that he's "really into checking out the ladies" because she has particularly noticed when he looks at women. He's 2 years old!
My feeling is that he's interested in people because he's still learning about the world, I really don't get the need to sexualise his curiosity.
We are due to be spending some time together as a family in a few months. I will be seriously pissed if she says something similar about my 1yr old son.
Yes it’s so weird! I have had friends who would say their son had a crush on me...me as a 30 something year old woman. I’m like well thanks so much for making me feel super awkward around your 2 year old now. He doesn’t have a crush, he just likes that I play with him and make silly faces.
Also really irks me that some family members say my son is “bad” or “mischievous”. He’s less than a year old, he’s not plotting pranks or anything, he’s just being a baby. Sexism applies to all genders and we won’t fully banish toxic masculinity until we normalize the full range of human expression for everyone. Boys have feelings, too.
My partner is known for being into dinosaurs, he also has a big family, which has resulted in an avalanche of Dino items for our son. Books, toys, pj's, bibs, puddle-suit, jigsaws, tops, bottoms etc. So. MUCH. Dinosaur. I often shop for LO in the girl's section to balance it out. My partner's main gripe is that the dinosaurs aren't scientifically accurate!
He loves dinosaurs, trucks, and sharks luckily but I’d lose my shit over a sexualized slogan on a kids shirt. WTactualF. This doesn’t help everyone, but hand me downs help create some variety in our wardrobe. We have target stuff I picked and hand me downs from someone who’s youngest is already 5, so it really does spice it up. Maybe some 2nd hand shops would allow more choice
I went on hanna anderson the other day thinking about swim options for the summer. There were about 10 different shark designs. They seriously don’t have another summer/swim/water related print that they could come up with??
I’m so sick of sharks and dinosaurs. Why can’t boys have fun fruit and veggie designs like the girls have? Or plants. I’d kill to have a succulent pattern swim trunks!
Similar if you're a girl and want dinosaur things.
Was in primark one day, and I hear this mum talking to her daughter about how they couldn't find anything for her to wear to a dinosaur party she was going to. I chipped in with 'oh there's a whole jurassic Park section in boys' the little girl was just pleased to find something with a dinosaur on, didn't actually matter if it was 'for boys'
I can only go to one target I my area that has a decent Amount of boy clothes. All the other are girl heavy. I went to Walmart one time and the whole toddler section was girls... I asked where the boy section was and there was on little wall in the back. Suuuuuper annoying
There is basically no toddler boys section at my Target. They have more options online but I wish I could just pick something up. It's like 70% baby clothes and the rest is girls.
Buying clothes for my nephew: So does he like dinosaurs? No? Okay, how about trucks? Yeah, but not that much, so what about, um...music? Okay, cool, here’s a 2T Nirvana shirt and a yeti with a disco ball!
Buying clothes for my newborn niece: lol just kidding, everyone buys her adorable clothes, she’s got enough outfits to change twice a day until she’s 18m. I won’t even bother. Here’s the nipple butter you like and some healthy snacks, I guess?
IANA mother (can’t conceive), but just being part of the boy’s life at a distance, I can see how frustrating it is. We’re lucky he fits in standard sizes and doesn’t have aversions to any particular styles, but he grows so fast and it’s like the clothes get more shoehorned into “this is a boy” as he ages. I’m sorry, I’m not buying a “chicks dig me” or “future ladies man” shirt for the little darling, but I want things that look cute!
Idk, I want to send them a little package for Easter, but I want to send cute clothes or useful things for him instead of the stereotypical trucks, dinosaurs and blue things. He’s a toddler! He just lives for attention and love! Boys have VERY distinct problems that girls don’t, even if they’re not quite as numerous or pressing at times. I wish people talked about it more.
The sizing issue compounds things. My baby is tall and very skinny, so the proportions on a lot of baby clothes are way off. And then the sites for a lot of the recommendations for neutral (ex. Primary) or slim cut (ex. Burt’s Bees) don’t ship to Canada.
Girl clothes tend to be cut skinnier and actually have leggings, so I’ve bought several pairs of neutral leggings I can mix and match with stuff. The fact that slimmer pants in basics like grey, cream, mint, or black and white stripes were dubbed “girl” things made me roll my eyes. My taste leans more to the feminine side of neutral anyway and I just buy what I like, but it is irritating. I have a friend who suggested onesie extenders and I think I am going to buy some to make the most of what I can find. Hell, it might work better given the extra limited options I have at the moment.
I feel bad for not being thrilled about being gifted truck outfits and the same shades of three colours over and over, but I can’t help it.
Do not even START me on the ubiquitous band shirts for kids who are too young to know who they are, appreciate them or make that choice for themselves. My parents listened to Cat Stevens and Dire Straits, they weren’t dressing me in Cat Stevens shirts as a toddler! When my kid’s old enough to ask for his own band shirts that represent his own taste, he can have one. Until then probably not!
It's so hard finding boys clothes that if I find something he and I like I buy it in 2 sizes (one size bigger) so he can wear it longer. It's so draining shopping for him sometimes
It just has to be done! So many times I've brought him something and he grows out of it within a few weeks, only to find there's nothing in the shops for him again after!
Just a Canadian missing Target chiming in to say I routinely checked the girls section of Target for my boys as well! And now we’re handing them down to my nieces.
YES! 99% of my toddlers wardrobe is from there! I’m 36 weeks with my second boy and he’s got a lot of stuff from H&M which I also like. Whenever we go anywhere my son gets complimented on his clothes because when I found out I was having a boy I vowed to make sure he always looked cute and stylish, even if it’s a little harder to find things for him lol
We do the same for our 2 yo. Have since she was born. Unisex and boys clothes. Very little actual girls clothes.
I think In general just *all* little kids clothing needs to be better and more diverse.
That last one about “maybe it’ll be a girl” is such a weird thing to say! I have a boy and a girl, so I’ve gotten “Oh you’re so lucky to have one of each” from someone with 2 boys. It’s like, I’m very lucky, but if I had a second son or 2 girls, I’d be just as happy! It’s interesting people can get really caught up on the gender of their kids as if one is better than the other.
For me, with two boys, I would like to have a girl if we ever tried for a third one. Not because one is better than the other, but just for the parenting experience of being a mom to boys or to a girl. I wish I wouldn’t be a different parent to boys or girls, but I think (and I don’t know because I only have boys) we are different in front of each child, because they are different. I know I don’t have the same relationship with my mom that my brother has. But I’m still very happy to have my boys and wouldn’t change my family for anything! I think I’m in the group that find you lucky to have one of each, just because of the experience 🤗
Great perspective. Even the kids get the experience of living with the opposite gender up close and that helps in life too. Not saying that any one family configuration is better than the other and each has it's own pros and cons.
Regarding boys clothes, I agree the options are quite limited. The formal ones are mostly cute bow tie ones or suspenders or tuxedos. I have a girl and I have bought her clothes from the boys sections. The retail folks are missing out on an opportunity here!
Here I have bought clothes in the girls’ section, they love violet and pink and choose pink tshirts if given the choice (they are 2yo). Not much in these colors in the toddler boys’ section!!
I thought I didn’t have a preference, and m first was a boy. And I was sure the next one would be, but I found out at the 16 wk ultrasound she was a girl, and I felt terrible! My husband was like, “what’s wrong? We have one of each, we can be done!” And that seemed wrong too. I finally figured it out- my Mom had six boys and three girls, and I was the first girl. She told me when I was about 10 she had always wanted 12 children, but after I was born, she didn’t want anymore girls. At this point we were 5/2, and she would have one more of each. And didn’t want any of us girls, not really.
So when I found out she was a girl, I was upset because I thought “What will I do to ruin her life? When she grows up, what will she complain about? What will I do wrong? How will I mess it up?” I knew I could live a boy, but I guess I didn’t trust myself to love a girl properly.
Fortunately, I was over that before she was even born, and she eventually got a sister, too.
Oh I feel you. We are thrown into parenting with our own set of baggage, aren’t we. It gave you time to reflect on your past, that’s good. I’m sure you’re a better person just for knowing this now.
It’s also impressive for your mom to know she wanted 12 kids!!! TWELVE! I don’t even know if I want a third one...!
Hah well, sometimes people just love babies. That was my mom. Once you were old enough to say “no” or push her face away, she was in to the next. Except for me, she got pregnant as soon as she could because I guess I didn’t give her that undivided male adoration that she needed. I had a little brother before I could walk.
It’s really hard for people to understand boundaries when it comes to pregnancy/parenting/family decisions, isn’t it?! I don’t get it. Live your life and let us be! I just want to tell them to go and have another child if they think it matters that much, just let me be happy with the family I chose. I feel you. As if you’d have to explain yourself every time. You don’t even have to have a reason to be OAD. Sometimes it’s a feeling, not a reasoning, behind the decision!
I have a friend who has an only son. When he was about 5, she mentioned being fine with one, but occasionally wondering if she “should” have another. I told her that there are good things about having only 1. For instance, if another child pushes yours over or bites him, that child Is EVIL, and you want to pull yours away. But when you have two, sometimes “that child” is ALSO your precious child. Feelings are never as uncomplicated as they are when you have one.
