Due a baby girl in October, how to avoid a 'sea of pink'?

[DollySpartan]

is there any tactful(?) way of avoiding seas of pink when havig a baby girl? already people are saying "Ohh you'll be wanting to paint their room pink/get nice pink clothes" etc

I'm not ungrateful.

but would much rather avoid pink as much as possible, for fearo f being drowned in it!

I much prefer the bright and bold patterns you see around (see examples on pictures)

how to nicely say.... no bloody pink!

When dd was brought, all but 1 gift was pink. It really doesn’t matter.

We actually didn't get much pink stuff at all, and the items that are pink came in multi-packs with whites and greys too.

As PP said, most people will buy small sized clothes and baby will grow out of them in no time.
It's not as big as issue as you're making it out to be, honestly, don't worry!

I would just mention to people casually that you like bright colours, if you are shopping with someone in a kids section pick up something bright, if you are on social media maybe share a few things (not too much!) to show that you like lots of colours for girls.

That way, you might get a few pink things (which is fine) but hopefully you will avoid the tidal wave, as people will hopefully think. I have a pretty good idea of which of my friends were the pink and bows types and which weren't, and I buy accordingly.

Coming out and saying 'no pink please' will just make you look ungrateful.

We had so much pink gifted with DD and I hate the colour which is well known. We also didn’t know we were having a girl.

Lots of things were not my style or taste and I brought a lot too and she ended up with tons of stuff. But it was all given with love. A few things we exchanged but mostly she wore lots of clothes changes, we’d photo her in outfits, send it to the gift giver and the things we liked least passed on to charity after a few wears (or as she got older saved for nursery).

She went through a dreadful phase of only wearing Disney Princess dresses and having a tantrum if we tried to make her wear normal clothes.

She is now a very stylish 7 year old who loves clothes and actually chooses stuff I really like of her own accord. Very little pink, not much sparkle or logo style clothing!

Just buy other colours yourself and accept what you get as gifts. If someone asks you can say something or if it is a close friend/family you can get away with saying something in advance but I wouldn't be too put out.

We bought lots of stuff in all colours apart from pink as DD was a surprise bumb. We got several hand-me-downs in white, blue and pink which she all wore. We then got lots of pink but all in small sizes so by 3 months the pink phase was nearly over.

DD lived in anything but pink until she hit school and asked for frilly, girly stuff. We compromised and did some and luckily pale colours don't suit her, so it was more bright than pastel. She is now 12, survived the frilly stage and lives in jeans, trainers and sparkly tops or plain tops.

As PP said, most people will buy small sized clothes and baby will grow out of them in no time.

Most people bought my DD second or third sizes of clothes - 20 years ago, a range of colours.
Turned out she suited pink - rosy though, not pale - so I did get quite a bit of that when she was a toddler/preschooler until she decided she preferred blues and greens.

Just to warn you though unless your baby is dresses in head to toe pink everyone will assume she’s a boy anyway. Sigh.

The op likes bright, the dress in her OP has pink in it. She's not being dogmatic, she just prefers brights to insipid pastels (which for baby girls nowadays equates mostly to pale pink).

Keep a few pink gifts from special people and flog everything else unused on ebay.

Don't tell other people what you're having - just say, if asked , that you like bright colours. That'll reduce significantly any antenatal over-pinkification, and perhaps people will remember for later.

The odd item that turns up shouldn't be a bother - if it's just one colour amongst many she has. You stop the tidal onslaught by discreetly disposing of excessive items (remember gifts get fewer as DC get larger, so this is a temporary issue, and no matter how much you might hate the item, it is still a gift and your DD is lucky to have generous people in her life)

It is worth making the point about big ticket items - bigger baby equipment, bikes etc. If you think someone might be a bit obtuse, say it's so that it can be easily handed on

I had a girl after several boys and people were quite thoughtful in not giving all pink things.

If people bring up the pink topic, be clear that you prefer other bright colours. If they don't, just accept the gifts graciously and put them aside.

I don't think it will be as much a problem as you're thinking.

For the record, I love pink! DD looked great in pink too.

Just you buy the clothes you like for her and let others buy what they want, there’s no way of saying it without being rude. The exception of course is if they ask you what kind of clothes you’d like for her, then you tell them outright. If you don’t buy pink then she won’t end up in a sea of pink.

Some of the comments here really bug me though (not the OP particularly) the judgmental tone about pink or anything girly, viewing ‘neutral’ or more boyish clothing as superior to the girly colours. It is subtle but it feeds into the notion that the stereotypical girl is inferior and I think that’s a crap message for children. You can dislike pink without the judgemental attitude. These are often the first people who would praise parents who would allow their sons to wear a pink frilly dress if he wanted to. Any child should be able to wear anything they want but I’m getting off topic so I’ll stop now, sorry OP 😂

You can't.
Take things back to shops and exchange for what you like. Honestly. It's such a waste otherwise.

