What to dress baby in?

[HoneyMum21]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but as a mum-to-be to DC1 in december i'm getting somewhat overwhelmed with what i should dress the baby in.
I know they are supposed to be in one more layer than we are, so obviously a bodysuit/vest to start with. I then thought, at least for the first 2 or 3 months, they'll be pretty much exclusively in sleepsuits day and night (obviously with extra layers for going out etc.) However, we were looking in mothercare today and DH thought we should be going for outfits - like trousers and tops during the day and sleepsuits just for bedtiime. I had just assumed that sleep suits/all-in-ones were the done thing because they are easier to change baby in but am i going to be judged as a bad mother if i don't go for the little outfits?

So glad you started this as I was going to ask the same question.

Having read this it will be babygrows all the way, thanks

They are only babies for such a short time, there are years and years to wear proper clothes! We will all be on here in 14 years time going ' aaaaggghhh my teenager is wearing ...... What shall I do?' heh heh heh.

babygros all the way, until they are about 6! Add a vest, card, coat, hat, blanket where required. Mine lived in them and DS1 who is 6 has gone to bed in a too small one (5/6yo) tonight!

Gnocchi, can I ask where you got black baby vests from? Thanks

I also like those little trousers with feet to wear over a vest with a cardi.

it was babygros for my 2 until they were about 5 or 6 months. trying to get wriggly little things into trousers/dresses/tops/tights i found impossible. dd1 brought up her all milk at the slightest burp for months - babygros were so much easier to strip off than 'gown up' clothes.

so long ago... the hv said to me 'they are allowed to wear other clothes you know (not just a babygro and cardigan), they can have all sorts of pretty little dresses.'

DS was in babysuits/vests till he started to crawl except for the obligatory trying on of the impractical lovely outfits he was bought.

DD was in babygros for the first nine months. When the weather got warmer and she could sit up I started buying proper outfits. One of my workmates bought her a beautiful dress that only got worn once. DD was born in summer but the weather was so awful that it just wasn't warm enough. By the next time it was warm enough the dress was too small.

For the first few months DS wore something like this at night-time rather than a sleepsuit. They make late night nappy changing super-easy as you don't even have to faff with poppers:

www.johnlewis.com/230591844/Product.aspx?s_pccid=pc_gs_600_10000

And yes, sleepsuits for the daytime! Also I'd second what someone else said about dungarees being great for when they are a little bit older, as you don't have to worry about them being restricted by tight waistbands.

I put DS in outfits after about 3 days He is my PFB

Agree with everyone else that outfits are wrong on small babies. Babies lie down all the time, so anything with a thick waistband (like iccle tiny jeans ) will be uncomfortable.

If you have a girl, don't bother buying them anything with a skirt till they are walking and it can actually hang down in a skirt-like way. A rucked up skirt on a lying down baby (flashing a lumpy nappy) is fairly pointless.

That's what I am finding this year, dd3 is nearly three months and so many little dresses have not been worn, dreadful weather! I didn't buy the dresses but would have put them on her when visiting so friends can see their gift being worn, it's very thoughtful of them to buy a present. I hate putting baby tights on fidgety bubbas! Dd3 is lying here in my arms in a soft white babygro right now.

Sleepsuits all the way at first!! You get them in such gorgeous colours and patterns that it's not dull putting babies in them in the day :) And neither of my dcs needed a vest under theirs - they were cosy babies.

Tights on babies in (leaky) nappies is horribly impractical too, urgh!

def babygrows and if you want outfits go for leggings and tops, that are soft and easy to get on and off, next to a mulit-coloured stripey range taht in clued soft dungarees with feet, so no cold toes, that is lovely :)

Yes I agree!

DD was a summer baby and had some gorgeous romper-style outfits - she also had some dresses etc and I found them much less of a hassle than sleepsuits TBH - no arsing around trying to match up poppers. They drove me mad!

I also found some lovely little slippers when I had dd2 from Mcare I think, elasticised so they stayed on, little pink ones with piglet on. We loved them so much(so tiny!) i got them for each age, just got them out for dd3 actually!

Agree with previous posters... Babygros and vests are the way to go! My DD is 3 months and she has mostly been in Babygros with occasional dressing up in outfits that were gifts. I have found Next Babygros superb for washing, some were 3rd hand from a neighbour and still washing brilliantly.. OP get thee to the Next summer sale (dunno date but it's usually in July), they have lots of nice gender neutral stuff which you could stock up on. I have found JL vests the best, nice and stretchy!

You can chop the feet off babygros if, like my son, your baby suddenly finds the toes too tight after a few days but the rest of the suit still fits. And then put socks on.

Although a week later he will learn how to pull off the socks and go up another size....

I also seized the opportunity to dress him in a furry pram suit with teddy ears and paws as he was a winter baby. Five quid from eBay and he looked sooooooooo snootchy in it when it was crisp and sunny and cold...

Not raining though. Wet furry babies are not happy babies.

My DD was born on Christmas Day 2010 and I bought LOADS of adorable little outfits to wear. She never wore any as I very quickly cottoned on to the fact that babygrows and vests are soooooo much easier, more comfortable, longer lasting and much cuter than any of the dresses she had. Wish I has found Mumsnet before she was born

I'll be smarter next time!

We got loads of dresses for dd as gifts. They are very cute, but she doesn't wear them that often as it is a real faff to get her into stuff like that. Every so often i will be overcome with the urge to put her in a dress, but sleepsuits, onesies and leggings all the way. My best advice would be kimono style things. Quite often putting stuff over dd's head is a massive arseache...

Newborn outfits are a bit tricky because they are hard to get on and they don't fit as well as sleepsuits but it depends what you buy.

Dungarees are great as they are all in one like a sleep suit and you can just put a vest underneath and you're ready to go. I got a couple of pairs of dungarees as presents and they were great.

I'd just stick with the sleep suits if you're buying in advance and buy him/her some cute outfits once s/he's born if you want.