baby clothes advice!

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

gone through our weird assortment of stuff that's been given/lent/borrowed/bought and just want to make sure we've got enough of the basics....any advice on how many of each age (newborn, 0-3 and 3-6months) you reckon you need of the following:

short-sleeved vests
long-sleeved vests
babygrows/sleepsuits
trousers?! or whatever you put on with vests if too warm for sleepsuits??

argh...not bothered about getting mini outfits, just want to make sure I have enough basics that will fill a wash - we don't have a tumbler either...it's all so confusing!

i would say :-
short sleeved vests good for putting under outfits or for wearing if hot and a summer baby.
i would say 5 of them

long sleeved vests better if winter baby or cooler weather say 5 of them 2
baby grows 10-15 used lots of these with dd really good to keep them in all day when tiny

trousers say 5 as well

hope this helps it is confusing

to start with make sure you have newborn mostly (unless due to have a large baby)
some bit 0-3 months too then any other age u can get @ the time

I would say don't get mini outfits cos you get given them. I used babygrows a lot till 3 months. I also swaddled till 4-5 months, didn't use sleeping back till then.

If you don't have a dryer, it will take around a day for cotton stuff to dry fully. Newborn can get through up to 3-4 vests/babygros per day, and 2-3 muslin cloths. I would get:

10 baby grows
15 vests, short or long sleeved. Vests are an absolute must for keeping nappy in place and baby comfortable.
say 3 pairs of soft trousers (can't believe they sell jeans for that age)
at least a couple of little cotton hats or fleece hat if winter
5-10 large cotton cloths (essential) for catching baby sick and swaddling
2 small soft washable blankets, outdoor one and pram one
2 cardies or jumpers or soft fleece jumpers (cheap in H and M)

I also recommend getting a really comfy and luxurious dressing gown and slippers for yourself to comfort you for the sleep deprivation stage.

best of luck!
My DS was in tights plus trousers in the winter from about 5 months.

I meant sleeping bag, sorry! not back!

short sleeved vests are like underwear (knickers and cami in one really) how many you need depends on how frequent and messy your little one will poo and how sicky they are as sick does get through the top layer. I would have more than 5, at least 7 or 8.

If it is hot a vest alone will do fine, no need for trousers unless you want to.

Leave longsleeved vests for now unless you are expecting baby in october or later. the little buggers grow while you watch

babygros/sleepsuits again depends on how sicky baby is, have at least 7.

They do not have to go in a separate wash load, as long as you use non-bio washing powder/liquid.

If it is new wash before first use.

You will be surprised how quickly that small stuff dries on an airing rack inside or a rotary/line outside. I have no tumbler either (my tiny bit for the environment).

You say no mini-outfits, but after a few weeks you will want to look at shorts and t-shirts or trousers and tops if cooler (at least if like me you have a boy I suppose). Personally I find it much easier to whip of trousers than to undo all those pesky poppers on a sleepsuit when changing nappies.

If you need more vests/sleepsuits get multipacks from tesco, they are cheap but stay in good shape.

Feel free to fire more questions.

teehee, we all have different ideas, how about confusing you even more

Yeah, tesco vests are cheap but last very well (though I hate tescos)

I have loads of mini outfits for my 9 week old dd and I hate them!! It is so much easier having her in a sleepsuit and she is much more comfy! I had about 12 new born sleepsuits and the same in bodysuits. She was only 7lb 1oz when born and we had to put her in early baby clothes for about 2 weeks.

I have about 15 0-3 month sleepsuits and again the same amount of bodysuits. If its really hot she will just wear a bodysuit. Maybe a few pairs of trousers that you can put with the bodysuit and some socks. Dd also likes to have a cardigan on with her sleepsuit when its cold and I have 3 in each size.

Bibs are great if you dont have a tumble dryer as they will save on washing and are quick to dry. Asda do great baby clothes - £5 for 3 sleepsuits and £5 for 7 bodysuits. I found that the washed well and dryed quickly. I also have about 30 muslins!!! They are a god send and wash and dry well.

We have a sleeping bag and we have 3 long sleeved bodysuits for her to wear with that.

When are you due?

this is brilliant so far, thanks girls - would help to say I'm expecting towards the end of October and we have quite a cold flat in the winter. So far we seem to have amassed 14 short sleeved newborn vests alone! major thing is sleepsuits I'm guessing - we only have about 3...want to make sure we've got enough but then of course don't want to get loads of newborn that the baby might grow out of quickly!

will steer clear of mini-outfits for now, as you say, they're more likely to be bought for us...so, average 10-15 sleepsuits then?

if people buy you seasonal stuff, ie shorts or jumpers keep tags on as you may need to swap them. Eg. my dd was born july 07 so people bought her shorts and vests in 0-3 months, but she was born small and put weight on slowly so was in newborn size till oct and then had no wear out of summer stuff as it was too cold.
i use vest under sleepsuit in winter over night.
if small baby, asda first size are good as they go upto 9 lb wheras most newborn go upto 11 lb

Oh yeah, totally agree with Gemzooks - A really nice dressing gown, new pjs and nice slippers are a must!

is a bodysuit just a sleepsuit with no feet?

