Do I have enough / the right baby clothes?!

[ElleMcElle]

First baby due in Jan and am a bit confused by the way different shops size their vests and sleep suits ("New Born" / "First Size" / "0-3 months" etc). This is what I have so far in the vest / sleep suit department:

5 x George long sleeve vests - 1st size - up to 9lbs
7 x Mothercare short sleeve vests - 1 mth - up to 10lbs
5 x George short sleeve vests - 0-3mths - up to 12lbs
4 x M&S long sleeve vests - 0-3mths - up to 13 lbs

6 x George sleep suits - 1st size - up to 9lbs
6 x Next sleep suits - up to 1 - up to 10lbs

So... I don't have much under 9lbs. If baby is 7 or 8 lbs, can you still put them in 9lbs / 10lbs vests and sleep suits or will they be drowning in them?

And do babies need to wear vests underneath their sleep suits during the winter months, or will that be too many layers? And if so - are long or short sleeve vests best under sleep suits?

Complete newbie to all this , so any help much appreciated!! Thank you!

That sounds fine to me as you can always get more clothes as soon as you know what size your baby is.

I’ve always double layered my children so a vest and then a sleepsuit and when it is cold, a cellular blanket as well.

You’ll find lots of shops vary massively in what they consider to be newborn size (and all the other sizes) so just see what fits. DD1 was in newborn, first and 0-3 all at the same time because they came from different places and she was only 7lbs.

Hope all goes well with your birth.

My DD was 6lb 9oz at birth and was in newborn sides clothes - they were big and she could of fitted in tiny baby clothes but we didn't bother and just went with the baggy look. She was spring born and we always put a short sleeves best under her sleep suits so a winter baby would need a sleep suit and a long sleeved vest. DD is 18 months and still has a long sleeved vest under her clothes in the winter.

In terms of amounts it seems fine as people love to buy for new babies so you will get many more sleep suits and outfits.

Have your purchased hats and mittens? As these will definitely be needed for a winter baby plus a little coat or snowsuit for when out and about

I've got 15 short sleeve.. Newborn
15 short sleeve 0-3

No long sleeve as I didn't use with ds

18 new born sleep suits
18 0-3 sleeps suits

About 4 prooer outfits in each size
An all on one coat in 0-3
A normal pram coat in new born
Loads of mits hats etc

Now I know its a fair amount but DS had bad reflux and each feed was a change of clothes!

Plus in places like next, mothercare and supermarkets it's so cheap so it don't overly matter of not used much

Started buying more 0-3 and 3-6 when something catches my eye. But I know my in laws have brought tonnes so not over stressing about it.

Congrats. I'm due in Jan too.

The clothes are UP TO whatever lb so first size are fine unless baby comes early.

I only have 5 first size sleepsuits for now but will get another 3 pack.and will get some vests from asda.
I always put vest under sleepsuit but prefer sleeveless or short sleeve for that.

I just wash and tumble dry stuff every couple of days so found no need for loads. Also 1st DD was a chunk so first size didn't last long.

It also depends if you are going to dress your baby in clothes or just sleepsuits.

If you don't think you have enough once baby arrives, it's easy enough to pick up more. Especially with internet shopping!

18 newborn sleepsuits! Wowsers. Thats quite a lot.

You will be fine putting a smaller baby in the 1st size/1 month clothes. If you have a small baby, you can always buy more of that size. You don't need loads to start. My first was 6lbs 9oz. She was in New baby/1st/1 month clothes until easily 3 months. She was even drowning in those to start, but not enough that we couldn't manage by rolling up sleeves, etc.

How warmly you dress them depends on your house temperatures. Our house is usually between 16-18 C in the winter (my first was an early Feb baby). We dressed her in long sleeve vests and a sleep suit during the day. At night, she was in that with a blanket or 2.5 tog sleeping bag on. The Gro bags have a temperature chart that advises you on how warmly to dress them, which I found worked really well and she was always the right temp. If you live in a more modern house that tends to be warmer, you might manage with dressing them less warmly, but it's a bit of trial and error to start.

