Boys, Girls or Unisex?

[caseytaco]

We were recently gifted these baby grows and me and my partner couldn't decide whether they were meant for boys, girls or both... would like to hear everyone's thoughts

Oh sweet Jesus I need to back out of this thread.

Enjoy raising your super manly “boys will be boys” son OP... remember, dolls are girls toys so don’t expect your DH to lift a finger to help with the new baby...

@Onatreebyariver in what way did I say any of that

confuse a baby! 😂
You have eyes OP, you tell us if these are girls clothes or boys clothes according to your outdated and quite damaging views.

I have to admit If I was buying these I would be buying to dress a girl.
I guess nobody sees them when they are sleeping in a baby grow though.

Obviously I'm not on about confusing him as a baby... as he get older and more aware I think it's damaging to dress him in girls clothes. If he comes to me and tells me that's what he wants then I'm all for it, but until that day and while I'm still dressing him he will wear boys clothes and there is nothing damaging about that. The world has gone crazy and over sensitive, I've never said there's anything wrong with boys wearing girls and girls wearing boys clothes, I just think that's a decision the child should make for themselves. Whether you like it or not or are born either a boy or a girl... you may feel differently and that's completely okay. I just don't think we should be forcing these things on are children and let them work it out themselves. I don't care what my son wears, he actually wears these baby grows regularly and obviously he doesn't care! I just wanted everyone's opinion on whether they looked feminine or masculine not a political correctness gone bad bunch of nutters telling me that I apparently think my sons balls will drop of and stuff. Thank you to everyone who just answered the question I asked, and shame on the rest of you!

I think that's a unisex design.

Shame on us for wanting to get rid of the notion of gendered clothing? You say you don't care and yet you are buying into all that silliness.

And you are forcing these ideas onto your child by saying pink for girls etc.

@Unicyclethief because there's nothing wrong with gendered clothing, just because some people want to wear the opposite or a bit of both ( and again I need to say THAT IS OKAY ) doesn't mean everyone else does... what need to change is peoples views and getting people to except that some people want to do that and that it's a completely fine thing to do. It's not outdated, you are either born a girl or a boy and the majority of these people want to wear the clothes to match that. The whole world doesn't need to pander to the minority, just need to understand and accept what they want to do and that it's there lives.

But if we stopped the nonsense that pink is for girls and blue is for boys we would HELP those people who were gender non conforming? And help others accept that anyone can wear anything. What about trousers? Do you think women should not wear them?

I'd say unisex. But I view all baby clothes as unisex. My daughter wore clothes her brothers had passed down. She's 4 now and never been confused about whether she's a boy or a girl. I buy her clothes from both sections according to what looks nice. Same with my boys who are 8 and 9. No confusion, no trouble from anyone.

You may prefer to stick to gendered clothing once your Ds is old enough to have a clue (a) that he's a boy and (b) what he's wearing - but if he's small enough to fit those babygros honestly, all that matters to him is that they're comfortable.

He doesn't know he's a boy or what colours are.

@ErrolTheDragon I agree and thank you for respecting my choice of wanting to dress my son in boys clothes. He does wear those baby grows, he's doesn't mind and they are very comfy for him.. I wouldn't have chosen them myself that's all I'm saying. If all I had was a pink baby grow that fit or a blue that didn't of course I would put him in the pink comfy option. I never started this "debate" with any intention of not letting him wear them... it was just an option. @Unicyclethief of course I don't think women shouldn't wear trousers and it's rude of you to assume that. You've lost this in my eyes, you keep just assuming that I have all these crazy outdated views. All I'm saying is while he doesn't care what he wears and it's still up to me I'm gonna to put him in boys clothes and there is nothing wrong with that.

what is 'boys' clothing, though? At this age? The only way something is for boys or girls is via outdated damaging gender stereotypes.

But what is 'boys' clothes?

I have a 1 year old son and I've just packed away some sleepsuits he has grown out of - including a pink one with a rainbow on the chest. He looked very cute in it and no less of a boy for wearing a 'girly' sleepsuit.

I'm not saying I put him in dresses, tutus and bows but does it really matter?

He will probably be embarrassed by a lot of 'boy' outfits he's worn when he is older. Just like when you look back at photos of the 80s everyone cringes.