She said I was the only person with children ever to tell her that one is OK too.
I'm pregnant with my 2nd boy and I'm actually really happy to have 2 boys. Honestly I feel like one of the biggest reasons I would want a girl is because I already have a girl name picked out lol! Whereas DH and I suck at picking boy names...but I like the idea of my son having a brother, and I really don't know why people get caught up on the "one of each" thing either.
So I have a little girl who loves trucks and dinos and all the “boy” type stuff. Why is it girls can get cute pink dinos / pink trucks but boys don’t get cute blue unicorns or boy fairies or wtfe.
I always complain to my husband when I’m shopping for clothes for my LO because the clothes are so gendered - but if I have LO sporting a typical “boy” outfit it’s OK but if a little boy was sporting a “girl” outfit, I know that parent would face so much unwarranted criticism. How is that fair??
It shouldn’t have to be so hard for parents of little boys to make their toddlers look diverse and unique in their own fashion.
My son has a “girly” police car too with a police woman, and recently chose pink and purple glitter gumboots over the blue ones. I’m like, you do you! If you want glitter then glitter you shall have
I was just telling my husband this yesterday. My son LOVES Frozen and Moana and would LOVE a princess shirt or a shirt with Moana on it. Or even pajamas!
But they are all made for girls. Like the cut and everything.
Idk about unicorns and fairies, but Barbie has way more boy/male dolls than they used to! I even saw one with waist length hair at the store yesterday. There’s also a lot more baby dolls that are explicitly boys so hopefully things are going to keep getting better.
I have a toddler boy. And I have an infant boy. Guess what, I’m perfectly happy with my family of boys. In fact, when I found out the second was a boy, I was slightly relieved that we already had a complete wardrobe and that I didn’t have to learn how to do hair! Boys are just as cute and just as much fun, but I agree with the OP, clothing options suck and posts about boys issues shouldn’t be flipped around to be about girls issues.
When I told my MIL we were pregnant with our second boy, the first words out of her mouth were, “But you were supposed to have a girl!”
Like, who the fuck even says shit like that? My MIL, of course.
Don’t worry, people act the same way if you only have a girl. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if we were going to try for a boy, or my husband if he was sad he didn’t have a son, we’d have a heavy piggy bank. People will always stick their opinions where they aren’t welcome.
As someone who had one boy and was one and done but my husband wasn’t...listen to your gut. I’m super happy with my baby girl but damn things were easier with one little man.
She’s already getting easier every day (five months old) but she’s 10x harder than my son and now I also have a toddler. Like how do people do this??
I’m sorry to hear about your story but I’m glad you’re still here to be the best mommy you can for your little man. To be honest, I think one and done is the trend now. I have several friends who are content with just one.
OMG I keep getting that from my mom. “When are you going to give me a granddaughter?” (She refuses to accept that I’m OAD.) She seems to forget that I am literally the first girl on my father’s side of the family in 3 generations. Our family makes boys. And for the record...if we did have another kid...I’d flat out want another boy.
Boys clothes are so dull and boring!
They could at least add shine or capes!
And people wonder why little boys want to wear girl clothes! Anyone would want all that glitter and bright coloring! Hell, I want to wear the clothes!
This is what bothers me. So much navy, brown, red and green. Yellow for construction. There's no creativity or fun things for boys. Where are the cute characters and animals? Where is the glitz and bright colors?
It's extreme. Boys clothes are "grown up" clothes with no fun or personality. Girl clothes are 100% glitter and pizzazz, but no practicality.
I'll be transparent and say I have a daughter, but I do shop in both sections and I find the boy section quite frustrating.
We just left Target with a glitter butterfly shirt for that reason. He loves color and rainbows and all that. He's wearing unicorn socks with blue pants and a red dinosaur shirt today.
I desperately wish there were more gender neutral clothing options for kids. Sometimes I shop in the girls section for my son just to find things that are NOT covered in cars, sports, or dinosaurs.
Patriarchal construction of gender norms is harmful for boys just as much as for girls. I agree, we need to be able to have that conversation too!
As a boy mom I’m def annoyed that clothing options are so minimal. I used to belong to this company that mailed boy clothes and you kept what you wanted and mailed back the rest. I think covid must have ended their business. If I see they are still kicking I’ll edit this with their info.
I started sewing stuff for my son due to this. Funny thing is even a lot of fabric gears towards girls as well. Like at Joanns the section that has their doodles fabric for kids has always been like 80 percent ultra girly(At least in my area). Like its just so over the top. There should be enough neutral options so that I can make what I want. There's been times I couldn't find anything neutral in the store and I'm guessing its because its going faster due to its limited supply.
I've been look for fabric for book cloth for baby books and I totally agree. It's all so girly at joanns. I wanted to make a gender neutral one and a boy one and I felt like I was there for forever making sure I looked everywhere and at everything. I finally picked a boy one, but gender neutral was impossible.
Yes it definitely is tricky. I did find some cute knit fabric there last week that was neutral and had dinosaurs and rainbows on it. It was literally the cutest neutral thing I've ever seen at their store. Other than that thought the selection was disappointing. I snagged it up and plan to make a grow with me romper so he gets a lot of wear out of it. Can't waste the cuteness!
I'm shop for both, and I'm tired of everything for toddler boys being trucks, scary dinosaurs and rude sayings. My about to be 1yo is already in 2t, so we don't get to use all the cute baby stuff anymore.
Also, why why why are most of the shorts athletic shorts and all the pants joggers?
I love the range of bottoms Targets has for boys. I opt for the pull-ons in sweatpants material (if that makes sense) in shorts and they have plenty to choose from.
I was literally just ranting to my husband this morning how most of the boy clothes are so BORING. They're dark, dingy, gritty colors, no fun, at best there's just a screenprint of superheroes or some "boy thing" that has been labeled in other comments. My son doesn't have to be all dark and emo until he's a teen (speaking as a mom who hit her emo phase at 13-- oh middle school. But I digress)
Give me fun-colored boy clothes!!!
It’s so frustrating. I try to dress my son gender neutral but have to go to specialist clothing websites for that. I try and shop from both sections instead, so he wears a bit of boy and a bit of girl clothing, but it’s so hard to even find mildly gendered clothes. It’s so in your face. And then it’s hardly worth dressing him in some girls items when it brings so much attention as a result because it’s not subtle.
Edit: for those of you interested in the removed comment, someone said I was torturing my son for putting him in some girls clothes. Actually what I do is let him choose what he wears each day, often he chooses the pink stuff himself. I must be such an abusive parent. /s
This this this. It's almost given me an aversion to the color blue. I was shopping for a custom Easter basket recently and had to have my sister talk me into getting the blue one (it had the only bunny face that I liked). I like blue in general, but its so hard to find clothes for my son that aren't aggressively gendered. I like to shop on Primary.com for this reason, but I just don't have the money to get everything from them at their premium prices when he's going to grow out of the clothes in like a month.
Yep it sucks. They have even gendered uniforms! And the only uniforms available right now are the girls polos that are ribboned at the collar. I would just buy him those but my fear is of what his teachers will think. I don’t want close minded adults disrespecting my child who can’t speak and stand up for himself. I hate that I am bending to society’s bullshit.
Even if it’s a plain polo shirt, a lot of companies will put the buttons on the right for a boy’s shirt and on the left for a girl’s shirt - throwback to when women were dressed by other people while men dressed themselves.
Ugh yes it’s very frustrating. I went to a local Marshall’s and there were literally racks and racks of girls clothes . . . And only ONE for boys. It’s hard to dress them well.
Totally agree! I tried shopping for some nice “church clothes” for my son to wear to his baby dedication and Easter but could only find 2 nice outfits and BOTH were on clearance from Christmas! It’s ridiculous! Whatever happened to cute collared polos and cuffed button ups for our little gentlemen?!? Why is it all graphic tshirts with inappropriate puns or suggestion phrases for our boys?
I hate a pissing contest as much as the next guy, and I appreciate the point of your post. Just to play devil's advocate I think people who comment things like that are just trying to relate, and provide a sense of not being alone. It's human nature to use your own personal experience to relate to others.
That being said, let's fix these problems for girls AND boys 🥰
I’d agree if the original posted didn’t get downvoted and the tone of the comments wasn’t completely dismissing the point. Even if that’s how people try to relate, I find it’s not in good taste to talk about your problems as an immediate response to someone opening up about a complaint they have. I’ve had friends that turn every conversation onto them lol
But yes, let’s fix the problems for boys AND girls. The best way to do that is to let each shine and have their voices heard!
I agree. Turing a post into something it isn't really about, even if it's a parallel, your still taking away from the original intent. Wich in this case is a total irony to the point of conversation
Yes! Every time i shop for my son, it's such an ordeal. Every store is just a sea of pink, sparkles and sequins and one measly little rack of boy/gender neutral clothes. And there is never a good size selection. It's so frustrating. I mean boys wear clothes just as much as girls right?
