What do newborn babies wear?

[RadgeWeeMidden]

Had my 20 week scan so letting myself indulge in some clothes shopping for baby due in August. But a bit confused. What will my baby need to wear in the day and night? And what's the difference between rompers, sleepsuits and bodysuits? They all look the same!

Get ones with feet. Baby socks fall off!

Vest first with poppers holds in nappy, add sleepsuit with feet, then a cardigan/ hat/ booties depending on weather. Wear same day and night really ( well the vest and sleepsuit part at night)

Romper - all in one without feet, usually a bit loose. Sometimes short legged.

Sleepsuit - all in one with long sleeves and feet. Tip - get the ones that button all the way down the from for ease. Next ones have double cuffs that fold over the hands to cut out needing scratch mitts

Bodysuit - short sleeved (usually) no legs, poppers under crotch. Have weird flaps at the shoulders which make them easy to get on and off.

To wear -
in the high heat - daytime - romper or bodysuit
in the house, normal temperature - bodysuit and sleepsuit

Bedtime - if warm, I used to just put dd in a bodysuit, then on normal temperature nughts a bodysuit and sleepsuit.

Cooler days, indoors, add a little cardi

Bare in mind that babies grow quick so you will have clothes for newborn, 0-3, 3-6 months, 6-12 in just one year. So I wouldn't spend a fortune on each size and not too many as might only be in a few weeks

For us we always had 10 babygros and 10 vests in each size. Just the white multipack ones. Then had a few colourful cardigans/ hats and booties to go with it. By the time a small baby has a cardigan and booties on you only see a bit of the legs anyway

Rompers normally don't have feet. Sleepsuits and bodysuits are normally the same thing, and do.

Newborns tend to wear a shortsleeved or sleeveless poppered vest, with a babygro (aka sleepsuit or bodysuit) over the top, and a cardie depending on the weather.

If it's really hot in August they could just wear a vest, or just a babygro. Into September they'll need both and I wouldn't bother getting much in the way of 'hot weather clothing' (i.e. shorts, etc) for an August baby.

As Artandco said - vests and sleepsuits day and night. Both of my two didn't put 'proper' clothes (ie top and trousers) until around 3-4months. Might want to get a soft coat (for chilly summer days) and then a pramsuit for late autumn. Don't by anything to fancy - it probably won't get worn as (well I found anyway) that in my sleep deprived state it was too much faff and they grow to quickly.

You will probably want to put your baby mainly in sleepsuits to start with - the all in one things with legs which cover the feet (if you see what I mean). These are also called babygrows, and can be worn day or night. Rompers are all in ones with short arms and legs, also called playsuits, and are great for when it is really hot. You might also want to get tops and trousers for special occasions/photos, but you don't have to put the baby in these for the day unless you want to! I found the all in one sleepsuits and rompers most convenient and comfy for my baby when she was small, day and night!
Oh, and vests are the tops which fasten under the bum with poppers - they come in long sleeved and short sleeved, and can be worn under sleepsuits for warmth, or as tops in their own right with trousers or shorts.
I found this utterly confusing before I had dd!

Thanks everyone! This makes a lot more sense :)

Oh, and you might want to get scratch mits - little specially made mittens in t-shirt material to cover the hands, as some babies have quite long nails at birth and can scratch their faces in the first few days. I was given these before I had dd, wondered what the fuck they were, but actually found them really useful, and ended up buying more!

It really annoys me that Mothercare lingo is different from what everyone else calls baby clothes. For newborns ie up to 4-6 weeks or so, the following is fine:

Daytime:
Nappy
Vest with popper under baby's bottom = bodysuit
Babygro = sleep suit (has feet)
Cardigan if cold
Hat for first 48 hours after birth then only needed outdoors.
Scratch mitts if long nails

Night time:
Same but no cardi.

Socks only needed once you start to put them in clothes without feet, but they will fall off- avoid. babygros are much more comfy and practical for tiny people. Then avoid clothes with tight waistbands at least until they are crawling/walking. Dungarees or dresses are more comfy.

Ps. You can get sleeveless, long sleeved or short sleeved bodysuits (vests) ... I always went for short sleeved as a compromise.

I would also recommend terry towelling sleep suits over flat cotton as they are softer and stretchier. Also, newborn vests and sleep suits shrink loads on first washing, beware!

Had dd nearly three years ago and am due a second. My shopping list clotheswise for the next one will be

*2 cardies amd hats - knitted by my mam
*6 bodysuits and 6 sleepsuits in tiny baby (dd in these for about a fortnight/month)
*same again in 0-1month
*2 long sleeved bodysuits and 2 footed trousers in Newborn (to wear as an outfit on days I think itd be nice to put an outfit on them)

Please factor in the fact that people will buy you clothes. Shit loads.

Sleep suit/rompers i called them baby grows. I put vest with poppers underneath baby grow.

They are great in early days easy to change babies bum and ideal especially if you got a sicky baby, they wash ok, tumble dry are cheap enough and don't need ironing.

Only thing i found was so much difference between shop sizes.

Don't go bananas though - you don't know what size your baby will be! There's another very recent thread about what size of clothes people's newborns wore. Have a wee look.

And yes, you will be inundated with clothes as gifts bloody loads, a lot of it horrid

I liked the little crossover vests for ds. He had a lot of diarrhoea so I would often need to change the vest Seth poppers but didn't need to with the separate vest.

Also don't be tempted to buy stuff to far ahead for baby to grow into. I didn't but mil did and I can remember things like the thick coat that we had for months before ds was big enough for it - by which time it was summer!!

Thanks for posting RadgeWeeMidden. I just had my 20 week scan yesterday (it's a boy!) and had the same question! Also a bit confused re how much newborn and 0-3 mths stuff to get cos surely it depends on baby size? Should I take newborn and 0-3 mths into hospital to cover both scenarios?

Heather - I would take mainly newborn and one 0-3. It's not overly common that even a large baby wouldn't fit in newborn size at least for those few days in hospital. I think I took x3 newborn babygros and vests and x1 0-3. X2 hats and x2 cardigans . ( they are often in first outfit before washed properly so first hat not really reusable for going home as needs washing)

you will mainly need vest and babygrows for the early days. Don't go too mad buying loads of them as you will probably be gifted quite a lot of the smaller sized (newborn and 0-3 months)clothing by people as gifts and/or hand me downs.

Inside:
Vest (generally short sleeved, no legs)
Babygrow or sleepsuit (with legs and feet, some have built in scratch mitts which is useful)
Scratch mitts if needed
Outside:
The above with hat and cardigan.

Baby socks always seem to fall off (or get yanked off when they find their feet) so i either get stuff with feet or have tights instead of socks.