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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want my baby in outfits?

93 replies

Divvy · 13/10/2008 11:09

He is 10 weeks old. I have today for the first time, put him in jeans and top with a tank-top over the top.

The thing is, I cant friggin hold him now, as the clothes are riding up.

I really like babies in vest and babygros. They look comfy, no band on belly area, and you can hold them, without them feeling like they are falling apart!

After he has been weighed today, he straight back in his babygro when we get home!

ps, I have only dressed him so it looks like I have made the effort

OP posts:
MadameOvary · 13/10/2008 13:12

Of course YANBU.
Agree completely with the whole riding up thing, but after DD being in babygros for 4 months through wearing a Pavlik harness she began to get so active that her nappy would leak so I put her in a vest with poppers to hold the nappy in place, IYSWIM. So she wears dungarees mostly.

HellboundNinkynork · 13/10/2008 13:15

YANBU. I don't like seeing boys with waistbands or girls in little skirts and tights either. DS lived in cotton or fleecy sleepsuits, except for my wedding when he was 3 months old, and that outfit was a lovely collarless shirt and Beatrix Potter blue velvety trousers. He did look odd but not as if his clothes were too old for him.

My sister's baby was wildly overdressed in comparison, rising from a sea of white lace and shiny polyester, frilly knickers, beribboned and beaded hairband and all. It still gives DH and I a laugh when we look at the pics.

I left DD with my Mum once in the summer, beautifully comfortable in a cotton vest and returned to find her (Precious First Grandchild) similarly tricked out with a lacy fecking mobcap on They are babies, not dolls FGS.

goingfor3 · 13/10/2008 13:16

DS is nealry 5 minths and wears manly babygros. Sometimes I put some dungerees over the top of the babygro.

HellboundNinkynork · 13/10/2008 13:33

DN is now on my profile. I'm gutted I don't have the pic of DD, you could all have cringed along in sympathy

FAQ · 13/10/2008 13:35

no it was only in the Victorian period that "baby" clothes more suited to a baby began to appear. Prior to that they were dressed the same as adults.

pamelat · 13/10/2008 13:37

I think babies in "Proper" clothes are a bit scarey!!

My DD was in babygrows until about 3 months also. SHe is 9 months now and looks very grown up in her (ASDA!) jeans and t-shirts.

Simplysally · 13/10/2008 13:47

I visited some twins at the weekend and they were wearing little outfits. I was shocked when I saw the outfits in Sainsburys though - I bought soft outfits with a popper vest each but some of them were stiff jeans type things. Soft outfits like leggings are ok.

hoppybird · 13/10/2008 15:49

No, of course YANBU. You should dress your baby in the way you find most practical, and which is most comfortable for him. I know exactly what you mean about the 'falling apart' feeling!

Mine were in nappies, vests and babygros (with granny-knitted cardies on top when cold) until they wanted to start crawling - it doesn't appear to have affected them psychologically, and they weren't embarrassed to be wearing the same types of clothes in which they slept in the daytime. In fact, they could even tell when it was day and night despite a wardrobe of just babygros!

Also, FAQ, I understand that in the good old days, infants were mostly kept in swaddling until they were ready to crawl, and then they were dressed in simple unisex gowns/smocks. I would think, especially in those days, that the little versions of adult clothes would be introduced once the child was toilet trained.

nbee84 · 13/10/2008 18:14

Been reading this with interest My 2 kids are now 14 and 20 so doesn't apply now, but I'm afraid I am one of those Mum's that prefers to dress children during the day and see babygro's as pyjamas. I felt it helped my children to know the difference between day and night (not sure how a tiny baby might know!) Babygros after bath meant feed and bed - hopefully until the next morning.

I liked all the little dresses and dungarees you could get for babies - I think the choice is even better now and when I see some of the fantastically priced and cute outfits in Tesco and Asda I'm almost tempted to have another one!!!

I did used to choose clothes for comfort (soft material, no tight waistbands) and it was also very important that they would not need ironing.

YANBU though as it is ultimately each parents choice how they dress their baby.

LuLuBai · 13/10/2008 20:13

flourybaps - zippy babygros are hard to find. But they are worth getting several of when you find them!

I had one from Gap that was handed down to me (but never found another one there) and H&M do them but usually in a fairly lightweight material more suitable for summer babies. I have also spotted them on some online catalogue shops (possibly La Redoute?)but be warned that French brands often seem to come up very tiny (DD was a big baby).

flourybaps · 13/10/2008 20:19

cheers LuLubai I've got the La redoute catalouge ill have a look.

