Newborn clothes - I accept I am a bit thick...

[Deliaskis]

...so DH and I are starting to get things ready for baby, due Feb (don't want to be doing too much shopping after Christmas when it will be snowy etc.).

And I have seen of course lots of baby clothing items, and more or less have figured out that there are vests (with poppers), babygrow type things (are these also called sleepsuits or is that something different?), hats, little mitten things, etc. and then 'fun' clothes e.g. cuter stuff for when guests come etc.

So what I don't get is, what, and how much, will a newborn wear as a general guide?

Baby is due Feb, so it will be cold outside, but obviously not cold inside, apart from the middle of the night when the heating is off etc.

So if any wise ladies can help, I would appreciate guidance on:

1. What would a newborn wear in a normal day indoors?

2. What would a newborn wear on a walk out in the pram in cold weather (how many clothes and what arrangement of pram linen/bedding) - What if I want to lift him/her out of the pram for a cuddle or to soothe etc whilst outside?

3. What combination would be neither too hot nor too cold for an average shopping trip (e.g. into the car, out of car, into pram, outside for 5 minutes, in a shop for 15 minutes, etc.)?

4. What would a newborn wear in bed (clothes and amount of bedding)? - I have swaddling blankets and sleeping bags already, but don't know if I will also need any blankets etc. for colder nights. And it will probably be quite warm between e.g. 8pm and midnight, and then get colder in the house, and be pretty cold between 2am and 6am when heating comes on again.

I guess I seem to be more nervous about baby being too hot than baby being too cold, but obviously have to be careful with either. There is just so much stuff out there, I can't gauge a 'normal' level of what will be needed.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for being thick .
D

PS completely separate question, we have bought new mattresses for borrowed cot and moses baskets, but have also been given lots of blankets, sleeping bags etc. from my sister. Does using these carry the same risks (in terms of SIDS) as using an old mattress? They've all been washed (twice!) obviously! I was assuming the risk with mattresses was that you can't wash them so 'foreign' bacteria etc. can linger, but am now feeling a bit paranoid about bedding items!

And I agree with Aitch. Don't buy too much. We got LOADS of presents, so much that we had to exchange some stuff as there were not enough days in the month for DD to wear things before she grew out of them.

Particularly in UK where you can send your DH to all night Tesco at 3am if you decide you cannot do without another set of babygros.

I was clueless before I had DD last December but it's true you learn as you go along.

Don't buy too many clothes beforehand. I bought all 0-3 size clothes, then when DD arrived she was a tiddler at 6lb and so we had to go out and buy some newborn and tiny baby clothes.

She only moved into the 0-3 month clothes at about 3 months! She's 10 months old now and still in a mix of 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes depending on the shop and their sizing.

DD wore sleepsuits and vests all day with a cardi if it was cold until she was about 6 months. At night sleepsuit with vest and we swaddled her and if it was cold put another blanket over the top.

I second the recommendation about sleepsuits with foldover mitts - I gave up on scratchmitts after about 2 days as they were too much faff.

In the early months, sleepsuits are great particularly as we seemed to get through about 5 a day with explosive up the back poos and the seemingly constant streams of sick down the front.

I had a pramsuit which was great for out and about in the pram, but for trips in the car I tended to just put layer up clothes on DD then top off with a blanket.

And muslins - you can't have too many - I'm still using them now as they are great wiper uppers. Got mine from Morrisons and they are fine

I am due with my first in December and am also looking for bargain cute baby clothes.

At the moment you can get a free £5 Debenhams gift voucher with no minimum spend.

voucher link

There are a few baby vest or baby sleepsuit sets that are around £5 - so effectively free!

green animal ones

blue dinosaur ones

pink flower ones

I hope it helps you ladies.

Duke

Brilliant tips and thanks for the voucher duke

i found tescos are very cheap for muslin squares - heaps cheaper than mothercare....and got lots of cheap vests/babygrows from tesco, sainsburys, asda and peacock websites. again much cheaper than the likes of mothercare!

Another handy hint - dye your muslins. Every other person at baby group will have white ones and they get mixed up! Plus, white ones go dingy and grey. I dyed all of DS's dark blue after about a year of use, should have done it earlier. I did it in the washing machine and it was really simple and easy.

This is such a useful thread - thanks everyone!

Ikea do some very nice big muslins as well

AND, they are very distinctive!

Such a great thread!! Ive been trying to decide what we still need to get before baby arrives end Dec, from reading this thread ive realised I probably actually have enough of everything!!! I got muslins from Sainsburys and asda, I was advised not to use fabric conditioner when washing them, is this right?

Built in scratch mitts...Iv seen them in mothercare (think they do them as standard now) and ASDA too, I've found ASDA excellent value...bulk buy when the baby fairs are on