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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Where to buy baby clothes?

31 replies

sleepybee · 10/01/2015 07:52

Hey I'm a first timer, no young kids in my family etc & I'm starting to buy some bits for when baby arrives in May. I know I don't need to buy tons of clothes. But everywhere I look I really don't find many of the clothes appealing. I not keen on things with ears attached. We are team yellow so needs to be gender neutral for now. I'm in the uk I've looked at debenhams, M&S, mother care, tesco, mamas&papas, monsoon, John Lewis. I've only bought 2 sleep suits from M&S.

Any recommendations for baby clothes stores even online only?

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moggle · 10/01/2015 07:57

JoJo maman Bebe, frugi, polarn y pyret are all nice and good gender neutral choice but pricy esp considering how quick they grow out of newborn. H&M is good esp their footed leggings if you want a change from sleepsuit a. I've bought stuff from vertbaudet and pumpkin patch for DD. We didn't find out the sex either; I slowly collected bits from various shops over the second half of the pregnancy. DD was born in November so I bought a snowsuit on eBay. I was given a lot of second hand stuff as well though.

tryingtocatchthewind · 10/01/2015 08:00

I found boots had some lovely lemon and grey things with very delicate cloud patterns. I agree with you about cartoons/slogans/ears.

Just buy a few bits then wait till he/she is born

afreshstartplease · 10/01/2015 08:00

bonzo77 · 10/01/2015 08:00

What's your budget? When is the baby due?
Some people just keep their new borns in baby grows and vests. Others like to dress them up a bit more. We really just used plain baby grows (sleep suits) and vests (body suits) from mothercare initially. Plain white so you can bleach the poo out. Once I got sick of them I got some slightly fancier sleep suits. Some from John Lewis / mothercare, and the odd one from independent shops. Mine stayed in all in ones pretty much till 12 months. I got a few "proper clothes" from gap and h&m. Actually gap do really cute all in ones which we used in the day time, saving the stained / faded sleepsuits for bed time.

Slongette · 10/01/2015 08:22

Next is good for sleepsuits and vests - they are a good size and have some good gender neutral stuff that (thus is the important thing) washes well!

porlan y Pyret is very good but expensive - they have a sale in at the moment so is worth a look.

John Lewis and M&S are good also.

I found mothercare stuff a little thin and scratchy!

When is baby due? To begin with all you'll need is vests and sleepsuits. Plain white vests as a pp said so you can Napisan the poo/vomit out! I did not dress my DS in anything else until he was about 6 months. You can always buy more gender specific stuff when baby has arrived!

Then like bonzo77 I now mostly shop in gap, h&m and M&S.

Good luck!

Lagoonablue · 10/01/2015 08:26

Agree that vests and sleep suits are the main thing you need and you can get tons of them anywhere. When they can't sit up I would imagine dresses etc would just be uncomfortable. I kept mine in sleep suits and then leggings and t shirts until they were mobile. Nice and comfy.

Next do nice colours and Polarn O Pyret are good. Don't spend too much though as they grow so quickly.

MooseyMoo · 10/01/2015 08:33

I liked Next as their sleep suits had integrated mitts (DS was a face scratcher in his sleep). These are lovely neutral www.next.co.uk/boys/newborn-boys/unisex/3

Mothercare also do integrated scratch mitts. I bought body suits from Sainsburys or Tesco after they outgrew the unisex stuff. Sainsburys regularly do 25% off TU clothing.

Zahrah5 · 10/01/2015 08:34

I found the cutest things in Next.
But honestly to tell you for gender neutral stuff the selection is quite poor. Waste majority is gender-specific.
Maybe just buy basics now and more after baby comes?

Wonkyparsnip · 10/01/2015 08:42

I love h&m stuff. Cheap and perky good quality. Then I use jojo maman bebe if I want something more significant. If you're buying go for 3-6 months stuff as you get so much when the baby is born.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 10/01/2015 08:51

I also liked Next for the built in mittens and the fabric seemed better quality than other places. We didn't know the sex either but mainly just bought plain white vests/sleepsuits for the first few weeks. I knew other people would buy us clothes as soon as the baby was born. Now expecting DC2 and I'm glad I have lots of white things put away for the early days!

mrsnec · 10/01/2015 08:56

I was given loads and found that dd doesn't like any of the really fussy stuff. She's 3 months and is just in vests and sleepsuits with cardigans when it's cold.

Size wise and design wise I love the BlueZoo range from Debenhams and the multipacks from Jl with the turnover scratch mitts however, bit disappointed with the quality of both. One of the Jl ones dd put her toe through on its first outing! I have stuff from Asda and tesco that's better quality!

I have some nice seperates too from m and s. Like a little tracksuit with a matching bib, but even with a vest on she gets cold when the top rides up and then I have to put tights under because socks won't stay on so it's a faff when changing.so she's going to be in sleepsuits and vests for a while!

The white mothercare stuff I have didn't wash very well.

Incidentally, I initially wanted to go neutral. The white stuff didn't wash well and I got a bit fed up with lurid unisex ones so now dd does wear quite girly stuff. I got a bit fed up of the 'what is it' questions!

I also had some lovely rompers from Sergeant Major in France and bought a couple of bits from Boden but I don't think you can go wrong with anything from the UK supermarkets and even places like peacocks and primark.

WanderingTrolley1 · 10/01/2015 08:59

Next, Tu at Sainsbury's, M&S - all nice quality.