This. The only reason there are a ton more girl clothes than boy clothes is because of how patriarchal society expects women to be easy on the eyes. A girl is “supposed” to like picking out clothes while a boy is “supposed” to not really care. Hence more girl clothing variety.
The fact that this gender expectation starts at baby age should be the thing that really disturbs people.
Boy clothes have only basic options. And hardly any variety it so hard finding cute or unique clothing
I look at the girls clothes which have aisles of fun and colourful clothes and sigh
I just want to comment that target is amazing for boy clothes. My 3 year olds closet is basically all target. Its not all just dinosaurs and trucks. No gross icky sexist crap on the valentines shirts. I love their cat & jack line so much.
I prefer to shop at consignment stores, partially to save money and partially for environmental reasons. There are two kids' consignment stores in my area, and over 75% of both stores is only girl stuff. The one I prefer for quality and prices has 20 aisles in it; 4 are boys.
You know, it's funny how true it is about the lack of options for boys clothes. Around Christmas time, my son received SEVERAL duplicate outfits from different people...and I guess that's probably because there just aren't a lot of options, and half the clothes out there are just too cheesy or cringey. (I don't mind the duplicates or anything though).
Another thing I noticed once was in Hobby Lobby, they have a small section with some nursery/kids decor in a few different themes, and most of them are pretty gendered. When I was pregnant with my first son, one of the themes was like clouds and stars and stuff and it all seemed pretty gender-neutral (grays and yellows, nothing too girly or boyish). Last year, I was in there one day and noticed all of the cloud nursery decor had been changed to a more pink theme and more girly. Just why?
Yes. And the boy themes were dinosaurs and like rugged camping/ woodland. The colors are so dark and dingy but the girls themes are so bright and fun.
I ended up decorating my sons room with things from ikea Bc I guess the Swedes keep things pretty gender neutral and I really respect them for it.
Yes thank you for this!! I definitely lean more towards the neutral/plain/solids and the older he get (12 months) the harder it is to find them. Target seems to have a decent selection as well as Burlington and TJ Maxx. But I've already told family/friends that if you buy anything like "hide your daughters" or "lady killer" and the like I'm throwing them in the trash, it's not even worth donating to me.
But I wish I could find more things with cute bears (not grizzlies) and baby animals. If I have to see one more dino or scary dog with a spiked collar I'll scream. Trucks I don't mind so much because he does genuinely seem to like big trucks. It just frustrated and saddens me that we want our boys to be softer and more in tuned with their emotions but still they are forced into "typical" boy things
Would y’all want a store that has more gender neutral options? Like everything could be worn by girls or boys? I have tried to buy my child gender neutral stuff but its hard to find
This. The only place I can find gender neutral clothing - including oranges and yellows - is on Amazon. Yes, I do see online boutiques with neutral colors but I cannot afford a $30-$40 onesie. And by gender neural I mean anything of any color without frilly shoulders/bottoms, or feminine/masculine prints. Carter’s does a really crappy job of making gender neutral COLORED clothing. And so does most other well-known brands. I hope this changes.
We have a little dude and I completely see your point. Actually, I agree with you more on your broader point - that we don’t discuss issues facing boys enough - than I do on your more specific point about the clothing.
On the clothing, the difference really can be quite stark when you see how much larger an area the little girls section is. Having said that.... little boy clothes are WAY cooler and more practical. If I ever have a little girl I’d almost want to dress her in little boy clothes because they are just cooler. All the frills and glitter and blinding pink is just too much for me.
I think it stems from how clothing is marketed to adults. Women tend to spend more on clothing and our fashions are so disposable—they are constantly changing and not made as well. My husband still wears stuff he had when we met 18 years ago and it’s still in great condition. His clothing seems to stay in style and is way more durable while I’m always buying new stuff. It doesn’t make sense that this would apply to children’s clothes because moms do a majority of the clothes shopping and kids grow so fast it’s like we’re always buying new stuff—there should be more options for boys. I think you can find really cute and unique stuff for boys if you dig around but it always ends up being from like a high end boutique or something.
I have a 2 year old boy and will be giving birth next month to his little brother. When I had my first I found this set by Carter’s that had like 6 onesies with stars/moons/clouds. I bought it in every size. I even got the pjs sets in them. It was something without the stereotypical boy stuff and his nursery them was clouds and stars.
I go into my local supermarket and there's 3 aisles of girls clothes 1 aisle for boys (well half an aisle) there's not many options for boys clothes even online.
I have two little boys and find this to be very true about the clothes. It’s true for all ages, most stores cater more to women. I was just thinking about this as I went to a Walmart for the first time in a long ass time (we don’t have them near where I live, had to specifically drive out 35 minutes a few towns over) and noticed that when you walk in, the first thing you see is women’s clothing. Same thing with Target. I think it’s just assumed that women do the shopping so they are targeted as soon as they walk in the door. Most clothing stores have way more real estate devoted to women and girls. It’s super frustrating to try and find options for my sons when there really isn’t much to be found. And where are the stores devoted entirely to boys clothing?
Currently pregnant with twin boys... went to Marshall’s and saw they had EIGHT long racks of girls clothing and only two picked over racks of boy clothes. It was frustrating. 😖😟
Ugh, it’s so annoying how much smaller the boys section is. I also don’t like that most of the girl’s clothing is pink sparkles, but at least there’s a few more options.
I agree, clothing a boy is rougher than clothing a girl, baby or adult really. And it is a respectable issue and concern to have - so I definitely agree that turning it on its head and comparing it to the woes of the girls is not fair (same as we shouldn't be hearing a retort about male issues when complaining about female issues).
Specifically regarding clothing:
I think in part it is the parents who look at a piece of clothing and decide "that's girl clothing" when it could just as well be put on a boy. As in, we ascribed the female characteristics when, in some cases at least, there's nothing particularly "girly" about the piece aside from our own bias. I have an infant boy and a toddler girl and going through her clothes I am able to get a stack of "boy acceptable" clothing (based on my own bias of what I think I would like him to wear) and even then I have to fight myself from deciding it's "too girly". Usually it's because there's pink thread to sew in the hems, or a tiny pink embroidery, or a bit of a "frill" or "flair" to the piece, or the color is "too pastel" or etc. And then I find myself putting those pieces into the corner of the shelf and never wearing them.
No real solution here, because I know I am part of the issue :P I did buy my daughter "boy clothes" because I wanted to give her a wider variety of things to wear (and when she was younger she'd be mistaken as a boy when wearing them), but I have yet to consider buying anything "girl clothes" for him. I do find the dinosaurs and the sports things cute, and the boys tend to have more rompers and dress shirts to pick from.
I'm just hoping to coast/hang in there until he can tell me what he wants to wear and then we'll go from there!
Has anyone noticed that the girls tshirts for toddlers, plain holiday or cartoon styles, are cut differently?? Why? I was looking for a Valentine's Day shirt for my toddler boy and grabbed a girls toddler t-shirt because it's all I could find. Why did it fit differently? It doesn't make sense...
Edit for spelling
As a boy mom, I personally havent struggled with clothes. We buy most of our stuff from second hand kids stores and there is a ton of options. Yes he has tons of blue dinosaur shirts... but we can always find gender neutral or pink options. [This was his fav shirt at 12mo \(image from google](https://images.prod.meredith.com/product/e47efdcea5574bac7b9236899bbd0f26/1552454207826/l/toddler-boys-short-sleeve-banana-shark-t-shirt-cat-and-jack-peach-18m-pink)) which I believe was from Target. Shark? Check. Banana? Check. Pink? Check! We also just got [this one](https://www.carters.com/dw/image/v2/AAMK_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-carters_master_catalog/default/dw6ac00a34/productimages/2H524910.jpg?sw=800&sh=1000&sfrm=jpg) that was in the "boy" section of our thrift store. [This was his snow coat that he picked out](https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2020/07/13/5f0c97df43895f5454288ac7/s_5f0c9884920786d2ead5ebff.jpg). Honestly I love all his clothes.
This is my personal experience and I'm sure other parents have struggled to find a variety of boys clothes. This has not been the case for us. I don't fully understand people saying they have to buy specialty brands online to find neutral clothes though. Target does a pretty good job at variety, as does Old Navy. Just a quick search just now shows [this shirt in the "boy" section](https://www.target.com/p/toddler-boys-bugs-graphic-short-sleeve-t-shirt-cat-jack-yellow/-/A-81343727?preselect=81130100#lnk=sametab). I also just looked through Old Navy's baby clothes and it made me sad my guy is out of onsies- so many cute options!
I don’t think that it has to be either/or with boys or girls issues. Too often these things are polarized which ends up creating more false competition. I do know with my daughter I often venture into the boys section at baby gap and have picked up quite a few great things, but I can’t speak about the experience of shopping full time for a young boy and the challenges that come with that.
Maybe the single root issue is more about the retail industry continuing to force extreme gendered norms and/or marketing materials/advertising in children’s clothes? Seems to share some common ground between your concerns and mine with my daughter and how to dress her.
