the definitive new baby clothes list? and excuse me for asking dumb questions..

[tyaca]

... have not joned any antenatal classes, these questions would prob all be sorted then. so bear with me and my stupidity BuT

what do i actually need?

LO is due Feb. We will get most of our clothes from my SILs, both having/had little girls just before us. BUT, I've a day off work and i'm ebay surfing and confess i've got an itchy spening finger!

So --- does this sound right for a Feb-born:

6 x vest. Dumb Question #1 - the baby wears vests under her other clothes, right? i didnt realise this til my SIL told me last week. does that mean that long sleeved and wrap over, slightly fussier ones still count as vests? or are those body suits a bit different somehow and then should be worn with a little vest underneath?

6 x romper suits. i love these and confess i have bought 3 or 4 already. i'd kind of assume she'd live in these for first few months. so these go on top of vess, right?

4 x sleepsuits. it seems like these are basically the same as rompers/all in ones. DQ #2 or am i missing something?? only differnce i can see is that some have built in socks/mitts. and they tend to be a bit fluffier and more likely to come in pastel shades!

I also have a couple of little trousers and t-shirts in 3-6m sizes that i have been bought.

1 x hat.

1 x pram suit//snow suit cause its going to be cold. seen a lot on ebay that are v nice plus cheap so may buy two - one NB size and one 0-3m.

3 x socks//booties. What do you think? my SIL says her LO never keeps these on. And i guess if the pram suit has built in socks then that'll keep her toes warm when outside??

1 x thicker//warmer indoor all in one thing or jumper.

what do you think????

anything obvs i've missed?

You need lots of vests, lots of sleepsuits, and a pram suit. Anything else is extra.

You will find that the older generation are obsessed with your baby being cold and are constantly trying to get you to put more clothes on it. Meanwhile, health visitors and midwives are obsessed with it being too hot and constantly try to get you to take clothes off.

The reality is that they don't die from being 2 degrees too hot or too cold and if they are seriously uncomfortable you will notice.

sleepy - they've started already! my DH is very stict with me, and the only stuff i'm actually buying are the things that make my heart jump with new baby excitiment. am being v v disciplined, i promise.

kathy - ty for tip off re the hots and the colds of this. i'd heard too warm was worse. if i understand where you're coming from, i think i agree with you that a lot of the knowledge to keep a baby happy and well must already be in me? or am i being hopelessy niave?

I agree you'll soon have too much and everyone will have their own must haves. Two of my friends and I have had babies that are too long to wear jumpsuits with feet in them. I would never buy them again and just put up with socks. I'd buy at least 5 simple suits that you can add long pants, jumper, socks etc to. you're right, s/he will live inthem. I also like the little white dresses for sleeping at night so you can change the nappy without waking/jolting the baby too much. Some have a drawstring thing at the bottom which is nice... Sorry so boring. If people offer ot buy stuff ask them for the boring stuff and buy the fancy stuff yourself, I hated receiving expensive outfits as gifts that I hated and never used. Such a waste. It;s still happening now..

good girl buying stuff that makes your heart jump! What a nice comment! I'll use that next time..

Yes, overheating is more dangerous - it's all evidence-based. But it's one of the things it's easy to worry too much about (constantly fiddling with the heating because you are 1 degree above the ideal temp etc)

yes they can wear a little vest under the romper suit or whatever else they have on.

I put the socks on over the top of DS romper when he was still growing into the newborn size otherwise he would wiggle around and get his feet caught up in the sides with the poppers.

a newborn will just want to hang out in rompers most of the time as they are comfy and they are also asleep a lot. after about 2 months they will be awake a bit more and you will start to want to dress them up some more.

im having baby number 3 and your list sounds exactly the same as what ive bought except my grans knittted a cople of cardies. i have quite a few newborn clothes left from dd1&2 (having another girl) so im asking people not to buy baby clothes. not sure how much theyll listen though.

A second vote for some hand knitted cardi's if you know anyone who is willing - if not, soft shop bought ones without hoods are good too.

Hoods are great for older babies but for tiny ones who lie on thier backs most of the time, they can ruck up uncomfortably.

Gap socks stay on well. I bought some sleeveless vests this time by accident - actually found them really useful as they kept her warm but not as cosy as the ones with long or short sleeves do. Dd3 was a spring baby though - if you get any you might want to get 3-6 months.

bibs? essential for spitty up baby if you dont want to keep changing their clothes.

oh and second the gap socks.

Blanket. Tis an essential piece of 'clothing'. Then when you go out and forget baby's snowsuit / spare clothes, you can just bundle them up in a blanket.

Muslins - lots of. Incredibly useful.

I knitted a lovely stripy cardi for DS which he lived in for the first few months (he was an oct baby)

Oh, and when you are given 74 identical romper suits, all sized 0-3, take them back to the shops and exchange for larger sizes.

Another vote for Gap socks.

Petit Bateau wrapover long-sleeved vests. Petit Bateau babygros.

Woolworths pack-of-three totally plain white cotton sleepsuits.

Matalan sleep suits are fab as they have scratch mitts sewn in - otherwise your lo will pull them off and lose them - A LOT!!!

Lipsy can I ask where you got the little white dresses for sleeping? What a good idea! With DD1 I was constantly getting annoyed at the sleepsuits, especially trying to do them up etc in dim light with sleepy fingers....

Green Baby do them tho a bit expensive

www.greenbaby.co.uk/pl_BABYBASICS_BBASICS-1.htm

Thx Effie - and what a lovely website!

I can't really recommend it because I haven't had my LO yet (34 weeks) but my Bug in a Rug arrived yesterday and it looks so cosy, far better than those pain-in-the-bum snowsuits.

Hi tyaca, my first was a Feb baby girl too, so I'm getting all dewy-eyed ...

I second moocow and others - all mine were in short-sleeved vests and then sleep suits for at least 2 months (boring, I know) And dd1 was 9ib 4, so she grew out of 0-3 in about 2 wks. So... get any lovely stuff in 3-6 and 6-12m.

I also had the cutest white snowsuit with bunny ears ... [crawls sobbing to photo album]

I found a few cardigans useful.

Also, my baby only wore newborn size for about a fortnight, and only then because I had newborn stuff and was determined to have her wear it. She was 8lb 14oz, so not enormous.

agree re wrap vests, blankets and cardigans. have you thought about grobags for nighttime? you can use from birth now and they are brilliant.