Expecting twins - should I buy tiny baby clothes?

[HaylJay]

Hi everyone,

I'm expecting twins in January but I'm aware how often twins are born early.
I read that twins are most often born in the 37th week of pregnancy - for me that would mean Christmas time!

I've been buying tiny baby clothes because I want to be prepared if they are premature.

Do you think this is best?

Thanks in advance to anyone who gets back to me!

• Hayley

Hi, places like Mothercare and m&s will deliver premature baby clothes on express delivery and at no extra cost so you don't need to get too much in advance

You only really need a couple of vests/baby gros etc. as newborns don't get that dirty. If wouldn't hurt to get a couple of tiny baby ones on the off chance as well as some the next size up. They'll be out of them before you know it- babies grow fast!

If I have a boy I'll be okay as I've saved all my little boys clothes (he's 16 months now.)
But I never had to buy him tiny baby clothing

Oh that's a good idea thanks

You could get a couple of vests or baby grows. We got newborn size for our twins and DH had to go out and buy prem size instead - but they only had bright orange which looked lovely on the one with jaundice, as you can imagine. The nurses had words with him. So getting a couple of plain white or cream ones in advance would be good. And prem nappies.
Congratulations. And um, sleep now. As much as you can.

Twins are likely to be both earlier and smaller than singletons (obviously not all twins are), and are therefore more likely to require scbu/nicu admission. If this is the case the probably won't be dressed for a few days and you'll be able to order small stuff online.
Hopefully they won't be admitted though, so normal newborn clothes on the smaller size should be ok. Some brands size their newborn as "up to 7.5lb", some up to 10lb
Just check the labels.
Good luck with the pregnancy!

Tesco seem to stock a good range of tiny baby and early baby clothes. More varied and more reasonably priced than the likes of mothercare

You can always buy them closer to the time, but don't open them - then they can be exchanged for a bigger size if you don't need them. Tesco, Next, M&S etc are all happy to exchange even without a receipt (though obviously it helps to have it, especially if the sales start).

Same with tiny nappies etc. Leave everything in packets until you need it!

Also, you can always stick them in newborn clothes anyway; nothing bad will happen.

I'd buy some but not open them. DS was born at 35 weeks and I had no idea what size clothes he'd need so went to John Lewis and got a multipack of early baby and tiny baby. Ended up using both but they will exchange/refund with no issues.

M&S tiny baby are for up to 6lb6, so relatively big. I was being induced early so bought them just in case. My DS was 5lb3 so was in them for a good while. Next newborn are quite small (up to 7lb5 I think).

My twins were 5lb4 & 5lb8 at 34 weeks, big for their gestation but tiny as far as newborns goes. Mine also didn't grow as rapidly as full term singletons do so they wore Next up to 7lbs clothes until they were 3 months old. I bought early baby vests and sleepsuits from Mothercare and Up to 7lbs clothes from Next. We had a range of prem baby vests and newborn vests, 20 in total and 20 sleepsuits (some were hand me downs from friends).

Mine were born at 35 weeks weighing 5lb6oz and 4lb1oz. Tiny/early baby clothes absolutely drowned them and they'd be all scrunched up in the middle as they pulled their arms and legs out so my OH had a mad dash to Asda the day after they were born and picked up their prem range, they start from 3lb (maybe even 2lb) although we had the range from 4lb and they were still too big. They were in those for about 2-2.5 months so we got a fair bit of use out of them.

Mine were 7.10 and 7.8 so I'm glad I didn't...they only fitted in newborn ones for a month! If you have some already, I'd leave it there and buy more if you need them.

Mine were 5lb2 and 5lb4 and wore tiny/prem clothes for a good month or so after they were born. Worth getting a few but don't go overboard. It also isn't the end of the world if they're in slightly too big stuff - just roll up the arms and legs. I'd recommend not getting too much with built in hands and feet as there's no scope to roll up or for them to poke out a bit when they get too small.

I wouldn't buy too many tiny clothes, your babies might be bigger than you expect. Mine were over 7lb so wore newborn size. As others have said, they can always wear clothes that are a bit big, but you can't use any that are too small.

Things everyone for your
helpful responses. Update on my
situation - I'm now 21 weeks with MCDA twins and I've been told I will be induced at 36 weeks because they are sharing a placenta however they are still at risk for premature birth.
So think I defiantly will be needing some tiny baby things!

I bought a ton of tiny stuff and theyve managed to wear some once if that!

I had 6lb 4oz and 6lb 11oz babies so needed a size bigger,

We did take 4lb up to 6 lb clothes to hosp with us though with 5lb been in the bag and rest in a safe back in the car

Mine were early and very light but also long. So needed standard newborn size but they were super baggy. Just don't buy too much

I did only one of my girls needed them mine where 6lb and 7lb 6oz I'd go with packing a few of each if you can and getting oh to bring sizes needed once born. I second the idea of topping up closer to the time and keeping reciepts as we had enough for 2 babies in both sizes and obviously only needed half that once little twin caught up to newborn I her bigger sister was almost in 0-3mnth so little twin got her very first "hand me downs " hehe

Mine were 6lb15 and 5lb13 but both dropped too much weight in first three days (went down to 5lb15 and 5lb2 😢) so small baby was perfect for us... my son wore small baby for a couple of months whereas his sis piled the weight on so only wore it for the first few weeks!
oh and congratulations :)

Ps if you have a local twins group, people tend to sell on their small baby clothes so no need to spend much

We didn’t buy any tiny/prem size clothes. DH dashed out and got some when they were born! The hospital also had a good stash of vests, babygros, cardies and hats you could borrow.