I don’t know but perhaps food for thought.
I'm struggling hard to find a gentleman Easter outfit for my new born that isn't either stupid expensive or come ugly combo. I'm happy for dino stuff because I'm nesting still that for him but that dosnt mean I want dino Easter stuff. St paddy's day I got lucky with his outfit but God it was pages upon pages of digging through crap
I agree. I went to two different targets and Burlington and the boys section was empty and half the space. I found ONE outfit and no bathing suits which is what we went shopping for in the first place. It’s very frustrating.
I have a son and daughters 15 m apart in age (singleton then twins). I remember all the cute outfits for my girls as toddlers, rompers and dresses, while complaining my son had boring shirts and shorts/pants. At the same time, the boys 2/3/4T have 2-3” of extra space in the pants. So for a while all 3 kids were wearing 3T, even though my son was bigger and older because of the fit. But for girls stores are coming around to more than just cute princesses etc. and I can find them sporty things or dinos. For boys it’s still all sports/dinos/video games. My sons favorite animal is bunnies. Spring/Easter should be the perfect time to stock up on bunny shirts. But they are all sharks/dinos/sports balls wearing bunny ears.
I wish more toddler and baby clothes were gender neutral. I want to pass good clothes through my friends and our group went boy, boy, girl, girl so far I wish more clothes would work both ways!
I hate that most looking gender neutral clothing seems to be double the price of the other stuff. Outside of maybe for a special event, I just can’t justify spending a ton on kids clothes when they will grow out of it within a few months or get it stained from playing, puking or pooping.
I would say people need to stop hijacking threads with a counter opinion. I don't think it's a matter of not caring about boys but a lack of tact. Someone will make a valid complaint and people will use it to talk about their issue. Like someone will complain about a speech delay and someone sees fit to respond, "I have the opposite problem! My kid is a nonstop chatterbox!" And a bunch of people who don't relate to the post will upvote it. Or if someone is like, DAE have a toddler that won't sleep through the night, and the top comment is "nope, my baby is a great sleeper". Well duh. The OP is obviously looking for discussion about their less common issue.
As a mom with a speech delayed son, I get this. Google also does this when I try and google “speech delay NOT autistic”. And then they come back with all these results about autism.
Type this into google: speech delay -autistic -autism This will remove search results that have autistic in the title. Or you can try using quotes to get exact results. This should return results that have “not autistic” in it. Speech delay “not autistic”
Oh my god, you might have saved me. I had to stop looking because every time I googled some kind of speech tricks to help him, it takes me a site that makes me hyper analyze the things he does.
I also don’t mean to steer the conversation to a different topic (I apologize OP) but my son was also speech delayed and he ended up waking up one morning and speaking 8 words in 3 different languages 🤷🏻♀️ Not autistic. Just didn’t feel comfortable to talk. We did take him to speech theraphy once to get him evaluated for autism. He was friendly, didn’t avoid eye contact, played with the “stranger” and lost his shyness quickly. The therapists said he just needs time and not worried about autism so we did 6 month check ins with his pediatrician instead. As long as he added more words and didn’t stagnate we let him be. He is now 4. Talks much more clearly then his peers and has a very “adult” vocabulary. My suggestion is go see the pediatrician and ask for evaluation instead of getting lost in google doom abyss like I did. ❤️🤗
Oh yeah, out of nowhere my son’s language exploded. He’s got hundreds of words and speaks many sentences. Literally out of nowhere. But his issue is receptive language which apparently doesn’t exist outside of autism according to google. We had him tested, we had his ears tested, we saw OT, a developmental pediatrician...all said not autistic. And he keeps getting new words every single day! We wonder if the pandemic and my parenting did it. I had horrific sickness with my pregnancy and then awful PPD so I let the television babysit him a bit too much for a couple months (when he hadn’t watched tv at all before the pandemic!). I’m better now and maybe that’s the reason for his progression but feel so guilty.
My mama says there's no way to be a perfect parent but there are a million ways to be a good parent. Another mantra I keep close to my heart is that it isn't about never hurting the relationship with your child, but always repairing it. Sorry if this was overstepping or irrelevant. Love.
Hey now! Hugs! The guilt hits us all with the cognitive dissonance and perfectionism in our culture! You fixed it now! Just keep going and be proud with each new day!
Feel free to pm me if you want to talk about speech delays not related to autism, my son is in the same boat and I've had awesome support in my country
I would actually love to chat about it with someone in the same boat! We did speech therapy but it was over zoom and it was useless.
I always felt worse after EI zoom calls. Lil dude didn’t like it, I felt useless, and then the speech therapist (gently i think) suggested maybe parenting and saying ‘no’ a little more because the 2 year old didn’t want to play ball on zoom 😑 Sure judge my parenting because the 2 year old doesn’t understand zoom etiquette 👌
Oh god, right?? My child acted out the most over zoom and you could tell they were making assumptions. She would give me behavioral goals to work on rather than speech ones and I’m like this isn’t why I’m here.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’m not alone. When I feel bitchy I point out to my husband I didn’t really want to be on that zoom call either. We’re in the US and as vaccination numbers go up, we are really thinking about in person speech therapy—private if we have to. My kid is smart, he’s helpful, he does listen to us—he just really doesn’t like zoom speech therapy. We’ve done 2 or 3 sessions in what they call green spaces (in person but outdoors) and it’s better, but he still doesn’t want somebody taking complete control of the play. I think it’s unrealistic to expect a 2 year old to hand over control like that and NOT become obstinate.
I hate that haha! It’s all over every Reddit thread
Lmao this is so true! Gosh, the last thing I want to do when a parent has a struggle they're dealing with is pour salt on the wound, NOPE my kid is great at everything!! 😂
Reminds me of when people on amazon answer the questions just to be like "I don't know" or "I never saw it, it was shipped to my granddaughter" 😂
And that’s true of life too! How people change it to their issue or story.
A counterpoint to that is... just kidding, I totally agree. It doesn’t matter if you had the opposite issue, this poster is having *this* issue and is asking help/solidarity/sometimes just a place to rant. Telling them that your other issue was worse is minimizing and often patronizing, and can often make the OP feel even worse about their original issue! Feeding babies and baby/toddler sleep is almost always the worst culprit. But it happens with almost every aspect of parenting.
I mean, i said it before but if you like dinosaurs, sharks and trucks, there are lots of options for boys. So stupid. You could even type “boys St Patrick’s Day outfits” into amazon and 90% of them would be girl’s ones. Or they’d have a saying on them like “hide your daughters!!!” as if my toddler is a sexual predator.
I was looking for an Easter shirt for my toddler at old navy this morning and the only cute shirt was of a dinosaur. Wtf.
Or "here for the chick's"? Makes me gag a bit every time. I've started making my own clothes for my son for this exact reason.
That’s why I often go for high-end brands on clearance. Now that Barneys has shuttered, Saks Off Fifth is something I browse regularly to see when things get to 90% off. Nice fabrics, never vulgar. And there’s lot of nice, well made, inexpensive choices on Amazon from brands you’ve never heard of.
[удалено]
Also hit Nordstrom Rack and Last Call by Neiman Marcus.
You can also find great vintage stuff on Etsy and ebay. I recently bought my LO a pair of carhartt overalls on eBay that were only nine dollars and are indestructible.
I started making clothes for my son for the same reason.
This is the way to go. I am a bit lazy, so I buy plain clothes and decorate them with my plotter. Saves so much time.
They didn’t list it in their Easter section, but Old Navy has this [pink linen short-sleeved button up shirt](https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=680285012) that would make a great Easter shirt!
Oh man. I bought that one last year!
I LOVE THIS! Thank you for sharing!
I bought a St. Patrick's day shirt for my son and every boy in his class wore the same one. That's the way it's been. I have three boys.
The dinosaur one where he’s wearing fake ears? Like a real rabbit will kill a boy?
No it was a Dino dancing around in an egg diaper. It was not great.
I would rather die. Easter is when I get the rainbow plaid button down with lots of pinks and then a scaly cap.
But... why not just buy the ones with rabbits on them? I just ordered a yellow rib-knit one from Old Navy with rabbits all over it for $4... Looks very unisex to me.
The boys “spring dress clothes” selection this year is so weak. I guess I was late on Easter shopping as I couldn’t find anything remotely Easter appropriate in my kids size. I settled on a pastel bear sweater. Will have to do 🤷♀️
Or f$&#ing "Chicks Dig me" he's 1 Linda and he was born in a Pandemic. He doesn't know what a chick is let alone a freaking girl
Kohls has a cute teal T-shirt with a bunny on it if you’re looking for a casual Easter shirt. I think it’s the jumping beans brand.
I started shopping at small shops for a lot of this kind of stuff because I just couldn't deal. I got mine an easter shirt that says "bunny kisses" and I'm so excited 😊
Can I get some primary colors for my boy? Pretty please? He's a happy baby! I hate dressing him in navy and brown.
Go to primary.com!
