Lila + Hayes Review: Are the Pima Pajamas Worth It?

Last updated: July 2026

Here is the short version of our Lila + Hayes review: the Peruvian pima cotton really is as soft as the hype says, the prints are the rare kind that look good in photos without being cartoonish, and the pajamas hold up to years of washing — if you follow two rules. Order up when your child is between sizes, and keep the sets away from a hot dryer. Ignore either one and the famously delicate pima will bite back.

We dug through the brand's full range at EasyTot — Lila + Hayes spans more than 450 styles here, from newborn daygowns to size-16 big-kid pajamas — checked real owner reviews, and compared it head-to-head with the other pima and bamboo sleepwear brands we carry. Below is everything a parent should know before spending $40+ on a pair of pajamas.

Who Is Lila + Hayes?

Lila + Hayes was founded in 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas by two moms, Paige Casey and Amanda Galati, and the brand now sits in over 300 boutiques nationwide. Everything starts with one fabric decision: signature Peruvian pima cotton, knit into pajamas, playwear, and layette for newborns through tweens — plus matching women's and men's styles for family photos.

Two things set the catalog apart from mall-brand sleepwear. First, the prints are designed in-house, so you get batik florals, jumping trout, and golf carts instead of licensed cartoon characters. Second, the styling is deliberately heirloom: piped collars, clean solid panels, and classic silhouettes — the look that made the brand a favorite in traditional Southern boutiques. (Heads-up: EasyTot sells Lila + Hayes ready-to-wear exactly as pictured — we don't offer personalization or monogramming services.)

If you're weighing the whole wardrobe and not just sleepwear, our best baby clothing brands guide shows where Lila + Hayes sits among the other premium labels we carry.

What Makes Peruvian Pima Cotton Different

Pima is an extra-long staple cotton: its individual fibers are roughly a third longer than the ordinary upland cotton in most kids' pajamas. Longer fibers mean fewer exposed fiber ends in the spun yarn — which is why pima feels smoother against skin, pills far less, and survives repeated washing better than standard cotton jersey. It also breathes better than polyester fleece sleepers, a real advantage for kids who run hot at night.

One label detail that confuses parents: every Lila + Hayes pajama carries a "wear snug-fitting, not flame resistant" tag. That's not a defect — it's federal law. Under CPSC children's sleepwear regulations, cotton pajamas may skip chemical flame retardants only if they fit snugly, because loose fabric catches air (and flame) more easily. So the trim fit is a safety feature, not a sizing mistake. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers the same guidance on safe sleep and sleepwear: fitted layers, no loose blankets for babies.

For a broader look at fabrics — including when bamboo or wool makes more sense than cotton — see our baby sleepwear guide.

What Parents Love

The softness, and that it lasts

The brand holds a perfect 5.0-star rating across its 11 reviews on Birdeye — a small sample, but an unusually consistent one. The recurring theme is fabric: "so soft and breathable, cotton PJs are getting harder and harder to find," wrote reviewer Molly Ellisor, who also called the items "decently priced (pima is expensive!)." That tracks with what pima owners generally report: the knit stays smooth instead of pilling into sandpaper by wash twenty.

Prints that survive the family photo

Because the prints are drawn in-house, sets look intentional rather than licensed. Of everything the brand makes, the sporty boys' prints — Up At Bat baseball and Jumping Trout — have been the fastest-moving Lila + Hayes styles this summer, with the tennis and golf prints close behind. Most prints ship in a boys' and a girls' colorway plus adult sizes, which is exactly what you want for coordinated holiday-card pajamas.

Customer service with names attached

Multiple reviewers single out the brand's service team. "Not only do Lila + Hayes have ultra soft and adorable PJs and clothes for littles, they also have the best customer service," wrote Courtney Mohammadi, describing a staffer jumping in over a weekend to fix her order. Another reviewer, Natalie Henderson, put it simply: "Love the women's pajamas as well as the kids and will definitely order again!"

