Help! First time mum, what clothes to buy?

[BeccaAnnJones]

Hi there

I’m currently 26+3 and am starting to buy clothes for my little girl who’s due on April 11, 2019.

It’s all great, however, I could really really do with some advice on what clothes and how many of each I should buy.

Unfortunately as I’ve been in my job for less than the qualifying time to receive statutory maternity pay, we won’t have money after she’s born to stock up on things so need to do it now. However, I have a few questions and would love your advice :-)

1. Newborn clothes- what to get and how many?
2. Should I get a newborn pram suit or will 0-3 months be ok? Also, do you think I need a pram suit of 0-3 months as she’ll be born in April. Do you think it would get used, from experience? Or should I just purchase a 3-6 month suit etc?
3. What do you call the sleepsuits with feet?
4. What would you recommend I take to the hospital? A sleepsuit with feet but opens from the front?

Sorry for all the questions, slightly panicked to be honest and am open to any advice you may have

Thanks so much all

Bec x

Congratulations!

I would just buy babygrows (the ones with feet) and vests. No need to bother with outfits etc when they are that little. DD was in babygrows alone until about 6 months - so comfy for them.

Some cardigans etc for extra layers maybe.

No need for a pramsuit in April. Expensive, and you can just use more blankets. DD had one for the December time (she was born in May) - but still didn’t really use it as just too puffy and they can’t have it on in the car seat either. Can’t beat loads of blankets!

Don’t get too much to start with - as PP have said, you may not need to change baby regularly - if you do you could always order stuff online for next day delivery etc.

I have a 9 week old who is only now big enough for 0-3 so I wouldn't only buy 0-3 - newborn fitted until he was about 9.5lbs. DH went to buy supermarket bits as he was 5lb8oz despite being term.

Vests (supermarkets are great but his nicest vests were about £8 for 5 from Next or from Boots), sleepsuits with fold over scratch mitts and feet, a couple of cardis and hats plus a pram blanket (try Newbie online) should be enough for April. We change him every morning and evening and do a wash every other day of muslins, 4 sleepsuits, 4 vests, hooded towel and cot sheet.

We didn’t have as much money as we expected when DS1 was born, so we had to do it all on a tight budget to start with. He was 8lb15 and spent the first 3-4 weeks wearing 2x multipacks bodysuits (so about 10) and 3 packs of multipack babygrows (9) w/ fold over mitts. He was born in winter so we had snowsuits, but you should be fine with a couple of cardigans and some blankets (maybe a thin coat or a cardigan-style jacket).

Saying all this, DS wasn’t sick very often, and we were able to wash clothes regularly.

This is all so incredibly useful!! I have a clear idea of what to get and how many things to get now! Thank you so much ❤️
I don’t feel so panicked now. Really appreciate you sharing with me xxxxxx

If you can, maybe put a bit of cash by to get some next size up stuff.

You'll be given loads of clothes I expect but then it tails off a bit so you might have tons of newborn and 0-3 but then might need to stock up a bit more.

Also, don't buy loads of nappies before you've had the baby (unless you're doing reusables) because some nappies just don't suit your baby's shape. You could spend 100 quid on pampers to find they leak and Aldi suits her better. On that note, Aldi nappies are great and cheap so hope you have an Aldi shaped baby.

Thanks so much! Good idea!

We’ve bought a couple of 3-6 and 6-9 month stuff.

Great advice about nappies too! Have heard amazing things about Mamia nappies! Xxxxx

I second all the good advice here.

I would also get a very long shoe horn so you don't have to bend down to put on your shoes. Essential with a bump, and post-partum as well! Converted my husband too 😁 We got an ikea one.

Hardly any babies will fit straight in to 0-3, especially not first borns. Most babies will only fit in the newborn size for the first 2-4 weeks, so don't go overboard but also don't underestimate how much they leak through nappies and vomit on things. You will likely be doing 3 full clothes changes a day.

Newborns really dont need outfits. You will want lots of bodysuits (aka vests with the poppers underneath. I've found George at Asda, M&S and H&M the best)

Over the top of bodysuits I suggest sleepsuit a day and night, or footed leggings over a long sleeved bodysuit and then a cardigan over the top. H&M do lovely unisex vest and legging combos. Next do the best sleepsuits by far, thicker cotton, with fold over scratch mitts built in.

