What clothes should I have ready for baby?

JCfirsttimemama · February 2016

What clothes should I have ready for baby in April? (I'm guessing they could come late March or early April, and we live in the Northeast). To be more specific, I guess I'm wondering if I should have some sweaters/pants/shoes in addition to onesies? Also, how much should I have in newborn size v. 0-3 month size?

Any guidance you can offer would be much appreciated!

Sorry if this has already been discussed..I searched and didn't find anything.

yodiggity · February 2016

You know your typical local weather trends better than us.

In *my* case, in the Southeastern part of the United States, April is usually warm but not unbearable. I have some footed sleepers as well as some onesies and pants. I also have some sleep gowns. Baby isn't going to be outside playing all day obviously so really it's mostly dependent on how you keep the temps inside your home.

eta: I don't know about nb vs 0-3 month quantity. Keep in mind, nb size is typically 7-10 lbs. If you have a 9lbs baby, they're not going to be in nb very long. Or if your baby is really long, may not be in nb very long.

cmjenkies · February 2016

It's really hard to say when it comes to sizing - I would have a couple of NB options but in reality they will be in 0-3 longer, and even then it depends on the size of your LO. I wouldn't have a TON of NB outfits because you probably won't use a lot of them.

From experience, my 8lb 4oz DS was SWIMMING in 0-3s for the first couple of weeks, but after that he wore 0-3 pretty consistently and he went through sizes as expected. Not all babies do that either though.

As far as seasonally appropriate clothing is, I don't know much about weather trends in your area. It's such a crapshoot in the Midwest as to when spring will actually start (like today it's 55*, but usually it's like 20-30* this time of the year).

Babies don't need shoes, just socks. I would have some pants and jacket/long sleeve options available. If you're just hanging at home mostly, onesies and sleepers that zip are most convenient, and blankets are always easy to use if it feels too cold. Layers that are easy to remove when you go out are handy that way you can adapt to temps.

Hope this helps a bit maybe! :P

Jules08 · February 2016

I am very lucky in that I have Rubbermaid totes upon totes full of clothes that have been passed on to me. The girl clothes that we have are from my niece who was born the beginning of May (I am due with my little girl April 14).

I live in the Midwest, this is what I have currently washed and put away in her room:

Cotton and fleece sleepers: NB, 0-3, and 3-6
Onsies: NB, 0-3, and 3-6
Sleepsacks (cotton and fleece): NB, 0-3, 3-6, 0-9
Leggings: NB, 0-3, and 3-6

Outfits: NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9
Extra pieces for layering: NB, 0-3, 3-6
Blankets (Cotton, wool, fleece)
Socks and hats

DS was in NB for a few weeks (was 7#10oz at birth), so I have a handful of NB sized items, but I have more 0-3 items since those will likely be worn longer. I didn't have any NB with DS, and had to run out and get a few onsies and sleepers for him. I didn't bother with any outfits (though I should have had a NB sized outfit for his take home outfit, he was swimming in the 0-3 outfit).

ivyvines6 · February 2016

I was straight up going to go by this article... I figure Florida can be hit or miss on weather in March, so I'll prep a little of both cold clothes and hot clothes. I'm not afraid to wash every other day lol

https://babyli.st/g/how-many-baby-clothes-do-i-need

olivemomma · February 2016

Also in the northeast, I personally think a good handful of cotton footed sleepers are best and easiest when baby is new. If it's cold when you go out, extra blankets and hats should be plenty to compensate at that time of year. I also agree that only a handful of newborn options are necessary. Dd was tiny and I think we only had about 6 newborn sleepers on hand and that was plenty. They are in 0-3 month for so much longer and it's okay if they are a little big, trust me, baby won't care!

Sincera4 · February 2016

Long sleeve onesies with attached mittens and side snap long sleeve shirts with mittens for less irritation from the umbilical cord and fast night changing. Carters has them in packs of 4 and worth the money. They always have sales and coupons anyways

My DS hated his feet and legs to be messed with so footed PJs did not go well. We liked the snap up PJs with socks

. Also leggings with the above!

Also a halo sleep sack. I got one fleece and one cotton for each age bracket until he started standing.

RoseShadow873 · February 2016

Ok so newborn and 0-3 month are different sizes? Isn't newborn 0 months?

AnnikaD20 · February 2016

My first was a December baby, and we didn't really use sweaters/ jackets/ layers as much as I thought we would. It was just so much easier to tuck some blankets in the carseat. I did use hats a lot of the time. Bundling baby up more might make sense for people who need to be outside for longer periods of time, but we were mostly just doing the 3min walk between the car and the store. Fleece sleepsacks were great for nighttime.

