Newborn clothes amounts & washing

[Kt2108]

Hi all- couple of questions
Firstly which gets asked often I'm sure. How many of each item did you all have for example; vests for day time under outfits, babygrows, sleepsuits, hats, socks, bibs etc

Secondly did you all wash them before baby was here

And lastly- for washing: do you wash your babies clothes with your own clothes? If so what detergent/softener do you use? Or just keep everything separate?

Thanks! X

Can i hop on? 20+4 ans starting the shopping.

A question of my own, i intend to formula feed. I have 5 bottles. Dm thinks this is more than enough. I have no idea. What does anyone else think? Will be using a perfect prep.

Sorry 6 bottles.

I had around 10-12 vests and babygrows in the first couple of sizes, was more than enough. Didn’t wash anything first, as I don’t see the need as also means you can’t return/swap for different sizes if needed. We use Aldi’s own bio washing liquid and wash everything in with our clothes at 30 degrees. Never had issues. I’d buy 6 bottles as that will get you through most of a day. I recommend mam anti colic bottles.

I second mam anti colic bottles and I only had 4 but washed and sterilised morning and night so plenty. I would say 10-12 vests and sleepsuits will be enough. You will get lots of sleepsuits as gifts and some vests that come in sets so you won't need to buy many yourself at all. You won't need loads of socks unless you plan on putting baby in lots of outfits without feet. I didn't. A couple of hats and enough bibs for 6/8 feeds a day and depending on how often you plan on washing. If you plan on breastfeeding you don't need bibs but Muslims are so useful in my opinion.

Thank you very much. I got tomme tippe closer to nature but have been eyeing up the mam starter set. Currently on offer at argos and on amazon so think will invest.

Were going to sleepsuits today was thinking if 6 or 9 in first size. I expect will get lots as presents as suggested.

I had 10 short sleeve vests and 5 long sleeve vests, and 15 baby grows. 2 hats, tonnes of bibs which we never used and still haven't really (she's 5 months!) , 3 cardis, a pram suit and a light coat.

We didn't know what we were having so once our baby was born we went and bought loads of stuff for her like leggings and tops, and then the presents start arriving so I really wouldn't go mad.

I washed everything before baby was born in Fairy non bio powder and lenor softener. Now it just all goes in with our clothes cause otherwise we would run out of baby stuff before there was a full load. I know some people don't use softener but I've never had a problem with my babies skin.

If you wash often you'll need less. Sick on clothes does happen often but they grow out of everything so fast I wouldn't buy loads! Also everyone else will normally buy everything in 0 to 3.
I liked having 7 bottles, 6 for in the steriliser and 1 for current use, so I know as soon as the last one is taken out I can fill it all back up again. Rather than possibly cutting it close with waiting for the sixth one to be finished with.
But each to their own.
I use aldi's own non bio and have had no problem with DS clothes or any sensitive skin issues.
I wash everything all together but it was mostly DS stuff in a load as he had lighter colours and we wear a lot of dark clothes.
Do not forget scratch mittens, preferably in a few colours to match outfits. I don't think I realised how my DS would scratch his face, it was worse than I'd anticipated.

At least 10 babygrows and 10 vests. I usually get around 20 though because I love baby clothes! Depending on what kind of person you are depends on how many outfits, me personally had around 10 mix and match outfits as I don't use babygrows in the day.

Weve got a few long sleeved vests then mostly short sleeved. Dm said shw never used long sleeve vests. Anyone else the same? Are the long sleeved vests meant to act as like a top e.g. with leggings or under dungarees?

Will be a January baby but intending on keeping her in babygrows and knitted cardis (altho i assume people will buy outfits which of course i will use).

IMO it's best to get a few bits in the first few sizes and then readjust once baby is here. It's easy to get carried away and buy loads of cute things and then you have the disappointing realisation they didn't get to wear most of it as you found you preferred another type of clothing or they were too big or the weather was wrong etc.

