Buying clothes for grandchildren

We buy clothes for all our grandchildren aged 10, 7, 15mths and 10 weeks.

When in UK in April we bought summer clothes for all of them and all were accepted with delight, mainly because they came from England! Our daughters are very happy to let us buy things especially our daughter here in France. The main problem is the sizings the UK ones are larger than the ones here.

We know the sort of things she likes for her children especially her daughter she, like us, does not like the clothes aimed at 10 year olds which tend to be much too old and gives the wrong impression. Luckily where we live is extremely rural and children tend to stay children much longer. There are lots of pretty clothes for girls out there without making a 10 year old look 16. The boys are happy in shorts/jeans and a t-shirt so that is fine.

My granddaughter lives in New York, so all British clothes are welcome, especially M&S. What surprised and delighted me was that my daughter actually asked me when she was pregnant to start knitting for the baby and she was dressed in my hand-knitted christening gown for the occasion. I am still knitting like mad, but how much longer will I be allowed? She is only 18 months old now, so I suppose for a while yet :-)

I buy lots and lots of clothes for my grandchildren, some new, some car boot, i only buy nice stuff, i buy pyjamas and always have lots of things ready for them to wear. My greatest pleasure in buying for them is Books, i have a little library for them and have always read stories to them from a very early age.

I buy jogging bottoms for my grandsons t shirts and jumpers the boys like these even ask for them not jeans think they like the idea of no buttons we buy shoes we let the boys choice. their parents do like big names but when they are with us in the garden on their bikes getting dirty as boys do they mind what they wear, our problems is getting the right size 8yr old wears 11yrs 6yr wears 7-8 wish the clothes matched their ages they are not big kids

I am the boring grandmother who buys books and kits for 500 paper planes.
But I have a granddaughter in law who has listed 3 clothes labels we are allowed to buy. And requests we leave the receipts in. NO NO NO
This is incredibly bad manners. I buy nice presents sent with love this is anew phenomenon and I have said I will not become part of it. A present is a present bought with love and thought.
With the oder ones they often ask me to help out ie Special trips or Army cadet Camp and thats fine but an off hand leave the receipt in the bag I choose to opt out of.

I am the boring grandmother who buys books and kits for 500 paper planes.
But I have a granddaughter in law who has listed 3 clothes labels we are allowed to buy. And requests we leave the receipts in. NO NO NO
This is incredibly bad manners. I buy nice presents sent with love this is anew phenomenon and I have said I will not become part of it. A present is a present bought with love and thought.
With the oder ones they often ask me to help out ie Special trips or Army cadet Camp and thats fine but an off hand leave the receipt in the bag I choose to opt out of.

I buy them clothes when they are young but as they get older I dont with asking advice, I can remember getting things I hated !!

Money is tight so dont want to waste it on things that wont be worn.

I am fortunate that my DIL and I have a similar taste in clothes for ourselves and like the same shops and this has meant a shared taste in childrens clothes.

I go to France a lot and whenever I am there I look in the children's section of the supermarkets and chain stores. One advantage there is that their items marked 'special offer' are usually half price or less. Whenever we visit (we live 200 miles away) our 4 yr old grand daughter cannot wait to see what Grannima has brought her. Currently she cannot be separated from a pair of shoes I took up several weeks ago.My DIL says whenever somebody admires something I bought my granddaughter she says casually 'Oh her grandmother bought it in France' as if I patronised expensive children's shops in Paris rather than the French equivalent of Sainsburies and Asda.

I love buying clothes for the grandchildren, I know the shops my DiL frequents, so have no problems there. My daughter loves anything I buy for her two children. I try to buy them special things from TKMax, designer kids clothes at very affordable prices.

Buying stuff for younger Gcs is quite easy...I look on internet.....e-mail daughter and she lets me know if ok or not. I still get fun of buying but know that its going to be used.

My oldest gd is now 13 and very fussy about clothes. Like other grans here, I bought things for her which just 'disappeared'. We promised to be
honest and I've persuaded her I'm happier if she tells me that she doesn't like it, it's too big/small or anything else. She now understands that if I return something and have a refund, then it's less bother all round. Some I win, some I lose but we have reached a valuable understanding and it's satisfying to see some of the items being worn later as I know she is wearing them because she chooses to and not out of a sense of duty!!

Oh Helshea how I agree. I have bought loads of clothes for my granddaughter which she never appears to wear. Maybe because she has so many or perhaps grandma got it wrong. Now I just give gift tokens for trendy shops or money which is very much appreciated.

Don't set yourself up for a fall that's my opinion! I think I am trendy, but tastes vary. I never buy any clothes for my grandchild unless one of the parents is there, or at least I have heard them saying they like a particular item. I would hate to be worried about whether they liked something or not, or if they were too polite to tell me. Also I would hate my grandchild to be wearing something really out of touch but that I had chosen and thought was "cool".

My stepdaughter and I like to go to carboot sales, especially those at primary & junior schools in "posh" areas. People are often selling children's designer gear very cheaply, toys and books too. I guess some people wouldn't fancy that but things are often unworn & still have the tags attached.

My daughter and her mates pass everything on as much as possible.

People don't seem to 'recycle' childrens clothes as much as they used to - everything has to be new and logo-ed.

I look after my 2 year old grand-daughter during the week, so I buy as many clothes as her Mum and Dad do, but I always discuss what she needs with them so we're not doubling or tripling up. I keep a few spare sets of clothes here in case of accidents, change of weather etc, and we try and rotate things as much as possible so I don't end up with the wrong size tucked away at the back of the drawer. Our BigW, KMart and Target here in Oz have great end of season specials so we already have a stash of summer clothes (it's autumn here) ready for when the weather warms up. I also buy bits and pieces on eBay. The grand-daughter is a Dora fan and I managed to get a new size 4 parka for her recently... it's big but we'll get a couple of winters out of it and my daughter has plenty of mates with toddlers who we can pass clothes on to.

Definitely a bit dodgy. Bought the littl'un stuff from Pumpkin Patch (a bit pricey for my budget) but didnt see it put in much of an appearance. Got her a couple of bits from Sainsbury or Tesco and they seem to be worn regularly. Maybe Nan is a bit out of touch.....

I love to buy clothes for my grandkids and get real pleasure from seeing them in an outfit I've bought for them. But- there have been items which seemed to "disappear" very quickly so I know I don't always get it right! I tend to stick to things like Gap fleeces now because I know they will wear them.

I try to take the DD and Dil with me so they can make final decision and I just pay easier saves the hassle.

I buy lots of clothes but always ask DIL if they are in need of anything in particular and what colours would she prefer. I always buy their shoes and quite often coats too. Children seem to need more clothing than we ever had, probably busier lives.

I used to buy lots of clothes for my grandchildren when they were tiny, but not so much now they are getting older. My daughter was always thrilled with whatever I bought as was my dil.

I tend to buy them books and comics and games now rather than clothes.