“What baby clothes to buy?”
“What type of baby clothes do I need?”
The most googled questions for first time parents.
For Suk Yee, founder of Singapore’s First baby clothing subscription service, her aim is to address these pain points and allow sustainability to lead this mission.
“… slower baby fashion consumption, and lesser clothes will be in the landfills.” – Suk Yee
Hello! Please introduce yourself and the story behind Bambino.sg.
Hello! I am Suk Yee.
Bambino.sg was first created to solve my own problem. My son was a top 1% baby, and he outgrew his clothes so quickly. It soon became a massive amount of clutter at home. At the same time, I was trying out a clothing subscription for myself, and I thought it would be awesome if there was such a service for baby wear. After researching with my husband, we found providers in Australia and the US but not in Singapore. We thought it would be a good business opportunity, so we started to experiment with whatever clothes we had in our hands. One thing leads to another, and we have served almost 300 babies to date!
Baby clothing subscription model is a very new concept in Singapore. What is the biggest challenge?
Since it is a new concept, market education and trust-building have been something that we are constantly working on. As we are dressing babies, we must be very careful with our clothes selection, how we clean and transport them. We want to make sure that the clothes are comfortable, clean, and stylish at the same time. Our aim in Bambino is to normalize the sharing/circular economy starting from a newborn, which will help stretch the lifetime of clothes. Hopefully, this will result in slower baby fashion consumption, and lesser clothes will be in the landfills. However, this means that some clothes in our inventory could look a bit washed. We are constantly striking a balance between keeping the inventory exciting and being a sustainable consumer of fashion.
After so many rounds of laundry, what is the best stain removing technique that Bambino.sg recommends?
The best one would be tackling the stain as soon as you discover them. It doesn’t need to be a complete wash. Just running the stain underwater with some washing detergent will significantly reduce the chances of the stain staying on the piece of clothing. However, if the condition doesn’t permit for a quick wash and the stain still remains, baking soda, hot water, vinegar are your laundry best friends. A good stain remover will help in the long run too! Do head over to our Instagram page to pick up some laundry tips that we’ve put together.
Are there any materials that are much more catered to babies with sensitive skin?
Babies with sensitive skin tend to react more towards the chemicals in the washing than the clothing materials. So actively look out for nasty-free detergent. Of course, we will want to avoid synthetic fabrics, such as polyester or fleece, which can trap a lot of heat and thus aggravate the sensitive skin.
Smoother materials will be more friendly to sensitive skin. Examples of these are Modal, Bamboo, or silk.
Many baby clothes come with cute and colourful prints. How do we know when the dye is safe? Is it normal for baby clothes to leak dye during the first wash?
We won’t really know which dye is safe because, many times, fashion companies do not declare what they use. However, from our experience, the dye on baby clothes does not run even during the first wash. This applies to even denim or plain-coloured garments.
What is the most recommended material for our baby in Singapore’s tropical humid climate?
Cotton will be an excellent material to start off. It is the most common material across all baby clothing brands. However, some brands can have a thicker design, but you can counter the heat by looking for mesh-like or sleeveless tops. Another good option is Bamboo-made clothing. This is because and based on research, the material is breathable and moisture wicking. Apart from that, it is a more sustainable material compared to cotton. However, the technology required to process bamboo into textile is more complicated, so expect steeper pricing with bamboo-made clothing.
How many sets of clothes do new parents need to get ready for the arrival of their New-born? And how can Bambino.sg help?
After going through 2 kids, this is my recommendation.
- 7 short sleeves onesies
- 2 long sleeves onesies
- 3 footed pajamas
- 2 pants/shorts
- 3-4 pairs of mittens and booties
- 2-3 beanie/hat
This amount assumes laundry will be carried out every 3-4 days. There are also other factors to consider, like whether you are cloth diapering or using a sleepsuit or sleeping condition (e.g., air condition or not). Some other factors to consider when buying baby clothes are buttons vs. zippers, footed vs. non-footed, etc.
As a parent, you need to make so many decisions. Bambino.sg can help by preparing a pack that is really suitable for your newborn without you going through all the decision-making process. Most importantly, you don’t have to worry about storing away the clothes once they outgrow them.
Instead, let us handle the tedious stuff, and you can focus on spending precious time with your newborn baby.
Do you have any advice to new parents out there who are embarking on their parenthood journey?
Information can be very overwhelming for a new parent. I used to be very worried and stressed out because my kid wouldn’t sleep for the “recommended” amount of time. Turns out he was just a baby that really needed very little sleep. So, my advice is, take all the recommendations with a pinch of salt. Every baby is different. If they are hitting milestones, it is ok to just go with the flow.
For more information regarding Bambino.sg, do hop over to their website or Instagram page for a chat!