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Original poster

Confused about baby clothes sizing!

34 replies

Nellynoo182 · 18/07/2022 11:52

Hey everyone,

FTM here!

We have just found out today we will be having a baby boy 🥰 I want to celebrate by buying some baby clothes as I have been waiting for what feels like forever to find out the gender!

I have seen a little outfit I would like to bring the baba home in. Should I be buying 0-3 months, first size, up to 1 month or looking for newborn only? My husband and I are both small, and the midwife has told me I won’t be having a big baby, but I’m confused by the 0 in the 0-3 months! Thank you ☺️

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FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 18/07/2022 11:54

Usually they have an indicative weight on the tag too. I think newborn size is usually around 7lb,

nbrown2022x · 18/07/2022 11:56

I bought newborn (up to 10lb) just check the label 🙂 my little girl was 8lb 5oz and was in newborn for ages! Xx

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 18/07/2022 11:57

Buy a selection of all.

If baby is bigger than expected you can usually swap unworn baby clothes for the bigger sizes if needed.

Also baby will always grow, so bigger sizes will get used eventually of not straight away

greenbirdsong · 18/07/2022 11:58

I only bought 0-3 baby clothes. If the sleeves or legs were too long (which they were at newborn) I would just roll them up.
The 1 month and new baby sizes literally would have fitted for a week so seemed a waste.

stormelf · 18/07/2022 11:59

I had small baby, newborn, up to 1 month and then 0-3. All three of my DC have been tiny and been in tiny baby for at least two weeks (dc3 in them for 1.5months). My two girls didn't get into 0-3 until they were close to 4 months old.

It is so tricky to know what to buy though as all babies are different. My mum had to bring some tiny baby clothes to the hospital as all my newborn swamped dd1

SBAM · 18/07/2022 12:00

My 9lb 3 baby went straight into up to 1 month sizes, but she took a while to gain back her birth weight. My 9lb10 baby fitted into up to 1 month but only just as he was quite long. Neither of them would have fitted newborn size.
If you’re expecting a 6-8lb baby I’d go with newborn or up to 1 month size(which usually is for up to 10lb).
I’d say don’t buy loads - they grow fast and will likely need bigger clothes about 6 weeks after they’re born.

mummyh2016 · 18/07/2022 12:00

DD was 6lb 8oz and DS 7lb 7oz- they were both in newborn/first size for weeks. 0-3 months would've been way too big.

SleepingStandingUp · 18/07/2022 12:01

I think it's variations in tiny baby which is less than 7lb, newborn is up to 10 lb then 0-3. But yeah, check the labels and I'd prob get something around the "up to 7lb" if it's for coming home. If it's just something you want to buy, any is fine cos they'll grow into it

SBAM · 18/07/2022 12:03

Oh, and if you choose some things you love for when they’re bigger - remember what season they’ll be at what size! A fleece lounge suit might not be much use in 9-12 months for a baby born in august or September, likewise 6-9 month shorts for a June or July baby.

Samanabanana · 18/07/2022 12:05

My 9lb baby spent 4 weeks in "up to 1 month" before moving to 0-3. 0-3 was massive on him at first and he was a big baby! My second was much smaller, and spent 2 weeks in newborn size, a month in "up to 1 month" and then moved on to 0-3.

tealandteal · 18/07/2022 12:06

If you want an outfit to put on them in the hospital I would get newborn. My 7lb DS wore newborn for a few weeks. My 9lb DS was 91st centile for length and still fit in newborn at the hospital.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 18/07/2022 12:07

We just bought a couple of 0-1m size from H&M and they also do a 2-4m size.

We were gifted some newborn/0-1m size and lots of 0-3m. The 0-3m size didn't start really fitting until about 4/5weeks.

Snowflakes1122 · 18/07/2022 12:08

Have fun shopping 🙂

I would buy a mix of newborn, 0-3 and up to 1 month. Different brands vary in sizes too, so keep that in mind. You’ll probably find you get a few gifts in the first sizes also.

Being petite is on no way a guarantee you’ll have a small baby though - my aunt is only 5 foot tall, my uncle 5”9, and they had a 10lb baby boy!

Caspianberg · 18/07/2022 12:08

I’m 5’4 and petite. Ds was 8lb8 and didn’t fit newborn for length as was 54cm long and I think newborn was 50cm.

for going home outfit I suggest 1month. For cardigan you like, get 0-3 as they can wear with arm turned up and you get a few extra weeks with favourites

Sunbun19 · 18/07/2022 12:10

I just had my little boy a few days ago, he was 7lb 12oz and he's long
'First size' and 'Newborn' are too small because of his length, 'Up to 1month' from tesco seems to be perfect on him atm, 0-3 from most shops and baggy and swamp him

gogohmm · 18/07/2022 12:12

Firstly I wouldn't buy a special going home outfit, you will be fine with a sleepsuit. I had tiny babies and they wore newborn for the first 2 months (had some tiny baby clothes too). Some babies go straight into 0-3 so I would have a packet of those ready. I know it's exciting now but when you have just given birth, fiddling with special outfits will be the last thing on your mind.

