Help me understand baby clothes sizes and what I need

[TVRose]

Getting myself all confused and wound up. Different shops seem to have different sizes, so newborn isn’t newborn and then there’s newborn 0-1, 1-3, 2-4 etc. I’m looking to get a few baby grows of early baby, newborn and next size up so covered for when they arrive. I’m so confused, are the sizes equal across the board and in the shop that does newborn and then 0-1 and 2-4 etc do I need to change up a size for everything every month at the start? And how much of everything do I need?

When mine were babies I got a few newborn and 0-3.

Look for clothes in months sizes not years e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-9. I would suggest mostly 0-3 and 3-6 months to start with, you only need to size up when they look like they are outgrowing the clothes. In terms of numbers, lol not sure I could quantify it! You need multiples as obviously they sometimes have leaky nappies/sick on them. Buy lots of washing powder is my advice!

You need to buy the vests and sleepsuits but you will likely be inundated with gifts of little outfits. You can swap these for larger sizes if you get too many of the same size. Babies grow incredibly quickly. Most basics can be grabbed at the supermarket.

Buy muslins for quick cleanups and protecting clothes - yours and theirs.

Babies are so varied in size, my son was born already too big for most newborn clothes. And then I’m sure brand to brand is different too. He’s now 23m and wears size 3yrs.
so it’s a very good idea to cover different brands/sizes until you can be sure. Start with everything up to 3m because he might be huge you never know 😂 or tiny.
then a 6 month old can be wearing 9-12m or a 9 month old can still be wearing 3-6m

How big were you/your siblings as a newborn? How big was your partner/your baby’s father? Don’t bother with tiny/early baby if you were 8lbs+ or so, it will never fit.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/what-you-will-need-for-your-baby/#:~:text=You'll%20probably%20need%3A,6%20vests

Keep your receipts!

You might be able to get an estimate of size if you’re having any sort of growth scan, I bought loads of 0-3 months then had a tiny 5lb baby and was in tiny baby, first size then newborn for the first 3 months. If you’re not sure on the weight then I would get a few newborn but more 0-3 months. If you leave tags on most shops will let you swap sizes.

Newborn babies are really hard to dress as they are wriggly, scrunched up, they hate being naked and will scream through changes, you might be changing them multiple times per day if they leak/sick/have a poonami. Our nappy changes weren’t great at first so our baby leaked a lot. So you will probably want to stick with vests and sleepsuits with maybe the odd outfit for photos or a special occasion. Depending on how much you like washing I would think at least 10 vests and sleepsuits, a couple of outfits, a couple of cardigans. You might need a hat for hospital but not afterwards. Loads of muslins and a few cellular blankets. We have only started using bibs now our baby is dribbling more.

If you look at the online size charts, it will also give the weights in kg. So you'll be able to compare if you are actually buying stuff that is the same size. So if i remember rightly, for example, John Lewis tiny baby and M&S newborn were the same size (up to 3kg?) because M&S do a up to 1 month, which is equivalent to John Lewis newborn (up to 4.5kg?). Are you having growth scans or a 36w scan? That will give you a rough estimation of size so you'll know if you need to buy more. Eg. My babies both tracked low centiles (eldest was 2.6kg) so we bought loads of tiny baby with us and just a couple of newborn plus 1 x 0-3 incase the scans were totally wrong (they weren't).

Meant to add different brands are different sizes. We found that if they did a tiny baby/first size in their range then their newborn/0-3 months would be bigger. John Lewis and Mothercare seem to be generous sizing. M&S is quite small. Next and supermarket brands in the middle.

Most people get gifts of more 0-3/3-6 month stuff than they know what to do with, so don’t get loads. As pps have said, depends on size of baby but a few newborn and a few 0-3 I’d say will do fine. I wouldn’t buy any 3-6 at this stage, wait to see what gifts you have and you can buy them once baby is here. Also it takes a while to get used to how to dress them in different seasons so it’s worth waiting til nearer time to gauge the temp when they hit 3 months. A few newborn cardies to start and a snowsuit if it’s likely to be cold.

As PP say
-look at what weight you/your partner were at birth and what your growth scans are saying

• you'll get some wear out of 0-3 but v little or none out of newborn/first size. If you want to buy some do so as close to the birth as possible. Keep receipts and packaging so you can swap for a larger size.

