Newborn clothes?

[Changeythenamey]

We’re expecting our first baby in May and I was discussing purchases with a friend.

She couldn’t believe I said I was going to be sticking to sleep suits/ baby grows from super markets and Matalan. She was suggesting I was being a bit tight and expected me to go ‘all out’ on more high end outfits.

Now I’m worried I’ll come across as a skinflint.

We’ve bought some lovely little baby grows from sainaburys and ASDA. My thinking was that the baby will grow so quickly and will be messing them up so regularly that these will be the best solution for the first few months.

Am I being stingy and ‘missing out on dressing her up’? Money isn’t a problem but I do hate to be wasteful.

Also friend was suggesting that we need 20-30 outfits for every age bracket. Is this right?

Think it depends on the baby. Both of mine had bad reflux so got changed up to 10 times a day

Oh my goodness she is SO wrong!!

Our son is four months old and I don’t think I’ve bought a single item of clothing for him - we used hand me downs from his sister and a lovely friend of ours with three boys.

Each to their own regarding high end newborn clothes, but put it this way - they all get plastered in poo, wee, sick and dribble just the same way and baby grows out of them just as fast. Babies also looks just as cute regardless of how much their clothes cost. Trust me nobody else cares!

I’m amazed how well our three year old primark baby basics have held up. I’ve had JL babygros that have washed terribly and a gorgeous jojo one that developed a massive hole after one wear.

Do what you want to do and screw the rest. It’s your baby ❤️

I think you should get a couple of dressier outfits as it will make you feel good if that’s what you like. But you can get them from the high street. I dressed DS up in some lovely suits from H&M for £5. He wore them twice and then I donated them.

How long things last does depend on the size of the baby - if you have a baby who’s smack in the middle of / on the lower centiles you do get more wear out of clothes than if they’re at the top.

DS is over a year old and still wears some of his stretchier 0-3 month stuff.

Your mate is mad. All they do is puke on them. The kid doesnt even know what clothes are. Such snobbery. Who will even see the baby! We are on lockdown. Rubbish.

Outfits are so much harder for baby and for you. Supermarkets have really upped their game with lovely clothes at the moment. Baby will either grow out of it really quickly or will get stained so will be ruined. Stick to supermarkets.

You want whatever will make them comfy and you happy. If some people are happy spending a fortune then let them crack on but most people are happy with baby grows for little ones.

I did notice quite a difference between shops though. Some will have integrated scratch mits, others grips on feet from a certain size etc. I also found material did vary quite a bit. Eg we had some JoJo ones which were much thicker than all the other ones we had but I felt they came up a bit small. They became my ‘special’ going out baby grows. Ones we’ve had from Sainsbury’s were much thinner material than the others which worked really well in summer. My favourites were Mothercare and then M&S.

Your friend is crackers! When my son was a baby, I used asda/tesco/sainsbury's for all his clothes. I also mainly stuck to sleepsuits at first because it was just easier.

Also, it's worth considering how quickly babies grow. My son was 9lb 6oz and long so by the time he was 8 weeks old, the 0-3 stuff didn't fit anymore I had also bought a newborn size tatty teddy baby grow from Tesco after my first scan. It never fitted him because it was 'up to 7.5lb'.

My son is 7 now and I still use supermarkets/Matalan and maybe H&M fot most of his clothes. The number that end up with paint/pen or mud stains from where he makes 'potions' outside, it's really not worth paying loads.

A lot of babies have digestive issues. Putting them in clothes with a waistband that might pinch if they are feeling bloated or constipated... that's just mean.

Also 20-30 outfits seems way ott for the average baby. If baby is a super pooper or puker anyway, you will wash often enough as you wouldn’t want multiple outfits sitting for days and days in puke as it would stink.

I would aim for around 10 changes of clothes. Buying a few more if you need to.

Mine has never really been a puker, so 30 outfits would have lasted 30 days potentially, meaning each one worn maybe 1-2 times max.

I’ve not read any replies, but from my experience up to 6 months old it was all about sleep suits from George. They are good quality and value.
We had a few pretty outfits given as presents, so for monthly milestones I would put them on for 10 minutes, take a picture and put her back in a sleep suit as soon as convenient.
It should be all about comfort and I find your friends comments rather daft.

According to your friend you also shouldn't accept hand me downs or let your child wear things your parents might have saved from when you were a baby. Oh and no charity shops ever. What a silly wasteful attitude!!!

Totally agree. My son doesn’t stop throwing up so we go through bibs like crazy. Dressing him in a fancy outfit wouldn’t be nice for him and utterly pointless for us.

I’d have thought 10-12 vests and babygros for each age range would be enough to start with? You can always buy more if needed.

Babies looking like babies in adorable babygros is just lovely. They don’t need to be dressed up like little mini adults.

