Baby Boy Clothes

[AlbusPercival]

Ok, first off, sorry if S&B is not the right place for this, couldn't spot a better place.

I found out yesterday I am expecting a baby boy at the end of October.

Can anyone help me with two questions:

1. What clothes does a baby actually need, literally vests, or baby grows or sleepsuits and how many of each?
   
2. Where can you buy nice bright cheerful ones, that are not as expensive as say Polarn O Pyret?

[Cakescakescakes]

I like the Little Bird range at Mothercare. Very bright and cheery and lots of it is unisex.

[BikeRunSki]

To start with, about 8 vests and eight baby grows/sleep suits, plus a cardy/jacket or 2 and sun/woolly hat depending on season. Not much else, and you'll probably get loads of clothes as presents.

Get "new baby" size, unless your baby is absolutely enormous new baby size will last about 5/6 weeks, and 0-3 months will swamp your baby for a month or so.

Good bright colours -
H&M - v cheap, great clothes. They do really good 0-2 months, 2-4 months sizes.
John Lewis
Sainsbury's
Boden
Joules
Next - they cater for all tastes, so you have to look through the pastels, mini-clubbing-gear etc, but they always have nil rights there somewhere.
Boots

[BikeRunSki]

Gap (great online sales)
Little Bird at Mothercare

[Bananalanacake]

I would say all a baby needs are babygrows/sleepsuits and vests, 6 of each. Do you have a DM, MIL? I didn't buy any baby clothes at all when I was expecting as I knew I would get given them as gifts, and I got a set of 3 sleepsuits from work and vests and other clothes from my DM and MIL.
I've only heard of Polarn OP on here, sounds well posh, no need to spend lots as they will only get pooed and puked on. Tesco and Sainsburys do clothes in sets of 3, lot cheaper than POP I'd think.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

My main advice would be do not waste your money on expensive clothes that will just get peed/pooped/puked on! And don't go by the weight written on the label either! They are usually so inaccurate - same with nappies
I bought all newborn and first size vests and sleepsuits for my DD before she was born - which all said "up to 7/8lbs" on the label, so average size for a newborn baby - and ended up having to send DH to Tescos the day she was born to buy tiny baby clothes and micro nappies because everything swamped her

[DavidPuddy]

I bought a lot of babygros in Asda and some very bright, cheerful ones in Boots. I also quite like the h&m ones, the cotton is nice and soft, but they are a bit more expensive.

I found we received a lot of outfits and novelty vests as gifts and fewer practical clothes (which is nice because the outfits were super cute and I wouldn't have bought them myself) so I still needed to buy quite a bit.

[MinnowAndTheBear]

I had about 8-10 newborn vests and sleep suits and 2 cardis and just rotated those.
Don't rush to buy loads of things beforehand; it's lovely to go clothes shopping in those first few weeks after baby is born, and no doubt you will be visiting Mothercare/Boots etc anyway. We got a lot of clothes bought for us, although mainly in size 3-6 months for some reason, which was lovely.

[AlbusPercival]

Thanks all, thats helpful,

i have a DM who is already buying me things, and DMil who doesnt believe in buying things too early and chomping at the bit, and a DNephew who is a week old and willing to donate the things he has grown out of to me.

But I am trying to bond with baby, had pictured a girl, so i thought buying a few bits from me might help

[MinnowAndTheBear]

If I were you I'd buy something you might be unlikely to receive as a present; a baby sleeping bag for example.

[AlbusPercival]

Good idea Minnow, umm, i am somewhat clueless here, what TOG for November?

[teacher1984]

You'd want 2.5 tog for November. And layer the baby accordingly (body suit & sleepsuit). The GroBag web site has some good info

[BeBesideTheSea]

I found that buying, washing, folding and putting in the drawers new baby clothes really helped me bond with DS before he was born (surprise - bit of a shock). And choosing a going home from hospital outfit was especially calming.

[BeBesideTheSea]

Sorry, to answer you question I loved Boots.

[Pisssssedofff]

Buy his coming home outfit and make it a really lovely expensive one because there will be tons of photos of him in it. Going against the grain a little, I got given some right old rubbish as gifts so had to go and buy the next type outfits myself.

[AlbusPercival]

What is a going home outfit?

[JE678]

I would also add stock up on the size ahead when sales are on as they shoot up and you suddenly need a whole new set of babygros and vests.

[JE678]

I found M&S and John Lewis sleepsuits washed the best. M&S do vests with scratch mits built in which is very handy.

[Pisssssedofff]

The outfit you take them home from the hospital in. In the hospital which is like a green house, they tend to just wear a vest and be wrapped in a blanket. When they leave you dress them for the first time

[AlbusPercival]

Ah got it. So I'm looking for an outside baby gro with socks if no feet?

[fraggle84]

I'd like to recommend John Lewis muslin cloths, so much softer than all the others.

Boots clothes are very nice, wash well and keep their shape

I'm not keen on asda as find they are often too short in the body but quite wide. I like tesco, next, boots, mothercare and matalan

If formula feeding I can't stress enough how great the tommee tippee perfect prep machine is, should get it for £60 if you keep your eye on Amazon

[fraggle84]

Yep Nov = feet covered

A snowsuit is good for pushchairs but too hot/bulky for in the car

Look at a car seat cosy toes, maxi cosi do them for about £25 was great for my winter dd

[EsmesBees]

Don't worry. It seems really confusing before you have one. Then it somehow slots in to place and you'll know what he needs.

I would say don't buy too much before he is here. I bought lots of newborn stuff and she was in it for about a week. There are lots of bundles of vests etc on Facebook or eBay if you don't mind 2nd hand. Including groups that just resell Scandinavian clothes. Also there is a huge variation in sizing between brands and it will take a few goes to work out which one fits your baby. Remember, in these days of online shopping you can order to your hearts content in the dead of night when you are up doing the night feeds

[Topsyloulou]

I had about 14 vests & babygros. They can get through a couple a day with leaky nappies, sick & poonamis. I'd get a mixture of newborn & 0-3. DS was only in newborn for a week. I love Sainsburys clothes, wash & wear really well & the sizing is good. They have lovely bright colours. I always stock up when they have 25% off. Mothercare & John Lewis are also really good. I found next, Asda & Morrisons came up small. Boots is another good one, don't forget to join their parenting club to get more points. Their bibs & muslins are lovely & soft. A couple of large muslins also come in really handy, can double up as a blanket, swaddle, changing mat etc.

[FoodPorn]

I have an October boy born last year and a November boy born in 2013! Having bought way too many boys' clothes ever since, my favourites are M&S (they regularly have 20% off) and John Lewis (more expensive but more consistently good quality). I've not actually really rated the Polarn clothes I've had... Third place goes to Gap. Boden have the best socks!

You just need vests/bodysuits and sleepsuits really with some hats and layers like cardigans/jumpers or pramsuits. I was so clueless originally I bought a whole wardrobe of tiny trousers and shirts and jumpers! It's fun to have some of that but not at all necessary.