I would suss out where nearby you can easily pick up more bits for not too much money. Primark, supermarkets, Boots and M&S are my favourites for multipacks and you might have Boots gift cards etc. That's what we did and I'm really glad. There have been a couple of things he only got to wear once but not too bad.

I didn't wash stuff in advance, left tags on where possible so we can swap things if they don't get worn (if I get around to it). I just wash the baby's stuff in with ours. I did get some colour catchers though because the baby has lots of cute bright white things and DH tends to miss what is likely to run or just chuck everything in together without looking.

If you want your muslins to stay absorbent it's best to avoid fabric softener on those - I bought a liquid hygeine wash which I use in place of fabric softener if I'm washing stuff like that. You can also replace the fabric softener with a capful of white vinegar which helps to clean and makes everything smell really fresh.

My daughter is 4weeks old today. I had around a dozen each of vests and sleepsuits in newborn, washed them all in advance (no real idea if I actually needed to, but it was something to keep me occupied while waiting for her to come.) That was plenty - she was in them for two weeks exactly, before moving on to 0-1month (which she also was only in for two weeks).

We have a dozen pairs of socks in 0-6months. She's worn one pair so far, as all her sleepsuits have feet. We have three hats, which she wore in hospital/coming home and has not worn since.

I bought Aldi's non-bio detergent (on mumsnets recommendation) while i was pregnant and have been using it for a while - so our clothes and sheets etc are all baby-snuggle safe too. I do wash our clothes together, though I separate into darks/lights, and her clothes are mostly lights and ours are mostly darks.

Long sleeved vests are good under dungarees or dresses, or if you use baby sleeping bags/grobags they make great pyjamas, but it might be worth waiting to see if your baby even wants to sleep in a grobag. Other than that I find them too annoying to use because the warmth distribution is all wrong. You can also use them as a top with some trousers/leggings but I'm not a fan of the tucked in look, plus babies tend to want two layers on their trunk. You can maybe use it to get the two-sleeve look with a short sleeved t-shirt on top but that's very fiddly with a newborn. (Dungarees are, too.)

Short sleeved vests are far more practical.

We had about 10 vests and 10 sleepsuits, plus whatever people bought us (a lot, most of it acid pink 🙈). It was plenty.

I washed three sleepsuits and vests before packing my hospital bag out of excitement, but that was it- I wanted to leave the tags and packaging intact until baby was here safely and by then I wasn’t arsed pre-washing them!

I don’t treat her stuff any different to DH’s and I’s, I bung everything in together at 30 degrees and only seperate lights and darks. She doesn’t have sensitive skin though, if she did I’d have to look at being more particular.

Another recommendation for the Mam bottles- you can sterilise them in the microwave which means you don’t need to fanny about with a sterilising system or fluid etc.

Also- short sleeved vests are much easier for tiny babies who don’t understand you asking them to give you their hand to feed it through the arm!

Long sleeved are good for winter if you use a sleeping bag. They’re handier when they’re older and a bit easier to dress- dd is 11 months now and I’m sorting winter stuff for her, I’ve got two packs of long sleeved vests to wear with leggings and cardigans.

Thank you. I should just listen to dm. She has had 5 kids and a few grandchildren.

With regards to sleeping bags thats another thing im a bit stuck on. What kind of blankets etc for sleeping? I was thinking a jersey / cotton a fleece and a cellular blanket. Is that enough? Can they go in baby sleeping bags from birth? Do you put a blanket over?

I have bundlers for nightware on dms recommendation.

There is normally a little cardboard tag that comes with most sleeping bags which will tell you what to put on the baby depending on the temp of the room.

You can also check the guidelines on the Gro-bag or Jojo Maman Bebe website- grobag’s come with a little cardboard room thermometer as well which I found very handy.

You don’t usually need a blanket over a sleeping bag unless it is very cold- I’d pop a cellular blanket over dd’s lower half if it dropped below 16 degrees.

