Where to start with baby clothes?!

[expectingwriter]

Hello all - so I just had my 20 week scan yesterday and so happy and relieved that all is well. My husband and I had a plan of 'celebrating' the scan with buying the first little outfit for the little one, mostly for us really to finally indulge just a little bit and so off we trundled to Oxford St after work. We tried BabyGap, Zara, a couple of other places. But so utterly bamboozled by baby sizes that we just walked out again - also still feels a bit surreal buying baby clothes (it's our first)!
Not planning to buy loads of stuff right now, as it's still early, but then I came home to look online and was flummoxed again by what people say you should and shouldn't buy for newborns! Is it worth buying teeny tiny (but oh so cute) newborn sizes if they won't last longer than a few weeks? Or do you just go for 0-3 months even if it's a bit big for them at first?
From a Confused mother-to-be!

Next 'up to 1 month' is a good size to get, and sainsburys and asda newborn or first size are good too, not too tiny x

I would get first size vests/baby grows even if you just get a pack of 7 vests and 3 baby grows to start with then the rest 0-3 as my son was in first size for months! And weighed 6.5

We have bought some basic starter sets in newborn - vests & baby grows and a couple of more 'cute' outfits also in newborn. We have definitely been careful to limit ourselves though!

Most people who have bought us clothes as gifts have bought us 0-3 months so don't buy too much yourselves and you will be really surprised by how generous people are!!

I would but a few newborn sizes and a few 0-3. You can then buy extra once you've had the baby and know how big he/she is. I would highly recommend the supermarkets for basic vests and gros. ds is 3 now so they may have changed but George baby clothes were lovely and soft, good quality, and washed brilliantly. Of course you have to buy a couple of special outfits! But for everyday use there's not much point spending alot of money as you get through several outfits a day when they're tiny, and they grow out of them so quickly. Oh and congratulations!!

I mainly bought size 0-3 months for my DD, with a few newborn bits thrown in. Only she was tiny, and the 0-3 size drowned her, so had to send DH to the supermarket when she was born to stock up on the even smaller 'early baby' size :) But, some babies are larger at birth and are ok with 0-3 months from the beginning. I don't think you'll know for sure until baby arrives, but the shops will still be open then if you do need smaller sizes.

Ah! Thank you all! It's hard not to get too carried away because everything is just so adorable and there's such lovely stuff out there, but your advice is all good!

I wonder if it would be best to get the one or two 'special' little outfits we'd like, and then wait until much much closer to my due date (first week of October) to buy a pack of simple newborn baby grows and a pack of newborn vests to see us through the early stages like you suggest...

We plan on starting to research the rest of the stuff we'll need (pushchairs, monitors etc etc) from now so we can get them early in summer sales if need be. More confusion to come!

@onceipopicantstop thank you for the congrats!

i had no idea you could basics at the supermarket (god, you can so tell i'm a first timer) - so thanks for the top tips. I will definitely keep that all in mind and get the newborn stuff closer to the time!

I bought plain white vests(7),babygros(7) socks, muslins, hats for newborn size. It all depends on the size of the baby, for ds1 he was 5 weeks early so DH and dsis ran out at got smaller size, ds2 and dd were bigger,9lbs5 so were in newborn for a week then 0-3month. You can get the plain white stuff really cheaply from any of the supermarkets, next and M&S. Thereafter its nice getting 0-3 months in different patterns and colours. I used to order what I needed once home but don't order too much as you will get a lot of gifts. I also bought a wee all in one padded suit to bring them home in. Hope this helps. Oh and many congratulations.

I bought 7 newborn babygros (supermarket and next) and was sick of the sight of them in the end as 7lb 4oz DS was in them for 7 weeks. Congrats on your baby

So far the smallest I have bought is 0-3 months, and I'm not planning on buying any newborn stuff until the sprog arrives. I've told dh that if he/she is tiny then he will be going on a baby clothes shopping trip to tescos before I leave the hospital :) You will be bought lots of stuff, and don't forget you don't have to have everything before the kid arrives - just buy some and you can top up as and when you figure out what you actually need.

PS I'm impressed at you holding off until 20 weeks, I bought the first vest at about 10 weeks :D

We brought just white babygros and vests for the first approx 6 months. It was the best decision we made!

No loosing tiny socks/ no cold baby back/ no awkward buttons on back instead of front etc..

We then just added a knitted cardigan over the top/ hat/ booties according to weather/ where we were. By the time you add say a cute blue cardigan and knitted hat and booties to go out you can barely see the under layers anyway. We saved a fortune ( to use on toddler clothes!), and made it easy for dh who had never even seen a baby up close let alone change/ care for one!

I'm expecting my first soon too and have absolutely loved looking at all the baby clothes . I've got one (not huge!) drawer of newborn stuff - mostly basics, and 2 drawers of 0-3 which include some more cute outfits. I'm probably going overboard, particularly as a kind friend sending us a box of her old baby things as well, but I've really enjoyed it!