I had about 7 vests and 7 sleepsuits for mine. Plus a couple of pramsuits (winter baby). Loads of muslins. They sleep so much when they're little it's pointless having day/night outfits. Just dress them comfortably.

I'd shop light until after baby arrives.

I had an unexpectedly small DC3 so all my 0-3m were useless and we needed tiny baby / newborn stuff (despite having a growth scan a week before they arrived!!)

Thanks all, yes having growth scans and we were average size babies from what I know!
It’s all so confusing. Do they need a vest and a long sleeved/legged thing over the top? Or just a long legged one if they’re all bundled up as a newborn?

Buy

1 x multipack of vests in newborn
1 x multipack of babygrows in newborn
1 x multipack of vests in 0-3
1x multipack of babygrows in 0-3

You won't know which size will fit best till you have your baby in your arms, they may be petite, have chubby legs, be longer than average...

You'll get given some outfits as gifts which will add to your collection.

Every supermarket has baby clothes so once you know what size you need you can easily buy more and most online shops do next day delivery too. You'll only need vests and babygrows for the first few months in terms of clothes. If you have an autumn or winter baby then you'll need blankets and a couple of hats as well as a couple of cardigans.

DD was born 23 inches long and 8lb11oz, newborn fit for exactly 1 week, then she was in 0-3 months for 1 months, then into 3-6 months. She has always been ahead of the sizes in the tag, now at 10yrs old she's 5ft tall, wearing size 6 shoes and 12-13 in clothes otherwise her T-shirts look like crop tops and her trousers are 2 inches too short.

If you want to spread out the costs then find a shop where you like the clothes and top up a gift voucher so you have the money available when you need it.

Mumsnet has deemed my question not great, I posted two threads today as a first time mum and went it post a third question and I’ve been locked out/put on a cool down for posting too much. I posted two threads……

So vests are the legless ones with short sleeves and baby grows are the long leg and arm ones?

Just like I can fit a size 14 in M&S, but need about a 20 in Zara, all brands fit different babies differently.

My 7lb 3 had to go straight into 0-3, because he was all legs. His 8lb brother fitted in newborn!

Edit: exactly what you put them in depends on how hot it is. A baby this week would just have a vest (yes, legless things usually with poppers at the crotch) on. A December baby might have a long sleeved vest, a babygro, and a cardi.

Exactly that.

Vests have funny shoulders too (envelope shoulders) this is a fab feature because it means you can pull the vest down their body to take it off instead of over their head. Very useful when they do an explosive poo that shoots up out of the back of their nappy to the nape of their neck.

Babygrows have built in feet, do NOT for the love of all that is holy, try to keep socks on a baby. It's like when you try to get two magnets to stick together and instead they push each other away. Socks just don't want to stay on babies feet. Babygrows also have built in baby mitts, they just fold down over their hands, because one of the other fun facts about babies is that they have wonderfully sharp fingernails.

You can also get long-sleeved vests, so basically a vest is any sort of situation that covers the torso and does up with poppers between the legs.

Just to add... be a little careful buying too far ahead. The reason I say this is because I was ultra organised on maternity leave. I had boxes of newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12. I'd bought them all according to the season that it'd be by the time I needed them...based on her age. Needless to say, my nearly three year old is still rocking her 18-24 month clothes because she's always been on the smaller side. She didn't go into 0-3 until she was 3 months. Then 3-6 was around 6 months. 6-9 was around 10 months. And so on.. so all my best guesses about warmer and cooler clothes were entirely off and I arrived into winter with a box full of dresses and short sleeved stuff..
I did, however, get most things in the sale/in tesco and primark. Especially when she went to nursery. I didn't feel so bad about her trashing a £1.20 outfit from primark on her first day playing with paint!

Mine were in 1 month for on average the first month, then 3 months. No newborn size. Born at term and average sized.

On layers, the usual advice is 1 layer more than you are wearing. Bear in mind they don't move so they're not getting warmed up through walking about like we do.

So if you would be wearing trousers, tshirt and a cardi then they will need babygrow, cardigan and the extra layer would be the vest.

In the summer on hot days you may choose to just put them in a vest, generally it would be vest and babygrow. You need to consider skin coverage as well, it's not recommended to use sun cream under I think 6 months, so you need to make sure their skin is covered to protect from sunburn.