LuLuBai · 13/10/2008 20:31

Do check H&M as well. I've bought their zip-babygrows for several friends now too.

littleducks · 13/10/2008 20:45

FAQ- are you sure? i thought that babys were dressed in long nighties and dresses pre babygros

combustiblelemon · 13/10/2008 20:49

I love these

Shitemum · 13/10/2008 20:52

I dressed mine in babygrows till they were 3 mo.

nooka · 13/10/2008 20:54

I did mostly babygros until they really started to move. You can get very nice ones, and they are just so much easier. I don't like to see "dressed up" babies, except for special occasions. Actually I don't like to see dressed up toddlers/small children either. I think clothes should suit their use, and that to me means simplicity. So clothes that don't scratch or restrict or get in the way, and keep the baby warm/cool depending on the weather.

Divvy, I think your baby is gorgeous, but prefer the pic of him with his big sister. Save the jeans for when he is crawling and needs his knees protecting

mammyofET · 13/10/2008 21:17

Somedays I dressed DS, somedays I didn't. I always chose lovely soft clothes that were comfortable and cute tho.

Don't think that YABU, but don't think dressing them is unreasonable either.

elkiedee · 13/10/2008 21:49

I used babygros nearly all the time until ds grew out of 3-6 month clothes, and still quite a lot after that. I did take him out sometimes in the summer (he was born in early May) with a vest and jeans, particularly as I got a rather weird nurse at his jabs who objected to me taking him in wearing a babygro. I did get some funny comments.

His jeans and trousers (lots of cords) are mostly quite soft material and not tight round the waistband. We only started putting shoes on him once he began to walk though, and I've not dressed him in shirts.

I also found taking him to CM at 10 months when I went back to work has affected the way I dress him, she clearly prefers trousers to dungarees for example.

We put him in babygros at night, although over the summer we used pjs a lot of the time.

I use poppered vests under all his clothes - in the summer he can be undressed down to his vest and that seemed to suit both our and CM's style of doing things. It protects his clothes and I always think nappies sticking out the back of jeans look awful.

milkysallgone · 13/10/2008 21:50

Yanbu. It's worth having babies just for the cute little babygrows - Oh how I miss babygrows .

Smithagain · 13/10/2008 21:55

I only used outfits as a cue to me that it was now daytime not nighttime. Some vague semblance of normality, because otherwise every day merged into the next and I started going stark staring mad.

And yeah - dungarees much better than silly little jeans.

theSuburbanDryad · 13/10/2008 22:07

Second H&M for the zipped up baby grows - they do them in really funky designs as well. Ds still wears all-in-ones for sleeping in because he gets tangles up in pyjama trousers!!

When he was tiny I found his wind issues were solved by not using anything with a waistband - he wore dungarees permanently until he was about 13 months, and still wears them a lot of the time at 21 months! As far as I'm concerned, cute dungarees only stop being an option when you start potty training!!

zazen · 13/10/2008 22:14

Divvy put him in the clothes that you like.

But be careful with the baby grows that his toes have enough room and aren't all bent.

Sometimes a little jersey popper suit with socks is actually better for his little feet.
Alternatively snip the babygro bottoms at the toe seam, to let his feet out and put socks on him to stop curling his feet up - the bones are so delicate, it can harm his feet.

Rose100 · 13/10/2008 22:51

YANBU. I really dislike seeing tiny babies in grown up clothes, especially jeans with tight waistbands. Someone at a mother and toddler group had a 4 week old in chinos, buttoned shirt and tank top. FGS! that's a wedding or Christening outfit for a toddler isn't it? Mine stayed in babygros for as long as possible, moving into stronger stuff when crawling or added layers for cold weather. My HV told me to always add another pair of socks on top (unless really hot) and to obviously not let feet become constricted.

sparkle12mar08 · 14/10/2008 10:50

Well, going against the grain here it seems, but I dislike seeing babies in all in ones after about 2-3 months, it doesn't seem right to me. I used getting my two dressed as a cue to the day - activity time vs night time, and as a prompt for me too - time to get my brain and body in gear and do something productive for them. So because I'm used to seeing my own in outfits, seeing others in babygrows seems odd. Obviously outfits were chosen for comfort first, style a far second (I've never been known as a fashion victim, am usually far behind the times

MamaHobgoblin · 14/10/2008 11:03

YANBU! You don't have to put him in stiff jeans at 10 weeks just to make him look 'dressed'!

Mine is 7 months and we have only recently started putting him in loose dungarees with long vests underneath, rather than babygros, or vests with pull-ups. Before then, he just looked so uncomfortable in 'outfits' (we got given a few - I'm afraid they all went to the NCT sale or ebay!). I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about dressing babies up in adult clothing.

And there really is peer pressure. A few weeks ago, I looked around the room at a baby group we go to, and he was the only one out of 15 in a nice, comfy babygro - all the others were in jeans, combats, dresses that constantly rode up, etc. I mean, even t-shirts can be annoying if there isn't anything underneath - they just slip up all the time, leaving a cold tummy! And I do get remarks like 'oh, he's still in his pyjamas!' WTF?

Sorry, rant over.