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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Clothing-How much should I have?
I have no idea what an infants wardrobe should look like, or at least how many of different items I should buy. I have lots of onsies, and have yet to buy a bunch more socks. I have some sleeper outfits, mostly cotton, and some fleecy ones for sleeping during the colder months (I'm in New England).
But about how many of these types of outfits should I stock up on? I know they grow fast so I don't want to go too crazy with the 0-3 months, but I want to make sure I have enough so I don't have to run out and buy stuff in the first few weeks.
Thanks!
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Re: Clothing-How much should I have?
Don't stock up since you have no idea how big your baby will be or how fast he will grow.
My DS is almost 3 months old, is about to outgrow 6-month size clothing and will start wearing 9-month size clothing in the next week or two.
I think you will want a lot of sleepers/footie pj's, etc. I got tons of onesies but only 3 sleepers. During the night it the time when he will pee through his diaper and so sometimes he goes through 2 jammies a night.
My son was in NB for 2 months, 0-3 right now and will be for at least another month.
Thanks for your opinions. Every time I go to buy clothes I realize that it's a matter of a couple lbs as to whether your baby will be in newborn or 0-3 months when they're born. I'll wait to buy more stuff then until after he's born. I did have my shower, and for some reason socks were not a hot item. I literally have 4 pairs.
Enjoy the rest of your weekends!
I would not buy a ton of NB or 0-3 months. Your baby could grow fast or fit in them for a long time. My son grew fast, by 3 weeks he was in 3 months. I'm glad I didn't go overboard on NB or 0-3 months. He is 5 months old now and wearing 9 month if that tells you anything.
The clothes also have a tendancy to shrink.
Here's what I didn't realize about baby clothes: You'll need more than you would expect, because they go through so many outfits per day (with spitup and other accidents, I sometimes change LO's clothes 4 times a day!) Unless you plan on doing laundry every day, I'd stock up on more than you would need! The Bump has a layette guide that's useful.
Also, cute outfits are fun, but for a newborn, the best things are one piece outfits/rompers, sleepers or those sleep gowns. They spend so much time sleeping anyway... I hate seeing a newborn baby in jeans and a button down shirt! It sure doesn't look comfy for them!
Also, avoid shirts that aren't onesies or rompers. I just started DS on regular shirts and he is 2.5 months old. They still have a tendency to ride up on him constantly. Socks have a tendency to get lost. That's why those one piece, footed rompers come in so handy. Carter's makes plenty of them (they call 'em sleep n plays) that don't look like PJs.
You're right, your child probably won't be in 0-3 for long, even if s/he is an average sized newborn. They just grow so fast. My DS never fit in NB sizes. He started out in 0-3. At 3 weeks old he was in 3-6. Around 8 weeks old he made the transition to 6-9. He is now a bit big for some 6-9 outfits, but most 9-12 outfits seem too big on him. About 1/2 of his 6-9 stuff still fits great. So, at 2.5 months old, he finally seems to be slowing down in his rapid growth.
To answer your question, I would buy some of those sleep gowns. In DS first few weeks, he lived in one of those and a receiving blanket or swaddler. They are best for those constant newborn diaper changes!
Get 8 of them (or so) in an 0-3 month size. That, over a onesie, and booties and a blanket, would be your LO's usual outfit for the first few weeks.
I went through a LOT of sleepers the first few weeks- between spit up, and poop disasters, and peeing on himself with every diaper change. I agree with waiting for your shower- I have not had to buy ANY clothes except a couple extra newborn sized sleepers so I didn't have to do laundry every two days when I first got home.
ETA: If you've got a lot of 0-3 stuff, go get a couple newborn sized things as well. I thought 0-3 was SOOO small, but DS was SWIMMING in the newborn stuff and didn't get to 0-3 until about 1 month old. He actually fit into some preemie hand-me-downs the first few weeks.
Don't stock up too much, you never know how long they'll be in a certain size or what brand LO will be able to wear. My son could barely fit in some newborn outfits (like Gerber) while he fit in others (some from Carters) for about a month.
My son goes through at most 3 outfits a day, but usually wears 1 outfit/onesie/sleeper then I put a new one on him at night to wear under his swaddle blanket. So usually 2 outfit changes a day...that's the least amount. I'm sure there are babies on here that need an outfit change after every feeding due to bad reflux.
If you go out and buy stuff, don't wash it all. Wash 7 newborn onesies and keep the tags on the rest. I was doing laundry the first week. If you can't get to it, I'm sure someone else like your DH can or someone visiting can.
We've learned from buying 0-3 month clothing (we went overboard)....that it's just not worth spending all that money for them to be in the stuff for a month or two. You will have to do laundry all the time anyways due to burp cloths, bibs, sheets, towels, etc. anyways..why not throw clothes in with it?
ETA: You also don't know what season it will be when they're in a certain size. We started buying as we go now for this reason.
If you *want* to stock up, make sure to get some stuff in 3-6 (and just 3) sizes before the baby arrives as well. Not tons, but at least one pack of onesies (I love the Circo brand at Target, in short and long sleeves) and maybe a couple sleepers. My son pretty much skipped the 0-3 stage in onesies/sleepers because he's so long. He only wore them until he was back to his birth weight, which took about a week. He now wears 3-6 in anything that involves his lower half.
If you can, err toward clothes that snap/zip up the front. Pulling things over a cranky baby's head gets really, really old after the second or third spit-up or blow out in a day.?
And IMO you can not have too many pairs of socks for a baby. Or mittens (especially if you live somewhere cold!) Make sure to get some little hats as well.?
Mes Petit Choux
I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then. ~ Alice
I wouldn't stock up too much... we have tons of 0-3 month clothes for our DD, but she didn't start wearing them until about 6-7 weeks. We had to buy a few more newborn outfts, and we really have way too many outfits in 0-3. People also bought us clothes in random sizes that she won't be able to wear (6-9 month sundresses, when it will be freezing here at that point!). It's so hard to say until you see how big your baby is, and even then it's hard to predict future sizes. Our baby was tiny at birth, but she caught up faster than we expected!
I will say socks are good things to stock up on. We haven't used the white onesies too much, but the shirts/onesies that snap on the sides are great... DD hates having her clothes pulled over her head!