I think 18 newborn sleepsuits is fine. Maybe it was just my babies but I could easily go through 3 or 4 in a day with sick/pooplosions/milk

I always did Long sleeve vest, baby grow (sleepsuit) knitted cardigan on top then layers of blankets when I went out for my December and February babies.

That sounds reasonable.
Remember that you will be able to send your
Dp to the shop to pick up extra bits if needed and if not you can get almost anything on next day delivery.
Also you're likely to get gifted lots of stuff.

Yes to vests under sleepsuits in winter, probably short sleeved or sleeveless ones though.

However despite a 7lb first baby my second surprised us all by weighing 10lb and went straight into 0-3 month size. I literally had to send dh to Sainsbury's just after he was born. So be prepared for that eventuality.
Also remember that if you keep labels on it is relatively easy to take stuff back to the shops and change for a bigger size if you need it.

Ds only fit in new born for 5 days. Fortunately we only got 1 pack of sleepsuits and vests. We also got a 0-3 bundle off eBay. They grow so fast I couldn't justify spending loads of money. He's had a bundle for each age range so far and we just top up the bits missing.

Just to throw in my tuppence worth...

Our babies have gone into 0-3 sleepsuits as of birth as both have been 8lb 6oz (yep BOTH) but the suits don’t last long as our babies are longgggggg.

Typically newborn is 50cm, 0-3months is up to 56cm and longer than 56cm is 3+months.

BUTTTTT please take into account that tumble drying can shave off a cm or so keep an eye out for toes trying to poke through the fabric!

Ps: yeah 18 sleepsuits is a lot/too much but there’s NOTHING more thrilling than buying sleepsuits for the first baby. Just get a couple of cellular blankets too!

Thanks for the responses - very useful and sounds like we'll have enough to muddle along in the first week or so.

As people have suggested, DH will be sent out on emergency shopping trip if baby is too small for the ones we have - and if baby happens to come early, we have some good friends who have loads of premie stuff they can give us.

We also have a few "outfits" / cardigans / pram suits / hats & mitts etc. Have attempted not to go overboard on the outfits, as I imagine he'll mainly be in sleep suits to begin with.

Thanks again!

Sounds like you're pretty well prepped!

I have 14 Sleepsuits and 14 short vests in both newborn size (varies from up to 7lbs and up to 10lbs) and then the same in 0-3 so hoping that will be a good start.

I suspect we'll have a small baby as I was only 5lbs at 2 weeks overdue and my DH was even smaller.

On ds1 the midwife told me a good rule of thumb is always dress your baby in one more layer than you would wear. So if you need a top and a cardigan, then baby would need a vest, top and cardigan.

Sounds like you have plenty to start with, you will be surprised though at how many changes a baby can go through in one day, especially if they are sicky or have leaky nappies

Another tip is that you can cut the toes off of sleep suits if the baby is growing more lengthways than adding bulk.

It will drown them. I had an 8 lbs 2 baby and newborn drowned her at first. She's 2 weeks and still fits into tiny baby but also fitting better into newborn now x

Don't buy much more and definitely no more newborn stuff. If you're going to get extra though, buy up to one month or 0-3. Most babies
go into 0-3 around a month old. Long sleeve vests are best over winter and early spring and short sleeves for the summer. People buy you loads of stuff so don't feel like you need to buy outfits although you will need a pram suit. As PP get some cellular blankets for swaddling. The gro bags for tiny baby's are a waste of money because they grow out of them so fast and they'll end up getting puked on several times a day anyway. Blankets are best. You need some wee cardigans for over the sleepsuit when it gets really cold.

Sounds about right. You can always get more. You don’t know how big /how sicky they will be/how often you can do laundry til they’re here.

I'll stick at that for now, then! Thanks again for the responses!