Need help with baby clothes sizes!

Kurrant · April 2016

I *know* there is a thread about clothing sizes but for the life of me I can't find it. If anyone happens to have a quick link on hand I will love you forever . . .

I am really lost for sizing. So far we have a whopping 5 onsies that that are 0-3m and one top and bottom outfit that is NB 000 size. Aside from that all we have is a jacket, 2 pair of gloves and 4 pair of socks. We are obviously not prepared in the baby clothes department. There was no baby shower so we weren't gifted tons of baby junk and really have to go out and buy stuff. It's not so much that I don't know what to get as far as items are concerned but I'm curious about what size to get. I keep thinking we should just stock up on 0-3m and 3-6m stuff and forget about the size 000 items. They look so tiny! Do babies really come that small? Is there any real good reason to actually get a bunch of super tiny stuff when she will be out of it before anyone sees her anyways? I have about 2 weeks to go to EDD and my OB keeps alternating from saying baby is just the right size to saying she will be a tad big. Doing a nice big online shop for baby stuff this weekend so any input would be really appreciated.

folamij · April 2016

I honestly haven't bought a single newborn size. Most brands 3 months start at 8lbs so I figured 0-3 would work longer. I may however, be doing everything wrong lol. I'm a FTM so I'm also at a little bit of a loss for sizing as well, especially when it comes to dressing a newborn.

MsBeachNJ · April 2016

Commenting from June just to share that if you need basics carters has 70% off today and if you google it there's an additional 20% off for purchases over $40 (and free shipping!) I got 14 things for $81... Can't beat that!!

Edited to add: I got maybe 4 newborn pieces & the rest 0-3 month. I'm a first time mom as well so I'm just guessing but their newborn goes up to 8 pounds & I assume (guess)? The baby will only be that small for a week or so.

cortney626 · April 2016

Just as a reference my daughter was 7 lbs 7 oz at birth and she was in Newborn for 3-4 weeks. Then she was in 0-3 until around 3 months, etc. Carters seemed pretty true to size with her. She was always 50th percentile for height and weight. I have quite a few NB items for this one but I've been told she's measuring 3 weeks ahead. So who knows if I'll use them.

Kurrant · April 2016

Wonder if Carters does international shipping and how long that would take to arrive . . .

ETA they do ship to NZ which is awesome . . . it says 6-14 business days though. That might be cutting it close.

LadySamLady · April 2016

I worry and wonder about this same thing too! I was super naive the first time I bought any clothes for the baby and got a haul of only newborn size things during a Carters sale. Who knows if they'll ever fit or for how long. If I had used my brain I probably would have only gotten a couple things in newborn size. I'm generally insecure about the sizes and quantity of the baby clothes we have but figure we'll just have to get more if we don't have enough in the right size.

babymurraypeltier · April 2016

I would say get a majority in 0-3 and go from there!! It will be okay if baby doesn't fit quite perfectly into them yet and are a little big. I would say go for more sleepers and then go from their with outfits and such. Baby will grow into them and out of them. Better to get bigger sizes then the itty bitty newborn stuff that they may only fit for a week or so, or not at all. I think my boy is going to be a big boy since I was 10.6 at birth, so I at first was naive and bought somenewborn but once I realize sizing I said no way he's fitting in these so haven't bought newborn size since. You can always buy a couple newborn just in case and keep the tags on, if babe fits the 0-3 only or better then just exchange for a bigger size!

Bltbear82 · April 2016

DS1 was in newborn for 1.5 months and he was 6lbs 10oz. Everyone says don't waste time with newborn but I found it to fit for a decent amount of time. It really depends on the brand though - Gap has consistently run a size too big for him, so their 0-3 didn't work for him until he was 3 months. Carters runs smaller, their newborn stuff worked well and we ended up having to run out and buy more newborn sizes because we didn't have enough. Buy a few newborn things and see how it goes. You can always pick up a few onesies to tide you over. But since it will be fall/winter in NZ I would buy the winter weight stuff in a bigger size. We had a zip up fleece thing that was 0-3 and he was swimming in it, but we just layered.

doozer1345 · April 2016

DD was 7lbs 9oz and she couldn't fit into NB stuff at all. She grew out of 0-3 mos quickly but we did use them. DD lived in a little gown (or sack as we liked to call it) for a while bc it was sooo easy to change her diaper since her little legs were free.

finnybooboo · April 2016

I'm at a loss too because my DD was over 10 lbs and pretty long 22in. She didn't fit in newborn at all. I have no idea if this little will be big like her or not! I got a few newborn and mostly 0-3 and 3 months. Honestly I'd much rather them too big and roll up sleeves, etc then too small!

folamij · April 2016

Moms who live in warm climates: did you ever use sleepers? I'm in TX and debating if baby will need any. I have wearable blankets. Would that suffice? I definitely don't want to under dress my child!

NinnyJean · April 2016

we've bought way too many clothes but bought 0-3 and up since I knew for the shower people would buy newborn, which they did. At the growth scan we found out LO is already a little over five pounds, at 32x5, so we'll be returning all the newborn because she could fit into that now and is projected to be a little over eight pounds so newborn won't even fit

proudparent2b · April 2016

Based on DH and my birth weights, as well as the fact that LO is a few weeks ahead, I only have one NB onesie. I did purchase maybe half a dozen 0-3 items, but most of what I have is for 3 months +.