A few people bought my DD outfits for newborns and 0-3 months, and I never put them on her as they're just too fiddly. She didn't start wearing any sort of outfit until she was at least three months, and even then it was pretty fiddly. Just stick to babygrows for now 😉

When they're newborn they outgrow them quickly and they tend to get covered in all sorts of dubious liquids...I bought mine in the TU 25% off sale, some muslins, and didn't actually bother with any 'actual' clothes such as leggings etc in newborn size, sleepsuits are so ideal.

Now DS is a bit older and tends to outgrow stuff at a slower rate I do tend to buy slightly more expensive brands, just the ones that I find harder wearing and more likely to withstand many washes! They also tend to sell on well, but definitely wouldn't for a newborn.

Don’t share info with her? She doesn’t sound pleasant. Fwiw my favourite were John Lewis (own brand in white), Sainsbury’s then M&S. I got madam Jojo Bebe ones, they weren’t as nice.

Baby will dribble, shit, and vomit on them, up to five changes a day. That’s a lot of clothes. Plus they grow so fast!

La redoute did nice jumpers and outer layers. Enjoy your baby when the time arrives, don’t worry about the cost of sleep suits x

My DS was only in baby grows for on a night or if we were having a lazy day. Nothing fancy just leggings and joggers really, he had a couple of pairs of loose jeans and tops. We had a lot of second hand stuff and everything that we bought was from a super market or matalan!

It depends on your friend's definition of 'outfits' really. I don't like seeing very small babies in jeans or uncomfortable looking dresses, but I also don't like older babies in babygrows all day. Once mine were about six months we left the babygrows for bedtime and they wore soft cotton dungarees or rompers with tights during the day. Mine were mostly from TU at Sainsburys and M&S which is fairly cheap. They had a few nicer things for when relatives came to visit.

We mostly had sleepsuits and vests from Next as they fitted DD really well (she was little and chunky)
We had some lovely sleepsuits from Tesco & Asda for DD. Why would you spend more on things that are just as good in terms of quality? Save that money for other things when you need to spend a bit more

She lived in sleepsuits for the first 6 months, apart from the odd outfit/dress for occasions.
Since then she has mainly lived in leggings and vests/t shirts/sweaters. It's only now that she's toddling she might wear a dress (crawling in a dress is difficult)

The number of outfits depends on the baby. DD has never been a sicky baby, and we've only had 2 explosions where we had to bin leggings and vests. What I tend to do, around a month before she goes into the next size is buy a multipack of vests (short sleeves), a multipack of leggings and a few tops (long & short sleeves) & a multipack of pyjamas, and then pick up other items like a dress, cute outfit along the way (my usual places are Asda, H&M, next, & Zara. I would get more from Tesco but they aren't available online and I haven't been into a Tesco store in months)

You don't need to buy or spend loads on your baby as they grow out clothes so quick. My baby is 2 months and we had a big bag of second hand newborn and 0-3month clothes that my SIL had used for her oldest. They had come from one of her friends. We only bought a couple of 0-3 month outfits and vests. We also got given second hand outfits from a neighbour and have bought a massive bag of 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothes off fb marketplace. Our families have bought my DS a couple of outfits too. I don't see the point of buying loads of new things when you can get just as good second hand. Also there is nothing wrong with supermarket or Matalan clothes for babies (or adults too)

Also friend was suggesting that we need 20-30 outfits for every age bracket. Is this right?

If you get the New Born size there is a good chance it will be impossible to wear 20 to 30 outfits. I would just get a few. If you have a small baby, you’ll still be lucky if you then get 60 days out of 0-3 months. So with 2 outfits a day that is only 4 wears each! Just get enough that you can wash and dry comfortably. I would also avoid anything with a waistband as they tend to get caught in the napp and get soggy. And you’re right, the supermarkets have some nice things.

I'm due soon, and have mainly bought from supermarkets too. I've got some funny babygrows from Etsy that were a bit more expensive, but I'm a geek and couldn't say no. I think I only got two and both were about £10 each. No way am I spending money on fancy outfits for a newborn - he's going to grow out of it/vomit on it, and I personally just don't think they look comfortable! Your friend sounds odd.

I’m expecting DS2 and most of his clothes are either hand me downs from DS1, from Facebook marketplace or from supermarkets. I have no idea why anyone would want to spend loads of money on high end baby clothes. Maybe the odd outfit if you really want to, but it seems like a waste of money

@Changeythenamey Out of interest...does your friend have children?
Definitely no need to overspend on outfits 🙈 Sod’s law says that the first time you put baby in a cute outfit it’ll last 2 minutes before there’s a nappy explosion lol. Supermarket stuff is fab!! I really rate Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s stuff. Found Asda really hit and miss for quality and sizes!
I also bought babygrows and vests from M&S and Next which were great and washed really well. Basic long sleeve tops and leggings from H&M were also a winner 👍🏻