I highly recommend the supermarkets for basic baby clothes for now and buy the special outfits once little one is here - I went to asda to buy dresses with dd when she was 24 hours old (didn't know the sex)

BeeYellowMumma · 18/07/2022 12:12

We had this confusion too, bought mainly 0-3 as assumed incorrectly it would do all babies at the newborn size.

My daughter was swamped and needed tiny baby bits and was in tiny baby for 2 months. We just had family and friends visit who then were asking if we need3d things and we said yes please, tiny baby clothes! So worked out fine and eventually fit in everything.

I wouldn't buy any season specific clothes though, as may never fit when needed etc. Just stick with vests and grows 😊

knackeredagain · 18/07/2022 12:14

I was confused like you OP and bought all 0-3. Boy 1 was 8lb 1oz and they drowned him so my mum dashed out and bought a couple of newborn babygro’s.
Second time round I wasn’t goi g to be caught out and stocked up on newborn. 9lb 8oz boy was far too chunky and I had to take them all back to the shop 🤣

My advice would be to get a few newborn sleep suits to start you off, if you aren’t expecting a whopper.

GoAround · 18/07/2022 12:14

DD wore newborn for about a month. DS was straight in 0-3 as newborn didn’t fit, I even had to send DH home from the hospital to get more clothes. From the many scans I had he was predicted to be less than 7lbs and he arrived weighing 8lb3 at 39 weeks! So don’t trust the midwife saying your baby is small too much. Also it’s not so much the weight as the length of baby IME. So I’d get say maybe 6 newborn babygrows and vests, that way you haven’t overdone it if baby is big/long, and if you need more there’s online shopping and next day delivery.

knackeredagain · 18/07/2022 12:16

Oh, I’m looking at your timescales and thinking you must be due towards the end of the year? Depending on your heating situation you might want a couple of little cardies/hoodies to wear over his sleep suit in the day, if your house is chilly.

GiltEdges · 18/07/2022 12:20

DS was 9lb13 and very long, so went straight into 0-3 quite comfortably, although there was obviously still some growing room. I’d imagine far too big for an average-small sized newborn so would stick with either newborn or upto 1 month.

MarshmallowsOnToast · 18/07/2022 12:22

I was told I was having a large baby & didn't think we would get much use out of "newborn" so I didn't buy any. Took 0-3m to the hospital and it swamped him (9lb 7oz).

Luckily a friend had given us a load of second hand "newborn" stuff that we used for the first few weeks.

Confused about baby clothes sizing!
Porridgeislife · 18/07/2022 12:28

My girl was 55cm (so 100th percentile) and 8lb 2oz and she was far too small for 0-3. We put her into “up to 1 month” and this was fine/slightly big until 4/5 weeks, so perhaps buy some of that size and newborn as well.

We bought her going home outfit in 0-3 from Jojo Maman Bebe and it was stupidly big.

It’s better if vests are slightly big as it can make their nappies leak if they’re too tight, so you can be more relaxed on sizing there.

Original poster
Nellynoo182 · 18/07/2022 12:30

Thank you everyone! Super helpful responses - it is a confusing world to navigate as a FTM 😂

I am due on 3rd December and had seen a cute Christmassy sleepsuit so maybe I will just treat me and bump to that in newborn and hope it fits at the right time 🤣 then get a range of things in other sizes to be prepared! I thought I could be clever and buy some winter baby clothes in the sale now but had no idea what size I will need!

Thanks everyone! 🤗

OP posts:
TheBatwoman · 18/07/2022 12:33

0-3 is usually the next size up from Newborn/First Size. It’s not really an exact science and different brands tend to be sized quite differently (we found Asda George baby clothes came up much bigger than Sainsburys Tu or Tesco F&F). Probably worth going by the weight ranges suggested rather than the size names. The size names rarely marry up anyway - Newborn in Sainsbury roughly equated to Tiny Baby in Asda. Plus my daughter is almost 10mo now and has only just grown out of 0-3 in some brands! So we always just go by their weights.

The Asda First Size clothes were pretty generous from memory and probably would have fitted up to 9lb, so if your baby is on the smaller size you’d probably be fine. Other brands only went up to about 7lbs for their ‘Newborn’ or equivalent size. So in that case you could always invest in the next size up knowing they’d grow into it anyway. Hope that helps.