Jules08 · February 2016

RoseShadow873 said:

Ok so newborn and 0-3 month are different sizes? Isn't newborn 0 months?

0-3 items are much bigger than NB. I discovered that with DS, ha! Some babies bypass NB and some can be in it for a few weeks before 0-3's fit better.

mrstrax · February 2016

RoseShadow873 said:

Ok so newborn and 0-3 month are different sizes? Isn't newborn 0 months?

Baby clothes are dumb. There's NB, 0-3 mo, 3 mo, 3-6 mo etc. and each brand is cut differently. DD was long and skinny (born 6#3, 19.5 inches and got down to 5#9 before she started gaining weight at 5 days) and only fit in Carter's brand NB for 6 or 8 weeks. We had a set of 7 onesies and 2 pairs of pants that matched, socks, a couple sleepers (zippers!), and a little cotton dress for church/pictures. That and swaddles are all she wore for her first month and a half. After that she wore other brands of NB and 0-3, plus Carter's 3 month until she was 5-6 months old. She's now 19 months old and still fits in 9 month clothes of some brands and 2T in others, but mostly 12-18 mo. You'll likely find a brand or two that fits your baby best and that makes it easier to know what size to buy.

My best advice is to only un-tag and wash one set of onesies and matching pants and one set of sleepers of each size (NB, 0-3 and 3) to have ready for their first week and leave the tags on the rest and keep receipts handy. Then if you have a bigger baby who skips the NB or 0-3 sizes you can return/exchange them. The nice thing about baby clothes being so tiny is that a load of laundry covers a LOT of clothes, so you can likely do their whole wardrobe in one load once you know how big your LO is.

Also, if you happen to have a long and skinny like me, these are great for helping onesies fit better - https://www.etsy.com/transaction/251427641

RachieTK · February 2016

I live in NY and my son was born on April 5. We used newborn onesies and carters sleep and plays for the first couple of months. That way he had two cotton layers and covered feet. He was a big boy- 8 lb 11 oz and wore newborn for at least 3 months. We had about 10 sleep and plays and 12 onesies, and then a bunch of "cuter/nicer" outfits that we used less.

Cowboycorgi · February 2016

I live in Michigan and to be honest I really only have footie pjs, sleep sacks and onesie/leggings in NB size. March and April will be pretty cold around here, and I doubt we will be out of the house much in the first month or two.
I have both warm and cold options for 0-3 months just in case baby goes right in this size at birth or if she doesn't fit this size until May.

I wish baby sizes were easier to predict!

kimey1 · February 2016

Yah. Same here.
i got the bulk of onsies and footed PJs for the first 9 months, pants, mittens, hats and socks for baby. I also got 3 velcrow swaddle blankets from SwaddleMe (I heard 3-4 is enough). I think the only thing I need is the side snapping NB undershirts (for baby till the umbilical cord falls off). I'll probably get those at TJ Maxx or the like. This is what it looks like organized by month & type (NB, 0-3, 3, 6, 6-9)

Here's a list my fellow mom gave me. Her son turns 1 this month;

Clothing (I used Carter's for all the newborn stuff but we mostly buy from Baby Gap now)

-12 newborn or 0-3 month pajamas that zip or button up. Carter's makes ones with mittens attached (When the baby is first born, you want very easy clothing to put on.)

-12 undershirts with snaps on the side to avoid lifting head

-7 pairs of socks

-3 newborn hats

-3 pairs of mittens to prevent baby from scratching herself (you can also use socks on her hands)

-3-4 Aden & Anais swaddle blankets to keep her swaddled

sprocketsngadgets · February 2016

It's really dependent on how warm you keep your home unless you live in a city and will be walking everywhere with baby.

DD1 was in NB for about 3 months, but she's super petite. 0-3 stuff never really fit her right and we basically skipped it.

One thing we did with DD1 is we had a few NB leggings, but then went straight to 6 month leggings and just rolled the bottoms up. Since she was pretty much immobile for the amount of time she fit in those there really wasn't a whole lot of wear and tear on them and we saved a little money.

My other favorite item was kimono shirts for when she first came home until her cord fell off. They stay off of the cord pretty well and since it's just a tee diaper changes are super easy. Personally I liked not having to deal with crotch snaps all the time.

This is more of a psa. There is no time limit on returns to Carter's as long as tags are on and you have a receipt. DH and I have gotten in the habit of scouring clearance for items we think will be seasonally appropriate and fit later on. Once you kind of know how your kid sizes up (bigger, smaller, wears their age) you can save some serious money. If you were wrong, no harm done. Babies also don't care if they're wearing last years styles.

JCfirsttimemama · February 2016

Thank you all for this very useful info!

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