How many newborn clothes to buy?

[trrk]

I'm a FTM and feeling a bit clueless about what I need to buy for a baby arriving in early July. I'll buy most stuff in the 0-3 sizes initially but how many newborn sized clothes do we need? I've heard some babies grow out of them quickly so you don't need many? Do we need anything in the newborn size other than say some long sleeve sleep suits and short sleeve vests?

Also is there much difference between zips and poppers for ease of dressing them, especially during the night? Someone recommended to avoid the ones with poppers for beign too fiddly but are they really that bad?

We have a 10 week old so I can tell you what worked for us. She never fitted newborn (9lb 4) so went straight into 0-3. We have about 10-15 sleepsuits and vests (mix of long and short sleeved vests) in 0-3. Couple of cardigans and tbh that was all she wore for the first month at least. Maybe one cute outfit for photo for your thank you cards? We had bought about 5 newborn vests and sleepsuits- our thinking was if we needed more could quickly order from M&S and even if she wore something big in the meantime it wasn’t a big deal. Too big better than too small! I’m glad we did that because none of it got worn.

My baby is 13 weeks old today and I have literally only bought 1 sleepsuits. Almost everyone who visited little one bought clothes for him and his grandparents can't help themselves. My advice would be to buy the bare minimum and get more if you need to, especially as you don't know what size they will be till their born. I also personally would buy second hand for the first 6 months as most secondhand stuff will be good as new ( some of my stuff has only been worn once or twice).
I personally like zips but most of his stuff had poppers and they're absolutely fine and easy enough to do. Probably 80% of his sleepsuits are poppers.

As for poppers- we found them no big deal and I’ll take sleepsuits with either

Hi!

I think I literally bought 1 pack of newborn sleepsuits and the rest were 0-3 for the reasons you said. However, I then had a small baby and had to buy some more newborn size! I have a large 24 hour Tesco nearby so it wasn't a problem to pop and get some to tide us over.

Most of my sons sleepsuits were poppers and we didn't have any issues. We had some zip ones that someone gifted us - they were great, really convenient! But, I think they were more expensive so didn't bother buying any ourselves.

The only ones I'd say to avoid while baby is tiny is the ones where the poppers are diagonal across the body (as opposed to meeting in the middle). I remember having a nightmare trying to wrestle his feet in to get them done up. I mean, we managed and he had some cute ones. But, when it came to going up sizes I tended to avoid.

You'll figure out what works for you OP. With Amazon etc... everything is at your fingertips!

I only dressed my babies in vests and sleep suits until they were about 5 months old, no trousers/dresses/tops etc. I probably had eight or ten of each, in the newborn size and then in 0-3; I had very average sized babies, and the 0-3 would have drowned them for quite a few weeks.

Poppers decrease the tiny risk of catching things in the zip.

I wouldn't buy much at all. My sons were never ever in 0-3 months, one was only briefly in 3-6 months so you never know what you're going to need!!

I'd buy some packs of newborn and keep them unopened until baby is here. Then you can return them.

Can you not borrow a whole load? When I had my DC (years ago now) I bought very little and just took delivery from the PILs of the enormous bag of baby clothes that did the rounds of the extended family. It contained a few pre-term, lots of newborn and masses of 0-3 months.

Also as a PP says you will be given loads.

This is making me broody! Enjoy your baby!

If I remember correctly I bought one pack of newborn vests (8 per pack) and possibly 8 sleepsuits for DD. I was gifted (new and secondhand) A LOT of clothes for DD, size ranging from 0-3months all the way to 9-12months so realistically I don't need to buy many things for her first year. They do grow very fast and I found some items were only worn once before it was outgrown. I'd personally get the bare minimum and then buy as needed once you know your babies size and things like how you'll cope with the laundry when baby is born (will you do one load per week or one per day etc). Good luck and congratulations

Different brands do size differently, for example a 0-3 months from next is bigger than a Tesco 0-3 months, for that reason I found it easier to check by weight on labels. M&S are good because they do newborn/up to 1 month/0-3 months, other places probably do it too. I got a small selection of newborn and up to 1 month which were fine for a few weeks even for a large baby as they do drop a little weight in the first week or so. Only had sleepsuits and vests for first 4 months and definitely needed to buy more than the 8 or so sets I had because you're forever washing otherwise. Wish I'd had more 3-6 months ready too because he was in those pretty quickly. Poppers are fine when they're that tiny because they're so still. Only when they reach a few months old and start kicking around it becomes more tricky. Those diagonal ones are a nightmare though.

My first was in Newborn for 7 weeks, my 2nd never fitted newborn and went straight to 0-3 and my 3rd was in Newborn for over 2 months 🤷‍♀️

More than I had, we didn't have much money and naively thought three babygros would be OK as wash two whilst wearing one (thinking that one would last a day like adult clothes 😂) , he'd dirtied all three within 2 hours of getting home!!

We have a LO with really long bloody legs. Something to think about is getting sleepsuits with no feet or vest and trouser combos. We found a lot of newborn and 0-3 sleepsuits had short little legs which is fine when they are all curled up but a bit restrictive when they want a stretch and a kick!

