Triplet clothes size

tripletmommyabi · 2022-03-18T08:46:03+00:00

I'm due to have a C-section for my triplets at the beginning of April. I have been told that they are going to be very tiny and will likely have to stay in the nicu for a while. I have bought some tiny baby sleepsuits and bodysuits but they still seem huge. Any ideas on what I should be buying and where I can get them from online? I'm unsure of how big they'll be by the time they're able to come home or when they start wearing clothes so don't really know what to do. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you x

HistoricMoment · 18/03/2022 09:01

Earlybirds have some lovely stuff. They also have clothes suitable for the NICU. The important thing is not to buy too much as they are likely to put on weight very quickly!
However, I would contact the NICU and ask if they provide clothes. My DC wasn't in clothes before he reached 1.5 kg, and all clothes were provided by the NICU. We had to have our own stuff to take him home in, but by then he was 3 kg and in normal newborn clothes.

eurochick · 18/03/2022 09:05

In nicu they will probably just be in a nappy at first (big supermarkets stock micro size). We had a prem growth restricted singleton (3lb6 at birth) and when she came out of the incubators we put her in under 5lb size which swamped her but was ok. Without going to specialist premmie suppliers under 5lb is usually the smallest size available.

eurochick · 18/03/2022 09:07

I should add, tiny hats are useful - they do wear these!

Walesrecommendations · 18/03/2022 09:08

I found tesco tiny baby to be most accurate, tiny baby at Asda was the same size as first size at next despite being labelled suitable for 6lb babies!
Hope all goes well- as PP say NICU sometimes supply clothes. Ours said we could use theirs or bring our own, they also had some things you could buy.

Original poster

tripletmommyabi · 18/03/2022 09:21

Thank you all for your suggestions, I didn't even think of contacting the nicu!

I agree with the different sizes from different shops, its so random.

I definitely need to get more hats though looking at it, I thought I'd got loads but when I divide them into 3, I really don't have a lot at all haha x

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AnotherNC22 · 18/03/2022 10:28

Wow! Congrats on your triplets!

Depending on how tiny they will be, M&S do babygros and vests for 3lb and 4lb prem babies. You can order them online but I also noticed when i was at a London hospital the other day that they had them in the hospital M&S, which i thought was a great idea. DD wasn't as tiny as that, but NICU lent us a couple of vests for her to wear whilst we ordered some things that fit. Hats were an issue - she just wore massive ones but that might not work if your babies will be very tiny.

One thing to bear in mind in NICU is all the wires - so anything footless is good for the 02 and heart rate monitor that is attached to their foot.

Twiceover · 18/03/2022 10:36

We just bought newborn size for our twins and then realised when they were born how ridiculously large the newborn stuff was- I just couldn't really picture before they were born how very small they actually would be! I agree the Tesco tiny baby range was good and fairly cheap as they do grow quickly.
They had hats provided by the hospital knitters for premie babies. I stupidly thought because it was July and really hot they would only need cotton ones - I knew nothing!
Congratulations on your triplets - hope all goes well.

Original poster

tripletmommyabi · 18/03/2022 11:18

@AnotherNC22

Wow! Congrats on your triplets!

Depending on how tiny they will be, M&S do babygros and vests for 3lb and 4lb prem babies. You can order them online but I also noticed when i was at a London hospital the other day that they had them in the hospital M&S, which i thought was a great idea. DD wasn't as tiny as that, but NICU lent us a couple of vests for her to wear whilst we ordered some things that fit. Hats were an issue - she just wore massive ones but that might not work if your babies will be very tiny.

One thing to bear in mind in NICU is all the wires - so anything footless is good for the 02 and heart rate monitor that is attached to their foot.

Thank you! I've been looking on m&s, might pop into a store to see how big they look. Footless definitely seems to be what they sell for that tiny, seems a lot more practical for in the nicu

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Original poster

tripletmommyabi · 18/03/2022 11:20

@Twiceover

We just bought newborn size for our twins and then realised when they were born how ridiculously large the newborn stuff was- I just couldn't really picture before they were born how very small they actually would be! I agree the Tesco tiny baby range was good and fairly cheap as they do grow quickly. They had hats provided by the hospital knitters for premie babies. I stupidly thought because it was July and really hot they would only need cotton ones - I knew nothing!

Congratulations on your triplets - hope all goes well.

I think that's what's starting to worry me, I bought tiny baby knowing that they'll be quite tiny but had been scrolling through social media and realised that was even big on twins! It's definitely so confusing when there's not much out there on what to buy for preemie babies.

