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! ☺️

Clemmie that’s what I wondered too. How the heck do people apparently just know all this stuff? And it’s much more difficult now because the choice of clothes and equipment was pretty limited when mine were born. Now, the range of prams and transport systems and cots and cribs and bedding and sterilising systems and bouncers and high chairs etc is mind boggling. I’m a grandma now and when DD was pregnant the choices to be made were fairly limited and I still struggled to work out what I might need.

I had not the first clue about babies when DD1 was born. I literally held her like a baby rattlesnake because I was so scared of her. It was a huge learning curve. There was no internet and I was the first of my friends to have kids. MN is brilliant. It’s the place where you can ask all this baffling stuff.

Don't forget that 'new born' and '0-3' are usually quite large and don't fit the majority of babies straight after birth. You need a few packs of 'first size' or 'up to 1 month' vests and sleepsuits to see you through the first couple of weeks. If you look at the labels/size guide at each shop they usually give you the baby weight for each size. (Example attached)

This thread is amazing! Bookmarking!

Following this as great thread for FTM 😃

A lot of times people tell you not to buy newborn clothes but I do think you need a few newborn especially if you want a few nice pics of them. My dd was 7lb 1 and was swamped in her 0-3 baby gro I'd bought for her to come home from hospital so my mum nipped our and got newborn so she looked nice. She was in the first size stuff for a good month or two.

I was planning to get a few newborn sizes after reading a few comments on here. How many vests and baby grows would people recommend to get in newborn size. Is 10 of each too much? Or too little?

@New2020 I was thinking the same, you don't want too many in case they're never worn but then you don't want to be without! It's so difficult 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also would people recommend newborn or up to one month? Or a mixture of both??

@Clemmie83 I'm glad I'm not the only one. I feel so annoying with so many questions

The up to 1 month things seemed nice and small. A mum I met having DS had an 8lb baby. I had a giant baby so I gave her my up to 1 month things and they fitted him lovely just when he was born. Agree that 0-3 is much bigger. DS still had a fair bit of room in his and he was big.

I got some lovely hand knitted cardigans from eBay. I never used any of the pram suits I bought. Thankfully they were second hand or in the sale so I hadn't wasted much money. I also had a November baby.

@New2020 I wouldn't buy newborn vests because you don't see them. It doesn't matter if they're a little big. You prob need about 20 because some days they can go through 4 with poo explosions. Nappies don't hold liquid poo no matter what brand you buy.
Like I said before a few newborn first size baby gros are nice for pictures and when you have visitors. I'll probably buy about 5/6 and then the rest 0-3. If you're not breastfeeding they're more likely to get in the 0-3 quicker.

You could always keep the tags on some of the newborn sizes and if your baby happens to be 9lb you could return them. My dd was 7lb 1 born and she got a good month or so out of her newborn things

Bibs and lots of them, vests and baby grows with hand and feet cover, hat also blankets. Then prepare for the influx of a LOT of gifts especially for your first and go from there. I wasted a lot of money on clothes i only got to put on my baby once people are so so generous x

My DS was 8lb 12 and the new born stuff was too small but the up to 1 month was perfect.

I didn't know that up to 1 month stuff even existed. I had a few new born things and lots of 0-3 which were huge on him. Luckily I had a fried who turned up when he was a few days old with a gift of 3 up to one month baby grows. They got a LOT of use!

This time I plan to have a few new born, and a few up to 1 month, just to cover all bases.

Agree with @Success1986 about bibs. I found this type were best with the bit of foam around the collar. They really do dribble a lot of milk and these save having to change them. You can find yourself changing their clothes after nappy changes and feeds if you're not careful lol https://www.chemist.co.uk/tommee-tippee-4-milk-feeding-bibs-blue-beige.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwez2BRCyARIsAJfg-kttmPXQVnQFJp22ILxySezkLUG7f2rwQVTGR3foEsEXhmL8lXanawsaAvfGEALww_wcB

I'm not sure if it was answered on here if baby clothes are seasonal or not? Is it worth waiting to get baby clothes for November? Do they come in thicker fabrics for winter?

What a handy thread! I'd been quizzing my friend about this only a few days ago! Find it so confusing especially when different shops call certain things different names! X

@Clemmie83

All cotton things like vests/bodysuits and sleepsuits/babygrows are not seasonal in terms of fabric thickness. There are more long sleeve in winter but that’s it.

They do make fleecy sleepsuits in winter but I hate them apart from for wearing as an outer layer outside. They are too sweaty to go against a babies new skin IMO-100% cotton is best. But we have s warm house too.

@LittleMiss7 Totally!!! When the same thing is called several different names it's no wonder it's confusing! 🙈

In regards to sizes of clothes - no one knows how big or small your newborn will be so have a range in different sizes - newborn, 1 month - and find someone who can go to a large supermarket for you to get you more if the sizing is wrong and you aren't able to go out. This is the same for nappies btw. We had to find size 0 nappies as newborn (size 1) were too big. We were given free packs of newborn nappies. (Aldi and Pampers do size 0)

This is where if anyone offers to help you say "yes" and use them to do shopping for you regardless of whether it is to buy you milk/bread or get baby clothes.

Also baby clothes sizing isn't uniform. Sainsburys, Gap, Boots and JoJo Mama Bebe tended to be on the generous size. Lidl and Aldi cotton vests were a generous size but their babygros weren't.