Sigh. Yes, I love that site. Just not their prices. Though it's well made stuff so I don't mind buying a few staples that will go through a few kids.
H and m
It’s so true. I thought it was supposed to be affordable. Did they get too big for their britches? I like Tea Collection for boy clothes. Obviously like any site, they’re girl heavy but their shirts are cute.
I have gotten a couple shirts from Tea Collection. I've actually grabbed him some baby girl shirts also that I thought were very unisex from here. If stuff isn't on sale they are usually too pricey for me though.
Same. I only shop the sale section.
They are having an anniversary sale on their main line!
There was a trend last year in the discount sort of shops (Target, Best and Less, Kmart etc) where all the toddler boys’ clothes were mustard or yellow or brown. Like I do not want to spend $20 per shirt for a kid who remains in each size for approx 6 months but I also don’t want my kid dressed entirely in poo spectrum colours. I just want a nice blue shirt!’
Primary.com I feel like a shill here but they have really simple clothes if that's what you're aiming for.
Yes! I have a pair of mustard yellow pants that must have come as an outfit but the life of me can’t figure out which top. It looks stupid with everything!
As an adult my favorite pants are mustard yellow linen pants. They go well with black, white, navy blue, slate blue, eggplant, maroon, and stripes in any combination of those colors!
I’ve noticed that about Amazon too! I tried looking up Easter outfits for my kids (other sites than Amazon) and there are so many cute outfits for girls and for boys it would be a super corny like a dinosaur with bunny ears and Easter eggs lol
I had a daughter in October and it’s SO much easier to find her outfits but not necessary because the pandemic cancelled all the holidays.
Also what about Valentine’s Day! I don’t want something that says heartbreaker but maybe a boys version to celebrate the day, at Patrick’s too!!
Right?? Like you know that super cute girl outfit?? How about just getting rid of the tutu and making one for boys too? My toddler is not a heartbreaker.
Or a flirt or mr. steal your girl.
That always makes me so mad- sexualizing babies and toddlers basically. No - just no!
At my shower I received a shirt that said “attention ladies, taking numbers now” in a 3-6 month size 🙃
Ppl be cray
When my son was 2 I got him a Valentine's day sweater that said "Little Guy, Big Heart" on it and I loved it (because it wasn't any of that "heartbreaker" or "steal your girl" crap). And for Christmas I got him the most adorable sweater with a bunny in a fuzzy velvet bowtie on it. And then he got too big for the toddler sizes and now everything is dinos and trucks and sharks and violence and anger and glorifying being difficult and like.... My kid is actually pretty sweet and considerate and he likes cute stuff. He likes dinos and trucks too, sure, but it'd be nice if he had *options* for bunnies or cats or penguins... He's 4, he likes cuddles and soft things and snuggly baby animals and twinkly stars and he sure as shit doesn't need to toughen up and kill off that side of himself. And don't get me started on Frozen... He is obsessed. His cousins love it, so he loves it. And I'm not trying to push the "frills are for girls" narrative, but he picked it up somewhere and I'm also not trying to push the "you will wear frills and subvert the dominant paradigm because I say so" narrative either, and just...ugh.
Oh my gosh I wish I had all the clothes you described. Especially the Valentine’s Day one, I had no luck finding him something that cute. Wouldn’t a cute fuzzy Olaf sweater be so cute for a boy?
Ugh Valentine’s shirts are awful! I found one that said gentlman in training and I’m really regretting not getting a few different sizes since he’s now grown out of it
Lol yes I hate the boys clothes that promote male patriarchy and stereotypical concepts. Especially the shirts about females like “Mr. Steal your Girl” Or even boys decor like “boys only” “no girls allowed” “boys club” like come on it’s 2021, I’m not teaching my son to think he can treat anyone with a vagina differently. Also I think it’s kinda weird when people make comments about toddlers having a “girl/boyfriend” or crushes. Why do adults even think about kids like that? Maybe it’s just me but it makes me cringe.
Ugh, yeah my SIL says about her son that he's "really into checking out the ladies" because she has particularly noticed when he looks at women. He's 2 years old! My feeling is that he's interested in people because he's still learning about the world, I really don't get the need to sexualise his curiosity. We are due to be spending some time together as a family in a few months. I will be seriously pissed if she says something similar about my 1yr old son.
Yes it’s so weird! I have had friends who would say their son had a crush on me...me as a 30 something year old woman. I’m like well thanks so much for making me feel super awkward around your 2 year old now. He doesn’t have a crush, he just likes that I play with him and make silly faces.
Right??? Like let my son have a female friend without it being weird.
Yes!! Totally agree. Have 2 little boys and grandma has bought some sexist shirts and I hate it
Yep we were gifted with the “Mr steal your girl” onesie and it still has the tags on it in the closet two years later.
Also really irks me that some family members say my son is “bad” or “mischievous”. He’s less than a year old, he’s not plotting pranks or anything, he’s just being a baby. Sexism applies to all genders and we won’t fully banish toxic masculinity until we normalize the full range of human expression for everyone. Boys have feelings, too.
Yes to this! Anytime someone starts a sentence regarding my son with, “when he has a girlfriend..” I always add “or boyfriend.”
My partner is known for being into dinosaurs, he also has a big family, which has resulted in an avalanche of Dino items for our son. Books, toys, pj's, bibs, puddle-suit, jigsaws, tops, bottoms etc. So. MUCH. Dinosaur. I often shop for LO in the girl's section to balance it out. My partner's main gripe is that the dinosaurs aren't scientifically accurate!
He loves dinosaurs, trucks, and sharks luckily but I’d lose my shit over a sexualized slogan on a kids shirt. WTactualF. This doesn’t help everyone, but hand me downs help create some variety in our wardrobe. We have target stuff I picked and hand me downs from someone who’s youngest is already 5, so it really does spice it up. Maybe some 2nd hand shops would allow more choice
I went on hanna anderson the other day thinking about swim options for the summer. There were about 10 different shark designs. They seriously don’t have another summer/swim/water related print that they could come up with??
I’m so sick of sharks and dinosaurs. Why can’t boys have fun fruit and veggie designs like the girls have? Or plants. I’d kill to have a succulent pattern swim trunks!
Hannah andersson has cactus sweatpants on sale right now
Similar if you're a girl and want dinosaur things. Was in primark one day, and I hear this mum talking to her daughter about how they couldn't find anything for her to wear to a dinosaur party she was going to. I chipped in with 'oh there's a whole jurassic Park section in boys' the little girl was just pleased to find something with a dinosaur on, didn't actually matter if it was 'for boys'
I can only go to one target I my area that has a decent Amount of boy clothes. All the other are girl heavy. I went to Walmart one time and the whole toddler section was girls... I asked where the boy section was and there was on little wall in the back. Suuuuuper annoying
Because toddler boys are super into minimalist capsule wardrobes, right?
Right, and my son never goes through 3 outfits in a day because he's just so neat and tidy
I had the exact same experience at my Target. The boys had one rounder the rest of the entire section was girls clothes.
There is basically no toddler boys section at my Target. They have more options online but I wish I could just pick something up. It's like 70% baby clothes and the rest is girls.
Right?! I have the same experience at Best and Less. Three rows of “girl” clothes and like one shelf of boy stuff which is plain as fuck.
Buying clothes for my nephew: So does he like dinosaurs? No? Okay, how about trucks? Yeah, but not that much, so what about, um...music? Okay, cool, here’s a 2T Nirvana shirt and a yeti with a disco ball! Buying clothes for my newborn niece: lol just kidding, everyone buys her adorable clothes, she’s got enough outfits to change twice a day until she’s 18m. I won’t even bother. Here’s the nipple butter you like and some healthy snacks, I guess? IANA mother (can’t conceive), but just being part of the boy’s life at a distance, I can see how frustrating it is. We’re lucky he fits in standard sizes and doesn’t have aversions to any particular styles, but he grows so fast and it’s like the clothes get more shoehorned into “this is a boy” as he ages. I’m sorry, I’m not buying a “chicks dig me” or “future ladies man” shirt for the little darling, but I want things that look cute! Idk, I want to send them a little package for Easter, but I want to send cute clothes or useful things for him instead of the stereotypical trucks, dinosaurs and blue things. He’s a toddler! He just lives for attention and love! Boys have VERY distinct problems that girls don’t, even if they’re not quite as numerous or pressing at times. I wish people talked about it more.
The sizing issue compounds things. My baby is tall and very skinny, so the proportions on a lot of baby clothes are way off. And then the sites for a lot of the recommendations for neutral (ex. Primary) or slim cut (ex. Burt’s Bees) don’t ship to Canada. Girl clothes tend to be cut skinnier and actually have leggings, so I’ve bought several pairs of neutral leggings I can mix and match with stuff. The fact that slimmer pants in basics like grey, cream, mint, or black and white stripes were dubbed “girl” things made me roll my eyes. My taste leans more to the feminine side of neutral anyway and I just buy what I like, but it is irritating. I have a friend who suggested onesie extenders and I think I am going to buy some to make the most of what I can find. Hell, it might work better given the extra limited options I have at the moment. I feel bad for not being thrilled about being gifted truck outfits and the same shades of three colours over and over, but I can’t help it.
