Is it wrong to dress baby in pink /blue based on their gender?

[gratefulmamatobe]

I have a little girl due soon and I have bought everything in pink. Clothes, nursery decor, teddies etc.

A week ago, a friend commented saying I should be more gender neutral...

Keen to know thoughts on this?

(Obviously as she grows up, I will greatly encourage her to find the style/ colours that she loves)

We have all sorts of colours and patterns for DDs. We have some unicorn and rainbow stuff, flower stuff, dinosaurs, cars, space themed, lots of animals. I'd find all pink a bit dull personally as there are such nice and bright baby clothes around it seems a shame to stick to one colour. I really love Toby Tiger stuff, so bright and cheerful!

As a FyM who worried the same , this is rhe best piece of advice you will ever be given

You will be judged for everything you do by someone, so as this says, just do you and try to ignore people telling you whats "right" and "wrong"

I had a boy 12 weeks ago and brought everything blue or with dinosaurs trains on etc but If he decides he wants to wear a pink tutu when he's older that's perfectly fine - ill buy him a pink tutu.

Finding clothes post 12 months that aren’t blue or some shade of sludge is hard work.

Your baby, your choice. Nothing wrong with dressing her in pink.

Considering they can’t see a foot from their face and they don’t even know how to do anything but suck when they’re born - it’s all for you! You do what you want.

No. I don't.

These gender theorists won't stop till we raise a generation of 'theyby's

Honestly a mum seeking support from a public forum to know it it's 'okay' to put pink on her baby girl.

Why would it be wrong? I often dressed my daughter in pink because I like pink

What are you talking about Jewishmum?

I think you're a bit muddled up.

Lots of people say that, but I've yet to see one say that about their son. If it's about their feelings on pink they would dress their sons in it too.

Of course it’s not wrong.

It’s bit cheesy IMO, but I wouldn’t say that to a friend. I might gently take the piss a bit

I know women who like pink but won't wear a pink sling, something they are wearing because somehow the boy inside will be traumatized by the pink

Of course it's not wrong. Newborn babies can't even see in colour as far as I'm aware, so the main thing is that you like what you've bought as your DD won't have an opinion on it, as long as she is comfortable

Lots of people say that, but I've yet to see one say that about their son. If it's about their feelings on pink they would dress their sons in it too.

...yes they like pink... for a girl. And blue for a boy....

There's really nothing wrong with that. Personally I don't like dazzling blue or pink but really who cares. Dresses are gender stereotyping, does anyone have beef with dresses? Should we all put our sons in dresses to be equal and prove a point? In real life, few people do this

Also lastly just to add.. the most important thing is to make sure your baby is dressed/warm/comfortable in what they are wearing. A baby really doesn't give a shit if that's in a blue baby grow or a pink baby grow.

Your baby absolutely will not GAF at this age, so you do what you like. I don't think it's right for children to be forced to adhere to stereotypes when they're older, but when they're wee, clothes are clothes. I always thought I'd dress my daughter 'gender neutral' but we inherited loads of pink stuff when she was born so it made sense to use it. She still loved pink as a younger child, had the glittery my little pony phase, and now as a pre-teen is all about neutrals and beige, so I respect her wishes where possible!

There's been so much research over the past four decades or more showing that people interact differently (usually unconsciously) with babies according to what sex they think the baby is. For example: being more gentle with babies they think are female and talking to them a lot more, allowing them more emotional expression (mirroring emotions, comforting them more); bouncing boy babies up and down more, talking with them less and encouraging them to move about or play with moving toys more. This then creates and perpetuates societal gender distinctions, which some people still imagine to be innate.
There are studies where researchers dressed boy babies in pink and reactions to the baby were very different to when the baby was dressed in blue.
For these reasons my siblings and I were dressed in a variety of colours, avoiding pink and blue, back in the seventies and eighties when this research was well known at least among everyone I grew up around. I've tried to do the same as a parent, hoping a variety of colours will mean a variety of responses rather than narrow gender-based stereotypes. It's quite hard though as most baby clothes these days seem to be pink, blue or white!!

I had planned on avoiding it, but I did cave and dress DS in 'boy' clothes. Mostly.
If I had a girl I think I'd avoid pink mainly because I don't like it because it was forced on me for the first 10 years or my life!
As long as clothes are practical and appropriate then don't worry about what's on them just yet

I think if you've bought EVERYTHING pink, then she will look a bit daft. Imagine you did it with another colour, yellow dress, yellow hat, yellow shoes, yellow teddy, yellow pram, yellow blanket....

I have boy/girl twins, and I thought, for her, ooh finally, nice flouncy, swishy clothes (as only had boys before this) and it turns out now age 2, girl twin's favourite thing is dinosaurs. She wears a variation of pyjamas in particular, of grey, white, green, blue, purple, and grey....as long as they've got dinosaurs on.

I do wriggle her into a dress every now and again, and she does look nice, and she doesn't seem to care what colour. I never put her in navy or black, as she looks all washed out in dark colours. She looks great in pink, but doesn't really have it, as there's never an influx of pink dinosaur attire.

Elder DS had a pink Hackett polo and a white and pink striped RL shirt, both worn with beige shorts, and he looked very dapper!

It wouldn't be to my tast, but as long as it's clean and comfortable baby won't care.

DD was dressed in a mixture of girly clothes and pretty neutral clothes. A lot of her babygrows etc were just plain white.

I would be interested to see whether the strong supporters of gender neutral baby wear on here, truly dress gender neutrally themselves. I doubt it…

What I dislike however is seeing tight leggings etc digging into the baby’s tummies. And baby jeans ugh so uncomfy for them

I dressed my DD in neutral things. lots of yellow, mint green, purple etc mind you I don't like pink as a colour so I stayed away from it. But it is up to you how you dress your daughter.

I definately dressed my kids in a way that conformed to stereotypes of their sex and enjoyed doing so. So I'm not judging, but research does suggests it alters outcomes for a person.

Not the colour itself obviously that's just a colour but the meaning behind the colour.
www.bcu.ac.uk/education-and-social-work/research/cspace-blog/gender-stereotypes-in-childhood-whats-the-harm

www.teachearlyyears.com/a-unique-child/view/gender-stereotyping-in-the-early-years

So your friend has a valid point.

That said, I can't stand the type of parenting that obsesses about being gender neutral at all costs to the point of forcing unwanted toys on kids, banning Disney princesses etc.

Both extremes are a bit cringe.

I think you should dress your baby how you want as long as it's comfy and your friend can do the same.
Telling someone to use a neutral colour is just the same as telling someone to use a stereotypical colour. Why should you change the colour to a different one now just because some has said so 🤷🏼‍♀️
I have two boys and with my first I dressed him in a lot of brighter colours, I loved him in yellow and red. I didn't stick with typical boy style clothes but that was purely because that was my taste. With my youngest I have adored him in baby blue and I absolutely loved the sweet little baby blue romper. Again this is just my taste. I like a lot of baby blue clothes for girls too.
What you will find with becoming a parent is that everyone has an opinion and they don't half love to share it.
You enjoy your baby and all of these little exciting things that come with it (picking baby clothes 😍).