To be clear, I don't dislike pink - I dislike excessive pinkification.

I think it is a deplorable trend, because it is limiting. And nothing to do with colour preferences, and everything to do with early stereotyping.

It's a relief to see I'm not alone in wanting to avoid pink! When I was pregnant with DD1 I flat out said I don't want any pink (there isn't really a polite way to say it unfortunately, because people think either your silly or not serious and buy it anyway).

One family member said it was a stupid request but lo and behold every single family member from both sides brought her pink apart from said family member that thought it was stupid (she brought her some beautiful yellow blankets). She was a pink marshmellow up until 9 months old when people finally got the message and brought her different colours.

Having DD2 soon and already people have mentioned they've brought her some lovely pink dresses and cardigans, and if her room will be painted pink and do I need help.

I don't mind the colour pink but I knew my only DD1 will go through a faze of wanting pink frilly glittery stuff and currently is now, and I don't mind it because I was able to avoid it for so many years.

If people mention pink, say youre planning on decorating the room X and have picked up some lovely bright coloured bits etc

Don't buy pink yourself

Keep the labels on things other people buy - if you get inundated with a partic item in size x it's better to take it back and swap for something else you need than to ne er use it cos you already have 40. The fact your specifically taking back some of the pink is neither here nor there

To a degree, suck it up. Pink vests or tips with blue skirt or pink dress but with a green cardigan will tone it down

When I had DS all my family kept mentioning the baby blue stuff and the old Victorian type clothing (buckle shoes, shorts, high socks) I absolutely hate that so I just told them straight that I wouldn't be putting DS into clothing like that so it would be a waste of their money. Just tell them.

I mean you can try but... my 3 year old now gravitates towards pink so I let her.. Just because she likes pink doesn’t actually mean anything.

I only bought neutrals myself for 0-6 months as I knew I was having a second child and wanted to keep things.

Just mention perhaps that you want things other than clothes if you aren’t happy to accept things from people.

I’ve got two girls (5 and 4) and don’t recall ever being drowned in pink. People bought a variety of colours (including pink but it was just one colour of many).
It was worse when my DS was born, we literally only got bought blue and grey. Dullsville.

Wouldn't worry about it - she will grow out of any clothes really quickly so it wont be long before you can get your own colour scheme in place. The only thing I found was that, after 2 boys, it was amazing to have a much bigger choice of clothes for a girl! I went crazy with the pink when she was a baby because she looked adorable, not so much once she was walking and anyway, if your daughter is anything like mine, by the time she gets to 6 she will hate anything 'girly' with a passion and spend her time in jeans and a t shirt!!

Buy what you want. Let others do the same (unless they specifically ask you). Be gracious, be kind and enjoy your baby.

By the way, I hate bright colours on babies. Correction: on MY babies. I only wanted them in white, neutrals and pastels.

My dad when i was born
"She's a redhead. No pink thanks"
I never wear pink now, or orange or yellow weirdly

We didn't know what we were having but anytime someone commented on not being able to buy anything without knowing whether it was a boy or girl I made it clear that I hated baby blue and baby pink and wouldn't dress the baby in either. Because they are insipid blah colours and because of gender stereotypes.

So no-one close to us bought pink although a few moaned about it. We did get a vast amount of pink stuff from more distant relatives/family friends though. Pink, frilly and with princess slogans. For a while I felt AWFUL about the waste and then got over it and gave it all to the charity shop. Someone would love it, but not me.

DD also looked terrible in pale pink, so that helped! But in general, I don't think there's much you can do to stop it as so many people will buy things. We got gifts from people we don't know.

You could buy a few wee bits and posting a photo on social media about how excited these cute and teeny clothes are making you! People may take it as a subtle hint as to what sort of clothes you like. :)
My baby girl has lots of green! I don't really like baby pink,or baby blue for that matter!

I think you probably just need to chill out about it. Remember it's not just about what you like, GP etc. will want to buy what they find cute.

Fine to express your opinion where appropriate but I think it's a bit rude to specify what people can and can't buy, based on your own personal taste.

I had ideas about what my DD was going to wear. She was going to to wear cool dungaree etc. Turns out she's super girly and super strong willed so I've just had admit defeat to the pink girliness!

I'm expecting a Dd later this year and dreading the pink as well. My plan is to say I'm allergic, in a jokey way but hopefully everyone will get the hint.

It doesnt work. Pink is pretty. My friend is a goth, every thing is black. The Wonder Child is full of pink and glitter - and it is not of her mothers choosing!