@RiverTam @QueenGoblin you've obviously not taken in what I said, gender stereotypes are NOT damaging what's damaging is forcing all this shit on them. Just let them be kids, they will soon let you know if they want otherwise. He does wear the baby grows, I've said that countless amounts of times. If you are here to tell me not to dress my son in boys clothes then goodbye! We are all in titled to are own choices. I was dressed in a lot of boys clothes as a child and I grew up kind of resenting my parents, as I mostly wanted to wear pink. So for now while he doesn't care what he wears I'm playing it safe with boys clothing (obviously while he's a baby if the pink fits and blue doesn't, pink it is!) , when he comes to me and tells me he doesn't want that and he wants to wear pink then he can choose for him self. I'm not forcing all this bullshit on him. He's a boy! He will most likely want to play with trucks and dinos, but if he wants a barbie he can't have one. I don't get what you guys are arguing anymore, you're all just spouting drivel. If you want to dress your sons in pink... own it! But I'm dressing him in the traditional boy clothing and I'm owning that! Don't you dare say doing the NORMAL thing is damaging.

gender stereotypes not damaging? Are you kidding me? Of course they are.

And I specifically said 'at this age', ie for a baby. Other than via gender stereotypes there is no way for a baby's clothes to be sex specific.

and don't @ me, please.

Well.. if you want to dress him in "traditional boy clothing" then it really should be pink...

These would be from the girls section. If I was buying these it would be for a baby girl. I wouldn't assume that a baby wearing them was a girl but personally I probably wouldn't dress my 6 week old DS in these.

He will most likely want to play with trucks and dinos, but if he wants a barbie he can't have one.

But how will he know Barbie or any other "girls toys" are available if you don't provide him with them alongside trucks & dinos?

I think what other posters are getting at is that until we accept that all clothes, toys etc are suitable for all babies & children irrespective of their sex then this mess of gender non conforming & gender stereotypes will continue to prevail.

I have 3 children (2 girls & 1 boy) DD1 showed a preference for typically boys toys & actively shunned the typically girls toys but she was only able to do that because she'd been provided with options from an early age, DD2 on the other hand showed a preference for more girly toys but was always in amongst the rough & tumble typically boys play at nursery, DS loved to play with babies & at 6 asked for his own real life type baby as his sister was overly protective of hers (he already had a regular baby doll & buggy)... he's now 10 & conforms to the more socially acceptable gender stereotype of a boy in that he loves football, computer games etc but he'll still join in on a pamper night with his sisters, slap on a face mask & let them give him a pedicure cause it makes his feet feel nice.

Give your DS options - don't force him to conform just because it's what you want because as much as you bang on about "he'll be allowed to choose when he's old enough" you clearly don't intend on giving him the relevant information for him to make an informed choice.

I don't care what people dress their babies in, DS2 was dressed in Dds baby clothes quite frequently, she in turn wore DS1's stuff. Mainly because I thought it was a waste of money not re-using stuff they are in for about five minutes!

However, because of my own conditioning I would probably see a baby wearing the pictured clothes and automatically think it was probably a girl baby. I probably would not make that assumption verbally to avoid offence & would ask the name or whatever to ascertain the appropriate pronoun! Can't make any assumptions based on clothing in this day and age. But lots of people still will.

I told DS2 off for saying I had to have the pink castle not the grey castle in the 'you choose' book the other day because he said pink was for girls (I said all colours are for everyone - he's six) Of course he has this idea because most of the little girls he knows seem to have a preference for pink / wear lots of pink. It's social conditioning on the most basic level not something I have taught or encouraged at home.

Once you start to realise, it's everywhere. He asked for instance why in the school uniform shop some of the white shirts had pink packaging and some had blue. I said it was just to show different styles of shirt but I don't know why manufacturers and retailers insist on still using the same gendered colour coding - it's really annoying! In the end though, do what you want OP, everyone does.

Why question whether a baby outfit is for a boy or a girl. If you like it, and are happy for your child to wear it, why does it matter?

I don't like the way clothes are gendered. Just because I have a son doesn't mean he only wants to wear greens and blues covered with dinosaurs and trucks. If I had a girl I would be equally annoyed she was expected to wear pink, frilly, flowery clothes. They don't need to be so clearly defined, especially at such a young age.

But at the end of the day, dress your child however you want.

Why should I force girly things on him, if we are in he toy shop/ Argos catalogue/ adverts and he wants one he can have it. I'm not forcing all this bullshit on him please respect that. It's not like he's going to live in a bubble of just boys toys he is a person who will see things. He has lots of stuffed animals/ learning toys/ baby toys etc that would be fine for either gender. I'm just not going to buy everything pink because that not right, but if he want it (when he does not when he's old enough just when he says so) he can have what he wants.

OP you talk about not forcing all this shot on them and then talk about how you will only dress him in BOY until he expresses a preference otherwise, which he won't because he'll have been raised to know he should wear BOY.
Pushing this shot on him isn't not giving a damn what section of a shop a cute baby grow is from, it's specifically searching out only ones from one quarter of the shop because it matters. And you must think it matters else you wouldn't be asking.

Fwiw they're girls. Cutie unicorns, owls and cats mean they're def from the girl section. Perhaps burn them and all photos of him in them so he doesn't grow up confused.