Warm baby clothes for winter?

[trrk]

I’m a FTM to 12 week old DD and a bit clueless about what she needs for winter. I have a few cardigans for the top half but does she also need woollen or fleece bottoms and sleep suits? The trousers/leggings and socks I have seem quite lightweight (mostly cotton). Are these warm enough for inside in winter? How about outside if covered with a blanket?

For outside I have a star wrap, blankets (mostly the cellular type - are these too light?) and hats and mittens but nothing waterproof. Does this sound OK or does she need a proper waterproof coat? We are still in the pram bassinet for now but I guess she will be in the toddler seat by the end of winter if that makes any difference.

I usually tend to have the house colder in winter and wear warmer clothes but I guess with a baby it would be better to have the house warmer? She seems to hate the cardigans so far and is more comfortable in just the long sleeve vest and trousers combo.

She shouldn't need a waterproof coat yet if she's still in the bassinet but a padded pram suit might be an idea with a hat for really cold days (though those can't be used in car seats). Layers are a good idea. I used to put my DD in a short sleeve vest, sleepsuit and a 2.5 tog sleeping bag at night, with a cellular blanket over the top if it was very cold in the room. I'd avoid fleece sleepsuits as they can get very warm and run the risk of overheating in them.

In the winter I used to layer up tights under thinner leggings, with socks or moccasin type booties (Sainsburys) and then a long sleeve vest, cardi/jumper and coat/hat/mittens on top. We had thicker lined hoodie style cardigans from M&S too which were good for those days where it's cold but not so chilly as to need a coat. If we were in the car then I'd use a knitted blanket to cover her up a little to keep warm in the car seat.

Hi @trrk
My baby is 1 week older than yours so same boat for over winter.

I've got a couple of fleecy pramsuits & will make sure to have the raincovers so hopefully we won't need a waterproof coat.
I have got a couple of thick cardi/jackets at the moment.

I've had to put my heating on earlier than hoped as it had dropped below 16 degrees in the house. I'd have put on an extra layer or kept moving but need to keep baby warm. I think the cotton leggings will be ok with socks & the vests underneath.

Pramsuit for outside. Doesn't particularly need to be waterproof - presumably if it's raining / snowing you'd have the rain cover on the pram. All about layers - mine lived in vest + babygrow + some kind of hoodie type layer on top if chilly indoors. The other thing we found useful was leg warmers and lined booties for in the sling (I read somewhere that it's not good to carry them in the sling in a pramsuit when they're tiny), and we bought the fleecy waterproof cover for our sling and got a lot of use out of that - if you're using one. Hat and gloves for cold fingers (lots of Mumsnet will say you don't need extras like gloves but we bought a three pack of baby mittens from Next for a few quid and they looked much warmer than socks, which was the suggestion I tend to see on here). We didn't have fleecy onesies or anything like that - the thought of sleeping in fleece gives me the ick and I think the overheating risk would be high with a small baby. You should be ok at night with the right thickness sleeping bag and regular onesie, maybe also a vest underneath.

You can get fleece sleepsuits if you want, but if you use sleeping bags then they're probably unnecessary.

I didn't have anything waterproof for winter; babies shouldn't be in rain - the carrycot's rain cover was all that was required.

For the really cold months we used a fleecy onesy and blanket when outside.

Apart from that, lots of layers for inside.

Thanks all for the responses and great advice! One question about pram suits - do you find them easy to take on and off on the go eg if we drive to a National Trust type place to go for a walk?

my baby is 6 months so a bit older than yours but my last was a winter baby. I think apart from when it’s REALLY cold the star wrap is really good. Last week when it was cold (I’m in northern Scotland and it “felt like” 4!)I put her in warm leggings and socks, a vest, jumper and fleecy hoodie and then the star wrap. I always have a spare blanket just in case. She was plenty warm enough! If it rains just pop a rain cover over the pram. I think it’s so much easier than trying to wrestle little arms and legs into a snow suit!

Also a fan of what are essentially hoodies with legs - you can get them from frugi, little green radicals and no doubt other places.

You are better with layers rather than thick padded items, as it is easier to remove or add them if needed. Remember when inside leave your baby’s head uncovered as overheating is a huge risk. I wonder if the lullaby trust will have any advice for this winter with everyone keeping their heating off?

Definitely a thick pramsuit/snowsuit for winter, they can get very cold lying in their pram not moving. For inside we did thick tights with a vest and dress, or socks and leggings, vest and jumper.

We had a pram suit and it was a pain in the arse when she was in the bassinet. Lots of layers and blankets were easier, and less risk of overheating. Also remember no coats or thick layers in car seats. Car seats cocoon the baby so get very warm, removable blankets.

As a pp mentioned you can get some sleepsuits that are thick hoodie type material. I found those and thin fleece sleepsuits great for throwing on in the house to keep warm if it got chilly.

Pp's are right that layers make it easier to manage temperature, particularly if you're in/out of cars and shops etc. But if you leave the house with baby in the pram for a walk round the park, I can't imagine not having a padded pramsuit. When it got really cold we used blankets on top! I preferred the ones with two zips so you could zip away the top to completely open to cool them if you came inside (if DD stayed asleep I'd leave her like that in a cold hallway without her overheating).

We always had a gilet/waistcoat (in something fuzzy/Borg material rather than padded waterproof one iyswim) to pop off/on around the home when an extra layer was needed. Easy to get their arms though.

Pramsuits are really easy to get on and off, we had one from John Lewis & one from JoJo and no worries with either. Vest + onesie + extra cardigan for indoors if needed.