Novice question: babygros

[bettybat]

Inspired by the where to find colourful babygros thread, I realised I am completely dumfounded by the range of babygros combined with cooler/warmer months!

I was in Marks the other day, contemplating how we have a lot of newborn stuff but how it would be good to get 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 etc. We intend to keep our little cub (Jungle Book inspired in-joke name for our baby until we meet them!) in babygros for a long time so not massively interested in trousers or dresses.

I'm due in mid-October so all our newborn stuff is long legged, long sleeved.
3-6 months will still be the end of winter into Spring
6-9 will be early/mid summer summer
9-12 will be late summer/Autumn

I was looking at the range of long sleeved, short sleeved, and sleeveless babygros and got myself into a right pickle trying to figure out roughly at what age it would need short sleeve or sleeveless/legless etc. Factor in the unpredictability of English weather and I was completely malfunctioning in Marks and left

Thinking about it now, it doesn't seem that complicated but I think I am half baby-brained, and half not confident of general rules of thumb on these things! Apologies about the total novice, over-thinking nature of this thread!

Hey I'm due in October too! This is my first too, but I have tea somewhere about a basic wardrobe. What you need is:

5-6 vests - short sleeved are fine, even in winter
The same n babygros
1-2 sleep suits
1 snowsuit/all in one

That should see you through until spring. What I'm going to do is buy some summer stuff n the sales this year ready for next summer - there are some lovely things in vertbaudet & boden.

Not sure if that's any help?!! When are you due exactly?

I really wouldn't worry about buying so far in advance- most people get given loads of vests and babygros as presents so you may not need to buy as much as you think. The other thing is, your baby might be bigger or smaller than average so not fit the size corresponding to age in the season you have bought for....it really is impossible to predict!
You will be able to go shopping again after you have the baby you know!!!

I wouldn't worry too much about it & 2nd guessing is a nightmare. Dd was due feb this year (11wk now) n we got loads of 0-3 and 3-6 summer stuff in the thinking that both me n husband were big babies she would b too. Now it's almost summer n shell b 3 month soon & she's still in soddin newborn stuff!!

You'll get given so much stuff I'd wait n go on a few small shopping trips once they arrive. It'll b good to get you out the house and itl b fun to shop for baby once all the new baby excitement dies down

Don't buy it all now - you will see cute things when they baby needs them and then you will end up buying far far too many if you are like me more anyway.

The ages are a guide, if you guess wrong they will have all wrong season stuff (DD was tiny so the short sleeved rompers were no good by the time they fitted her)

Just get some newborn and 0-3 stuff for now, you will have plenty of time to wander round the shops with your pram once the baby is here.

I would just get a pack of short sleeved vests and a few sleepsuits in each size as you will need them all year round. Trying to get seasonal stuff in advance is impossible - you don't know if your baby will be big or small, so they might not be in the size you expect them to be! My dd is 8 months but still wears some 3-6 month stuff.

Ha, yes - very much second guessing it all. What added to the pickle was thinking - what if they are big, non of the new born fits anyway!

So short sleeved/legless are alright in winter too? My mum went a bit nuts and came down to London with several long sleep suits and snow suits so I think we're set for the winter. I think that - as I'd just given myself "permission" to start thinking about how this was going to be a real baby and not worrying so much, I got a shopping urge!

Then I was thinking - money will be tight during maternity leave, but I'm flush right now - make the most of it!

applecrumble I was due October 24, then at the 12 week scan they re-dated me to 13 weeks, so now due October 16. Fully expect to be re-dated again at the 20wk scan next week though!

My DS was born in December and I bought newborn and 0-3 month size vests and babygrows. I bought sleeveless vests and he was definitely warm enough in the winter wearing a sleeveless vest, babygrow and cardigan and a blanket when he was asleep.

Agree with the other posters it's hard to know what size your LO will be in advance. Even if they are normal weight, they might be long and need bigger sizes etc.

I would wait a bit - you'll probably find once the baby is here that there are some types of clothes you like and others you don't.

I personally HATE those envelope style necklines you get on lots of baby vests, as they seem to always slip of the shoulder, so I always use sleeveless vests, or ones with poppers at the neck.

My baby is very long, so she doesn't fit into babygrows with feet very well . Plus DH finds doing up all the poppers a PITA so we didn't use babygrows for nearly as long as we thought we would.

I'm due today and we haven't bought stuff for beyond the first three months. Already friends have given us lots of hand me downs, and the whole size/weather question makes me think it will be both easier and more fun to choose stuff as we need it and once we know our baby. Even with minimal shopping and some hand me downs, our house already feels rammed with stuff which will have a very short useful life, so the prospect of stockpiling more doesn't appeal to me personally (though it did earlier when the baby felt less 'real'). Could you put some money aside now to spend later?

I could yes, and that would be the most sensible thing to do

I think it really comes down to not being sure about what to dress them in - what's standard clothing. Sounds like a vest, a babygro and a cardigan?

Congratulations ? it?s such an exciting time buying all the little new bits and I (like most first-time mums) got far too much. Sorry if this does not entirely answer your question but what I have learnt so far is:

• The ?newborn? size is great because it does not drown them when first born. My son was born at 8lb 4oz so had outgrown these within 4 weeks, at least. Buy very few bits in newborn.

• We thought we had far too many sleep suits but in actual fact had far too much of everything else. All of the lovely ?outdoor type? clothes will not get the use they deserve. I ended up buying plenty more sleep suits with many of the others items going to waste.

• Scratch mittens were never used?. I have about 10 pairs!

• My son, who was born in March, used his snow suit last week and only because I wanted to ?see him in it? before he grew out of it. Again, another waste. He lived in a little white cardigan from Mothercare (£10.00) for going out, with a blanket and hat on him if added warmth was needed.

• It took us a while to find nappies that really suited him (Pampers, Newbaby) and that puffing out the insides made them more effective. Before this discovery we changed his entire outfit with every single nappy change ? we needed LOTS of sleep suits and frequent washes!

• Although more expensive, Marks and Spencer make the best sleep suits in quality and size. I found all of his other sleep suits to fade, bobble and shrink in the wash over a couple of weeks. However, the Mothercare sleep suits do come with a folding cuff that makes a little glove?. helpful for keeping little hands warm when outside.

• The weather is so unpredictable it?s difficult to answer on which sizes to buy for when.

Good luck and happy shopping!!

Re what they wear, I think that's right, but since I don't have a baby yet I can't really say... We do have a couple of pairs of soft tracksuit bottom type things as well, I am with you on not wanting 'proper' clothes.

Trust me, you'll get so many clothes (inc vests and sleepsuits) in all sizes as presents when the baby is born you'll not know where to put it all. IIRC, what with presents and hand-me-downs, we didn't really have to buy DS any clothes for the first year!

While it seems like a good idea to plan ahead you really can't go on labels. Firstly every shop has different sizes - I find marks' quite small sized (dd1 is not quite three yet wearing 4-5 yr old marks's clothes even though she's slim and not big for her age). Also babies are different sizes when theyre born and grow at different rates. Dd1 was 7lb5 when born and grandparents bought her a newborn set- she only wore them once then needed 0-3 months. Again she generally had to wear a size bigger than she actually was throughout. If you end up (sorry) with a 9lb baby then they'll be straight into 3 month clothes and you're planning will be out.
For the first three months my lo lived in little vests, baby gros and sleep suits. Babies are so fiddly to dress into anything else- it's much easier to lay them onto something and wrap it round and fastene than to try get things overheads and legs in especially when they need changing so often at first