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nearlyspringyay · 18/03/2022 11:41

Congratulations! My twins were 3lb and were just in nappies in the incubator for about 4 weeks. They'll be wired up to all sorts of monitoring things and clothes just get in the way.

Their first clothes were all from mamas and papas, micro preemie size, I don't know if they are still around though.

If you can try and get the baby grow that open down from shoulder to foot because once they can wear clothes they can still get a heart rate monitor in easily!

Good luck!

Original poster

tripletmommyabi · 18/03/2022 11:53

@nearlyspringyay

Congratulations! My twins were 3lb and were just in nappies in the incubator for about 4 weeks. They'll be wired up to all sorts of monitoring things and clothes just get in the way.

Their first clothes were all from mamas and papas, micro preemie size, I don't know if they are still around though.

If you can try and get the baby grow that open down from shoulder to foot because once they can wear clothes they can still get a heart rate monitor in easily!

Good luck!

Thank you! I think I definitely need to contact the nicu to see what they want me to bring. How much did they expect your twins to weigh before letting them go home if you don't mind me asking? x

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twinsetandpearl · 18/03/2022 11:59

Triplets! Amazing! I had twins in NICU for a while - they were generally in a nappy and blankets for a few weeks - a charity would have local people knitting blankets and cardigans and these were used a lot.

Honestly you won't get preemie wear in shops - it's impossible to find

I used a charity called Emily's Star - for a donation they will send out knitted and pre made very very very small preemie clothes - all my family members also donated - the charity sent packages straight to the hospital.

www.emilysstar.co.uk/mini-gift-bags.html

I taught myself to knit as was in hospital all day every day - 12 hours a day so managed to make quite a few small blankets

twinsetandpearl · 18/03/2022 12:01

Oh my smallest twin came home at 4.3lb

They generally wont be allowed home until their "due" date - or what would have been classed as full term which is 37 weeks at the earliest

Mine were born at 34 weeks and came home at 37

I could have come home earlier with them on feeding tubes but I wasn't confidant about doing that at home as they were always pulling them out and would have meant going back into hospital every time for it to be re inserted

I established breastfeeding pretty quickly and they were happy for them to come home x

Original poster

tripletmommyabi · 18/03/2022 12:04

@twinsetandpearl

Triplets! Amazing! I had twins in NICU for a while - they were generally in a nappy and blankets for a few weeks - a charity would have local people knitting blankets and cardigans and these were used a lot.

Honestly you won't get preemie wear in shops - it's impossible to find

I used a charity called Emily's Star - for a donation they will send out knitted and pre made very very very small preemie clothes - all my family members also donated - the charity sent packages straight to the hospital.

www.emilysstar.co.uk/mini-gift-bags.html

I taught myself to knit as was in hospital all day every day - 12 hours a day so managed to make quite a few small blankets

Thank you for sharing this with me, seems such a great idea!

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nearlyspringyay · 18/03/2022 12:05

Hi @tripletmommyabi they weren't so concerned on weight when they came home but that they had reached gestational age, were feeding off the NGTs and gaining weight. they come at what would have been 38 weeks and were 4lb. They were tiny!

nearlyspringyay · 18/03/2022 12:07

Also our hospital had a stock of preemie clothes that the babies could wear. We donated all ours back to the NICU after they had grown out them.

We came in one day and tehy were both wearing little knitted matinee jackets and a hat, with a knitted toy in the corner of the incubator. The hospital knitters provided them for all NICU / SCBU babies. We still have them now and mine love looking at them and seeing how small They are:)

elliejjtiny · 18/03/2022 12:09

Congratulations on your triplets.

I've had 2 premature babies and they just wore nappies until they could come out of the hot cot and into a normal cot. Ds4 came home at 39+3 corrected and ds5 came home at 37+6.

Teastheword · 18/03/2022 12:37

You probably won't need clothes for them until they go home, or are close to be going home. I'd wait and see. Asda premature range is nice and good value. Lots of gaps and poppers for wires as well.

Rrrob · 18/03/2022 12:56

How amazing! My twins were 5lb and in prem clothes for quite a while. The nicu gave us lots of tiny clothes for hospital and to take home (I had packed newborn and 0-3 :) )

NotMaryWhitehouse · 18/03/2022 20:22

Ssinsburys and m & s do tiny sizes that have Velcro fastenings which was really useful when we were in NICU with our son and he had wires still. Also loved the next 5lb outfits.

Good luck with it all OP!

Vicky1989x · 19/03/2022 14:10

Next do clothes for preemies, they start at up to 3lbs online!

twinsetandpearl · 19/03/2022 17:32

Just check the stock on websites - I found nothing was in stock - this was during lockdown only so maybe supplies were limited