An idiots guide to baby clothes!

[Clemmie83]

I'm a first time mum and could do with some help demystifying baby clothes! I'm due in November and trying to put a list together of baby clothes I'll need. I don't even understand the terminology of all the different items let alone what I'll need/how many/when each item is worn etc!

If anyone can give me an idiots guide that would be amazing! ☺️

I had a November baby :)

• You'll always need a vest under their clothes at first, so long sleeved vests until the spring

-a few packs of baby grows per size (they'll be living in these at first, and the more you buy the less washing you'll have to do ;) -a few cardigans for layering -socks! Lots of socks, you can use them as scratch mitts too :) -hats, baby's head should be covered when they're outside, but take it off when they come indoors -Gloves for when you take them outside

• I never found much use for pram shoes unless they were nice and wooly and warm
• lots of blankets for layering
• buy tights regardless of sex as you can pop them under their trousers if they're cold

-little shirts and tops (or dresses) if you want, but these are a bit of a faff to change a baby in when they're very young, you'll propbably get gifted a lot of these -a snowsuit for the really cold days

• a few muslin cloths

Phew, that's all I can think of! Congrats on your pregnancy OP! It's daunting buying all the clothes the first time but you'll soon catch up to speed :) I found my mam was a great help sorting out what I actually needed

Congratulations on your pregnancy Clemmie

Babies can get through a remarkable amount of clothes in a relatively short period of time depending on how much they bring up their feeds and how much poo and wee seeps out of their nappies so a good supply of bodysuits (Long envelope necked vests which popper open and closed in the bum area are very useful. Depending on budget you can get really good quality basics from Sainsbury and other supermarkets or spend whatever you would like to throw at things in places like Next, Zara, John Lewis, JoJo Maman Bebe and independent shops. You will need some In newborn size (I think I had about 10) and then soon you’ll need some in 0-3, 3-6 , 6-9 months etc depending on your baby’s size and rate of growth.

Babygrows are all in ones that go over the bodysuits and have inbuilt legs with feet and arms that can be folded over the hands at the cuff to keep their hands snug. Same as with bodysuits you can get multipacks Of these very reasonably or spend a fortune if you want. Same sizing as with bodysuits. Depending on your clothes drying situation I’d go for 5 or 6. They can sleep in these too along with a vest.

In winter you will need some cardigans or tops to add layers to keep them warm. Go for washable and quick drying material. About 4 should do and hopefully you’ll get some nice clothes bought as presents. So I’d not go crazy unless you want to.

In winter they will need an outdoor ‘snowsuit’ like a babygrows but made out of anorak material and often warmly padded and with built in hood, gloves and feet. You should be ok with one of these especially if you have a tumble dryer. You could also opt for just a padded hooded jacket instead but I lived in the North so like the whole padded suit things .

Muslin cloths are very useful to protect their clothes and yours along with the furniture while you are feeding/winding.

As you aren’t supposed to put baby’s in car seats with coats or snowsuits for safety reason I found a star wrap from Tuppence and Crumble which I got for a gift was incredibly useful for the car and just in general as they are snug, really easy to put on and get off and dry very quickly. I’ll do another post with examples of each item of clothing. I think that was pretty much it unless I’ve missed anything. Hopefully others will add to my list or tell me how many of each thing they found the best.

I disagree about socks. They fall off every five minutes and onesies/baby grows have feet built in anyway. Buy your onesies with scratch mitts built in- M and S and Next do them like this among others and they're just sleeves with a pocket you can turn over to cover the hands. Don't bother with big fluffy outdoor snowsuit things unless you're planning to take the baby on lots of actual walks outside- houses are centrally heated and they shouldn't wear them in cars anyway.

Bodysuit, babygrow, snowsuit

Star wrap. I found this really useful for car journeys or as an extra layer.

Thank you so much for your replies so far, really useful!

Quick question - are a vest and a bodysuit the same thing?? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes they seem to be called either a vest or a bodysuit for some reason

I would get long sleeved bodysuits/vests for a November baby.

@5MikesOut Perfect! So a bodysuit goes under a babygrow? I was confused as when looking they all seem to be lovely designs so wasn't sure if they were designed to be worn alone?

Yes they go under the babygrow. In summer I often just put them in a vest/bodysuit on its on but in winter you’ll need that and a babygrow over it or a dress or top and trousers or whatever. For the first 6 months I didn’t bother with separates at all as they’re a faff to get on and off and you can get babygrows in such lovely colours, patterns and fabrics. I used to love Next’s as they were insanely cute, generously sized and good quality. But Sainsbury’s was my next favourite. Really good stuff there.

You remind me alot of myself when I was pregnant..... I had to go to my friends house for a lesson in baby clothes (including names hahaha)

Body suits also called Vests - short sleeve/long sleeve/sleeveless - have no legs and go under other clothes when it's cold - top tip I learned, don't buy patterned ones if they're not going to be on show as the patterns show through the clothes lol

Baby grows also called sleep suits - an all in one with legs, enclosed feet (smaller sizes) and arms

Socks - pointless invention until child is at least 2....even then it's hit and miss if the stay on hahaha (clearly a joke) - it's worth getting some "sock ons" for when they're little as they do stop the socks coming off

Snow suit/pram suit - padded and an all In one to keep baby warm

I found it's easiest to have them all in a similar colour so either all white and pale or all colourful as it makes washing loads easier. I'd say 10-15 vests & babygros would be ok depending on how much baby is sick or has leaky nappies.

