For only dressing my baby in ‘pyjamas’?

[KellyJellyfish]

DD is 15 weeks old and small for her age (premature, still wearing 0-3months). Yesterday we attended a mums and baby music class and during the pre-class chat we got a couple of comments about how cute my DDs pyjamas were.

I dress her pretty much exclusively in babygrows and bibs, firstly because she has reflux and can write off at least one outfit a day (our record is 4 in 15 minutes!), secondly because most of our stuff is either secondhand, gifted, or cheap multipacks, thirdly because she still very much needs scratch mitts and she cannot stand cold feet or legs (socks fall off, trousers ride up). But most of all, because she’s a baby? Yeah I could waste money on little jeans and hoodies or dresses, but what’s the point? It’s expensive, wasteful, and makes life harder for both of us when it comes to changing and laundry. I’ve never really viewed babygrows as PJs before, just something babies wear.

AIBU?

Christ, DS is still in babygros quite often at 18 months. More comfortable to nap in, he’s got a fat tummy and likes to eat, he doesn’t crawl up inside them anymore so they function fine. He chooses to pair them with mismatched wellies and a witch’s cape now, but is otherwise quite happy in them. We’ve got the double zip ones so no poppers and you do the zip from the ankle for nappy changes. Sometimes he runs away afterwards with the legs flapping merrily behind him.

Yeah I used to dress mine in babygrows all the time when he was under 1, although it was mid 2020 when he was born so not loads of places to go. 😅

Seriously though they're babies, I always put his comfort and the ease of changing a nappy as the main criteria when dressing him. He's nearly 4 now and I still mostly dress him for comfort. Lots of jogging bottoms and long sleeve tops.

I find parents that would judge a baby or even a pre-school child's clothing absolutley ridiculous (as long as it's weather appropriate and no apparent signs of neglect) live and let live.

I had a couple of outfits when they were newborns but they mostly wore sleepsuits. I did move them into body suits and leggings once they outgrew first size though as I found it was less poppers than the sleepsuits for changing nappies. I had some leggings with feet that meant no socks needed.
Mine were both small (despite both being a week late) and were in first size for a while.

That's odd. Mine lived in babygrows until they were old enough to move about abit more and needed something abit warmer or more flexible. But so did all the others babies we saw. The dresses up in jeans ones were in a minority in classes. I would out dresses on in summer or for abit if going out and we fancied a change but mostly grows because like you said they go through loads at that stage and they are the comfiest!

Keep them in baby gros as long as possible I say 🥰

Babygrows are not pyjamas though

Some days I still dress my now 15 month old in a babygrow, cardi and bib, if we're just going to stay and play or softplay or somewhere. I love baby clothes but think the grows are really cute! He's got rainbow striped ones, and ones with bears, dragons...

2 words that are about to change your life. ZIPPER BABYGROS. My baby is always in a baby grow unless it’s a special event - I get them from Vinted! The purchase I’m most proud of - 4 carters zip babygros for £1!

I know what you mean, when mine were little they didn’t have reflux but they lived in baby gros as easy and comfortable I saw most babies in fancy little outfits but I didn’t see the point in them

Mine always wore babygros and even the HV said this to me! So rude! They always had a clean one on and I had day ones and night ones. Babies look super cute in babygros, I personally prefer that to a six month old being dressed in a maxi dress like a 30 year old but there we are!

I always had mind in baby grows until they were about 4/5 months (can't remember exactly).

The main reason was I like them to be comfy and have a bit more freedom. I personally don't like seeing young babies in jeans etc.

It also massively helped with cost of buying clothes.

My children are middle aged now but I always differentiated between day and night wear, think it helped establish the bedtime routine of putting something different on for night.

I never understand things like jeans for small babies. Unless the weather is too hot, or perhaps it’s a very special occasion like a wedding, babygros are by far the most comfortable and practical for them. I’ve never heard them referred to as ‘pyjamas’ either!

I agree with you but I got a lot of "pyjama" comments too, and this was 10 years ago.

I didn't have any strong feelings on babygrows until I actually had a baby, and realised how comfy they were for the baby. They were all marketed as sleepsuits though.

Weaning is a bit of a game changer though, as is crawling and rolling. Separates are easier to swap out when they've gunked all over them.

I regret not dressing DD in baby gros more - that time doesn't last long. Enjoy it

My sister used to keep her son in babygrows until he was about 6 months old unless he was going out somewhere. She had different ones for night and day. I like to put mine in clothes from about 3 months and keep the babygros for bedtime but dd2 and ds were both big babies. My dd2 had reflux too and I can appreciate the amount of washing you get through. She wore a lot of dd1's clothes and some that belonged to her brother.I don't put mine in jeans until they are walking.

People will say all sorts, just ignore.

My kids were all born in the early summer, (within 3 weeks of one another actually. It's a sort of ultra-expensive second Christmas for us) and so I mostly plumped for vests and occasionally little shorts when mine were dots. But I had the same thought as you... Who's got time to wash a thousand pairs of tiny chinos / puffball dresses covered in milky vomit?

I would make an effort to dress baby in the puffball dress from Great Grandma when we actually went to see Great Grandma. But, since there is more chance of me fitting into the fucking thing myself than actually ironing it, it would then go straight from the wash into the donation bag, after just one wear. Yes really, I'm that awful.

By baby number two, this was without one single shred of guilt.

Babygros are good for babies. Things that need to be ironed are not.

Baby gros are cute and the easiest at that age - mine lived in them. Jeans seemed so stiff and uncomfortable in comparison. I love seeing a baby in a baby gro.

But it's not foofy dresses or jeans Vs babygros is it?

My son wears leggings or joggers with long sleeve vests and t shirt over. The joggers are nice and warm in this awful weather compared to thin onesies.

I was diehard in babygros til 4.5 months, but now he's in clothes there's plenty of practical options.

I LOVED having our two in baby grows for as long as I could! They are adorable. Dress your lovely little one in whatever you and they feel comfortable with

I always viewed them as pyjamas. Even if I left my son in them I would consider him wearing pyjamas. Not ina. Negative way and until now I’ve never really thought about it.

I tended to dress him in those baby T-shirts that clip underneath so they didn’t ride up. Leggings from mama Bebe or whatever that shops called.

my fave item was something a local mum made called maxiloons. They were a jersey material jogger/leggings where the ankle had a long cuff and so did the waistband that could be folded and rolled so you could literally wear them for 3 years, also meaning as they grew the ankle rolled down keeping them warm. As he got older he wore them just with T-shirts.

this was them: https://www.popclothinguk.com/gwmt

I think the only reason to put a baby into anything other than a babygro is if it’s cold (or too hot)outside.
I suppose maybe christening/other religious naming day ceremony.

You sound eminently grounded to me - I hope you enjoy this time as much as possible!

The only worse thing than this is a massive bow, to prove to the world that a perfectly beautiful little baby is a girl. Thus initiating her into womanhood at at early age - discomfort for no bloody reason!

I dressed my little boy for about 3 months in these really cute “trousers” we got handed down he was about 1. They were pyjamas haha! Our very kind family member who gave us them said to me very nicely why isn’t he wearing trousers and not pj bottoms. We all laughed! Babies need stretchy comfy clothes to move and explore.