Most sleeping bags have a minimum baby weight for use- although they can say they’re suitable from 0-6 months, if you check the safety label it’ll say something like “Not to be used for infants weighing less than 8lb”. It’s to stop their heads falling through the neck hole. Before dd hit the weight limit, we just used cellular blankets, but she was definitely happier in the sleeping bag.

Thank you very much. I hadn't thought too much about sleeping bags so that helps.

Bundlers are sort of the traditional/old fashioned version of sleeping bags so I wouldn't have said you would need both. Sleeping bags (with a zip) have only been around for about 20 years so your mum might not know about them. If you're using a sleeping bag you don't usually need anything else, that's the point.

Fleece blankets are too thick for night time but you can use them in the pram, or folded to lie the baby on. (Not for night time). Once they are in a proper bed with a duvet they can have their fleece blanket on top of that when it's really cold.

Cellular blankets are for using in a cot if you're not using a sleeping bag. I also find them useful for co-sleeping as you can put over both of you. We use them in the pram as well.

• We use 6 bottles.. Simply because she eats every 2 hours so it's a even number- 12 bottles a day! I wash them in morning, steralise and make up bottles. They keep in fridge for 24hrs.
• We found swaddling the best to give her a good sleep: vest, thin cotton swaddle wrap and cellular blanket
• When she was born she was too big for newborn clothes so I was glad I hadn't bought too many!

The bundlers i have are the same thickness as a babt grow but just skirted at the bottom instead of legs so will need covers of some sort.

Something for me to think about!

Just bought sleepsuits and an outfit in first size says upto 9lbs and im thinking oh gosh but i am being induced at 37 or 38 wks. Also me and my brothers were all 6lb babies and my brothers that have had kids have all been 7lbs. Probably means nothing but im working on those weights.

I only had 2 sets of newborn vest/sleepsuits, which she grew out of in 3 or 4 weeks and then about 4 or 5 0-1month sleepsuits which she wore u til 6 weeks and the rest in 0-3. I've got about 7 sleepsuits and 15 vests which is plenty, although I have got some outfits which she wears some days if we are going out. Also, I wouldn't take too much notice of the weight on the labels, my dd was 7lb 15oz born but still wore newborn/1m clothes for 6 weeks, and her 0-3 stuff is still very roomy on her at almost 8 weeks old. she must be short lol

@Rarfy

We have enough for the whole day. At first our baby ate every two hours so 12 was easy. I like that if we had a bad night I didn’t have to get straight up and washing and sterilising bottles in the morning. I also use Mam anti colic and really recommend them.

I'm looking at the mam anti colic bottles but the steriliser is £80!! The tommee tippee one is £25. Does anyone know if the man bottles will fit in it?

I used the tommee tippee steriliser with our dr brown bottles last time and didn't think twice really.

The mam ones can be sterilised in the microwave without.the steriliser or the ones im looking at can be.

I know this wasnt my thread but thanks everyone ive found the advice really useful.

I would advise you buy stuff and keep most of it in the packaging with the receipts that way if you are given, find you can borrow stuff or your baby is bigger you can return it. My DD was just under 6lbs so some of the newborn stuff we were given and brought just now fits her at 2 weeks. If she was heavier we would have returned some of the newborn clothes for a larger size. I've noticed that Primark, Next and Gap newborn stuff is for small/short babies. Boots and Mothercare newborn stuff is for larger/longer babies.

Most baby clothes particularly unisex ones are in lighter clothes and as adults myself and OH wear dark clothes, so they are washed separately. I brought fairy non-bio before I read you can wash baby clothes in normal bio washing liquid so am using that. I washed some baby clothes before hand as the people I borrowed them from said they should be.

One thing with microwave sterilisers is a lot of them are made for old larger microwaves so won't fit into modern 23l or smaller ones. So look for one that you can use for cold sterilising as well if you aren't sure it will fit. I have some Mam bottles, Medela bottles and various others as I'm mixed feeding. I managed to be given most of my bottles new unused instead of buying them all. The Medela bottles and teats are the ones my baby prefers best, though the Mam are the easiest to sterilise as you just take them apart and do it in the microwave.