dressing a baby

[TheSugarPlumFairy]

Hi ladies (and gents),

I have a question which may seem very obvious to many of you but i am driving myself a bit bonkers here so hoped you might be able to help.

Am currently 32w pregnant with DD1 and just entering the phase of outfitting the house for her arrival (some might consider it late but after 3 losses i couldnt bear having anything in the house until i was absolutely sure it was really going to happen this time).

anyhoo, was in sainburys last night stocking up on sleepers etc and was looking for baby vests to go under them. I couldnt find them anywhere which to me seemed strange. I am not british (am an aussie) so maybe you do things differently over here to what i had expected? My sisters kids always wore a little vest underneath their sleepersuit in cooler weather. Am i mad? what do you normally dress your baby in? i got some little sleeveless onesies to go under outfits but it seems odd where she would be wearing a sleeper/babygrow to have another suit on underneath over her nappy ifykwim.

As i said, i am probably being really thick here and if so, i blame the ninja/octopus hybrid currently residing in my abdomen and stealing my brain cells but it is really one of those things that that you dont think about until you have to.

any help would be gratefully received.

I have been reliably informed you put vests under babygrows - I picked mine up at a charity shop though - they do seem to be hard to find, I think mothercare do them and green baby certainly do.

By vests do you mean just the top half (ie no popper-ed bit that does up between the legs)? Because i've only ever seen those for older babies/children. Most wear the poppered type I think, and they would be called vests too. Two lots of poppers is a bit of a pain, I agree.

I don't understand, everywhere that sells baby clothes sell vests as far as I have known. Tescos does very cheap ones, you only need white ones as you'll never have it on the outside unless it's the height of summer.

Some places call them bodysuits. The ones with legs are called sleepsuits or babygros.
You can get them both anywhere.

What you term the onesies, we tend to call bodysuits which are also referred to by many as vests. They a great idea and will help keep your baby's nappy in place and your dd1 will be nice and warm.

bodysuits/ vests
short sleeved vetsts
wrap over vets

Yes, most people put their babies in vests - like a onesie with no arms and legs - and a sleepsuit or clothes on top. I've never seen normal vests for babies - surely they would ride up underneath the sleepsuit if there were no poppers at the groin?

Tesco/Asda/Sainsburys do good, cheap ones in multipacks.

I am not sure what you mean by vest.

My son wears bodysuits like this under his Grobag, long sleeve in winter, short sleeve in summer. Or under one of these when we go out. Or a short sleeve body suit if he's wearing overalls/trousers and a shirt, during the winter.

But not necessarily in white or from Mothercare!

Vests are the short sleeve onesies. Anything without poppers will ride up on a pre-walker.

Well I stand corrected ID! I've never seen those 'short sleeved vests' before (with 2 DCs under 5). You live and learn.

I wonder if I've found them impossible to find (in first size - either newborn or 0-3) is because of the baby boom? Trust me I've been looking - I'm due next week.

Ooo and some of the ones from the charity shop came from gap and next so I'm guessing they do them too. Though I doubt for 25p each!

they aren't anywhere near as common as bodysuits.

and by common I meant "found as frequently" not vulgar

They don't really do the singlet-style (i.e. without press-studs/poppers) vests for small babies in England, just sleeveless, legless onesies/bodysuits. TBH, I also think singlets would ride up - for a newborn, I wrap them in a warm blanket over a sleepsuit, and for slightly older, I put on something warm over the sleepsuit during the day, and put a baby sleeping bag over it at night.

Two countries divided by a common language, huh?

ahhhhhh! thanks ladies. you have put me out of my misery. You may well be right about them riding up. I had not really thought about it. Just one of those things you dont take any notice of until you have to.

common language indeed.

I always put my babies in a "vest" (sleeveless with poppas) and then a long-legged and long-sleeved bodysuit/sleepsuit/onesie at night.

All these silly words will seem second nature soon.

Good luck with your birth and beautiful new baby...

John Lewis do vests without poppers, I got some as with reusable nappies DS grew out of body suit style vests too quickly!