Idiots guide to dressing a baby

[Mushroo]

I’m a FTM (5 months pregnant) and I seem to have a mental block around dressing a baby. (I promise I’m not normally this dense!).

Baby will be due in Jan so it’ll be cold. So far I have a few babygrows and a pack of sleep suits. But:

• what’s the difference between a babygro and a sleep suit?
• Do I put a vest underneath these? Or is it just nappy, babygro, cardigan (if needed). Can I just stock up on the onesies / babygros / sleepsuits? These are ok for public right? I don’t need ‘outfits’?
• what are bodysuits?! These seem to come in short sleeved and long sleeved. Wtf do I put on the bottom half? Do I need these?
• When I’m out and baby is in the pram, would I put the baby in nappy + vest, plus babygro plus pramsuit?
• Everyone seems to love muslins. What do you actually use these for?
• At night I’ve seen the sleeping bag things and the tog is based on temperature. Surely the temp of the room fluctuates through the night so what do you do?

Thank you from an overwhelmed FTM!

Sleepsuit=onesie=babygro. Long sleeves, long legs, feet.
Vest=bodysuit. No legs, short or long sleeves.

At home a nappy, vest, babygro should be fine... add a cardigan if cold. Maybe a hat.

Major thing to be aware of... they can't wear puffy pramsuits/snowsuits or coats in car seats. You need blankets instead.

I remember being confused about this and especially what to put them in a night. I remember reading that they needed one more layer than you do so if you’re in long sleeved top and a cardigan to feel comfortable then they need a vest, a baby grow and a cardigan. Which I felt worked for mine but we don’t have a hot house.

Muslins are great because you can use them to wipe up ick, put on shoulder when winding your baby so no marks get left on your clothes. They just have multiple uses and then you chuck in the washing machine.

People buy 'outfits' and then realise they are too much hassle for babies

Loads of people love sleepsuits/babgygros/onesie (all the same thing whatever you call them!) Absolutely fine to keep them in these as long as you want. Personally I found them faffy and annoying with all the poppers and went to outfits quickly. Bodysuits (long or short sleeved) and dungarees were my outfits of choice for ages.

I bought a pack of 10 muslins because everyone said I needed them. Never figured out what for!

ds was born in December and spent the first couple of months in a short sleeved vest under a long sleeved, footed sleepsuit. Sleepsuits are also called babygrows. We used cellular blankets to swaddle
him in and then moved to 2.5 sleeping bags when he was about 3 months.
Are you doing NCT or other antenatal classes? They’re really helpful about stuff like this, plus you get a community of other women asking the same questions.

What you put the baby in when in in the pram depends on the weather. In January, nappy, vest, babygro, cardy, snowsuit (padded zip up thing with legs and feet as well as arms). And a hat.

Muslins are for wiping up fluids. Leaking milk. Drool. Sick. Later, smeared food, drooled out food etc. Also good for snot, of which babies produce copious amounts.

The sleeping bag things are great and save you being woken needlessly at 3am (after being up at 2am to feed the little blighter) by your baby wailing because he or she has kicked all the blankets off and is freezing cold. Mine spent the night in a onesie and a sleeping bag (and a cardy if the room was very cold) with as many blankets as needed on top (often none, sometimes one or two) - we lived in a series of chilly houses. We used a lot of blankets in day time to keep the baby warm.

Babygros are fine for going out and about. Only bother with outfits if you want to - and you will probably want to as your baby gets bigger. Also once it's warm and you have a six month old, you might find that a babygro is too much.

Honestly, you'll get the hang of it.

It all really depends on how cold your house is , if it's an old house that doesn't retain the heat well the baby will need more than a vest and a babygro , if you are wearing a jumper yourself then the baby is likely to be cold with 2 thin layers . Outside all in one fluffy warm suit then blankets obviously depending how cold it is outside. Also remember that lots of babygros aren't that warm so they may need some socks underneath it.

It's been a while since I had to dress a baby but I remember reading (ages after this was useful to me!) something about how the envelope neck of a babygro is actually really cleverly designed to be easy to put them in. And now I can't remember exactly what it was!

So a fairly useless post, sorry, but maybe this will jog someone else's memory and they can fill in the key all bits of information to make this helpful!

Also - I know you didn't ask this but my best baby tip is that sunlight bleaches poo stains from clothes. Great for explosive nappies and toddler toilet training accidents later on.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

If you have a sicky baby, muslin squares will become the great love of your life. BUT the big muslins...oh my goodness, I agonised over the purchase, I spent hours looking at them and trying to decide. Three years later, I have no fucking idea what the purpose of a big muslin is 😂

It's been a while since I had to dress a baby but I remember reading (ages after this was useful to me!) something about how the envelope neck of a babygro is actually really cleverly designed to be easy to put them in. And now I can't remember exactly what it was!
It's that it stretches down over their shoulders. So if you have a massive poo that's gone everywhere you can remove the clothing downwards rather than having to try and get the poo covered bits over their face.

The thing with the envelope neck is you can pull them down over the body and legs rather than up over the head if they have a poo explosion

I felt the same as you as a FTM but soon got the hang of it! I personally love a baby-gro (so cute!) (like a onesie with long sleeves and feet) and so never bothered with outfits until mine could crawl (baby gros suddenly don’t seem to work at this point as the lack of waistband means they sort of get pulled downwards when the baby crawls). A vest with poppers (helps support nappy and doesn’t ride up when holding baby/feeding) under a baby grow with a warm jumper / cardigan over the top was my go-to for Autumn/Winter.

