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Original poster

Why is a baby’s “going home outfit” a big deal?

257 replies

EmAreSea · 09/10/2019 07:23

DH and I have just been discussing this as I’m 37+6 today and have been packing (and re-packing, and double-triple-checking, and re-re-packing) hospital bags. We’re taking a selection of sleepsuits for baby to wear in the hospital and then started talking about the Going Home Outfit, and both started wondering why it’s a thing? How did that come about? Does anyone know?

OP posts:
LaMarschallin · 09/10/2019 12:27

PS

I'm even less worried now if Passthecherrycoke thinks I'm dim.
I take it as a badge of merit.

LolaSmiles · 09/10/2019 12:29

One is "I happen to have bought some baby grows and have one they happens to wear on the day they come home".

The other is "here is a specially curated outfit where I've focused on the big deal about coming home and want to dress them up like a doll for the occasion so need them to have a cute outfit and the right matching hat and booties / bow or headband".

We've got out 0-3 baby grows bought already. Bump will come home in one of them when I pack the hospital bag. I'm not buying some sort of special outfit to mark the day they leave hospital.

notangelinajolie · 09/10/2019 12:31

Um because it's a special day Hmm

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LolaSmiles · 09/10/2019 12:33

I think that's where the difference is.

Some people see it as an opportunity to get dressed and make an occasion.

Some people see it as "we are going home today".

Which camp you fall in will probably reflect your choices and opinions

Littlepond · 09/10/2019 12:33

My babies all worn the same sleepsuit home. It’s the only item of baby clothing I’ve kept ❤️

ohmysoul · 09/10/2019 12:42

Mine wore my favourite sleepsuit out of all the ones we had on the journey home. I've kept it in a memory box. I'm not sure why it's a thing, I quite liked picking something out and knowing I'd be bringing my baby home in it though.

rededucator · 09/10/2019 12:42

It's not a big deal and it's not a thing.

HumptyDumptyHadAGreatFall · 09/10/2019 12:52

It's special welcoming a baby into your home and family, people like to dress up for special occasions.
Doesn't do any harm if you do or don't, all personal preference

Everythingseemsfine · 09/10/2019 13:07

Mine wore my favourite sleepsuit out of all the ones we had on the journey home.

That's the thing. Some bring hope in their chosen outfit and treasure it. I treasure the one my son has worn first. Some can't be bothered because there are more important things in their life. It really depends. There's noting right or wrong.

Everythingseemsfine · 09/10/2019 13:09
  • home, not hope! But newborn being a hope sounds appropriate!
greenlavender · 09/10/2019 13:16

It was a thing when DS was born, mid - late 90s

BlessedBeTheFruitCake · 09/10/2019 13:16

My firstborn shat on her going home outfit when we put her in the car seat to go home. She ended up in a hospital issue nightgown, luckily we'd already taken a photo of her in her car seat and were waiting for a midwife to escort us down to the carpark - apparent they don't do this now though.

WaxOnFeckOff · 09/10/2019 13:23

The other is "here is a specially curated outfit where I've focused on the big deal about coming home and want to dress them up like a doll for the occasion so need them to have a cute outfit and the right matching hat and booties / bow or headband".

Each to their own, but this is quite nasty. Despite what a lot of people on here seem to think, It is possible to pick a nice outfit that is special to you to celebrate bringing your child home that is neither a plain white babygro or jeans and bow bigger than your babies head.

However if that's what people want to do then stop being so sneery about other peoples choices.

You don't love your child more or be a better parent becasue you wear a boden dress and and have your baby dressed in old white babygros or dress your son in his sisters hand me downs.

Dressing DC up for coming home can be for all sorts of reasons and its important to some and not to others, that's fine. A bit like a big wedding is important to some, or having a big 40th birthday bash or whatever.

MrTumblesSpottyHag · 09/10/2019 13:24

Cute pictures and a nice memory

smoresmores · 09/10/2019 13:26

I still have the first baby grow she was put in, it was a special one. However her 'going home outfit' was whatever we had to hand and impossible to predict, as we were trapped there for what felt like one thousand years, waiting to be discharged.