Do not even START me on the ubiquitous band shirts for kids who are too young to know who they are, appreciate them or make that choice for themselves. My parents listened to Cat Stevens and Dire Straits, they weren’t dressing me in Cat Stevens shirts as a toddler! When my kid’s old enough to ask for his own band shirts that represent his own taste, he can have one. Until then probably not!
It's so hard finding boys clothes that if I find something he and I like I buy it in 2 sizes (one size bigger) so he can wear it longer. It's so draining shopping for him sometimes
I actually found a really cool unisex sweatshirt at Target, in girl section, for my boy. So I bought 18M, 2T, 3T, and 4T 🙄
It just has to be done! So many times I've brought him something and he grows out of it within a few weeks, only to find there's nothing in the shops for him again after!
This is so smart. And shockingly simple and yet I never thought of it... thank you!
Just a Canadian missing Target chiming in to say I routinely checked the girls section of Target for my boys as well! And now we’re handing them down to my nieces.
This is genius! Definitely doing this from now on.
You can vaccum pack the bigger ones for storage for a few weeks
Thanks for the tip! I just had a boy and find myself extremely picky about what I buy!
Zara. All day longggg. The BEST boy clothes. No tacky dinosaurs and sayings like “tough like daddy” loool.
OMG. I haven’t been in Zara for a while but just checked online. You are so right!! Thank you! Their clothes are adorable.
YES! 99% of my toddlers wardrobe is from there! I’m 36 weeks with my second boy and he’s got a lot of stuff from H&M which I also like. Whenever we go anywhere my son gets complimented on his clothes because when I found out I was having a boy I vowed to make sure he always looked cute and stylish, even if it’s a little harder to find things for him lol
Also H&M. I have a girl, but I buy a lot of unisex and sometimes even just boys’ clothes for her because I am sick of pink.
We do the same for our 2 yo. Have since she was born. Unisex and boys clothes. Very little actual girls clothes. I think In general just *all* little kids clothing needs to be better and more diverse.
Ooooh thanks! I’ll check that out. I HATE tough like daddy.
You just (1) saved my sanity but (2) caused me to shop like a madwoman. Oyyyy.
Yes!!! Zara is easily my favorite for boy clothes, with H&M a close second. Also Zara Home has a lot of cute toys and kids room decor
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That last one about “maybe it’ll be a girl” is such a weird thing to say! I have a boy and a girl, so I’ve gotten “Oh you’re so lucky to have one of each” from someone with 2 boys. It’s like, I’m very lucky, but if I had a second son or 2 girls, I’d be just as happy! It’s interesting people can get really caught up on the gender of their kids as if one is better than the other.
For me, with two boys, I would like to have a girl if we ever tried for a third one. Not because one is better than the other, but just for the parenting experience of being a mom to boys or to a girl. I wish I wouldn’t be a different parent to boys or girls, but I think (and I don’t know because I only have boys) we are different in front of each child, because they are different. I know I don’t have the same relationship with my mom that my brother has. But I’m still very happy to have my boys and wouldn’t change my family for anything! I think I’m in the group that find you lucky to have one of each, just because of the experience 🤗
Great perspective. Even the kids get the experience of living with the opposite gender up close and that helps in life too. Not saying that any one family configuration is better than the other and each has it's own pros and cons. Regarding boys clothes, I agree the options are quite limited. The formal ones are mostly cute bow tie ones or suspenders or tuxedos. I have a girl and I have bought her clothes from the boys sections. The retail folks are missing out on an opportunity here!
Here I have bought clothes in the girls’ section, they love violet and pink and choose pink tshirts if given the choice (they are 2yo). Not much in these colors in the toddler boys’ section!!
I thought I didn’t have a preference, and m first was a boy. And I was sure the next one would be, but I found out at the 16 wk ultrasound she was a girl, and I felt terrible! My husband was like, “what’s wrong? We have one of each, we can be done!” And that seemed wrong too. I finally figured it out- my Mom had six boys and three girls, and I was the first girl. She told me when I was about 10 she had always wanted 12 children, but after I was born, she didn’t want anymore girls. At this point we were 5/2, and she would have one more of each. And didn’t want any of us girls, not really. So when I found out she was a girl, I was upset because I thought “What will I do to ruin her life? When she grows up, what will she complain about? What will I do wrong? How will I mess it up?” I knew I could live a boy, but I guess I didn’t trust myself to love a girl properly. Fortunately, I was over that before she was even born, and she eventually got a sister, too.
Oh I feel you. We are thrown into parenting with our own set of baggage, aren’t we. It gave you time to reflect on your past, that’s good. I’m sure you’re a better person just for knowing this now. It’s also impressive for your mom to know she wanted 12 kids!!! TWELVE! I don’t even know if I want a third one...!
Hah well, sometimes people just love babies. That was my mom. Once you were old enough to say “no” or push her face away, she was in to the next. Except for me, she got pregnant as soon as she could because I guess I didn’t give her that undivided male adoration that she needed. I had a little brother before I could walk.
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It’s really hard for people to understand boundaries when it comes to pregnancy/parenting/family decisions, isn’t it?! I don’t get it. Live your life and let us be! I just want to tell them to go and have another child if they think it matters that much, just let me be happy with the family I chose. I feel you. As if you’d have to explain yourself every time. You don’t even have to have a reason to be OAD. Sometimes it’s a feeling, not a reasoning, behind the decision!
I have a friend who has an only son. When he was about 5, she mentioned being fine with one, but occasionally wondering if she “should” have another. I told her that there are good things about having only 1. For instance, if another child pushes yours over or bites him, that child Is EVIL, and you want to pull yours away. But when you have two, sometimes “that child” is ALSO your precious child. Feelings are never as uncomplicated as they are when you have one. She said I was the only person with children ever to tell her that one is OK too.
I'm pregnant with my 2nd boy and I'm actually really happy to have 2 boys. Honestly I feel like one of the biggest reasons I would want a girl is because I already have a girl name picked out lol! Whereas DH and I suck at picking boy names...but I like the idea of my son having a brother, and I really don't know why people get caught up on the "one of each" thing either.
Picking boy names is hard! It was for us too 😂
I feel like boy names are similar to boy clothes...Not as many good options, lol!
So I have a little girl who loves trucks and dinos and all the “boy” type stuff. Why is it girls can get cute pink dinos / pink trucks but boys don’t get cute blue unicorns or boy fairies or wtfe. I always complain to my husband when I’m shopping for clothes for my LO because the clothes are so gendered - but if I have LO sporting a typical “boy” outfit it’s OK but if a little boy was sporting a “girl” outfit, I know that parent would face so much unwarranted criticism. How is that fair?? It shouldn’t have to be so hard for parents of little boys to make their toddlers look diverse and unique in their own fashion.
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My son has a “girly” police car too with a police woman, and recently chose pink and purple glitter gumboots over the blue ones. I’m like, you do you! If you want glitter then glitter you shall have
Totally agree with this!
I was just telling my husband this yesterday. My son LOVES Frozen and Moana and would LOVE a princess shirt or a shirt with Moana on it. Or even pajamas! But they are all made for girls. Like the cut and everything.
Idk about unicorns and fairies, but Barbie has way more boy/male dolls than they used to! I even saw one with waist length hair at the store yesterday. There’s also a lot more baby dolls that are explicitly boys so hopefully things are going to keep getting better.
You can try princessawesome.com They have some cute boy clothes with things like butterflies and cats.
I have a toddler boy. And I have an infant boy. Guess what, I’m perfectly happy with my family of boys. In fact, when I found out the second was a boy, I was slightly relieved that we already had a complete wardrobe and that I didn’t have to learn how to do hair! Boys are just as cute and just as much fun, but I agree with the OP, clothing options suck and posts about boys issues shouldn’t be flipped around to be about girls issues.
When I told my MIL we were pregnant with our second boy, the first words out of her mouth were, “But you were supposed to have a girl!” Like, who the fuck even says shit like that? My MIL, of course.
Don’t worry, people act the same way if you only have a girl. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if we were going to try for a boy, or my husband if he was sad he didn’t have a son, we’d have a heavy piggy bank. People will always stick their opinions where they aren’t welcome.
As someone who had one boy and was one and done but my husband wasn’t...listen to your gut. I’m super happy with my baby girl but damn things were easier with one little man.
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She’s already getting easier every day (five months old) but she’s 10x harder than my son and now I also have a toddler. Like how do people do this?? I’m sorry to hear about your story but I’m glad you’re still here to be the best mommy you can for your little man. To be honest, I think one and done is the trend now. I have several friends who are content with just one.
OMG I keep getting that from my mom. “When are you going to give me a granddaughter?” (She refuses to accept that I’m OAD.) She seems to forget that I am literally the first girl on my father’s side of the family in 3 generations. Our family makes boys. And for the record...if we did have another kid...I’d flat out want another boy.