We had a mix of short & long sleeve vests - despite being a winter baby, DS has always run hot so didn't always need a long sleeve vest.
Baby grows for most of the time. You can put socks on underneath the baby grow if it's chilly and that keeps them on.
Cardi/fleecy jacket for layering (2-3)
Pram suit - we had a little fluffy one that was cute but we only put on for walks or days out as it was a hassle to put on!
Cellular blankets for over the car seat or in the pram - we also had a nice fleecy blanket for cold days
We did have some trousers & tops for going out - just soft joggers usually which were really easy to put on.
Hats - baby probably won't wear them though
Muslin cloths are great - bibs are rubbish until teething when they really come into their own to deal with the dribble.

@ItsMischerWavy I did actually think of asking for a lesson from someone! 🤣

It's the fact that so many bodysuits are patterned that confused me, surely you'd just need white or plain colours if just for under things...

Ok another silly question....are baby grows just for in the house? I'm wondering what you dress baby in when going for lunch with friends for example? Do they wear actual outfits? Don't want to look like I've taken my baby out in it's pj's! 🤣 Or do you have some that are smarter?! 🤷🏻‍♀️🙈

Thanks for starting this thread OP, I also have a baby due in November and no idea either! So this is really useful.

@buffalopuff So glad it's not just me! 🙈

I just took mine out in babygros! Occasional outfit if I could be bothered but it's sometimes so much hassle getting out the door that it was easiest to go in a baby gro. Fresh ones on in the morning and before bed!

Yeah just take them out in a baby grow it’s fine
Though we did (and still at 10 months ) do a lot of ‘vest, leggings, jumper/cardigan’ so that the vest is sort of like a t-shirt. Therefore we have lots of patterned vests :)

@Clemmie83 think we’re likely to keep baby in baby grows for the first few months at least. They look to be the comfiest option for baby, always look super cute and (personal view) I hate seeing little babies in “outfits” dressed up like dolls. It’s totally none of my business but I hate seeing it Appreciate that doesn’t seem to be a common view anymore though!

Unless you see things on sale in bigger size, I'd only get stuff for the first few months. Different people, or even different babies use different things, so wait to see what works for you before you buy to much.

My eldest was mostly in babygrows until he started crawling, but my youngest has longer legs and shorter body, so does better with top and trousers one size bigger. My eldest also had a massage growth spert and went from newborn size to 3-6 within a few weeks, ended up with loads of barley or not warn 0-3 stuff.

I also never used snowsuits, despite need gifted several. I mostly had baby in the sling, so was inside my coat instead. You need to take them off for car seats, so it was easier to stick with a cardigan, use a blanket.

I would get 10-15 vests, 10-15 babygrows, 3-5 cardigans and 2-3 hats.

You could add a few outfits for going / special occasions, but there not really needed and you will probably be gifted loads anyway.

Oh and tights > socks
Socks constantly fall off. They are useful now she’s walking as I can whip them off at home. We have hard floors so she needs her sticky little feet to stay upright

My baby is nearly 5 months and I’ve only just started putting him in outfits - he still wears baby grows a lot of the time - both in the house and out and about! He’s a very sicky baby and baby grows are so much easier to deal with then fiddly outfits!

I used sleepsuits for daywear until about 3 months old. Outfits are horribly uncomfortable for a baby that can’t move much. I did get beautiful designs though for wearing out.

Think of vests/bodysuits as underwear, always worn underneath. Long sleeved are a PITA though for under clothes, I used short sleeved in winter under things. I just got cheap white vests mainly as never seen. The patterns are just to make money-although to be fair in hot weather sometimes I do have my baby in just a vest and now she’s bigger I do buy pretty ones.

My recommendation is to get at least 9 of each in each size. You could easily use 3 per day.
Definitely get built in scratch mitts on sleepsuits.

I had loads of hats but she hardly wore them.

Get 2 cardigans to go over sleepsuits too.

I also cannot recommend enough the Star wraps by Tuppence and Crumble for outside. Loads 2nd hand on ebay. Pramsuits are awful, I had loads and never used them but used the star wrap daily.

I just had my first baby! The most invaluable item for me has been sleeping bags. They give me so much peace of mind when we're sleeping as I don't worry about her going under the blanket. I recommend that you buy different togs and a couple of each! I don't recommend the Tommee Tippiee ones as they seem a bit uncomfortable. I got a really nice one from Aldi and The Gro Company are good.

The advice always used to be that the baby would wear one more layer than you, so if you were wearing a T-shirt and cardi, your baby would wear a vest, a top and a cardi.
This might be very outdated advice though...my kids are all teens.

I think baby grows are the best for little babies, or soft leggings and long sleeved t shirts. I used to keep a few 'posh' designs for going out clothes.

I saw the baby clothes in Sainsbury's the other day. They were just gorgeous. Looked really expensive, but weren't.

Good luck!

Oh also I would get a few nice little outfits as you might want to get the little one dressed up for milestone photos etc. I just had sleepsuits and nothing nice to put her in for her one month birthday!