0blio · 09/10/2019 13:31

It was a thing many years ago when newborns were dressed in hospital clothes for the first few days. Going home they wore their first real outfit, usually a pretty gown and a hand knitted matinee set with cardi, hat, boottees and mitts

0blio · 09/10/2019 13:32

Oh, and wrapped in a shawl lovingly knitted by grandma!

LolaSmiles · 09/10/2019 13:33

WaxOnFeckOff
To be fair, I only explained that because I was asked what the difference is between someone having their baby clothes and popping one of the babygrows they've bought and have in their hospital bag on Vs making a fuss for a going home outfit.

I thought the difference was obvious, but apparently it needed spelling out that some people put a babygrow on and go, but others plan a dedicated outfit with matching hats and booties etc.

Like I say, I thought the difference between the two was obvious

LolaSmiles · 09/10/2019 13:35

wax
E.g. We've got a range of sleepsuits for our bump. They're nice and cute. Baby will come home in one of them.
But we've not thought about marking the occasion with a special outfit because it's just coming home.

Other people want to make a bigger deal out of it and that's each to their own.

user1573334 · 09/10/2019 13:38

I think it's sweet. All of mine had a going home outfit or in the case of the home births, a first outfit that I picked out in advance. All of them were just baby grows, but ones I really loved or spent a bit more on. I wanted them for their memory boxes and they all love seeing their first ever outfit. My eldest is 13 and it was definitely a well established thing here on Mumsnet back then. Of course it's not essential, some people are just overly sentimental or really like picking out a favourite outfit, no big deal.

WaxOnFeckOff · 09/10/2019 13:38

DS1 ended up coming home in shorts/long sleeved vest and a cardi - bit of an odd outfit and not what i'd planned but we ended up an emergency section on the 3rd day of labour - he was huge and long and we'd had to cut the feet of his babygros as they were too short. he was very sicky and had puked on most of his clothes and then I discharged myself against medical advice after 2 days. DS2 was born 13 months later by planned section, it was a bit of a blur, and on the 2nd day I mentioned that I'd be looking to go home asap as obv had another young baby at home and they said that was fine to go whenever I felt I was okay to go, so DH arrived with DS1 to visit only to find me packed and ready to go. So DS2 had his best sleepsuit on - again, not really what I'd envisigned, but they both got wrapped in a nice blanket for their going home photo.

WaxOnFeckOff · 09/10/2019 13:39

That's fine lola, but you imply that there are only 2 options and there really isn't.

LolaSmiles · 09/10/2019 13:53

That wasn't the intention, wax. I'm not suggesting it's all plain white or OTT outfits.
More there's two approaches, one where they go in whatever babygrows or sleepsuits parents have with them (which I'll assume the parents like otherwise they'd not have bought them), and the other where there's an effort made and concerns about having a nice going home outfit, wanting things to match, have the cute special outift for the day. I was trying to show there's two main approaches rather than two types of outfit.

SecretNutellaFix · 09/10/2019 14:20

My mother has kept the dress I was brought home in, the dress my sister came home in, our Baptismal gown and our Baptismal shawl. I'm 40 and my sister is 18 months younger.

Maybe it doesn't seem like such a big thing now because of the easy availability of photos of the special moments such as arriving home from hospital. There are maybe a dozen photos of me before my first birthday, so actually retaining such a special item was perhaps more important.?

PickedByYou · 09/10/2019 14:27

You can still get nightdresses for babies, John Lewis and not on the high street do them and I have a couple of vintage ones too, much easier for in the middle of the night nappy changes!

I dressed all 4 of mine in nighties for as long as I could get away with it. They are much easier for changing nappies and changing. I couldn't be fussed with all those poppers. They were made of pale yellow soft brushed cotton with some blue embroidery on them.

Gender neutral to boot.