Hospital clothes for baby

[Raindrop87]

Just wondering what clothes everyone is planning on packing for baby in hospital?

I'm having a November baby and was just wondering what I should pack? What clothes? What size? How many of each item etc? xx

Also any links to cute newborn outfits appreciated! Particularly after a cute 'hello world' type sleepsuit!

I'd keep it simple with bodysuits and sleepsuits and as it's November a hat and cardigan

Vest, baby grow, socks, mittens, hat, cardigan & blanket. 2 of each (with another bag packed with extras that can be brought in easily should there be complications and you have to stay in)

I was thinking that but what size? How many of each item? How many hats? Do they need to be knitted? Do you take your own baby blanket?

FTM so feeling a bit clueless!

Just some short sleeve vests and babygro with a cardi and hat for coming home in as well as a blanket to cover the car seat. I think I took 3-4 vest/gros per day with my first.

I know people want a cute going home outfit but we got discharged so quickly and I was so desperate to get out of there it didn't really matter!

Size is difficult to judge. Either newborn / first size or 'up to 1 month'.

Hats don't need to be knitted. Blankets should be cellular.

Vest, sleepsuit, cardigan, hat, blanket - then you can layer depending on how warm/cold it is.
A couple of muslins

I would suggest packing 2-3 vests/sleepsuits just because you don't know how long you will be in for (they do get wet/dirty often when feeding), if someone can pop home then they can always bring more if required.

With my first I made the mistake of just buying 0-3 months and she was 7lb 1oz and everything drowned her. My MIL had to go and grab me some newborn clothes although luckily she was born during a heatwave so she pretty much lived in vests for the first week

I'd go with up to 1 month unless you think you are having a big baby. You could get both up to 1 month and 0-3 months

I was torn between newborn and up to 1 month?? It's hard to judge, would up to 1 month drown a newborn baby?

Depends on the baby, DD was just under 6lb and the newborn size fit her well, we got some never worn newborn clothes passed on by a bigger baby

The hospital will be boiling hot, yes even in November.

For both my just-under 8 pounders, tiny baby would have been the best fit when they were in hospital but newborn was fine. Dh brought in some 0-3 month sleepsuits as the three I'd brought were completely inadequate for my crap nappy skills and ds's amazing ability to wee all over everything and they completely swamped ds1.

We were given a woolly hat by the hospital both times.

With ds1 we were in for 3 days but by ds2 they were discharging much faster (and I was better at putting on nappies) so a couple of vests and sleepsuits would have been plenty.

We took November-born ds1 home in a gorgeous white Mamas & Papas teddy fleece pramsuit with little ears. I think he only wore it twice because it was pretty impractical and hard to put on him, but it was lovely to have something special for the occasion.

Didn't personally need socks (which would immediately fall off anyway) or scratch mits.

Also bear in mind the sizing of baby clothes is as bad as that of women's clothes anyway

@Raindrop87

I was torn between newborn and up to 1 month?? It's hard to judge, would up to 1 month drown a newborn baby?

I think newborn would be fine unless you think you will have a big baby (althoughI have friends who were told they were having big babies by midwives to end up having 7/8 lb ones).

Maybe pack an outfit in each size if it makes you feel more prepared. Good luck!

It's true that sizes vary a lot. Primark stuff was massive iirc, but dh's aunt bought ds1 a gorgeous outfit in Paris that was apparently up to 2 months and he was only able to wear once when he was about a week old!

My LO went through 3 outfits on his first day of life as we were so rubbish at changing nappies! I'd take 4-5 sleepsuits and vests, plus a cardie of some kind and snowsuit type thing for taking them him. Do not bother spending lots - they'll grow out of these first things within a month. Focus on stuff that's easy to change and don't bother with what it looks like. Primark, H&M, M&S and John Lewis all have nice stuff for babies.

Personally I'm only getting up to 1 month this time rather than newborn. Ds1 was 8lb12oz and only fitted in first size for 2 weeks but up to 1 month would have been fine.
I found ds hands and feet were always freezing (he was a summer baby), I used to put socks underneath his baby grows to keep them on and keep his feet warmer.

@Raindrop87

I was torn between newborn and up to 1 month?? It's hard to judge, would up to 1 month drown a newborn baby?

My baby was small at 6lbs 3oz and upto 1 month was perfect for her. The odd piece was roomy but gives room if baby is slightly bigger

@Mommabear20 That's good to know, I didn't know if up to 1 month would look stupidly big if the baby was an average newborn size??

We went for Up to 1 month, which was pretty much spot.

Good tip I read on here was to pack them into outfit bags. So get a big freezer zip loc bag and put in 1 x short sleeved vest, 1 x baby grow, 1 x hat, 1 x mitts and a nappy, then label it with the size “newborn” or “up to 1 month” if you decide to take a mix. Pack 2-4 outfits.

The thinking behind this was that there’s a good chance it’ll be your partner pulling it out of the bag and generally they won’t have the foggiest what they are looking for! This way, the only have to find one bag rather than trying to match up a whole outfit.

Although actually the baby grows with the fold over integrated mitts are way better!

0-3 months are massive, definitely don’t get those. Personally I’m skipping newborn size. Even if up to 1 month is a bit big, it’s unlikely to swamp an average baby.

I'm a FTM too, went shopping for baby clothes last weekend and was so confused. I am due in November as well and turns out have no idea how to dress a baby 😅
Everyone says not to buy a lot of clothes, but it's confusing cause I don't know how big or small the baby will be 😬

[quote Raindrop87]@Mommabear20 That's good to know, I didn't know if up to 1 month would look stupidly big if the baby was an average newborn size?? [/quote]
The best bit about baby clothes is that it literally does not matter one teeny tiny bit if they're too big. Baby isn't walking or crawling or moving, so it doesn't matter if the legs and arms are too long.

It sounds like maybe skipping new born and going for up to 1 month might be the way forward...

George at Asda (among other places) do "first size" which I think is up to 9lbs or 10lbs - so somewhere in between newborn and up to 1 month! So I've got a fair bit from there!

Love this - says "hello, I'm new here!" Good for unisex/unknown gender too:

direct.asda.com/george/baby/starter-packs/white-zebra-slogan-5-piece-starter-pack/GEM745957,default,pd.html?cgid=D5M9G1C15?shareProduct=true