ILiveOnABuildsite · 10/01/2015 09:03

Agree with Next, they have a nice gender neutral range, and it does washes/tumble dry very well and remains nice and soft and keeps it's shape well. 95% of my daughters wardrobe us from next the rest is either gifts or from Tu (Sainsbury's). Expecting ds in April and will be looking at Next and Sainsbury's for clothes.

moggle · 10/01/2015 09:03

Oh yes boots! Just yesterday I bought a ton of lovely bright stuff for DD in their sale, their clothes are lovely. But still mostly gendered - but just not all pink for girls and brown/navy for boys like a lot of places. I agree with buying basics now and more once baby's here- plus you'll probably be given a lot as presents.
I have to admit we haven't had too many stains that haven't come out in then wash; I bought all vests from supermarkets v cheap and have just thrown a couple away rather than bother with bleaching.

Purpleflamingos · 10/01/2015 09:04

Tu at sainsburys, debenhams.
I struggled to find green sleep suits. A colleague bought me one. Most of the time the babies were in white vests or babygros until 4/5 months. Their cardigans had colour though.

Crownjewel · 10/01/2015 09:05

George at Asda do some lovely neutral stuff that washes really well. Agree with PPs re vests and sleep suits - DS has one or two proper "outfits" for special occasions but is happiest in his comfies! Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

MaryWestmacott · 10/01/2015 09:08

OP - if yours if the first baby in the family, you might well get shed loads of gifts when the baby arrives - I did and some of it was only worn in order to take a photo to send to the person who bought it, there was just too much to get through!

I'd say to start with you need 7X sleep suits and 7x vests - get both in white and cheap - new baby poo stains and they grow very quickly! Also 2 cardigans (again, I'd just get white). If you are due when it's likely to still be cold, a coat or snow suit, and a couple of hats.

Oddly, I've found the best washing and lasting sleepsuits were from Sainsburys, get a pack for newborn size and a pack for 0-3 months (which is really 1-3 months for most babies, although you might get a big one who's in them earlier!). M&S are very big compared to pretty much everywhere else on the high street, but also do wash well, they just seem to add patterns to everything.

for outfits, again, Sainsburys is very good quality. M&S, JoJo Maman Babe and Next are also good, agree that most of the stuff I got from Mothercare didn't wash very well, most looked a bit ropy after only 1 wear and wash . I also found lots of older family members sent Mothercare vouchers so I did end up with lots of clothes from there. However, I believe they changed owners/management last year, so things might have improved... (DC2 is 18 months so I've not shopped in there since spending the last load of gift vouchers I was given after she was born)

MaryWestmacott · 10/01/2015 09:09

oh Boots, how could I forget boots!?! Join the parent club too. The clothes are nice.

MaryWestmacott · 10/01/2015 09:10

(Also wish we had an Asda in our town, everyone always raves about the clothes on here!)

OneFlewOverTheMumsNest · 10/01/2015 09:11

I'd also say don't buy too much from one shop prior to birth as the sizes vary wildly and you won't know what suits your baby. If you have a chunky monkey (91st centile height and weight) like DD was (she was also in reusables so had an enormo-bum as well) then I found h&m, next, tesco and sainsburys were the best. M&S also alright. Gap I loved but she got limited wear from them and I could barely squeeze her into boots things.

We didn't find out the sex when pregnant with DD so bought a selection of gender neutral items which will come in handy this time round. Even after she was born we didn't buy anything that was overtly girly as we aren't into the whole pink/little princess thing but looking back I'm surprised how much has a feminine styling about it so it's very hard to go truly gender neutral longer term.

bigfam · 10/01/2015 09:22

I agree asda's is good too x

afreshstartplease · 10/01/2015 09:27

I'm not keen on asda, I find there things don't wash well

bagofsnakes · 10/01/2015 09:32

Personally I'm al about finding great quality stuff from the likes of JoJo Maman Bebe, Frugi, John Lewis, Polarn y Pyret etc from eBay and Gumtree. I've got some great hardly worn bargins for my DS and the soon to arrive DC2 for a fraction of the cost of new things and they'll last for as many children as I have.
I do also like H&M but the stuff I got in for DS isn't in the best condition to hand down to another baby.

Wormatthebottomofthegarden · 10/01/2015 09:40

Next have some good neutral stuff.

Notso · 10/01/2015 09:46

It depends what you like. I hardly bought anything from neutral ranges, white,beige,lemon and grey seemed unappealing. It was a good job as my babies were jaundiced and looked really ill in their white vests.

I love bright coloured baby things, mostly I bought packs of babygros in plain or striped bright colours. Most things I bought were from boys ranges, even once DC1 DD was born, I stuck to mostly bright clothes from the boys section.

I liked the inbetween sizes that H&M, M&S and next do. Up to one month and 2-4 months was a really useful size for two of mine who were over 9lb at birth. Have had some lovely things from gap and Nutmeg at Morrisons. Boots lovely in the larger stores.
Apart from the outerwear which is fab, I didn't think Polarn O'Pyret was worth the money. We had a lot as gifts and although they were nice striped babygros and footed dungarees, they were still grown out of as fast as the cheaper nice babygros and dungarees and I don't think they washed any better either.
Boden I found didn't wash well but I was able to send it back. Joules babygros also faded terribly, though I had a green fleecy coat (with ears) that is on it's third baby and looks like new.
Petit Bateau was tiny, and although very lovely designs all the babygro's we had from there fastened at the back which was a PITA, and they were velour which is lovely and soft on the outside but not as soft on the inside which is the bit touching the babies skin.

I found next and Boots to be very small. M&S slightly on the big side and Mothercare and Asda massive. Some Asda stuff never fitted properly. Mostly crotch poppered babygros with envelope necks. We were given several and they seemed wide and short.

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