The key thing has not been to pay full price for anything so far which means I've spent probably only a quarter or less of what all this would cost brand new. Most of the things I have are second-hand, sourced from charity shops and ebay, etc. For example, there's a thrift shop near us where I keep finding babygrows and vests from Gap, John Lewis, John Rocha, Ralph Lauren, etc all for 50p each!

I 2nd what Greek said. Outfits are very cute but I would leave them until much closer to due date or after baby comes. Lots of white basics is what you need.
Babies are so comfortable in baby grows and vests. Maybe get a really special blanket hat and mittens for coming home in instead?
Outfits are too much faff when you have exploding newborn poo.

I was totally lost when I read these threads the first time and I wish someone had explained to me what babies wear when I was pregnant. Apologies if you are not as dumb as me- I am going to do an idiots guide to what babies wear and what to buy!

Babies wear a white body suit (no arms or legs) under a sleep suit/babygro (buttons up the front). They will poo/vom/spit up on this- expect multiple changes in the first few weeks.

You will need 'up to one month' or 'newborn' sizes first of all. Six body suits and six baby grows will probably do, as like you say, people buy stuff.

Then you have 0-3 months, they quickly grow into this and will probably start wearing outfits. I have bought sleeveless, short sleeved and long sleeved body suits to go with the different outfits. I have a baby girl so dungarees/dresses and then 'smart' baby grows. I have baby grows she sleeps in too.

And then 3-6 months, still bodysuits plus babygrow or an outfit with a bodysuit underneath.

I don't know if I'm doing it right, don't know if this is obvious to everyone else, but I muddled through like this!

I prefer to buy clothes second hand, and had spent months gathering drawers full of 0-3 stuff during my pregnancy - turned out dd, though full term, was born on 2nd weight centile, and would her whole body would pretty much have fitted into the leg of one of the 0-3 sleepsuits. So family had to rush out and get me a load of brand new stuff in tiny baby size. It took her absolutely months to grow into the 0-3. I would get some stuff in newborn at least, if i were you.

Ds is now 6 months, born last November so a similar time to you.

You will need:
6 sleep suits
6 vests
1 hat
2 blankets
1 cute outfit for going home/visiting granny etc
All in newborn or "up to 1 month" size

Then, have your first visitors primed to get the size you actually need from the supermarket on the way to visit you. My mum grabbed us a pack each of Tiny Baby vests and sleepsuits as ds was 6lb3, a friend of mine's dd was 10lb15 so went straight into 0-3, again brought in by grandparents. Baby will be happiest in just a nappy cuddled up under your dressing gown to start with, clothes are for later.

Congratulations

PS there is no right or wrong as long as the baby is clean and warm!

I expected ds to be in plain white for 6 months minimum. Turns out it looks terrible on him, so he wears strong colours and jeans, which I'd previously thought the ultimate in chav they're just too cute on him though!

Thank you everyone!! This has all been really helpful. Slightly less confused than before!

I have a selection of newborn through to 3-6 months as have been given tons of stuff! Most of the stuff I have is 0-3 for early days. I think they give you an idea of baby size the nearer you get to due date, esp if you end up with growth scans so I am holding off on most of newborn until then as even that comes in various weight ranges!
My dp has 2 kids already who were 7-8lb so not expecting dd to be too small

I'm so thankful for this thread. DH and I went baby clothes shopping on Saturday and ended up totally confused!! We did buy quite a few bits in Next in their "new baby" size (I think, need to go double check!)

Bodysuits are confusing me a bit, are they the same as vests?? (By bodysuits I mean short sleeves, no legs). And they go under sleep suits?

@helgathehairy sounds like we're in the same boat!

re: bodysuits... i think so? (that's what i interpreted them as!) and sleep suits are with the legs...?

depends on the size of your baby! We had stuff from my sister (newborn, 0-3 months) but DD was so tiny that most of it completely swamped her so we bought a load of tiny baby stuff which she was in for pushing 2 months.

Personally, I don't see the point of buying 'proper' clothes for babies, DD was in vests and sleepsuits for at least 6 months, whenever I put her in an 'outfit' which someone else had given her, it was a real struggle to dress her, she hated it, and she always looked utterly prepsoterous. You can get really gorgeous sleepsuits from JoJo, Mothercare and all those little boutiquey shops like Oliver Bonas, if you want something special. Maybe get one in newborn and one in 0-3 months.

Correct, Helga :)

Long sleeved vests are pretty unnecessary btw, too many bits of fabric bunched round the wrist needing organising! Ds wears them as tee shirts, not under sleep suits! And you are unlikely to need an expensive padded snow suit in the UK. I bought a 2nd hand one for a fiver and wasted my money even in the weather we had. Plenty of blankets and layers are much more use, particularly for house-car-shop trips!

I bought a selection of lovely colourful sleepsuits (next, M&S etc) in newborn, 10 white vests and then a couple of packs of plain white sleep suits for bedtime.

I bought a couple of outfits but they ended up unworn as she looked so uncomfy in them in the end.