Baby Clothing
Buy and sell baby clothing in Guatemala.
A great deal of the baby clothing worn in Guatemala carries a US label and a size in months, and much of it has already crossed in a bale of imported second-hand clothing before a family here unpacks it. Bodysuits, footed sleepers, little jackets and soft-soled shoes turn up new with the tags on and pre-owned in lots sorted by size, alongside the white christening gown kept after a baptism and the small huipil and wrap skirt made for family occasions. A baby moves through a size in a matter of weeks, so much of what one family passes to the next was worn only a handful of times.
Bodysuits, sleepers and the clothes kept for best:
the everyday core is the bodysuit, short- or long-sleeved, with snaps at the crotch and envelope folds at the shoulders so it can be pulled down over the legs after a messy diaper. Footed sleepers close with a zip or a row of snaps: the zip is quicker in the middle of the night, while snaps let you open just the legs for a change. Over them go a light jacket or a knitted sweater, a soft hat, socks, and soft-soled shoes that are really socks with a sole until the baby walks. Then there are the clothes for occasions: the white christening gown worn once at a baptism, and the miniature traditional outfit, a huipil and wrap skirt for a girl, which tends to be handed down rather than outgrown. Swaddles and blankets sit with the nursery textiles, and cloth diapers with baby care.
Sizes in months and the tag that tells the truth:
the month on a label is a guess about an average baby. Read the weight and length range printed on the tag and compare it with your baby’s last check-up rather than their age. Newborn sizes are the ones to buy least of: a big baby can skip them, and a small one is out of them within weeks. Go a size up for anything with feet, because a sleeper that is short in the body pulls at the toes. Cotton knit that has already been washed a few times is softer and will not shrink much further, a quiet point in a used bodysuit’s favour.
Carter’s sets, second-hand bales and what a lot is worth:
a new two- or three-piece set from a US label such as Carter’s costs around Q250 to Q400. Used everyday clothes compete with the market stalls that open bales of imported second-hand clothing and sell the pieces one by one for a few quetzales, so a single used bodysuit is hard to price at all. They move as lots instead: a bag of seventy-odd pieces in one size, washed and sorted, asks around Q300 to Q350. The exceptions are the pieces worn once, a christening gown or a set with its tags still on, which sell on their own and keep far more of what they cost.
Milk stains, tired snaps and shrunk cotton:
look at the neckline and the front of a bodysuit in daylight, because milk that was not washed out turns yellow in a drawer and rarely comes out completely. Pull gently at each snap: the crotch snaps take the most strain, and once one tears out of the fabric it cannot be put back neatly. Cotton that went through a hot dryer loses length, so hold a used piece against one you know fits. Check that buttons on cardigans and on the christening gown are sewn tight, and that no hood still has a drawstring. Lace on a christening gown yellows in storage, so look at it out of its plastic bag. On a handwoven huipil, a loose thread at the hem is normal; a hole in the weave is not.
A lot sorted by size, laid out flat for the photo:
sort before you list, because a parent shops for the size their baby is about to grow into, not for a mixed bag. Count the pieces, say how many are bodysuits, sleepers and outer layers, and lay a few flat in daylight with the size tag turned up. Photograph any stain rather than letting the buyer find it. A christening gown or a traditional outfit deserves its own listing, with close photos of the lace or the weave and a measurement from shoulder to hem. A parent coming in from Zacapa for a lot will want to go through it piece by piece, and a count by type in the listing saves an argument at the door. Whoever collects a christening gown usually has the baptism date set and the godparents waiting, so say plainly which days it can be picked up.