Help me understand baby clothes and what I need!

[IWantThisSoMuch]

So in my head babies wear a short sleeved body suit and a long sleeved one over the top. But that seems old school and not something you have to follow. But how many layers do they need? I like pyjama type tops and bottoms better or a long sleeved no leg top and then leggings, or zip style baby grows. How many layers and how many of each item do I need? What is easier to manage during the day and night changes? Will be a winter baby.

Mine were all in vests and babygros pretty much until they were crawling at which stage we moved to joggers or general separates.
Our house has always been quite warm so they never needed too many layers.
Only times I ever did proper ‘outfits’ was when we were going to something a bit special. And even then they were still babyish styled clothes not put in a suit or anything like that.
If you have a circle of friends and family that you think may buy clothes for the baby I’d just stick to a few sets of vests and babygros in a few sizes.

My DD was born in the autumn. We mainly put her in a vest and a baby grow. Then moved to leggings/jumpers as she got older. She got a few dresses bought for her but they were just an absolute nightmare.

My advice would be to keep it simple. One more layer than you when going out. So… vest, baby grow, pram suit, blanket, hat when out in the winter. There’s lots of guides online about what to wear in different temperatures.

The general rule I went by in winter was one layer more than an adult. So short sleeved body suit and long sleeved babygrow. Cardigan over the top if its really cold during the day. I kept my winter baby in this combo for a long time. Keeps their feet warm and often the first sizes have fold over mittens too. We did one babygrow for day time and another for bed. Sometimes needing to change if they were sick or nappy leak so I would say at least 10-14 of each.

Vests/bodysuits are good for ages. Keep their back and tummy warm as tops ride up when you pick them up, and keeps wandering hands out of nappies as they get bigger!

Edited to add: we found zip babygrows a pain for nappy changes in the early days. You have to undo it so far to get their leg out and when they're flailing around it can be a faff to get the first leg back in. Ones with middle poppers were much more simple.

Thanks all, seems vest and baby grow is still the way to go. Unless they get gifted something like an outfit, will be sticking with baby grows and comfortable clothes for as long as possible!

Anything avoiding baby socks for as long as possible. They are the work of the devil and will flatly refuse to remain on wriggly feet (although you can get ‘sock-ons’ if determined. Baby tights are not much better and quite a faff.

I sometimes switched a babygro for baby joggers with built in feet and a long sleeved top, or baby dungarees with feet built in . Vest underneath.

but basically babygros for as long as you can can.

Vest and baby grow worked best for these reasons:

• the funny shoulders on vests means you can pull them off down the body rather than over the head. This is very useful when the vest is covered in vomit or bright yellow poo that's exploded up and out of the back of the nappy right up to their neck.
• babygrows have built in feet and scratch mitts that fold down over their hands. Babies have nails like razor blades and floppy little feet that socks just fall right off of.
• both babygrows and vests are cheap and come in multipacks - see above note about bright yellow explosive poo

My son was born in January. Our house is well insulated so was never below 18 degrees. I cosleep so at night I’d just keep him dressed the same and he’d sleep next to me with a blanket covering us. I did have the wearable sleeping bags but never used them. I kept him dressed in long sleeve baby grows when at home and popped a blanket over him for naps so he was cosy. When going out I layered up with a pram suit, hat, and blanket, and would obviously remove the pram suit and hat when indoors again. You can tell if baby is too hot by feeling their ears or the back of their neck. I also got a digital thermometer off Amazon which came in super handy those first few uncertain weeks of having a winter newborn.

Oh and buy anything with zips where possible. The popper fasteners are so annoying.

For the first 3 months all you need are multipacks of cotton zippy babygros (zip instead of popper) that come with feet (and the fold over mittens usually)

Fancy outfits waste of time, socks waste of time.

With my second I didn't even bother with a vest underneath as back to back dirty nappies in the early days just meant that was a waste of time. And they were a winter baby. You'll have the heating on anyway when it's cold because you have to do so many nappies and you just layer up with blankets.

For bedtime mine would be in just a babygro, in a sleeping bag, with a blanket or 2 over the top for the weight and warmth.

The fold over mittens that come on the baby gro are nice but I'd only use on cold winter nights or if baby has been badly scratching face. It's normal for them to suck their fingers or fists, it's a soothing behaviour they did in the womb so unless it's causing major problems I'd leave them to it.

It's also normal for their hands to feel a little cold in comparison to their body.

I erred on the side of caution as well and preferred to risk mine being slightly too cold than potentially over heating. Layers of cotton cellular blankets are your friend.

Avoid those fleecy synthetic blankets at nighttime, only use them when you need instant temporary warmth but babies overheat in them if used in the cot.

The first few weeks with your first are utterly terrifying but listen to your instincts and you will soon be in tune with babies preferences.

Congratulations and best wishes!

I like pyjama type tops and bottoms better or a long sleeved no leg top and then leggings

Both of these options nice but bear in mind you'll still need a vest underneath because otherwise you've got a gap of bare skin where baby might get cold. It's nice if doing skin to skin though.

Also depends how sicky & pooey your baby is... if you've got one with all kinds coming out each end you won't have patience for faffing around too much you just want them clean and cosy asap :)

Fingers crossed you get one like my first who never vomited haha and not one like my second!!

@Wavescrashingonthebeach im probably getting the names of different pieces wrong! This Is what i was thinking so no gap?

Thank you to everyone and it seems zips are the winner!

My son ran hot so not many layers at all, and a onesie or body vest in a sleeping bag depending on temp.

I agree with all of this and that poppers are often easier than zips.

Because they sleep most of the time there's no need to differentiate between day/night outfits. It's enough to do to need to change them after poonamis/big sick.

Lots of friends like star blankets for the pram. We used a pramsuit as star blanket not suitable for sling. Remember the sling/you also count as a layer. My babywearing coat was a fab investment but you can also can universal panels thY zip in.

Don't buy too much if anything though. Baby clothes are available in every supermarket or on next day delivery from Amazon, if there's a particular store you like best then you could stock up on vouchers for that shop in advance if you are wanting to spread the cost and put the money aside in advance.

As you've seen on this thread some like poppers, some like zips, you'll find there are other little things that you prefer about a certain style for ease.

You also don't know how big your baby will be, whether they'll have a longer torso or legs, a chubby butt, which will change up the size you need.

DD was born 8lb 11oz and fit in newborn size for 1 week so we had lots of unworn, unused stuff.

Babygros are better when they're newborn and very tiny....separates like leggings and a top are annoying as the top invariably rides up and keeps having to be pulled down.

Honestly, I would get about 10 vests and 10 babygrows/sleepsuits for the first few weeks, then buy other stuff you like once baby is here and you know size, how sicky/pooey/wriggly they are! I got bought soo many outfits for my first, but he was chunky and they were a faff so the majority went unworn! You don't need to have everything before baby arrives, plus its more fun to buy stuff when you can actually picture your baby in it!

Ahhh that's lovely and yes after my sleepsuits that was my 2nd favourite outfit style.
Everything as stretchy as possible especially around the head and arm area, nothing worse than trying to get a screaming newborn into a stiff outfit!

During my nursing training I was advised for babies under 3 months to dress for the weather the same as adults, but with one extra layer. Being held counts as a layer so be aware of that. After three months dress as you would yourself as they should be able to regulate their temperature better. No hats indoors ever- this is associated with overheating which is very dangerous for babies.