Best way to clothe babies - esp on a budget?

[BearMama]

Thoughts on this please...I plan to have my LO (due in March) in babygros and snowsuits for the first three months and am trying to resist the urge to buy all the cute clothes, even second hand as everyone says they grow out of it so fast.
I just found out today that there is a difference between "newborn" and "0-3". Novice mum alert!
Tell me your experience - what did you dress your LO in for the first year and what would you do differently?

In case you don't have enough advice already - don't assume you can judge size just by weight. My DD is only 8lb 13 at 9 weeks so should still fit newborn sleepsuits - however she's a long skinny girl (unlike mummy!!!) so her toes are already poking out of 0-3 so I need to get 3-6 although they tend to fall ofher shoulders! I find Mothercare sleepsuits great, more expensive but they have inbuilt scratch mits so she can't scratch her face at night. I think Next ones do too but the arms were too short for us. More expensive but I've used them so much more than my Tesco and Asda ones (although all bodysuits are from here)

Sounds like her struggles with univeral sizes not fitting might begin early! Inbuilt scratch mitts sound like a good idea - will have a look - thanks MM.

different shops have different fits too. i found vertbaudet newborn things didn't last too long - probably up to about 7.5 lbs, next fitted up to about 7.5 to 8 lbs but mothercare things fitted right up until he was about 10 lbs.

mollymonkey - ds was long too and often had the falling off the shoulders problem - have you tried wrap over bodysuits, tops, babygros etc. you know the ones that have poppers at the side and underneath? they were the only sort that weren't too big on the shoulders for us.

ebay and mumsnet

Nappyaddict - hadn't thought to try a different style, thanks for advice as I think this could be an ongoing problem! Won't be saying that when she's 6ft tall, a size 8 and earning a fortune as a supermodel though

Don't get too much newborn - we never used it and ds only in 0-3 for 4wks - grew out of length, similarly into 6 - 9mo at 4mo... April baby - just had vests with sleepsuits on top for most of the time, jackets to go over if going out in pram with blanket on top keeping legs warm (and hat), dungarees by 5wks for occasional use (We knew Ds was going to be big - consultant estimated 10lbs and he was 10.5 at a week early)

Do you know what sex baby your having?
I loved to see my little one in clothes and yes they grow out of them quite quickly, which is why for the first year supermarket clothes are great, as they don't have to last long for there money. My daughter was 8llb 9 but they lost quite a bit of weight, I found she was in newborn for 6 weeks and 0-3 for another 6 weeks, so if you can get some second hand stuff for those sizes, chnces are they might not have had much previous wear. It also depends on feeding as to there weight gain, breast fed babies tend to putweight on slower than bottle fed babies. My favourate things were bought for us from Adams and they were 2 t shirts and 2 trousers, both t shirt material, which mixed and matched, so you got different looks. It was very comfy for the little newborn. Also romper suits are great as they are a little bit dressy but still very cosy and cute. If your having girl, you might want to hold off on the little cute dresses, I found they got in the way a bit when your holding there little floppy body, but i did have cute velour one from next. You could ask people to get you clothes and if you know they well, ask if they mind getting certain ages as I ended up witha mass of 3-6! A good place to look out for baby clothes is the Oxford Gum Tree web sight. And you could put out wanted adds on there. There's a few baby things on at the mo. Good luck!

AdeleFielder, I am having a girl, and I actually got lucky on Freecycle and ended up with some seriously cute dresses.
BTW I am 37+3 and must be seriously hormonal as your remarks about being "very comfy for the little newborn" and "little floppy body" are making me tearful.

What a sap. (me not you!)

Ahh bless, I was due on the 6th and she arrived 7:45 am on the 15th, so got my fingers crossed for you. I forgot about freecycle, i've not been on it but hear it's good.
So have you decided to get much in the way of clothes, even if they are second hand. It really helped me to know what i was having as i bought bits in the run up. And in the sales.
If you want to e mail me your address, i'd like to send you a couple of things for free. Mine is [email protected] I'm also selling some of my friends baby stuff at quite a good price but would do an even better one for you as you sound lovely. But i just looked at your location and realised you couldn't be much further away, so there would be the postage costs.
If u type in Gum Tree to the net i'm sure they'll have one local to you. Good luck, adele

Hi AdeleFielder, have emailed you

mollymonkey - found these today

Bear Mama,
echo people's comments about freecycle, we've got various bits so far, not clothes but there are always lots being put on there. It's great- saves you money and does your bit. It's worth posting a message asking for stuff too. Here's the link www.freecycle.org/

i bought all 0 - 3 month and dd1 was so ditty I had to go and get tiny baby etc.

However she was born in Summer and spent a lot of time in baby gros of various sizes and shapes - long sleeved and legs for winter, short sleeved and no legs for summer.

I bought dd1 sets from Tesco - remember thinking they weren't very expensive and you could get packs of 5 or 7. In fact used them with no2 and 3 - and they are still going strong.

Scope out charity shops and always looking at the sale rack - pick up fab things. Its a shame I am not in the UK as I have stuff I would be more than happy to pass on to you.

Just seen the rest of messages- you've found freecycle already! Glad you got some nice stuff

Bootsales!

We're expecting our first this summer and since the boot sales began again a few weeks ago, we are overflowing with cheap baby clothes in all sizes and have hardly spent anything. DP very pleased!