Baby clothes.... help????

[CupcakesHay]

Hi

I'm first time mum to be and need a bit of help (expecting a boy)

I went to mothercare and bought a few things, but i'm really confused.

What do babies wear, in the day?

We saw long sleeved "bodies" with poppers at bottom - but no legs. When do they wear them? Do they wear them with trousers? My mum said something about vests - do babies these days wear vests?

And i assume at night - it's the little sleeping bag things and sleepsuits? That's the only bit i feel kind of quite confident about

And last question - how much of everything do I need??? I don't want to buy too much stuff that isn't needed - plus know i'll get pressies, etc from friends - so just trying to think about what i can buy! Live in country - so shops aren't very close!

Hiya,

those lons sleve vest, I would put under a sleepsuit/babygrow.

You can just put softtrousers on but I just use them as a vest rather than a top.

If I were due I would get

a pack of these as vests if due in a cold season

a pack of short sleeve ones for warmer days

2 or 3 packs of these

and socks, hatsbooties, and mittens.

Also an outdoor snowsuit too

I would say 'clothes' are optional in the first 0-6 months, baby grows will do the job nicely!

For the first few months mine wore a short sleeved vest with a babygrow on top. The "bodies" you saw are what I call vests. By babygrow I mean a one piece thing with arms, legs and integral feet.

He wore this both day and night. I needed about 10 of each. My house is quite cold so I also put him a cardigan over the top. Cardigans are better than jumpers because babies hate having things put over their heads.

I don't think you're supposed to use sleeping bags initially. I swaddled my son in a sheet then covered him with a blanket.

I hope this helps!

Your baby can wear sleep suits all day long - much easier than trying to get things over their heads when you are getting used to a baby and less wailing, etc. DS practically lived in sleepsuits til he was about 6 months old, and with it being winter again, I expect this one will too. Yes, they would wear the little bodies during the day with trousers, in the summer maybe on their own. Yes, a baby would wear a vest (it is like the long sleeved body, but with short sleeves instead!) again with trousers.

Don't buy too much new born stuff - they grow out of them really quickly. Go for 0-3 months, and bear in mind that nappies can leak frequently, and they might be pukey so you might need to change them several times a day and you don't want to be worrying too much about laundry every day so have about 20? Lots of muslin cloths, I have just bought about 30. You might want to think about getting a swaddle - we used one for about 3 months before he went into a bag - it really helped him sleep. You'll need a warm "snowsuit" for out and about, some cardigans and socks.

Can you shop online at all? Then you don't need to get too much now, but buy some more from Mothercare, etc when you know what you like using.

If anyone offers to knit for you, ask for some small soft cardigans (0-3 or 3-6mth) or a pram blanket and hat.

Grobags are good, they are pricy (good present) although they are supposed to be only for 4kg and above. Best to get two.

People will probably give you a few mini-outfits but these invariably get dribbled on after half an hour.

When I say "you might need to change them", I mean the outfit, not the nappy (though you'll need to change that too , so have about 20 sleepsuits or whatever you think you'll be using most.

Don't bother buying proper clothes, you will be given loads of outfits as pressies.

You can't put a newborn in a sleeping abag so you will need blankets and sheets. I had cellular blankets which I liked as all the guidelines about overheating talk about how many of them to use, so it was easy for my baby addled brain to understand how many to use.

Babies don't need half as much stuff as you think they do and they need about a quarter of the stuff Mothercare say you do. If they still do that 'essentials' shopping list on the back of the catagloue then rip it off and throw it away. I still am a bit annoyed that I allowed myself to be talked into a bottle warmer (I bf) and 8ft stack of cellular blankets.

Wow. MN is super. Thanks - made it all cleareer. My mum and MIL are knitting cardys... and hats and booties! So just the actual clothes.

Thanks though - feel a bit better about it all! And babygrows all day - YAY! :)

I thought you could put a newborn in a sleeping bag as long as they were over 4kg? My son was exactly 4kg when he was born - I just went by the weight guide on the Grobag label and used them straight away.