If you’ve ever been in a pinch for clothing for a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal, you may be frustrated by the lack of convenience of Build-A-Bear store locations and by the price point of some of the Build-A-Bear clothing options. Can any normal baby clothes fit a standard Build-A-Bear animal?
The average size of a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal is 15 to 16 inches tall, although some bears may be a few inches shorter or longer. To dress your Build-A-Bear in baby clothes, your best bet is preemie size clothes because they are made for babies up to 17 inches long, although newborn outfits may work better for the larger animals.
Read on to find out if baby shoes or doll clothing will fit a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal as well as if babies can wear Build-A-Bear clothing.
Table of Contents
Do Build-A-Bears fit in baby clothes?
Dressing your (or your child’s) Build-A-Bear stuffed animal would be a lot more convenient, not to mention economical if you could put normal baby clothing on your Build-A-Bear.
Since the average Build-A-Bear stuffed animal is around 15-16 inches long and most preemie baby clothing fits babies up to 17 inches long, you should be able to interchange the clothing between the two pretty easily, although you may run into issues with the overall size of the bear in its most stuffed areas.
Make sure to measure the size of your Build-A-Bear stuffed animal and consult the size chart for the brand of baby clothing you are buying before you make any purchases. Let’s take a look at some more clothing options and information to help find clothing for your Build-A-Bear.
What size is a standard Build-A-Bear?
Build-A-Bear offers a vast array of any stuffed animal imaginable. Whether it’s a regular bear, unicorn, dinosaur, or raccoon you are sure to find something that meets your fancy.
While there is some variance in size, the average Build-A-Bear animal measures in about 15-16 inches tall.
Some of the animals available like the Unicorn Seahorse measure around 13 inches long and some of the bigger standard animals like the Turquoise Stegosaurus measure up to 17 inches long.
What size baby clothes are the best fit for a Build-A-Bear?
When it comes to dressing your Build-A-Bear stuffed animal you have endless options available. Not only does the Build-A-Bear company have a wide selection of clothing, but actual baby clothing can work as well!
Average newborn clothing will fit a baby up to 21 inches, with preemie outfits fitting babies up to 17 inches. So chances are your Build-A-Bear stuffed animal can fit in either a preemie baby outfit considering the range of most Build-A-Bear stuffed animals range from 13-17 inches tall. If you are buying footed baby clothes like sleepers, you may want to size up to a newborn size for a little more wiggle room.
| Brand | Size | Fits (Length) |
|---|---|---|
| Burt's Bees | Preemie | up to 17" |
| https://www.burtsbeesbaby.com/baby-clothes-size-chart | Newborn | up to 21.5" |
| Carter's | Preemie | up to 17" |
| Carter's | Newborn | up to 21.5" |
| https://www.gerberchildrenswear.com/pages/size-chart-gerber-childrenswear | Preemie | up to 17" |
| https://www.gerberchildrenswear.com/pages/size-chart-gerber-childrenswear | Newborn | 17-21" |
If you are unsure of the size of your Build-A-Bear animal, you can search your animal on the Build-A-Bear website to find the product specifications or simply grab a tape measure to get a rough measurement of length.
While the actual Build-A-Bear clothing offered by the store is pretty fairly priced on some things, the brick-and-mortar stores are only in certain locations throughout the US. So if you are wanting some clothes fairly quickly you may want to try baby clothes from any nearby retailer for your convenience. Also, certain things like onesies or sleepers are probably cheaper from big box stores like Walmart.
Will baby shoes fit Build-A-Bear?
Since baby clothes are so interchangeable with Build-A-Bear stuffed animals you may be tempted to try baby shoes as well. While it certainly is worth a shot, this matter is a bit iffier.
The Build-A-Bear website doesn’t offer any measurements of the size of the animals’ feet and there are no details on size in the product specifications of the shoes available for purchase. There were a few Build-A-Bear shoes for sale on Amazon that listed the product size.
One example is this pair of Black combat boots measuring at roughly 5 inches long and 5 inches wide and this pair of ballet flats. Notice the product specifications are for the actual size of the shoe not the size of the foot of the Build-A-Bear.
You may just want to measure the size of the feet of your Build-A-Bear with a ruler or tape measure to get an approximate size and then compare to the size charts offered by popular retailers. One challenge is that most feet of Build-A-Bear animals are circular in shape and very unlike the size of an actual baby’s foot. An option to circumvent this is to find shoes that fit the length you are needing but come in a wide option. Stretchy materials would also be a great choice.
Can babies wear Build-A-Bear clothes?
If Build-A-Bear stuffed animals can wear baby clothes then does that mean babies can wear Build-A-Bear clothes?
Considering the similarities in size between a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal and a preemie or small newborn baby, the answer may be yes. You may even be able to find a few more options on the Build-A-Bear website for preemie sized clothes than you can from a normal clothing retailer.
Keep in mind that Build-A-Bear clothes usually seem pretty wide to accommodate the stuffed animal’s round belly but the length should work pretty well.
Will doll clothes fit Build-A-Bear?
Build-A-Bear animals are pretty close to the same length as the standard 18-inch dolls that are sold. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Build-A-Bear clothing is typically much wider than the clothing made for 18-inch dolls. While the Build-A-Bear clothing can fit over an 18-inch doll it would probably not be a very fitted or appealing look.
Likewise, 18-inch doll clothing probably wouldn’t fit onto a Build-A-Bear animal at all.
By the way, you can also put baby clothes on your American Girl Doll!
