Advice on baby clothes pleaseee!!

[Ozabet40]

I’m having a winter baby and wanting to start buying bits like baby grows, baby coats, hats etc

i really don’t know what size to buy. Midwives etc haven’t really had a convo with me to say whether baby is measuring small or big but on the 3 lines in my growth chart there is an X on the middle line? Not sure if that means anything to anyone on here ….

but anyway, I just have no idea whether to buy newborn, up to one month, or 0-3 months… especially with things like coats, hats etc to keep them warm in the winter…

any advice would be really appreciated

Buy the minimum that you can now and wait until the baby is born for the rest. Could be big, could be small, could be early, could be late....who knows?

Get a pack of babygrows and vests and go from there, it's not like they're hard to buy at short notice. Plus, you'll likely get gifts etc.

On the middle line sounds like baby is on the 50th centile. So ~7lb 8 at 40 weeks? When abouts in Winter is baby due?

I got mostly 0-3mo stuff, because unless baby fits into it straight away, it usually isn't long until they do. Both my DC (7lb 5, and 8lb 1) went straight into up to 1 month sizing, and were in it for only a couple of weeks maximum before 0-3mo clothes.

Layers are your best friend. Vest, baby grow, cardigan, blankets. I did a lot of walking, so my autumn born was in a cosy pram suit a lot, but they're obviously no good for car seats if you drive more. Never bought coats until they could sit up independently. I don't think I ever bought hats. They're very common gifts, and they come with so many outfits!

A few newborn bits and mostly 0-3 months will be fine.

Get vests and sleep suits in newborn, that’s all they really need for the first few weeks.

Don’t worry about coats for a tiny baby, they’re better off with blankets (safer in car seats etc).

thank You so much for the advice.

@Dyra due 31st October. I’ve definitely read a lot of people saying similiar things about newborn / one month not lasting very long. It’s so tempting to buy every possible size but really want to be cautious not to over buy! Layers are a great idea as you say…

@1stepforward2stepsback thank you as well blankets make a lot more sense than a coat… I’m actually not sure why I didn’t think of that!! Have blankets on my list but wasn’t thinking to wrap baby in them when we’re out and about!

Exciting! I had a November baby. Would suggest 10-15 short sleeve vests and the same amount of babygros, 2 hats, a couple of cardigans and a couple of cellular blankets. My DS didn't like the pram suit so we used a tuppence and crumble star wrap all through the winter in the pram - literally every day until he was about 5 months old and the weather warmed up! When he got to around 10/12 weeks he tended to wear more long sleeve vests plus leggings combo because the weather was a bit warmer. You'll also buy bits and pieces (don't forget Christmas!!) so I would just get the basics for now!

Oh and I'd get everything in 0-3 months and a packet of supermarket newborn vests/babygros just in case - Amazon will be your friend in the early days and you can order things so easily now!

@bravotango thank you so so much. I’ve never heard of the tuppence and crumple star wrap, just googled and it’s the cutest thing ever !!! Thank you for suggesting!
your right, I feel like i need to be super prepared for every possible scenario, but everything is only a click away these days so can order nearer the time if needed!

We’ve got mainly 0-3 stuff especially for “outfits” and then a pack of vests and pack of sleepsuits in up to 1 month to take to hospital and then we will buy more of that size if needed.
Sounds like you are on 50th centile but the weight I think depends on your details - 50th centile on my growth chart gives a 40 week weight of about 8lbs 9oz - you should have the weights (in grams) up the right hand side of your growth chart

My mum told me only to get a few things in up to up to one month, everything else in 0-3
I listened to her

And had a baby 3.5 weeks early weighing a totti 5lb 7oz
DP bought everyyyything in the smallest he could find from the supermarkets while I was kept on the hosp for 7 days. He didn't fit any of the clothes I actually had, only the things we bought from our hosp stay!

Just be prepared 😁

I echo first response - buy as little as possible now and the rest when they're born. Like poster above me says, baby could actually be tiny! You can buy baby clothes all over the place and second hand which will save you a fortune. They almost immediately grow out of stuff at first so buying new can be a proper waste of cash you could be spending on stuff like chocolate and takeaway! Haha.

30th October is early to be buying things, I'd just buy as little as possible before baby. Pack of vests and baby crows, cardigan and then evaluate once baby is here

I wouldn’t buy too much in 0-3 month either
My Ds was 8lb8 born and very long. Newborn didn’t fit at all, he wore 1 month home and for a few weeks, with 0-3 cardigans from day 1 as well ( didn’t buy smaller).
He was in 3-6months by about 2 months old.

small babies aren’t sitting up in pram with arms out, so you can easily just dress in vest, babygrow and cardigan. Add hat. Add blankets and they will stay warm they first few months.

