Many parents don’t know the difference between 24M and 2T baby clothes since 24 months and two years is the same amount of time. Read on to learn more.
Shopping for clothing can be confusing, but clothes shopping for a child who is rapidly changing from a baby to a toddler may be the most confusing of all. Every clothing company sizes their baby clothes differently and toddlers can be a size outside of the age ranges put on most children’s clothing. One of the most confusing size ranges is the jump from 24 months to 2T toddler clothing. Keep reading to learn about the main differences between 24M and 2T toddler clothes so you’ll know what to look for when shopping.
Age Recommendations
Sizes for most baby clothes are in three-month age ranges. You’ll see sizes for newborns, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, and so on. Sizes for toddler clothing are by year, so you’ll see sizes for 2T, 3T, and so on. But when age recommendations overlap, such as 24 months and 2T, these age recommendations can be confusing.
Some companies make it easier by tagging their clothes as 18-24 months and 2T-3T. This means a baby as young as 18 months or as old as 24 months can wear the smaller clothes and a child between two and three years old can wear the bigger size. A typical two-year-old can’t wear something designed for a child who recently turned 18 months old and a baby who just turned 24 months can’t wear something designed for a three-year-old. Choose between 24M and 2T by following that age guide. If the clothes you’re looking at don’t have these age ranges, though, and only say 24M or 2T, you may not know which to choose.
Diaper Accommodations
So, if the clothes are strictly 24M and 2T, which do you choose? Your choice will be partially based on if your child is still wearing diapers. Clothing designed for a 24-month-old has some extra room at the bottom to accommodate a diaper and make changing time easier. Meanwhile, clothing designed for a toddler accommodates Pull-Ups and underwear, making potty training easier. If you’re starting to potty train around the two-year mark, then you can start transitioning to 2T clothes during the day while they’re wearing Pull-Ups and keeping them in 24M clothes at night while they’re in a diaper.
Movement and Style Differences
While children typically start walking between 12 and 18 months, their clothes are not designed to allow for a lot of walking movement. This is because babies just learning to walk are also learning how to balance, so they’re not moving quickly and don’t need that accommodation. Toddlers two years and older, though, aren’t just walking, but starting to run and climb as well. Their clothes are better designed for this amount of movement. That means if you’re child is around 24 months old and moving a lot, especially walking, 2T clothes might be right for them. If your child isn’t as confident in their walking yet, you may be able to leave them in 24M a little longer.
Since slightly older children usually wear 2T clothes, the clothing is less “babyish” than 24M clothes. This means if you want your child to dress more like a mini adult than a typical toddler, you should dress them in 2T clothing even if they haven’t quite hit the benchmarks of age and potty training.
The main differences between 24M and 2T clothes are the age ranges, diaper accommodations, movement possibilities, and style. Once you know where your child fits in their age range, potty training, movement, and style, you’ll be able to pick between these sizes easily.
