Adaptive Clothing – The Onesie

Where to find onesies/bodysuits for special needs children

Life is easy when your child is young and various types of clothing can be found in typical cute children’s clothing stores (well, ok, life is never easy with a special needs child but you’ll see what I mean with respect to this topic when your child is older). Many of you know that once your child passes the age of 24 months some of the baby/toddler clothing we all take for granted is nowhere to be found. One of these items is a high-value item in our household, the famous ONESIE !!!!! We absolutely cannot survive without onesies. So you can imagine the state of panic that set in when I couldn’t find them in larger sizes.

People use onesies for different reasons: wandering hands, keeping diapers in place, or for children with feeding tubes. After numerous google searches and other parents’ recommendations, here are the secret places for onesies:

1. TARGET.com

NO, this is not a typo. It’s the same place you walk out of spending hundreds of dollars each time and consuming an extra latte that you don’t need. I’m sure many of you have heard about Target’s adaptive clothing line, Cat & Jack, but I only recently learned that onesies were also included in this. I absolutely love that Target has done this! I have no affiliation with Target but I’m listing them first on my list because any online store that has a physical store you can return items to is a winner in my book.

Target’s online store carries short and long-sleeve bodysuits (onesies) up to size 16 in a SUPER-soft cotton. The best part about the onesies for older children is that the part that snaps between the legs is a different layer from the shirt so no one can tell it’s a onesie! THIS IS GENIOUS!! There is a limited selection of colors ( light gray, dark gray, bright pink, red and black) but it’s a start. You will find two openings for feeding tube access but I’m not experienced with using a feeding tube with a onesie so I can’t comment on this feature. The sizes are in ranges and to give you an idea, the M (8-10) was snug on our son who typically wears size 10 so I will be sizing up to L (10-12).

Check them out: https://www.target.com/p/boys-adaptive-bodysuit-cat-jack-153-heather-gray/-/A-5315464.

2. MARKS & SPENCER

This London-based department store ships to the U.S.. I’ve probably purchased a total of over 100 pieces of clothing from them between their cotton onesies in different sizes and one-piece sleepers (although the sleepers do not seem to be currently available).

Marks & Spencer “bodysuit” options include sleeveless, short sleeve and long sleeve versions from sizes 0-16. They have a few basic colors and patterns, some that allow easy feeding tube access, and one style that buttons down the middle in addition to the bottom. I must declare that the cotton quality is a notch below the Target and CBO Baby versions but are still durable and are priced accordingly. You can qualify for free international shipping over a certain purchase amount so don’t be afraid of getting these shipped across the Atlantic. You should be aware there was a period of time this store stopped shipping these special needs items to the U.S. (another panic-proking event for me). If you buy and like them I would definitely stock up! In fact, I just placed an order myself and received my items within 3 days!

Check them out below:

https://www.marksandspencer.com/us/l/baby/special-needs-bodysuits/

If the above link does not work, go to marksandspencer.com and type in “special needs bodysuits” in the search bar as there is no “category” that it is linked to and you’ll go nuts trying to find them. .

3. CBO BABY

I was using CBO baby prior to discovering the two stores above and was very pleased with the quality of their cotton onesies. These onesies are available from sleeveless to long-sleeved, stand up very well to washing and look great! They have basic colors such as white, gray, and an organic looking cream color in sizes 0-14. When you click forward to the second page of onesies you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of solid colors and a few in army print. As far as I know, this is the only company that has a large variety of colored onesies for children older than a toddler and deserve recognition for that. The downside is that many of the fun colors are NOT available in sizes larger than 6 or 7. The prices are comparable to Target’s and because the quality is great, these are a great option, especially for those in the lower sizes.

See for yourself: https://www.cbobaby.com/shop/

4. Derin Adaptive Clothing (new!)

This is a women-owned company, one of whom is a mom of a child with Angelman Syndrome. I came across her post in a Facebook group for special needs moms. These bodysuits look very suitable for children with G-tubes and go up to SIZE 15!! I have not tried these, yet, but if you are looking for larger sized onesies, I would give them a try!

https://derinadaptive.com/

I hope this post has been helpful in your search for the sought-after onesie. If not, stay tuned for future adaptive apparel posts that may be more useful to you! Happy shopping!