Our best purchase was sheepskin footmuff for pram. You can can get smaller carrycot one also so just zip them in cosy outside and unzip when. You go in shops, cafes, get home and it’s heated. Coats for baby are a pain as you can’t leave them on indoors as they overheat and will wake baby removing

Newborn lasted me 4-6 weeks and I had average size babies (but big heads and needed bigger hats). Get a few newborn bits for sure! Re coats, a small baby doesn’t need a coat, I would get 0-3M pramsuits. Enjoy 😍

I'd get a few newborn bits as i found the sizing on 0-3 ranges massively. Some brands are definitely more towards the 3 month end and swamped our fairly large newborn, such as Next. Don't bother buying any cute outfits. You'll get plenty as gifts and will struggle to use them honestly - baby will live in a short sleeve vest under a babygro the vast majority of the time. You'll need a hat as they will give you a useless one in the hospital 😆 don't bother with socks as you'll have feet on the babygro.

My 7lb 15oz (bang on average) newborn with supposedly a 0-3 pramsuit. She was only in the up to 1 month one for 2 or 3 weeks but if we'd put her in the 0-3 one I'm pretty sure we would have lost her 🤣 we got 10 vests and 10 babygrows in up to 1 month and it kitted her out nicely until she was 3-4 weeks old

Honestly buy 2nd hand stuff. The clothes shrink a bit when you wash them.

Personally I hated them in clothes that were too big but as 2nd hand is ridiculously cheap spending £20 on a months wardrobe was no big deal.

Buy secondhand where you can - Vinted is great for this stuff. They might be in newborn for just a couple of weeks. People will probably give you stuff when the baby is born too.

I agree with what everybody is advising but I would say to buy a few smaller bits too, i had GD and the hospital estimated baby to be over 8lbs at birth so i listened and bought almost everything upto 3 months with a few upto 1 month clothes..

Baby was born a very very dinky 5lbs and dropped to 4.12lbs in the days after birth, she was too long for premature clothes but nothing fit her!
didn’t expect a small baby so was so under prepared, her first clothes in hospital were so big she could have squeezed into them twice 🤦🏼‍♀️
We are only just getting into the 0-3 month clothes now and she’s 13 weeks.

Thankfully my parents and boyfriend did a mad dash to various places to get baby girl some smaller clothes which we managed with ease but do wish id have had a few items just in case 🙂

Mainly just wantrd to agree with PP about Tuppence and Crumble wraps, if anyone asks you what you would like for a gift I would definitely ask for one or two of them! You can get them very easily secondhand too but do get the ones with open hands as the older ones have fixed mitten end which make them less flexible to use.

Agree just get a very minimum of up to one month/first size for those first couple of weeks(they usually lose a bit of birth weight too initially, although probably not enough to change clothes size). Then a few 0-3 with a view to ordering more to fit in with weather and gifts as well as baby size.

My first was a summer baby and small but my second was average size and born same time of year as you are due. It was still quite unseasonably warm then but the combo of vests and babygrows was fine, plus cardigans and hats when needed. She was sicky too so I 'budgeted' two or three outfits a day to be safe.

My first was 6lb 13oz and all the up to 1 month stuff I bought swamped her so I needed to get newborn stuff which lasted for the first month or so. She was in up to 1 month for ages it felt like before she fit into 0-3 months. My second was 8lb 6oz and the newborn stuff I bought didn't even get put on her!
Really there's just no way of predicting.
I would buy a pack of vests and sleepsuits in newborn and up to 1 month to take to the hospital. I found that most people buy gifts in 0-3 months so I wouldn't buy a lot of outfits or anything like that. Wouldn't bother with coats to begin with, if you find you need one you can buy it when baby is here.
I second the star wrap blanket - used it so much with baby!
I had a 0-3 pramsuit for my first that lasted forever... the photo is her in it at a week old... her feet are at the crotch and I've no idea where her arms are 😂

I would buy 0-3 as thwts the most common size for newborns. Get vests baby grows and snow jackets for when they go outside. Can't remember they are called but it's like a giant baby grow but for outside wear

And hats blankets etc

Just buy a bit of everything from each size.. then got told baby was measuring big but he was only 6lb5 when born and didn't even fit in newborn, he needed tiny baby which I didn't have and my partner had to rush out an buy so any indication off midwives etc could be off

My strategy was minimum fussing so the right clothes and layers
I only had Zip onesies with closed feet and foldover hands.

0-1 x 5 LS vests and onesies
0-3 x 14 LS vests and onesies
0-3 pramsuit (lying in a basinette it doesnt matter if its massive on them)
Cellular blankets
sleepbags (i loved mori ones - got them on vinted 2nd hand for a fiver!)

No fussy outfits! No fabric that doesnt stretch

DD was 8lb11oz and fit in newborn for 1 whole week before we had to move her to 0-3 size.

I would buy 1 pack of vests and 1 of babygrows in each size then stock up once you know the size you need. You could start topping up a voucher for the shop that has the most things you like in it so you're ready to just buy everything.

I bought secondhand bundles of baby stuff, then I had all my bases covered sizewise and didn't matter if they got irreparably pooed on

You can get through 3-4 grosuits a day easily with a small baby