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baby clothes - please humour a first-timer!

i'm going to apologise in advance for the stupid question!

i'm only 21 weeks so i haven't got that much baby stuff yet and this isn't a pressing issue or anything, but i got out all the clothes we've got so far yesterday and it got me thinking - for a start i don't actually know what you dress babies in! i know that sounds silly but i'm having a winter baby and i know that baby grows/sleepsuits are most practical for the first few months, but surely this won't be warm enough??
i also realised i have no idea how many of each thing we need as i don't know how many imes a day i'm likely to have to change his clothes.

anyway, here is a list of the newborn things we have so far. obviously i realise this is nowhere near a complete list and we need loads more of some things and haven't got any of some essentials yet (like socks, hats, scratch mits, snow suits,) but would you mind having a glance over and telling me what else/how many more of things i should be expecting to get?

here's our list so far:

Vests x 7
Sleeveless rompers x2
Short sleeved rompers x3
Baby grows x3
Daytime outfits x2
socks x4
hat x1

so here are my questions:
what else do i need to get?
what do i actually dress baby in day to day?? surely a vest, baby grow and socks won't be enough in winter?
what does baby wear at night? again is a best and babygrow enough or do i need something extra?
(really stupid question coming up) what is the actual function of romper suits?? i basically bought them because they were cute but would they basically serve the same purpose as a vest under baby's clothes?

thanks, and sorry for being dim!
xxx


[Modified by: cookiesandcream on 23 July 2010 18:55:50 ]
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Replies

  • Hi,
    dont worry about it, i asked the same question too!
    well as a newborn, your baby would wear a vest (short sleeve with poppers and no legs in) under a sleepsuit (the all in ones with feet in), then hat/mitts. They'd wear this day and night becuase they're easy to get in and out of whereas trouser bottoms have no poppers to change nappies easily. We bought a few daytime outfits but preferred the sleepsuits for the first month or two.
    In winter i'd put a long sleeve vest on and you can always put socks on under the sleepsuit if its really cold (throughout the day maybe a little cardi?) If you venture outside,a furry pramsuit - but beware they are tricky to get baby in!

    When your baby doesnt need as many nappy changes i'd put them into a vest/t-shirt/trousers/socks/mitts/cardi (speaking for a boy here,i have no idea what baby girls wear!)

    I think rompers are more traditional baby outfits rather than the combats/jeans/shirts you can buy now. They're nice because a baby looks more like a baby but i have 4 sat in the wardrobe that arent used. Maybe come crawling age they'd be handy as they give baby more freedom to move too.

    I definately think you need to stock up on vests and sleepsuits as your staple. we went through 7 in one day due to leaks and once the vest is wet,so is the sleepsuit.

    xx

  • With Tyler the 1st month maybe 2 he wore vest the sleepsuit mits and socks if really cold then we added a cardie and he always wore one at night...
    We covered tyler in a blanket 24/7 if it was cold and going out pram suit with hat etc
    As for cloths we had a few bits for days we were going out and seeing people trousers long sleeve top vest jumper/warm jacket ect

    I had romper suits and i used them for warmer days with a vest under with socks and maybe a jacket very cute image

    As for how many it depends on how often you can get to a washing machine.... I am aiming to get about 25 ish sleepsuits and vests as tyler went through 6/7 in one day leaving me 3 (i only had 10 at the time) and had to wash and dry them in winter while praying he wasn't sick or over pooped at once :lol:

    gems x
  • thanks haydens mummy and gems! that's really helpful! think i might be on the look out for long sleeved vests and cardies to keep pud warm. i also hadn't thought that you can just keep a blanket on them throughout the day too!
    another quick q - do you have to change their vest as often as the sleepsuit? coz surely this won't get as dirty with milk/sick/dribble? although will obviously suffer the brunt of poo explosions i suppose! xxx
  • My son was a winter baby and no2 will be as well. We will use (and did use) long sleeved vests at night with babygrows & sleeping bags (once baby is big enough) and a blanket over that if necessary as our house gets cold overnight

    In the daytime for the first couple of weeks my son wore short sleeved vests, socks, babygrow and cardigan in the house - and outside we used a snowsuit & blankets.

    We prefer to dress our kids in normal clothes rather than babygrows and keep babygrows for pj's - son usually used to wear in winter short sleeved vest, jeans (or fleecy dungarees if it was chilly) long sleeved tshirt & cardigan or a warm jumper over the vest, Not quite sure about girls lol but if this one is a girl then it'll probably be jeans still and a girly type top.. I'm not faffing about with tights as they look far too fiddly!

    We honestly found it just as easy to change nappies by whipping off a pair of jeans or unbuttoning dungarees as by undoing babygrows. As for romper suits... they looked cute but I decided they were a bit pointless lol.. I used to keep one in the changing bag as an extra spare outfit as it didn't take up much space
  • About vests - we used to get through way more vests than tops/sleepsuits - usually through poo leakage from the edge of the nappy or through slight disasters when changing lol. My son wasn't a sicky baby and when he was dribbly we used to get through lots of bibs but not so much on the clothes until he started weaning.