I suggest 10 bodysuits, 6 sleepsuits, 2 legging and long sleeved bodysuit combos, 2 cardigans and one coat or padded jacket in newborn and 0-3. Make sure a few of the sleepsuits are the type with zips. So much easier than poppers for in the night. Gap often have them, as well as TU at Sainsbury's, and American brands like Carters/Old Navy if you can source any.

I wouldn't bother with a pram suit for that time of year. They can't wear them in the car so they are a bit of a faff. Jojo Maman Bebe reversible jackets are the perfect thickness with blankets on top and kept even my December newborn warm. You can put tights under sleepsuits for extra warmth with less bulk. Or zippy all in ones made from sweatshirt material, Frugi and H&M do nice ones.

Amazing!! Thanks so much and soooo much useful advice!! 🙌🏻❤️ Xxxxxx

Do you think you might use slings OP? It's a wonderful way to carry and bond with baby. In which case footless suits are recommended because they won't pull on baby's feet. (Or if they are second hand you can just cut the feet off. Baby can grow into them a bit longer too.)

I preferred footless anyway because when DS was in suits with feet, I felt like I never saw my baby's actual feet! And they are so cute to touch and play with!

Think everyone before me just about covered it. I would recommend the popper sleepsuits that have poppers from neck all the way down in the middle of the suit.

I had a few that were off centre and were tricky to wriggle baby into. Also get the ones with gold over built in scratch mits- they stay on and save £.

Mamia wipes are the best by far and definitely get yourself to second hand sales. My April baby maybe wore her most used outfit less than 10 times and most where 2/3 uses max. People are so generous with first babies you won't need to buy 3-6 month clothes. I took some back and swapped for bigger sizes.

Buy more maternity pads than you would think, I had to change mine every 1 to 2 hours for the first few days and needed them for about 4 weeks ( maybe about 4 a day).

A big jar of organic coconut oil does a multitude of jobs. Cradle cap, dry skin, baby massage and you can use it to. My health visitor told me to get it and I was sceptical but used it for everything, very gentle for you and baby.

Congratulations and good luck!

Aldi baby event is in at the moment online, and starts in store on Thursday so we will be having a look to see if we can pick up any bits there.

Amazing tips guys!!
Will check out Aldi!
Also, great advice on the footless babygrows for baby carriers, which I’m planning to use! Had no idea aboug that! Xxxxx

DD was born this June in the heatwave and basically only wore vests for the first 6 weeks of her life . I would definitely be putting baby in vests and sleepsuits for most of the first 3 months tbh. I would buy a few things in a range of sizes as you don't know how big your baby is going to be. We had a fair amount of newborn and 0-3 and got gifted TONS of 0-3 impractical outfits that she never wore, but DD was quite small and we took a newborn vests and sleepsuits to the hospital and they swamped her, thankfully one of our friends had already given us a few small baby sized ones so she wore them for the first 2 or 3 weeks as they fitted much better (but she had huge growth spurt those first few weeks so wasn't in them long at all!).

Just do whatever makes your life easier, always. That's basically my survival mechanism thus far (DD is 6 and a half months and is a reaaally difficult baby, barring her good nighttime sleep, which is her saving grace).

I agree that different nappies suit different babies. We had DD in various Pampers lines until she was about 5 and a half months when the size 3s were clearly too small but then the size 4s too big and leaked all the time, we've switched her to Superdrug's own brand nappies in a size 4 the last few weeks and they fit her much better now and no leaks. I used Asda own brand nappies for a few weeks when she was a newborn as well and they fit well at the time. We tried Aldi nappies when she was about 3 months old and they didn't fit her at all, she kept leaking all the time so we ended up binning most of them! But I don't think it's cos they were 'bad', just didn't suit DD's proportions. She's quite tall, and fairly slim.

Do you have a sling library near you OP? You can get lots of good advice beforehand. When baby is here you can try different carriers for a small fee. Stretchy wraps are very cheap secondhand, £10 or less.