s/o baby clothes

Fremdschamen

Semi-dumb FTM question. 

I know a link to a list was posted a long time ago, but how many outfits should I plan to have for each age range, just as a basic guideline?  Obviously, I know baby may spend a shorter or longer period of time in each size, but I want to have a rough estimate so I don't buy too little or too much.  We plan to do laundry every 2-3 days, since we will be CD-ing.  I don't plan to rely on too many shower gifts, because my shower will be quite small.

If anyone has a link to a list that provides suggestions, that would be helpful.

rayofsunshine99

Good question!!  With my son I didn't have to think about it much because I just had a crap load of clothes people gave me of their kiddos (and we actually had too much in that many of the outfits he only wore 1-2X) so this is a very good question!

LargeMargeSentMe

I hope you get an answer because I am wondering too!  As a FTM I am pretty clueless.  Like you, I am having a small shower so probably won't get too many clothes.  I keep learning new information. Like at first I was looking for tons of onesies for the baby. Then I read that babies live in sleepers for the first few months so I've been looking for those. Then, recently I read that the kimono-style shirts are great for the first week or two when the baby still has his or her umbilical cord stump, so now I have to look for some of those. (I'm looking at resale shops.) 

evertz

I already have a couple of newborn outfits and I'll probably get a couple of the ones that look like a bag... but in general I'm going to ask that if people would like to gift clothing that they get me 3-6 and beyond sizes.

blueandgray

You have no idea how big baby will be, is a crapshoot how fast they grow and in what season, and its pretty easy to order online from sale sections as needed.  It also was a good excuse to get out of the house and browse the clearance racks at Target or Old Navy.  I also got a TON of new baby clothes as gifts after DD was born. 

If you want to get a small stash washed & ready to go, maybe get ~10 onesies in NB (Carters makes good sets that come in 5 packs), and ~5 NB size sleep n play outfits.  You can also pick up a 2-pack of NB pants that you can take on/off as needed for warmth if its a weird in between season for you, like it will be for me in late April in Atlanta.  I swaddled or had DD in a sling most of the time, so she was always wrapped up warm.  A couple of small hats.

In 0-3 mo, maybe ~12 onesies, ~4 sets of pants, ~5-6 one-piece outfits (style depends on your climate - I will get footless, short-sleeve ones). 

I didn't have a lot and DD had reflux, so she wore a bib pretty much anytime she was awake and would go through 6 a day, so that's one thing we did end up buying lots of.  But at least it saved me from constantly changing her clothes!

I liked the long dress/elastic waist bottom PJ sleeper things for bedtime, made diaper changes easier.  I think I had 4 of them in 0-3 month size that lasted FOREVER (she re-wore for a couple nights before washing it, unless there was a rare diaper blow-out).  I also swaddled her at night, so she was plenty warm in both.  As she got larger, we switched to swaddle sleep sacks with the dress on underneath.

Several pairs of baby socks.  They are obnoxious expensive, but I found the Trumpette socks to be the only ones that stayed on (and come in cute patterns - try Marshalls or Nordstrom Rack to try to find them cheaper). 

Also, Gerber runs small (so don't buy anything NB size from that brand), Carter about true to size.  Baby Gap also runs a little small, but Old Navy & Gymboree a little large.  In my experience, anyway!

Fremdschamen

Thanks blueandgray, that is very helpful advice!  I live in Canada, so we definitely have changing seasons, but it should be relatively warm by May (baby is due Apr 29). 

brinkman17

I actually did the opposite.  I bought onesies that I could layer in larger sizes, and haven't bought any 0-3 mo because everyone is giving those to us as gifts.  To each there own, I guess.

elbou

As previous posters have mentioned, it depends on lots of factors. If you want a basic rule of thumb, I would suggest ~10 in each size of most items.

I'm in Canada too, and my girls were born in the fall, and summer. DD1 was in sleepers for a good bit. I think she started with cotton sleepers, and then moved into the warmer fleecy/velvety sleepers as the weather got colder. DD2 was my summer baby, and she wore onesies a lot as an infant since the weather was warmer.

With this baby, I'm expecting to need mostly cotton sleepers at first, and then more onesies as the weather warms up again. As far as the seasons go, I found that everything except the really warm clothes could be used year 'round. You just layer them, and then if they get too hot, you take a layer off.

I would also like to point out that you don't really need socks at all until you start dressing baby in proper outfits (onesie/shirt + pants) as most sleepers have feet, and that is often warm enough.

nyki06

With my daughter we had a ton of clothes given to us so we never had to worry about running out, I also had a shower so I had a ton of clothes from that in addition to my large stash. We are team green this time so if the baby is a girl we'll be set but if it's a boy we will have to buy clothes. We bought about a weeks worth of newborn boy clothes from a garage sale and if the baby does come out a boy we will just get more sometime in the first week. Since I live in MN and we have very distinct seasons where the temps vary drastically we will just buy as we go depending on size.