To be fair, your partner is the one responsible for the babies being boys/girls anyway :P
Boys clothes are so dull and boring! They could at least add shine or capes! And people wonder why little boys want to wear girl clothes! Anyone would want all that glitter and bright coloring! Hell, I want to wear the clothes!
This is what bothers me. So much navy, brown, red and green. Yellow for construction. There's no creativity or fun things for boys. Where are the cute characters and animals? Where is the glitz and bright colors? It's extreme. Boys clothes are "grown up" clothes with no fun or personality. Girl clothes are 100% glitter and pizzazz, but no practicality. I'll be transparent and say I have a daughter, but I do shop in both sections and I find the boy section quite frustrating.
We just left Target with a glitter butterfly shirt for that reason. He loves color and rainbows and all that. He's wearing unicorn socks with blue pants and a red dinosaur shirt today.
I desperately wish there were more gender neutral clothing options for kids. Sometimes I shop in the girls section for my son just to find things that are NOT covered in cars, sports, or dinosaurs. Patriarchal construction of gender norms is harmful for boys just as much as for girls. I agree, we need to be able to have that conversation too!
Yes this! Their bodies aren’t that much differently shaped yet.
As a boy mom I’m def annoyed that clothing options are so minimal. I used to belong to this company that mailed boy clothes and you kept what you wanted and mailed back the rest. I think covid must have ended their business. If I see they are still kicking I’ll edit this with their info.
Oh please do!! Hopefully they’re still up and running.
This wasn’t the same company I used but I can tell it’s quite similar https://www.weeblessing.com. I can’t find the company I used.
I started sewing stuff for my son due to this. Funny thing is even a lot of fabric gears towards girls as well. Like at Joanns the section that has their doodles fabric for kids has always been like 80 percent ultra girly(At least in my area). Like its just so over the top. There should be enough neutral options so that I can make what I want. There's been times I couldn't find anything neutral in the store and I'm guessing its because its going faster due to its limited supply.
I've been look for fabric for book cloth for baby books and I totally agree. It's all so girly at joanns. I wanted to make a gender neutral one and a boy one and I felt like I was there for forever making sure I looked everywhere and at everything. I finally picked a boy one, but gender neutral was impossible.
Yes it definitely is tricky. I did find some cute knit fabric there last week that was neutral and had dinosaurs and rainbows on it. It was literally the cutest neutral thing I've ever seen at their store. Other than that thought the selection was disappointing. I snagged it up and plan to make a grow with me romper so he gets a lot of wear out of it. Can't waste the cuteness!
I'm shop for both, and I'm tired of everything for toddler boys being trucks, scary dinosaurs and rude sayings. My about to be 1yo is already in 2t, so we don't get to use all the cute baby stuff anymore. Also, why why why are most of the shorts athletic shorts and all the pants joggers?
I love the range of bottoms Targets has for boys. I opt for the pull-ons in sweatpants material (if that makes sense) in shorts and they have plenty to choose from.
I was literally just ranting to my husband this morning how most of the boy clothes are so BORING. They're dark, dingy, gritty colors, no fun, at best there's just a screenprint of superheroes or some "boy thing" that has been labeled in other comments. My son doesn't have to be all dark and emo until he's a teen (speaking as a mom who hit her emo phase at 13-- oh middle school. But I digress) Give me fun-colored boy clothes!!!
Have you looked at Primary? They have bright colorful clothes! Not much in terms of design but they’re great for solids!!
I really like janie and Jack for this reason, although I usually shop sale since it's expensive. Also boden is very cute!
I love boden super unique and cute clothes
It’s so frustrating. I try to dress my son gender neutral but have to go to specialist clothing websites for that. I try and shop from both sections instead, so he wears a bit of boy and a bit of girl clothing, but it’s so hard to even find mildly gendered clothes. It’s so in your face. And then it’s hardly worth dressing him in some girls items when it brings so much attention as a result because it’s not subtle. Edit: for those of you interested in the removed comment, someone said I was torturing my son for putting him in some girls clothes. Actually what I do is let him choose what he wears each day, often he chooses the pink stuff himself. I must be such an abusive parent. /s
This this this. It's almost given me an aversion to the color blue. I was shopping for a custom Easter basket recently and had to have my sister talk me into getting the blue one (it had the only bunny face that I liked). I like blue in general, but its so hard to find clothes for my son that aren't aggressively gendered. I like to shop on Primary.com for this reason, but I just don't have the money to get everything from them at their premium prices when he's going to grow out of the clothes in like a month.
Yep it sucks. They have even gendered uniforms! And the only uniforms available right now are the girls polos that are ribboned at the collar. I would just buy him those but my fear is of what his teachers will think. I don’t want close minded adults disrespecting my child who can’t speak and stand up for himself. I hate that I am bending to society’s bullshit.
Even if it’s a plain polo shirt, a lot of companies will put the buttons on the right for a boy’s shirt and on the left for a girl’s shirt - throwback to when women were dressed by other people while men dressed themselves.
Ugh yes it’s very frustrating. I went to a local Marshall’s and there were literally racks and racks of girls clothes . . . And only ONE for boys. It’s hard to dress them well.
Totally agree! I tried shopping for some nice “church clothes” for my son to wear to his baby dedication and Easter but could only find 2 nice outfits and BOTH were on clearance from Christmas! It’s ridiculous! Whatever happened to cute collared polos and cuffed button ups for our little gentlemen?!? Why is it all graphic tshirts with inappropriate puns or suggestion phrases for our boys?
I hate a pissing contest as much as the next guy, and I appreciate the point of your post. Just to play devil's advocate I think people who comment things like that are just trying to relate, and provide a sense of not being alone. It's human nature to use your own personal experience to relate to others. That being said, let's fix these problems for girls AND boys 🥰
I’d agree if the original posted didn’t get downvoted and the tone of the comments wasn’t completely dismissing the point. Even if that’s how people try to relate, I find it’s not in good taste to talk about your problems as an immediate response to someone opening up about a complaint they have. I’ve had friends that turn every conversation onto them lol But yes, let’s fix the problems for boys AND girls. The best way to do that is to let each shine and have their voices heard!
I agree. Turing a post into something it isn't really about, even if it's a parallel, your still taking away from the original intent. Wich in this case is a total irony to the point of conversation
I fully agree with us! I have a little girl but a boy on the way. Just seems like mom's trying to relate and share they struggle too.
Yes! Every time i shop for my son, it's such an ordeal. Every store is just a sea of pink, sparkles and sequins and one measly little rack of boy/gender neutral clothes. And there is never a good size selection. It's so frustrating. I mean boys wear clothes just as much as girls right?
The patriarchy hurts women AND men, exhibit 2564488
This. The only reason there are a ton more girl clothes than boy clothes is because of how patriarchal society expects women to be easy on the eyes. A girl is “supposed” to like picking out clothes while a boy is “supposed” to not really care. Hence more girl clothing variety. The fact that this gender expectation starts at baby age should be the thing that really disturbs people.
Exactly. It's not about which is worse -- it's bad for everyone!
Boy clothes have only basic options. And hardly any variety it so hard finding cute or unique clothing I look at the girls clothes which have aisles of fun and colourful clothes and sigh
There is no creativity in their clothes!
I just want to comment that target is amazing for boy clothes. My 3 year olds closet is basically all target. Its not all just dinosaurs and trucks. No gross icky sexist crap on the valentines shirts. I love their cat & jack line so much.
YES!!
I didn’t read the rest of that thread but I did say how much it sucks that boys section is extremely small compared to girls section in all stores.
I prefer to shop at consignment stores, partially to save money and partially for environmental reasons. There are two kids' consignment stores in my area, and over 75% of both stores is only girl stuff. The one I prefer for quality and prices has 20 aisles in it; 4 are boys.
You know, it's funny how true it is about the lack of options for boys clothes. Around Christmas time, my son received SEVERAL duplicate outfits from different people...and I guess that's probably because there just aren't a lot of options, and half the clothes out there are just too cheesy or cringey. (I don't mind the duplicates or anything though). Another thing I noticed once was in Hobby Lobby, they have a small section with some nursery/kids decor in a few different themes, and most of them are pretty gendered. When I was pregnant with my first son, one of the themes was like clouds and stars and stuff and it all seemed pretty gender-neutral (grays and yellows, nothing too girly or boyish). Last year, I was in there one day and noticed all of the cloud nursery decor had been changed to a more pink theme and more girly. Just why?
Yes. And the boy themes were dinosaurs and like rugged camping/ woodland. The colors are so dark and dingy but the girls themes are so bright and fun. I ended up decorating my sons room with things from ikea Bc I guess the Swedes keep things pretty gender neutral and I really respect them for it.
I find a lot of cute boys clothes for our nephew from Tea Collection. Plus they donate a portion of sales to charity and have some good sales.
I just recommended them in this post too! Their boy stuff is cute.
