how many clothes does a newborn need?

Sid_Wolf

Trying to work out how much to buy for our baby (due next year)

How many babygrows/vests/bibs and other clothes did you need for your LOs in each size (till about 9months)

Thanks

Bufger

Start by only getting them when theyre on offer as you have loads of time yet. I'd say you need to get a couple of packs of the vests ( long and short sleeve ) usually 3 in a pack. Get maybe 5 sleepsuits and then watch the other 50 come from friends and family! It all depends on how often you do your washing I suppose.

Get plenty of muslin, that's one handy piece of cloth people always underestimate.

amyloofoo

Second the muslins! Also, there's no need to buy anywhere near as many *newborn* clothes as you think you'll need as friends and family ALWAYS want to buy the cute little outfits and not the practicalities I'd concentrate on stocking up on nappies, etc when they're on offer and leave the frills to presents. Of course get something if you see it and love it, or if you see anything on offer then consider getting the slightly bigger sizes that other people won't.

HurdyGurdy

It depends on your washing and drying facilities as much as anything, and what time of year the baby is due. You could do with fewer clothes/sleepsuits etc in warmer months when you can peg them out to dry - or if you are happy to tumble everything. (My kids are grown up now, so things may be different, but I found that tumbling baby things tended to shrink them, so I just air dried them.)

You are likely to be inundated with newborn clothes, which the baby will outgrow long long long before they outwear them, so don't get too many first sized items.

And as I just said, baby clothes are always outgrown before they are outworn, so second hand stuff tends to be in extremely good condition, and will save you plenty.

I would stock up on baby wipes, bibs and muslin squares now, but I'd wait until the baby is here before getting too many nappies, and not all brands fit all babies well, and you may have to try two or three before you find the one that suits your baby best.

Oh and I'd also make sure you have plenty of sheets for the moses basket, or whatever baby will sleep in, as they can get messy quite quickly.

Good luck with the new arrival


ETA - if you don't like tumble drying or don't have anywhere to hang clothes indoors, I'd recommend one of these (or similar). Mine has been a godsend!

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Dry-Soon-3-Tier-Heated-Tower-Airer

jetplane

how many clothes does a newborn need?

Oh not as many as my yet to be born grandson, my daughter has banned me from baby shopping . She has a list from mothercare, I think, with a basics and nice to have guide which is a good starting point. She has bought a new pack of vests, sleepsuits and outfit for his birth and coming home outfit but much of her newborn stuff is from charity shops & friends, this is because the clothes are often unworn or barely worn, as they grow out of them so quickly.

The other thing if your buying bargains for 6 months ahead remember to buy clothes appropriate to the season. Good Luck with the baby

edit - sorry I seem to have repeated HurdyGurdys post I had a lie n this morning I'm not quite awake.

onlyroz

You will probably need a lot of basic babygrows because newborns poo a lot. However there's no need to get much right now. You don't know how big the baby will be and you don't know how much you will be bought by other people. I would buy a few packs and then wait until after the birth - when you can nip out and get some more if required.

dizziblonde

I was told to think along the lines of about 6 babygros and vests and similar... for outfits - whatever your line is on them (some people hate, some people dress 'em in them from the start to differentiate day and night). If you've got family like mine - they ALL thought "oh she'll get tonnes of stuff bought in newborn" and ALL bought me 0-3 and 3-6 month stuff - plus she was prem so was in early and tiny baby and then newborn for aaaaages! Depends on your baby though - if they're more pukey than mine was you'll go through multiple changes a day, if you get more prone to exploding nappies - similar.

Check different shops for different fits - M+S I found their standard line babygros were HUUUUGE, but their Autograph vests were small-fitting... Primark I found tiny on the body but long on arms and legs (which worked well with my little girl who IS all arms and legs - like her dad!).

I have to admit that I've now given up on babygros completely at 5 months (in age 3-6 month clothes) since I put her in that size and her feet hit the bottom of them within a fortnight (I'm not exaggerating here) - we're into pyjamas now (plus she looks disgustingly cute in them)

Nappies - again some people have mentioned - they tend to vary which ones fit which shape baby (similar to clothes shops and adults I guess) so it may well not be sensible to stock up TOO much - I think I bought a couple of packs of size 1 (which I then didn't get to use for a good couple of months) and a pack or two of size 2 - and from then on we've just ordered the Kiddicare boxes of them. Huggies throw vouchers at you left right and centre but lots of people hate their nappies.

Baby wipes - I stocked up on tonnes of them - still do now when they're on offer - but I made sure I had a mix of brands as some people like/dislike different ones (I know someone on the newborn thread hates Huggies Pure wipes - I love them... I hate Pampers ones), or different ones disagree with baby's skin.

With moses sheets what I did to reduce the amount I needed to change them was to put a muslin folded in half across where the baby's head would lie (tucked in so it was as flush as the sheet obviously) - in the event of just a small sick-up it was often enough to just change the muslin and avoid faffing on changing sheets as well.

I tend to buy stuff ahead now - I've got stacker boxes on the go for about the next 3 clothes sizes up.

mildred1978

As others have said, don't go overboard with it all. My son was almost 9lb born, but dropped from the 90th to the 50th centiles over the first 3 months. Apart from 2 or 3 occasions he was in babygros all day until about 6 months old, and was always behind his age size wise. Even now at 27 months he's still got some 12-18 month clothes that fit him!!

As a result, most of the stuff bought before he arrived was the wrong season when he came to wear it. eBay has been brilliant for clothes - you can get some real bargains.

Similarly with nappies, don't go mad stockpiling those. My son was in each size far longer than other babies - his cousin who is 8 months younger was in size 4 before he was!!

kev225

It's worth looking on Gumtree for some bulk boxes, I think I've spent about £40 in total and got enough clothes to last his whole first year, a lot of it still had tags on as many people buy far too much.

Newborn clothes you will have relatives buying you left right and centre. I'd but only the basics to start, muslins, few sleep suits, few vests.

Car boots are a good place to grab a few bargains as well.

peachyprice

Another vote here for plenty of muslin squares.

I too did what Dizziblonde does with the head area, it's so much easier to chuck a muslin in the wash than to change the sheets, especially in the middle of the night!

Also, try to resist the temptation of coloured sleepsuits and vests. Pure white looks incredibly cute on newborns and has the distinct advantage of being able to throw them all in the same hot wash without fear of colours running or turning grey.

Nicki

Don't forget that in a push, if you haven't kept up with laundry, you can pop the baby in the next size up until you have a clean baby fro in their size! They may look ridiculous but until they are walking or crawling (by which point you'll have a good feel for how many you need) they won't come to any harm.

I had about 6 newborn and 6 0-3 stockpiled for mine and with gifts that was plenty. But I wasn't precious about changing every time they posseted, just dabbed them dry with a bib or muslin and only changed if sopping wet, or a nappy leak. My DS2 had severe reflux and would otherwise have needed dozens of changes every day!