My DDs were tiny and needed to buy small baby sizes for them when they were here, but DS was a bit of an chunky boy and newborn was a bit snug on him. I've found next size upto 1 month (which is upto 10lb from memory) to be a good halfway between newborn and 0-3. Next also do next day home delivery so I'd just get a pack of vest, sleepsuits, some jersey hats and maybe a little cardi to see you through the first couple of days, and you can stock up quickly if you need more/ different size.
People always say you get bought clothes, but we found everyone said "everyone buys small sizes so I got you 9-12/ 12-18 months. We bought very few bits for our firstborn and quickly had to order some bits. Cracking wardrobe when he was 1 though

My daughter is 4 months and was in newborn until about 4 weeks ago. She still wears some up to 1 month and 0-3 fits just right on her now. She is a shorty though so I wouldn't worry too much on the weights as it's the length that seems to be the issue. If you have a long baby at birth, you might not even need newborn. Also, sizes are so different between brands - Asda seem to come up smaller for me, whereas we are still in the 1 month babygrows from mothercare now as they seem so long!!
I would buy a pack of newborn to begin with and await the baby - then buy more if you need them! The zip ones seem more of a faff to me as well, if they don't zip from both ends you essentially have to get the baby fully undressed at nappy changes

Poppers on UK baby clothes are fine. The poppers in other countries are not standardised and they all have different shapes and numbers so you easily get confused, whereas you get used to the UK ones in a couple of days. Especially now that they do the one pair in a different colour to help you match them up :) That was a nice (unneeded!) surprise with DC3. I don't like zips, they don't lie flat and I always worry about pinching skin.

Yes to the diagonal poppers being annoying and also anything you have to pull over their head, except vests which are OK because they are small and have envelope neck.

Newborn and 0-1 month and first size are all pretty much the same size and unless your baby is very small they'll only fit for a couple of weeks, so don't get too much in these sizes, or just get cheap/plain stuff or you'll be gutted they barely get to wear it!

UK supermarkets stock clothes and most websites also do delivery so you'll be OK even if you don't have enough of something.

I bought some sleepsuits and vests from matalan, Sainsbury’s, Next as they have newborn/up to 1 month which go to 9/10lb. You can look at the size guide to find out which are bigger sizes. My baby is long and so I’ve found Sainsbury’s to be the best value for money in terms of length but all babies are different sizes so I would probably buy one pack from a couple of different stores in newborn, 0-3 and you can see what fits your baby.

I don’t like sleepsuits with zippers or poppers to one side with DD’s long legs they are quite hard to put on and not that quick for a nappy change. There are less poppers when they are tiny but as they get bigger, they have more poppers! Again, I think this is a try a few with zippers or poppers to one side and then try a few with poppers down both legs. You’ll work out quite quickly what works for your baby.

I would probably aim for about 15 vests and 15 sleepsuits, making that up of multipacks from a couple of different shops. Even though DD is long she was in newborn for about 5 weeks.

Do you have any reason to expect a big baby? If so just buy 1 pack in newborn of vests and babygrows. They're readily available in supermarkets if you need more after baby is born.

Poppers are fine, I preferred poppers over zips.

Also pro-tip. The funny shoulders on vests are so you can pull them down over the body instead of up over the head. Very useful when they've had an explosive poo and you need to get the vest off without getting poo in their hair.

Very few, always zips.

DD wasn't in newborn at all and was a skinny, long baby so lots of things didn't fit. Better to buy a couple and see what is best than buy loads and realise half of it is unusable.

6 new born babygros. 0-3 vests. So easy nowadays when you can have what you need within 24 hours via delivery.

DD was a whopper and was out of the babygros within about a week. I just cut the feet off! But she was a summer baby and the 2nd so I didn't really care.

Not loads to start with as you don’t know how big the baby will come out. Some babies never fit a newborn size. You can always buy more when baby is out if you need smaller sizes.

I have a 5-day-old who on the grow chart was estimated to be around 4kg at 39 weeks when he was born, but came out less than 3.5kg and is now swimming in all the clothes we have! I think I had one newborn sleepsuit and a pack of 5 up to 1 month ones, and maybe 5 small vests (not sure of official sizes as they’re from different shops) and he’s wearing those on rotation. I’ve ordered more now but only a pack of 3 of sleepsuits and a pack of 5 vests as I know he will be growing out of them so will just need to keep on top of washing.

We had about 10 but we did a load of washing pretty much everyday. She grew out of them pretty fast.

I don't live in the UK and onesies with zips are pretty impossible to find here, but honestly the poppers are fine. My mum sent me a few with zips when I asked her but she told me a few horror stories about babies skin getting caught in them so it put me off them a little.

I always put my finger under the zip as I was zipping it. Between DD and the zip. Worked well.

As pp have said be mindful of the sizes - Tesco comes up small for me compared to say Next and Asda. I have about 10 newborn and we’re just about to move into 1 to 3 months at 6 weeks old as their feet are getting a bit tight.