First time mum to be - help please - vests

[MyMrKnightley]

Trying to spread the cost of buying (plus want to buy something after first scan soon).

Vests confuse me, so a baby wears one under a baby grow, but in November will I need long or short sleeve on my newborn? Will I need both for some reason?

Are they used in any other way, because I'm confused about why I'd spend more money for colourful/patterned ones if they'll never get seen as they are under a babygrow.

Thanks for any advice on this and any other things not to waste money on.

The new Bee has a carrycot and a cocoon, it's just personal choice. I didn't want a carrycot as at the time we didn't have much space to store anything and the Bee folds down really small and with the cocoon attached. So it was really convenient. I still use it now 4 years later (with buggy board attached) with my second child, I love it. It's a very good city pram and holds its value.

JoJoMamanBebe do lighter fleece pram suits. You'd be surprised at how chilly babies can get while they're out and about in the winter in the pram - they're not moving about like you are, so it's basically the equivalent of you sitting on a bench outside for the whole time you're out. With slings you can go a bit lighter as they get your body heat too.

No need for day vs night clothes for an infant. They don't care whether a particular babygro is meant to be for bed or a trip to the shops!

If you are planning on swaddling, get light stretchy, BIG cloths for that and then blankets that you can put over the top.

Once DS reached about 4-5m we put him in Grobags.

My two hate blankets, we discovered fantastic padded sleep suits from Mothercare which we put them in at around 3 months with just a vest underneath. They're as warm as a grobag, I think they're brilliant.

www.mothercare.com/Mummy-and-Daddy-Wadded-Walk-In-Sleeper/LF9833,default,pd.html&q=Wadded&loadMoreCurrentStatus=1&returnCgid=&returnSrule=null&start=&returnScrollPos=772

I find babygros much more annoying when it comes to nappy changes than trousers and tops - all those poppers vs just pulling trousers down. So DS was often in joggers plus vest and cardi. So pretty vests came in in those circumstances!

Can you get zipper babygros here? Best invention ever, especially with 2 way zips. I don't think I would ever choose popper suits again if I had the choice.

I disagree with the not differentiating on day/night clothes. For us it formed part of the bedtime routine which I think aided DDs understanding of bedtime as time went on. Each to their own I guess.

But do you think a one or two month old knows that the particular suit they are wearing is only for bedtime?

For the most part we either bathed and/or changed DS into fresh clothes for bed (which we probably told him were pjs) but until he was a bit older there weren't any special pjs vs normal clothes.

We did buy grosuit quilted sleeve jumpsuits when he moved into sleeping bags which were brilliant in cooler weather.

My first had severe reflux (due to CMPA) so he just got changed around vomiting episodes (fun times).

Never underestimate how many vests you can get through in a day!

I bought loads of vests but DD has hardly worn any! She wears sleepsuits on their own almost all of the time unless we are going out when we put a vest on underneath. She's almost 3 weeks old and gaining weight like crazy so doubt she will wear even half the vests we bought.
I asked the health visitor about layers as the midwife said one more layer than what we're wearing but DD was boiling before we'd even thought about blankets, and our house is only about 20 degrees. Health visitor said it's better to start with fewer layers and build up rather than start her off boiling, just trust my instincts and baby will let us know if she's too cold! Seems to have worked so far!
On a side note... Make sure you buy the sleepsuits with scratch mitts built in... Godsend! :)