The Honest Complaints

The price stings — especially at footie speed

A zippered baby footie runs $28–54, and a newborn outgrows it in roughly three months. Owners who love the brand still wince at that math; even the glowing reviews flag it ("pima is expensive!"). If you want the fabric without the flagship price, the brand's frequent markdowns bring two-piece sets under $30 — but expect broken size runs on sale colors.

It shrinks if you treat it like regular pajamas

This is the complaint that shows up most consistently, and the brand's own stockists say it plainly: "These pjs fit true to size and will shrink when washed, so we advise sizing up if you are between sizes," notes boutique retailer Crush Boutique on its Lila + Hayes listings. One hundred percent cotton with no synthetic blend means no built-in shrink resistance — a hot dryer cycle can take a just-right set down a half size.

Fine knit means gentle-cycle care

The same fine-gauge knit that feels incredible is easier to snag than a rugged jersey. Velcro bibs, zipper pulls, and swim-suit hook tape in the same load are the usual culprits, and the delicate white cuffs on many styles will pick up color if washed hot with new dark clothes. This is sleepwear that rewards a 30-second sorting habit — and punishes laundry autopilot.

The Style Decoder

Lila + Hayes names every silhouette after a person, and once you crack the code, shopping gets much faster. The same style name always means the same cut — only the print changes. These are the six kid styles we'd start with:

Sizing, Shrinkage, and Care

The brand's own size chart runs on height and weight, not age, and it's worth checking because pajamas must fit snug. A few anchor points from the official chart: 0-3m fits 18–22 in / 8–12 lb; 2T fits 32–34 in / 26–31 lb; size 6 fits 45–49 in / 43–49 lb; size 10 fits 59–61 in / 78–88 lb. If your child sits at the top of a bracket, buy the next size — you're accounting for both growth and first-wash shrinkage.

Three care rules keep pima soft for years:

• Wash cold, gentle cycle, inside out. Cold water is what prevents most cotton shrinkage; inside-out protects the printed face from friction.
• Skip high heat. Line dry or tumble low. The hot dryer is where "true to size" becomes "mysteriously a size smaller."
• Separate from hardware. No velcro, no hook tape, no raw denim in the same load. (The FTC's care-label rules only require one safe cleaning method on the tag — brands aren't required to list everything that could damage a garment, so these unwritten rules matter.)

How Lila + Hayes Compares

We carry three natural-fiber sleepwear brands that shoppers cross-shop against Lila + Hayes, and each wins a different scenario. Nellapima is the closest pima rival but skews younger — its catalog is dominated by newborn layette (gowns, footies, hats, blankets). Petidoux is a smaller pima label with playful, story-book prints and a tighter range. Angel Dear isn't pima at all — its footies are buttery bamboo viscose at a friendlier price, the pick if you want stretch and drape over crisp cotton structure.

For the full field — including budget picks and footed options we didn't cover here — our complete baby pajamas guide ranks every pajama brand we carry.

Who Should Buy It — and Who Should Skip It

Buy Lila + Hayes if:

• You want one pajama brand that fits every kid in the house — the newborn-through-size-16 run (plus adult sizes) is the widest of any pima label we carry.
• Photo-worthy holiday and family-matching pajamas matter to you.
• You'll actually wash cold and dry low — treated right, one set outlasts two cheaper ones.

Skip it if:

• Your laundry runs hot and unsorted. Bamboo blends (like Angel Dear's) forgive machine abuse far better.
• You need daycare-volume pajamas. At $36+ a set, building a five-night rotation gets expensive fast — buy two Lila + Hayes for bedtime and fill in with budget basics.
• Your child hates snug sleepwear. Snug fit is non-negotiable with cotton pajamas; a kid who wants loose PJs needs a different fabric category, not a size up.

Bottom line: Lila + Hayes earns its price with fabric you can feel and prints you won't cringe at in next year's photo album. It demands slightly grown-up laundry habits and an extra size when in doubt — small asks for pajamas this good.

Shop all Lila + Hayes at EasyTot →

Frequently Asked Questions