FTM - Advice on Clothing Quanties etc

[Pourmeagingin]

Hi all,

I’m due to be a FTM in November, and I’m hoping you all might be able to shed some light on quantities of newborn/0-3 Month old clothes etc that I need and any helpful tips for raising a winter baby.

I found this breakdown from another thread a few years ago, which I thought I’d use as a starting point… I wondered being a few years on and knowing life evolves if there’s any new thoughts/suggestions! I’m planning to do breast/bottle and I think as both my DH and I were circa 7lb babies that ours might be too…

Basically I work in events if you haven’t already guessed it, I like to be as organised as possible knowing full well a baby is an entirely different entity to events and rather unpredictable 😂

New-born
Sleep-suits x5
Vests short-sleeve x5
Hats x2
Booties x2 pairs

0-3 months
Sleeps-suits x15
Sleep-suits zips x3 (H&M 2-4 months)
Vests short-sleeve x3
Vests long sleeve and leggings x5 (1-2 months)
Vests long-sleeve and leggings x5 (2-4 months)
Hats x2
Socks x5 pairs
Booties x2 pairs

Extras:
Bibs x12
Small Muslins x3
Large Muslins/Swaddles x7
Baby sleep bags x2
Moses Basket - already have!
Bottles x 7 + Formula Pots
Dummies x 2

I would wait to buy most of this stuff until after the baby arrives - not only because sizing is difficult to predict but also because you don’t know what you’ll like to use more of until you’re in it.

People love to give you presents for a new baby. You are bound to get some clothes. We bought the absolute minimum of stuff to start with and had a stack load of clothes as presents. My MIL was especially generous.

Congratulations on your pregnancy .

Have you a washing machine?

I'm another one saying hang fire buying stuff.

I had teenie tiny one and even new born stuff was too big for a few weeks. By the time they started to fit into stuff everything was in the wrong season. Eg the snow suits I'd bought where far too big and by the time they fitted they weren't needed. The sleep sacks were also too large for literally months. Plus I didn't actually venture properly out for about month!

And I'd fully intended on using cloth nappies. That went out of the window as even the smallest size was massive.

So get things prepped like bottles/ steriliser, muslins (no need for bibs), travel system, a couple of packs of nappies in maybe a small range of sizes, a multi pack or two of baby grows, wipes etc etc, but 15 sleep suits is excessive. I think I'd wait even for bigger stuff like a cot as it was months before they transferred from moses basket to it and it just took up space.

If it's budgeting then put aside the money you would have spent into a separate account. And then you can buy knowing what you need.

I seem to remember I got a 'development ' book from the midwife and if I recall correctly that had a list of what to get . Not sure if the NHS still do that, but if they do take a look at what they say.

They are like the 'what to take to university' or ' what to pack for a weekend in Dublin' or did for Duke of Edinburgh lists and should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Definitely get fewer 0-3 sleep suits and wait and see what people buy when baby is here. I also didn't really bother with proper clothes in that age group as a sleepsuit was easier so the outfits I bought were a waste!

We had a very sicky baby so needed way more sleeping bags and sheets than we thought! We ended up buying extra newborn clothes as although she was only in them for a few weeks it was a pain sticking the washer on every day for a few tiny clothes. Vinted is definitely your friend!

What you and DH weighed isnt necessarily indicative of what baby will weigh - we were 7lb and 9lb but had two babies under 6lb as in the last trimester, I had high BP with DD1 and then preeclampsia with DD2, which slowed both their weight growth down. They were in tiny baby size for about 8weeks.

Do you have a tumble dryer? If so you can probably get away with less. We don't, so we had a few more to give things chance to air dry.

I think your newborn list looks fine. Maybe just the same again for your 0-3 list just in case you have a surprisingly big baby. Then wait and see what you get given as gifts and add to it once baby is here.

Don't forget about moses basket mattress protector / sheets / spare sheet to use with the pram bassinet. For a Nov baby, you might also want a cardigan or two to go over the sleepsuits (my DM knitted me some) and a decent blanket for the pram / over the car seat.

If you have easy access to shops with baby clothes (large supermarket) I wouldn’t bother buying too much yet until you know what size they are. I assumed mine would be a bit bigger as my Mum had big babies so we sent someone out to get more newborn clothes when she arrived. I would mostly go for sleepsuits and vests in 0-3 too and a similar number of each as they usually wear a vest under a sleepsuit. You don’t neeed separate 2-4 sized things unless you really like the brands with those sizings (H&M?). We used muslins rather than bibs initially so had more of those. For sleeping bags we only used the swaddle type initially and never actually used the normal 0-6 ones as we had Love to Dresm swaddles (come in newborn size) and then the ones with zip off arms.

Lot of advice on clothes already so I will focus on the winter babies bit. Get yourself some nice warm layers for when you are up doing night feeds. We also had a baby monitor with a room thermometer on it which was great as our house was a big draughty victorian terrace. We found it cheaperto have an oil filled radiator on low to keep the chill off our bedroom rather than heat the whole house all night. The winter felt quite long and dark as I was up in the night so often, what helped was lots of soft lighting, comfy throws and watching a box set through the dark early hours of feeding. Also try to get out in daylight every day, for yourself as much as for the baby. The good news is that by the time spring arrives your baby will be sitting up and much more interactive and you can get out and about more.