The image on the cover of Ed Mayo's influential “Consumer Kids” (2009) (see Fig. 1) draws our attention to the controversial identity of the child consumer, which has been at the center of a flurry of popular critical publications on children and consumerism in recent years (Klein 2001, Linn 2004, Schor 2004). The visual representation of the child fulfilling and being retained in his consumerist role captures the common concern that children have become trapped in compulsive consumerism. Cook's (2008) study of children and childhood as constitutive elements of consumer theory, however, challenges this traditional view. Critically evaluating children's access to the world of commodities, the meanings and importance of parents' consumption on behalf of their children, he argues that “the child consumer is formed well before his birth” (2008, p. 232). Rather than condemning children to lifelong consumption, this recognition challenges the dominant construction of children as “adults-in-waiting” and suggests a reconsideration of notions of consumption, childhood and motherhood. Aiming for a more critical view on children's consumption, in this essay I attempt to offer an analysis of Cook's observation and illustrate it with examples from children's clothing consumption. https://ihaveadoubt.files.wordpress. com/2011/12/image -38.pngFig.1. Consumer Kids (2009) Wanting to define the nature of the child consumer, Cook's observation (2008) addresses a fundamental question in the study of childhood consumption: “When does a child become a consumer?”. Research on children's clothing consumption has yet to address this question in depth, but writings on children's conspicuous consumption, consumer culture, and commercialization...... middle of paper.... ..ing Essentials - Marks and Spencer 2013. [online video] Available at: [Accessed 16 January 2014]Miller, D., 1987. Material culture and mass consumption. London: BlackwellPollehn, S., 2010. Sewing Clothes Kids Love. Minneapolis: Quayside Publishing Group Schor, J., 2004. Born to Buy. New York: Scribner Taylor, J., S., 2004. Introduction. In S., Taylor, L., Layne, and D., Wozniak, eds., 2004. Consuming Motherhood, 2004, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.Thompson, C., 1996. Caring Consumers: Gendered Consumption Meanings and the Juggling Lifestyle. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, 388–407Woolgar, S., 2012. Children's ontological consumption. In B., Sandin, J., Sohanna, and A. Sparman, eds., Situating Child Consumption: Rethinking Values ​​and Notions of Children, Childhood, and Consumption. Lund: Nordic Academic Press