For January, yes, you will usually need to have a vest or bodysuit under a babygro.

Some 'outfits' are more useful than others (for holding without being too slippery, and for the baby to move around). In warmer weather some rompers, shorts or similar.

Although they wash reasonably well, babygros and vests, especially white ones, will eventually show patches of milk spit-up or leakage around the necks that no longer wash out.

You tend to notice growing out of babygros at the point where the feet are either being pushed out a bit by the toes inside or the feet themselves are a bit too snug in the little socky ends.

You can use muslins for lots of purposes - advantage is that they are usually made of very thin and loosely woven material that dries 5x quicker than anything else, if they are to be useful to you.

Everyone has their own preferences so don't worry, you'll work out what you like, and it doesn't really matter, as long as the baby is clean, dry and warm enough. I wouldn't buy too many of any one thing, you can always get more once you know what you like, all supermarkets have lovely baby clothes.

I put short sleeve vests under everything. Babygro is an old brand name and sleepsuit is the generic term and more modern. You can totally just do vest and sleepsuit until they start crawling, then their legs get all stuck inside so I switched to tops and bottoms then.

Some people use vests as tops, especially long sleeve ones but I don't like the way that looks. I only do it in the heat of summer when it's unbearable to put another layer on them.

The temperature does fluctuate throughout the night. I'd forget the charts and look at your baby, feel their chest or back, if they are sweaty they're too hot, if it feels cool they are too cold. It should feel warm or hot. Babies are hotter than I expected. Some of the SIDS guidance about temperature will make you crazy, but it is quite over cautious. You just need to make sure they aren't overheated.

I also got so tangled up in all the interchangeable terms.The big muslins are fantastic if you have a refluxy baby because you can cover baby, you and a bit of sofa/floor (almost like you’re in the hairdressers).

The thing that caught me out was that they don’t need a hat overnight after 24 hours. We had a winter baby too and it felt ridiculous that we were snuggled up in a heavy duvet with electric blanket and she was there is a sleepsuit and sleeping bag, but that was indeed all she needed. Keep a spare sleepsuit and a spare sleeping bag, alongside a change of sheets for the crib, in an easily accessible place for when it’s the middle of the night and you have a wailing baby.

Buy lots of hats and keep them in coat pockets, on the pram, in the car… you might also want to buy a waterproof sun hat now in the summer sales - useful to pop on them if it starts to rain when you’re out if you have the baby in a carrier.

Good luck!

I didn't answer many of your questions, sorry.

Baby-gros-onesies-sleep suits are absolutely fine for outside. People love to see a tiny baby in a sleepsuit.

You certainly can put a vest on underneath them!

With a small baby, you could put them in a bodysuit (short or long sleeve) with baby sweatpants (Sainsbury's always has a good range). Mine wore bodysuits as a top every day until about two, so by that point it's just like a tucked in t-shirt.

Mostly, you will just find your way with this stuff. It feels overwhelming but it's fine once they actually arrive. Just keep it simple early on - vest, sleepsuit, something snuggly for the pram.

Sleep suite, baby grow & onesie are all the same thing

Body suite is another name for vest, it goes under cloths mostly (unless hight if summer)

In January you will probably need vest under baby grow.

As a general rule go for one layer more then you. So if your in top & jumper, baby will need vest, top and jumper. Then if you feel you need a coat/extra layer, put one on baby as well.

In January I'd probably also put a hat on them if your going outside.

Short-sleeved vest under a long-sleeved sleepsuit (aka babygro(w)). Cardigan on top. Change when dirty. There might come a point, say 4-5 months in, when it suddenly doesn't feel right to be taking them out in their pyjamas all the time. Then you get some little outfits.

It's getting them out. If the nappy leaks, then the envelope neck opens wide enough to go down over their shoulders, so you don't need to pull poo covered vest over their head.

Thank you all so much - already I feel a bit less baffled! I’ll make sure to stock up on some bodysuits / vests as it seems like a good base layer.

Im doing NCT so will have that as a resource, I just didn’t want to come across as a complete idiot there 😂

Just wanted to say this post made me laugh a lot - my baby is 4 months and I felt the exact same level of confusion before having her. All the advice you've been given is great and genuinely instinct does kick in and you just figure it all out :D good luck!

I had 2 January babies. Both wore short or long sleeve vests, plus footed sleepsuits, pretty much night and day for a few months. Yes you can bulk buy. I used blankets for first, sleeping bags for second (first had health issues and wouldn't tolerate them). Big muslins are great for NORMAL spit up babies, covering up breastfeeding, makeshift blankets, milk absorbing for early breastfeeding. No muslin works for a reflux/cmpa baby, for these you need towels or fluffy blankets to cover floors/sofas etc.

My first stayed in vests and sleepsuits for well over a year (much vomit). Second was in vests and then t shirts and joggers pretty early on. Easier to change if she leaks overnight or smears strawberries etc.

Be careful not to overdress if you use a baby carrier in late winter.

Also, I find this really helpful as a guide for dressing at night x

I once cut my baby out of a vest after a poopnado because I didn't realise about the envelope thing.