I'd skip the 000 sized items if I were you, since it doesn't sound like your LO is running small.

Kurrant · April 2016

I'm glad I only have one size 000 outfit so far. Seems like I should stick with the 0-3m stuff i guess. This tiny outfit was the only clothing anyone bought for baby and as soon as I opened the package I was shocked as how small it was. It really freaked me out! I kept thinking "I'm going to break this baby if she is this small!" She won't have many visitors till later so I guess having several sleep gowns size 0-3m would be best till she needs some real clothes. Its fall here with winter around the corner so some really toasty gowns would probably be nice.

The other thing that really makes me nervous is the weather! Winter isn't too bad here maybe 35f was the lowest I have seen nights and 45-50f for the days (I've only lived here 5 years.) Insulation seems extremely lame compared to what I'm used to living in New England USA and pretty much no one has heat. Granted that's on the north island . . . I assume south island would be different since they get snow. Basically everyone uses space heaters in the room they are primarily using and typically don't use heaters at night. Obviously we will have to keep the heater going with the little munchkin sleeping in our room and use one in her room when she is switched over. The plan is that I will change and feed her in another room for the first few months so I don't wake DH but I feel like moving from a warm room to a really cold room to wave her naked butt in the air and feed her will be not so good. I doubt anyone will have any advice on this but I thought it can't hurt to ask.

doozer1345 · April 2016

folamij said:

Moms who live in warm climates: did you ever use sleepers? I'm in TX and debating if baby will need any. I have wearable blankets. Would that suffice? I definitely don't want to under dress my child!

We did gauze swaddle blankets and layettes (or gowns...they have them for boys too). We did a lot of skin to skin so for the most part she was swaddled while at home and only in a diaper. We used sleeveless sleeper thingys that zip them in let me find a pic...

We use the cotton kind not the fleece kind.

amberraysofdawn · April 2016

folamij said:

Moms who live in warm climates: did you ever use sleepers? I'm in TX and debating if baby will need any. I have wearable blankets. Would that suffice? I definitely don't want to under dress my child!

So much this! I've been worried about the potential for overheating with swaddlers/wearable blankets/etc, but I don't want to underdress LO, either.

dancingsphinx22 · April 2016

Lurking from April

I'm worried about overheating the baby, too. We live in Arizona, and it's already hitting 90 degrees during the day.

I'm guessing we should keep it warm in the house, and then use less layers when we dress her? How do you know if baby is too warm? (I realize that sounds like a dumb question)

proudparent2b · April 2016

dancingsphinx22 said:

Lurking from April

I'm worried about overheating the baby, too. We live in Arizona, and it's already hitting 90 degrees during the day.

I'm guessing we should keep it warm in the house, and then use less layers when we dress her? How do you know if baby is too warm? (I realize that sounds like a dumb question)

Rule of thumb, according to new born classes, is one light layer more than you would wear.

Ideal temp for LO is typically 68-mid 70's. We were told not to have LO outside for more than a few min. if the temp is above 80.

camillaandcarson · April 2016

My baby only fit best in newborn for many weeks (it might have even been longer but the severe sleep deprivation makes you lose brain cells and forget things like that). I do remember 0-3 not working out for some time. So this time around I am definitely making sure we have newborn sized clothing ready, washed, available, and ready to go. The newborn take home outfit I got is NB.

Also since our last was a summer baby we didn't do many coats or sleeper gowns. That is because baby liked to be swaddled so that is what we did, and we didn't want baby to get too hot, so we also only dressed LO in onesie's and kept the temp inside steady. SIDS risk can increase with baby getting too hot so our main "argument" was is baby too hot? But wait, is baby too cold now? To infinity.

Oh and for those making decisions based the ultrasound estimates - I was also told my baby was going to be in the 90% percentile. We were expecting a large baby. Turns out the estimate was off by 2 pounds, baby was not the 90% by any means. We later found out that isn't all that uncommon for them to be wrong, give or take a pound or two either way.

dancingsphinx22 · April 2016

proudparent2b said:
Rule of thumb, according to new born classes, is one light layer more than you would wear.

That's what I've been taught, too. But I want to be naked all the time because it gets so damn hot! So it looks like LO is gonna be wearing just diapers for a few months. Haha!

Just kidding. It looks like I'll just have to convince DH to turn the AC on more this summer. He's loves to spend money, but he's so damn cheap when it comes to the electric bill!

helleebellee · April 2016

Baby was 6lbs 13oz and 19in at birth and she fits nicely in newborn clothes. She did drop 11oz, so she'll fit for awhile. My babies grow slow, so I imagine I'll get a good almost 6 weeks out of the newborn clothes I have. I put a 0-3 month sleeper on her tonight and she's just swimming in it.

If I were only starting out, I'd have one set of newborn onesies and one set of 0-3 onesies on hand, along with one set of bottoms in both sizes. I'd probably buy only 0-3 month sets and buy newborn only if baby ended up smaller. But the onesies and bottoms should be enough in the beginning anyway. It's easier to buy once baby is born than before.

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