Most parents make little use of baby clothing. For example,

The OE :

Prethinking:
Most parents dress their babies in any particular clothing for only a short time, some only once, which leads to the conclusion that most baby clothes don't get much wear out of them. In order to weaken this argument, we need to weaken the assumption that most clothes will be worn by a single baby only.

A. Many parents have more than one child- indicates more children, but does not link these children to the wear of the same clothing.
B. Most parents get baby clothes as presents from their friends and family - Irrelevant- As we are not interested in origin of the garment.
C. It is customary for most infants to wear clothes which were handed down from siblings and relatives- This is what we came up in prethinking.
D. Infants need more new clothing than adults because they grow out their existing garments quickly- strengthens the argument by introducing babies' rapid growth.
E. There is a huge second-hand market for baby clothing- Out of Scope- Does not link it to most babies wearing those second-hand garments.

So the answer is C.

So B and C are very much alike....
By this logic, if I pass down clothes to relatives, but I only used them once, I still get little use out of them.
How does this change that fact?

I was stuck between C & D..I feel D is a stronger contender
1. The clothing is used by the baby only once..even if it is handed down to the parents by relatives..we are talking about one particular parent child pair's use of baby clothing & not the till date usage (not including that of their forefathers)..and that pair here, does not use it adequately enough..
2. The clothing is just fit to be worn once..as the baby outgrows them rapidly..-->There a\is nothing that the parents could do about it..So we can say that they are using it adequately enough...The presence of an additional premise stating that one month is a sufficient enough period for the baby to outgrow the clothes would have made this a better answer

Not a very good question..Debatable OA

In order to weaken this argument, we need to show that much use is being brought out of baby clothing and not ' most clothes will be worn by a single baby only.'

The question clearly says 'Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the claim that most parents do not get much use out of baby clothing.'

Option C: yes it is customary, so you are being passed a set of clothes from siblings/relatives. Right? Lets personalize this argument.

Okay I get a pair of clothes from my siblings/relatives, let my baby wear it for a day and then I stow that pair of clothes. Now does it weaken the argument?think about it.

For me its E:
love the markets so i'll try to help. This is what I buy at the markets.

Clothes - Generally i'm not looking for certain things but I only buy babywear brand names unless something is really cute and cheap and even with the brand names I don't like to pay over $2 per piece. Pyjamas are okay as long as they are in good condition and I would buy rash vests and boardies just not one pieces or swimmer bottoms. I will buy shoes but only if they look barely used and have no scuffs. Wondersuits are a big NO.

Books - Only if in good condition as you can usually pick them up really cheap at opp shops.

Toys - No soft toys, only things that can easily be cleaned before I give them to DD. Generally I only buy brand name toys too (Fisher Price, Thomas trains, Duplo)

When I have sold stuff at the markets the brand names will only sell well if they are cheap (again $1-$2). I have also found that if you put the less expensive clothes out for $0.50 they sell in no time. Fisher Price toys under $10 all go before 8:30am and I usually do a freebie box for things like old bottles, well worn clothes and junky toys.

For me its E:
love the markets so i'll try to help. This is what I buy at the markets.

Clothes - Generally i'm not looking for certain things but I only buy babywear brand names unless something is really cute and cheap and even with the brand names I don't like to pay over $2 per piece. Pyjamas are okay as long as they are in good condition and I would buy rash vests and boardies just not one pieces or swimmer bottoms. I will buy shoes but only if they look barely used and have no scuffs. Wondersuits are a big NO.

Books - Only if in good condition as you can usually pick them up really cheap at opp shops.

Toys - No soft toys, only things that can easily be cleaned before I give them to DD. Generally I only buy brand name toys too (Fisher Price, Thomas trains, Duplo)

When I have sold stuff at the markets the brand names will only sell well if they are cheap (again $1-$2). I have also found that if you put the less expensive clothes out for $0.50 they sell in no time. Fisher Price toys under $10 all go before 8:30am and I usually do a freebie box for things like old bottles, well worn clothes and junky toys.

The best option out of all is "C" because wearing new clothes to infants are not allowed in most of the religions .Second hand clothes from their elder siblings and relatives are allowed for some days to infants .

Exactly what I thought ! it took me 5 sec to eliminate this answer :s I felt that the origin of the clothes didn't really matter.

c is correct- same clothing worn by many infants.
e is incorrect- Second hand market implies same clothing worn by two infants.
d- if only ,strengthens the arg
b,a- out of scope/delinked

Still not sold on the idea that C is the answer, when A relates directly the idea that the PARENTS get use out of baby clothing. Choice C mentions that relatives and siblings may give hand-me-downs to the baby, but this does not make sense when assessing the use of the clothes by the parents. If the clothes are hand me downs, the parents are the recipients of gifts from others who are allowing for their clothes to be used further. Thus, those others are the one's getting the use out of the clothes, moreso than the parents. However, if A is true, it is far more likely that the parents are directly getting more use out of the clothes, which would justify why they buy so many clothes for their newborn. Does this make sense to anyone else/does anyone else agree?

Yea that's what I thought initially after looking at all options. But in another look to eliminate wrong answer choices, I realized that (C) can be a weakener, because of "siblings". Remember that "siblings" refers to children of same parents, so it means that the same parents can benefit more than once! Meanwhile, considering choice (A), it is quite vague to weaken the conclusion, because parents can have more than 1 child but it is not necessarily the case that they will pass clothes from previous child to later one. Don't assume too much.
Hope this helps.

It was B and C for me.

Because I have a baby and I get a set of clothes from my friends and relatives for my baby.
It is good to use second-hand clothes but it may be in good condition.

+C.

If you are indian you better know the struggle of getting the used stuff from elder brothers and sisters. I took it too personally. Lol. Anyway straight C it is.

:D

Most parents make little use of baby clothing. For example, more than half of all parents dress their infants a particular garment only a few times during about a one month period before stowing that garment away. In addition, 24 percent of all parents let their babies wear any particular piece of clothing only a single time.

Question type - Weaken the argument
Conclusion - Most parents make little use of baby clothing.
Missing information - Author assumes that the cloths that the parents are buying for their infants is only being used once. Means once is used cannot be reused again by infants' siblings.

If we weaken the assumption made by the author this argument will be weakened.

D. Infants need more new clothing than adults because they grow out their existing garments quickly.

D again presumes that the cloths that the parents are buying for their infants is only being used once. This is an assumption and hence cannot be our answer. We need something to weaken this argument.

C. It is customary for most infants to wear clothes which were handed down from siblings and relatives.

C counter the assumption that we made for this argument. If the clothing are being used more than once by siblings and relatives then the conclusion is shattered that most parents make little use of baby clothing. Hence, C is our answer.

Conclusion says parents do not get much use out of clothing(in itself is ambiguous as no parameter to measure ((much use)) if baby growing big quick he must have worn it well till he was that size.. clarify...

Its a tussle between C and D,
Where D try to attack conclusion that clothes are used less because child grows faster. It doesnot entirely weaken the conclusion. It provides an alternative cause to the issue raised by author that why Parents are not using clothes entirely .

Choice C , says that clothes are being given down generations. It means that parents are putting optimum use of clothes. Weakning the assumption.

Answer C

We need to figure out a statement that will ensure parents use clothes for a long time for their babies.
C Says that babies wear clothes that were handed down from senior siblings and relatives. This means the clothes are old anyway.
The answer is C.