A bodysuit is a vest that does up with poppers under the nappy. You can get long sleeved ones for winter, short sleeved and sleeveless.

A sleepsuit with no feet is usually called a romper suit x

thank you!!

Some great advice on here. With regards the outfits vs sleepsuits debate. I'm another one who didn't put her ds in anything other than a sleepsuit for about three months and I must say I found it really easy and more comfortable for him. DS was born in September and his bedroom is quite chilly in winter evenings so we used to put him in a short sleeved vest and sleepsuit and 2.5 tog sleeping bag with a blanket on top on the coldest nights.

Another thing to remember in all this is to have enough sheets for your cot/crib/moses basket. I only had four for our moses basket and ds got through all four in one particularly sicky night so I was rummaging about for clean pillow cases in the middle of the night to use as bottom sheets!

Oh yes, the dressing gown is a good tip. Doing night feeds in winter is really cold. Actually ds used to take so long on his feeds I used to turn the heating on before we started (and make myself a cuppa too) so we were all snuggly and warm.

Don't bother with newborn stuff unless you're expecting a tiny baby - your wiggler will be in 0-3 within a couple of weeks and it's better for clothes to be a bit big than too small.

Trousers can be a pain to get on - you have to put your hand right up them and pull the legs through.

All-in-ones are great until you have a poo incident and have to change the entire outfit!

If you can find sleepsuits with the flappy cuffs that fold over the hands instead of scratch mittens, they're great. A couple of grobags for sleeping will be useful too.

Ebay is brilliant for baby clothes - I recently got 30 almost new pieces of clothing for a tenner!

Oh, and if it's a girl, please, please don't buy one of those ridiculous pink headbands with the big bow on the front!!!

Someone recently told me to get short sleeved vests (with the poppers at the nappy) for underneath sleeper suits even in winter because it's hard to get the long sleeves of sleeper suit over the long sleeves of the vest... it made sense to me... I imagined how hard it is to get on long sleeved sweaters over long sleeved shirts without the sleeves underneath bunching up. If that ramble makes any sense...
btw I don't have any experience with this... this is advice I recently got, so it could be untrue - don't take my word for it and feel free to correct me!!

I used short sleeved vests underneath sleepsuits mostly because I thought ds would be too hot with long sleeved vests, but it's a good point star6

nice one ladies....all brilliant! and yes good tip about ebay - had wondered about whether to even bother buying newborn seeing as most people's babies seem to be in 0-3 months within a matter of weeks...

My ds was in newborn for a bit cos he lost quite a bit of weight after he was born. I don't think I finally put the last of his newborn stuff away until he was three months old, then he started on 0-3 months. He's 11 months now and still wearing 3-6 months in some cases, 6-9 months stuff is still quite big on him. He's a diddy little thing though (but chunky too, bless )

My September baby wore a short sleeved or sleeveless vest under a sleepsuit most of the time.

I would say 15 of each is fine.

We never used any bibs until she was weaned as she wasn't a sicky baby. If you have a sicky baby you will be needing a lot of bibs and muslins too, also more sheets!

Oh yeah, that's a good one, bibs. And if you have a baby that regurgitates as much as mine did you'd better get some muslins in too. Bibs aren't big enough for a full puke posset.

bibs is summat we seem to have coming out of our ears...could mop after 100's of pukey babies!

bibs is summat we seem to have coming out of our ears...could mop after 100's of pukey babies!

Muslins are fantastically useful. I'd recommend getting at least ten or twelve. They're pretty cheap and when your baby stops puking constantly you can use the muslins for blankets and picnic rugs for all the soft toys that you seem to have acquired in the mean time and give him or her a happy half hour putting them all to bed or sitting them up to have tea. Or that might just be us!

If it were me preparing for the first time again, I'd get around 8 sleepsuits and short-sleeved vests in size 0-3 months. I wouldn't bother with long-sleeved vests unless you think it will be really really cold when your baby arrives. For a tiny baby, it's much easier to just cuddle them up in a soft blanket over a short-sleeved vest and sleepsuit and much easier to take the blanket off if they get hotter instead of dealing with layers, IYSWIM. They will very likely be in your arms or in a sling a lot of the time anyway and a blanket makes a lot more sense than a long-sleeved vest.

If your baby is smaller when s/he arrives then you can kind of swap over poppers to make 0-3 month sizes fit a baby who is really a bit too small for them. Do number one popper up with number two on the other side and vice versa to make a sleepsuit a bit shorter.

Also, if you think it might be cold, get some socks. You can put them on over a sleepsuit if your baby has cold feet.

Mothercare do cheap and good quality packs of sleepsuits/vests in plain colours (white, yellow, pale green etc).

I'd also get a couple of soft cotton jersey hats unless it will be really hot. Babies lose a lot of heat through their heads and hats will make them a lot cosier if it's cold.

My daughter was in newborn for a while but she was and is very tiny. Most people I know went to 0-3 month sizes within a month maximum.