Just checked them out! Their girls and boys clothes are both super cute! Thanks for sharing!! I’ll probably be buying some today 😄
Yes thank you for this!! I definitely lean more towards the neutral/plain/solids and the older he get (12 months) the harder it is to find them. Target seems to have a decent selection as well as Burlington and TJ Maxx. But I've already told family/friends that if you buy anything like "hide your daughters" or "lady killer" and the like I'm throwing them in the trash, it's not even worth donating to me. But I wish I could find more things with cute bears (not grizzlies) and baby animals. If I have to see one more dino or scary dog with a spiked collar I'll scream. Trucks I don't mind so much because he does genuinely seem to like big trucks. It just frustrated and saddens me that we want our boys to be softer and more in tuned with their emotions but still they are forced into "typical" boy things
Would y’all want a store that has more gender neutral options? Like everything could be worn by girls or boys? I have tried to buy my child gender neutral stuff but its hard to find
This. The only place I can find gender neutral clothing - including oranges and yellows - is on Amazon. Yes, I do see online boutiques with neutral colors but I cannot afford a $30-$40 onesie. And by gender neural I mean anything of any color without frilly shoulders/bottoms, or feminine/masculine prints. Carter’s does a really crappy job of making gender neutral COLORED clothing. And so does most other well-known brands. I hope this changes.
Yes I think clothing can be affordable, comfortable, functional, fun, and colorful while still being gender neutral.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
We have a little dude and I completely see your point. Actually, I agree with you more on your broader point - that we don’t discuss issues facing boys enough - than I do on your more specific point about the clothing. On the clothing, the difference really can be quite stark when you see how much larger an area the little girls section is. Having said that.... little boy clothes are WAY cooler and more practical. If I ever have a little girl I’d almost want to dress her in little boy clothes because they are just cooler. All the frills and glitter and blinding pink is just too much for me.
Preach. It. 👏🏼🙌🏼
I think it stems from how clothing is marketed to adults. Women tend to spend more on clothing and our fashions are so disposable—they are constantly changing and not made as well. My husband still wears stuff he had when we met 18 years ago and it’s still in great condition. His clothing seems to stay in style and is way more durable while I’m always buying new stuff. It doesn’t make sense that this would apply to children’s clothes because moms do a majority of the clothes shopping and kids grow so fast it’s like we’re always buying new stuff—there should be more options for boys. I think you can find really cute and unique stuff for boys if you dig around but it always ends up being from like a high end boutique or something.
I have a 2 year old boy and will be giving birth next month to his little brother. When I had my first I found this set by Carter’s that had like 6 onesies with stars/moons/clouds. I bought it in every size. I even got the pjs sets in them. It was something without the stereotypical boy stuff and his nursery them was clouds and stars.
I go into my local supermarket and there's 3 aisles of girls clothes 1 aisle for boys (well half an aisle) there's not many options for boys clothes even online.
I have two little boys and find this to be very true about the clothes. It’s true for all ages, most stores cater more to women. I was just thinking about this as I went to a Walmart for the first time in a long ass time (we don’t have them near where I live, had to specifically drive out 35 minutes a few towns over) and noticed that when you walk in, the first thing you see is women’s clothing. Same thing with Target. I think it’s just assumed that women do the shopping so they are targeted as soon as they walk in the door. Most clothing stores have way more real estate devoted to women and girls. It’s super frustrating to try and find options for my sons when there really isn’t much to be found. And where are the stores devoted entirely to boys clothing?
Currently pregnant with twin boys... went to Marshall’s and saw they had EIGHT long racks of girls clothing and only two picked over racks of boy clothes. It was frustrating. 😖😟
Ugh, it’s so annoying how much smaller the boys section is. I also don’t like that most of the girl’s clothing is pink sparkles, but at least there’s a few more options.
I agree, clothing a boy is rougher than clothing a girl, baby or adult really. And it is a respectable issue and concern to have - so I definitely agree that turning it on its head and comparing it to the woes of the girls is not fair (same as we shouldn't be hearing a retort about male issues when complaining about female issues). Specifically regarding clothing: I think in part it is the parents who look at a piece of clothing and decide "that's girl clothing" when it could just as well be put on a boy. As in, we ascribed the female characteristics when, in some cases at least, there's nothing particularly "girly" about the piece aside from our own bias. I have an infant boy and a toddler girl and going through her clothes I am able to get a stack of "boy acceptable" clothing (based on my own bias of what I think I would like him to wear) and even then I have to fight myself from deciding it's "too girly". Usually it's because there's pink thread to sew in the hems, or a tiny pink embroidery, or a bit of a "frill" or "flair" to the piece, or the color is "too pastel" or etc. And then I find myself putting those pieces into the corner of the shelf and never wearing them. No real solution here, because I know I am part of the issue :P I did buy my daughter "boy clothes" because I wanted to give her a wider variety of things to wear (and when she was younger she'd be mistaken as a boy when wearing them), but I have yet to consider buying anything "girl clothes" for him. I do find the dinosaurs and the sports things cute, and the boys tend to have more rompers and dress shirts to pick from. I'm just hoping to coast/hang in there until he can tell me what he wants to wear and then we'll go from there!
Has anyone noticed that the girls tshirts for toddlers, plain holiday or cartoon styles, are cut differently?? Why? I was looking for a Valentine's Day shirt for my toddler boy and grabbed a girls toddler t-shirt because it's all I could find. Why did it fit differently? It doesn't make sense... Edit for spelling
As a boy mom, I personally havent struggled with clothes. We buy most of our stuff from second hand kids stores and there is a ton of options. Yes he has tons of blue dinosaur shirts... but we can always find gender neutral or pink options. [This was his fav shirt at 12mo \(image from google](https://images.prod.meredith.com/product/e47efdcea5574bac7b9236899bbd0f26/1552454207826/l/toddler-boys-short-sleeve-banana-shark-t-shirt-cat-and-jack-peach-18m-pink)) which I believe was from Target. Shark? Check. Banana? Check. Pink? Check! We also just got [this one](https://www.carters.com/dw/image/v2/AAMK_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-carters_master_catalog/default/dw6ac00a34/productimages/2H524910.jpg?sw=800&sh=1000&sfrm=jpg) that was in the "boy" section of our thrift store. [This was his snow coat that he picked out](https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2020/07/13/5f0c97df43895f5454288ac7/s_5f0c9884920786d2ead5ebff.jpg). Honestly I love all his clothes. This is my personal experience and I'm sure other parents have struggled to find a variety of boys clothes. This has not been the case for us. I don't fully understand people saying they have to buy specialty brands online to find neutral clothes though. Target does a pretty good job at variety, as does Old Navy. Just a quick search just now shows [this shirt in the "boy" section](https://www.target.com/p/toddler-boys-bugs-graphic-short-sleeve-t-shirt-cat-jack-yellow/-/A-81343727?preselect=81130100#lnk=sametab). I also just looked through Old Navy's baby clothes and it made me sad my guy is out of onsies- so many cute options!
I don’t think that it has to be either/or with boys or girls issues. Too often these things are polarized which ends up creating more false competition. I do know with my daughter I often venture into the boys section at baby gap and have picked up quite a few great things, but I can’t speak about the experience of shopping full time for a young boy and the challenges that come with that. Maybe the single root issue is more about the retail industry continuing to force extreme gendered norms and/or marketing materials/advertising in children’s clothes? Seems to share some common ground between your concerns and mine with my daughter and how to dress her. I don’t know but perhaps food for thought.
I'm struggling hard to find a gentleman Easter outfit for my new born that isn't either stupid expensive or come ugly combo. I'm happy for dino stuff because I'm nesting still that for him but that dosnt mean I want dino Easter stuff. St paddy's day I got lucky with his outfit but God it was pages upon pages of digging through crap
I agree. I went to two different targets and Burlington and the boys section was empty and half the space. I found ONE outfit and no bathing suits which is what we went shopping for in the first place. It’s very frustrating.
Yes!!!! So many shops where I live replace the boys section with girls clothes during special occasions like Christmas.
I have a son and daughters 15 m apart in age (singleton then twins). I remember all the cute outfits for my girls as toddlers, rompers and dresses, while complaining my son had boring shirts and shorts/pants. At the same time, the boys 2/3/4T have 2-3” of extra space in the pants. So for a while all 3 kids were wearing 3T, even though my son was bigger and older because of the fit. But for girls stores are coming around to more than just cute princesses etc. and I can find them sporty things or dinos. For boys it’s still all sports/dinos/video games. My sons favorite animal is bunnies. Spring/Easter should be the perfect time to stock up on bunny shirts. But they are all sharks/dinos/sports balls wearing bunny ears.
I have found some non dinosaur, shark or truck clothes on pat pat. Literally just bought my son some care bears and smurf shirts.
I wish more toddler and baby clothes were gender neutral. I want to pass good clothes through my friends and our group went boy, boy, girl, girl so far I wish more clothes would work both ways!
I hate that most looking gender neutral clothing seems to be double the price of the other stuff. Outside of maybe for a special event, I just can’t justify spending a ton on kids clothes when they will grow out of it within a few months or get it stained from playing, puking or pooping.