    We had about 20 -25 vests (got given loads!) and until we got our tumble dryer we were struggling sometimes having enough dry vests if we had messy days but that was probably only for the first month until we got the dryer. We used to dress lo in a clean vest & clothes in the morning and a clean long sleeved vest & babygrow for bed & obviously change the vest as and when needed. I know we had 7 long sleeved vests and I don't think we ever ran out of them for nighttime use

    hth
  • Hi hun, I just wanted to add that with the vests and sleepsuits especially you'll need the different sizes ie newborn, 0-3mths, 3-6mths, mainly because you can never be sure what weight baby will be and what length so it's best to have some of each xx
  • i have found this super helpful thank-you for the thread image im only 13+5 but i have no idea what u dress a baby in! xxxx
  • Hey hun,

    Just wanted to add that really padded snowsuits can be huge on a newborn! I got one for my dd to leave hospital and it was massive on her - and she wasn't a small baby, nearly 9lbs! I did get one from a friend from Gap which wasn't padded and it was a much better fit and sooo cute!

    My dd was born in February so it was freezing but the poor wee soul was lost in her snowsuit! lol.

    Lx
  • general rule of thumb is that baby wears one more layer than u, so if ur wearing a tshirt and jumper, baby will need vest, sleepsuit and cardi...for outdoors u can buy thick snowsuits plus blankets and cosy toes...hth xx

    [Modified by: WoW Baby on July 24, 2010 10:55 AM]

  • thanks everyone for your replies! this has been so helpful! wow baby thats a good rule i'll remember that!
    xxx
  • I am sooo glad you asked this!!! And by the looks of things it looks like we will need to be stocking up! Im glad the sales are on! image
  • Great thread - mega useful, thanks ladies image Looks like I'll be off to buy more as I've not got many and it'll be cold in December xx
  • Hi,
    I have 5 month old boy/girl twins (and a 2 1/2 year old girl). My little boy has been living in rompers in this warm weather. I never used them for my older girl who was born in December. I see them as summer clothing. To avoid having to change baby gros/outfits a lot during the day, my two usually have a bib on. This catches dribbles and bits of sick after feeding. A bib is easy to change 2-3 times each day without having to completely undress. I got some gorgeous ones from Pumpkin Patch that match most outfits.
  • Love this thread, I'm so clueless about this stuff! I'm glad you asked it cookies and cream!! xx
  • also just wanted to add that with ds (and will be doingt he same this time) we had quite a lot of white sleepsuits (i've found about 20 going through his baby clothes yesterday to see what we can use for our little girl) which we used to use for bedtime, he would wear a nice/coloured sleepsuit in the day and then just a plain white one for bed, that way i knew what were his pjs too lol, also if i knew we were just staying in he'd jsut ahve a white one on as they're so cheap in tesco/asda and can just bung them all in on an hot wash withut having to worry about colours fading etc, so i think all in all we had about 20 white sleepsuits and about 15-20 'nice' ones in newborn and 0-3...sounds a lot but was just about right for us...plus the more u have the less often u HAVE to do the washing x 20+4
  • It's definitely worth thinking about how you will want to dress lo in the day as silly as that sounds - I had loads of sleepsuits but ended up dressing my lo every single day and she's never worn a sleepsuit during the day once (she's 10 weeks now) - mainly because she has so many lovely outfits as presents and its a shame for her not get the wear out of them before she grows out of them (already giving a huge bag away via freecycle today! lol).

    Vests for me were the main thing as she wears those under outfits and when it was cooler she wore them at night too - at the moment she's just in a sleepsuit and sleeping bag though. I haven't changed her much during the day, it's only this last week she's been more dribbly but I use bib/muslins to avoid having to keep changing her (she hates being changed! lol).

    Might be worth just getting a small number to start with and see how you feel when baby arrives - you can always buy more later - you will leave the house again honest! lol

    xxx
  • Also remember that you will get loads of clothes for presents. Our DD didn't even wear some of her newborn stuff becuse we had loads between what we had already bought and presents people gave and she grew out of it all within the first few weeks as she was so long! x
  • Fantastic question - answers have really helped me!!
  • plus the more u have the less often u HAVE to do the washing x

    Love the thinking!


    I think the sleepsuits are the way to go and then if out visiting people then I would use some of the nicer outfits or sleepsuits. I find it difficult enough to work out what outfit im wearing day to day never mind a baby!
  • Be careful with the thick snowsuits and things in winter - the cosy toes I had for my boy were SO warm and lovely that if I put a thick padded snowsuit on him he was absolutely boiling! I rather used a blanket instead as then at least I could pull it loose or open a bit easier than a full on snowsuit.

    I am also one of the mums who doesnt like to dress the baby in sleepsuits 24/7, I used them just for nighttime and lazy days in :P Gonna do same for my baby girl this time around.

    http://tiny.cc/bi1tx - trousers with soft elasticated jersy type of band around belly are SUPER easy to put on small babies and they also dont squeeze the tummy. H&M do lovely jeans with the waistline like that. Super easy to use.

    DONT get sleepsuits that close on the back! Utter rubbish!

    I also found that using sleeveless bodysuits like this - http://tiny.cc/h4eq2 - worked best if you are planning to put a tee or a shirt/blouse, longsleeved dress on top, as the shortsleeved bodies would bunch up in the armpits (dont think that can be very comfy for a baby).

    Also dont go overboard with same type of socks. I found that for my boy the ones that you can fold down worked best for not coming off easily. Other mums found ones that are short and have elasticated top best. So i guess it depends on the baby :P

    I also found hoodies to be great in cooler autumn days as little hats would always slide over my boy' s eyes, but with a hoodie the hood just stayed where it is meant to be :P

    Hope this helps as well imageimage

    Cheerio!
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