Advice for FTMs: Baby Clothes

kosmo86 · May 2016

As a first time mom I must confess I am absolutely clueless about what to get for baby clothes? Looking for some BTDT advice.

Starting point questions:
How long are they in newborn clothes?
Besides basic onesies what else do I need?
How many outfit changes do you go through a day?

RG1 · May 2016

Great questions! Also curious about these answers. I had to google "how to dress an infant"....I am totally going to mess this all up lol!

Thscary · May 2016

@kosmo86 just from experience with a few friends who recently had babies the newborn clothes seemed to last them between two weeks and 1 month. I am not going overboard on newborn outfits.

also curious what the BTDT moms will say!

mommytimesfour · May 2016

As far as newborn clothes go, this really depends on the size of your baby. So many people told me to skip NB with my first baby, so I only had a couple outfits and when he was born at 8 lbs 4 oz, he swam in size 0-3. He wore NB for a month. DD weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and wore NB for about 3 weeks.

In the beginning, I loved the gowns and zip up footed pj's since they made nighttime diaper changes really convenient. After two babies I've learned that practical clothes will get used much more than the cute stuff.

For outfit changes, I'd count on a couple a day. Lots of poop and spit up happens! Overall, they don't need a ton of clothes though since they grow so quick. A weeks worth of outfits plus a few spare sleepers/onesies should be sufficient.

schuberta · May 2016

My son stayed in newborn clothes for about two weeks, even though he was a big baby. 0-3 months and 3-6 months were worn much longer, so I'd stock up on those sizes. I think we went through about 3ish outfits a day, including fresh jammies for night time. We had a lot of waterproof bibs, though, to keep from having to change clothes so much.

Outfits will depend on the weather where you are. Our son was born in November so he wore mostly fleece and terry footie pajamas (usually called sleep-n-play, I think.) If September is hot where you live, then they can just wear onesies for a while, or thin cotton outfits. With fall weather, I would just get some hoodies or sweaters to supplement the cotton outfits. People looooove to buy baby clothes, so you may be surprised at how much you have after your shower, clothing-wise.

Honestly, I was super worried about having enough stuff for baby when he came, but it's not like you can't go to Target after they come!

mrsvoorhees-2 · May 2016

My DD lived in the sleep & play footie pajamas that zipped. Buttons suck, because there's 90,000,000 of them and babies squirm. I also hated onesies because their little heads are so floppy, it was hard to put one on her. I think it would be easier this time because I'll be less scared, but I have a million S&Ps from DD1, so DD2 will live in them too

i wokld guess at least 2/day. DD1 blew out of her diaper almost every time she pooped. It was bad. I wokld be sure to buy lots of spray n wash and a toothbrush or nail brush to scrub, that's the only way I could get breastmilk poop out of her clothes.

ndelaney89 · May 2016

I've found that the 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 lasted us longer. We got a lot of use out of those sizes vs. just the 3, 6, 9 ect... they didn't seem to fit as well. In the beginning we did a lot of gowns, side snap onesies (amazon them they are amazing for when the baby still has part of their cord) and onesies with baby leg warmers they made diaper changes super easy and quick.

618mom22boys · May 2016

Agree it depends on the size of baby. My boys were in preemie for about a month. Then newborn for a month or two. I love the pototoe sack gowns though.

PSUBecky23 · May 2016

My daughter stayed tiny for awhile so she was in NB clothes for a good two months. I dressed her in sleep n plays all the time, with zippers. Easiest way to dress a newborn.

crispy11 · May 2016

Agree that it depends on the size of the baby. My almost 10 pound baby was squeezed into her newborn going home outfit and then we put the rest of newborn away and went straight to 0-3 months. As for what to get, I went with comfy clothes. Lots of cute onesies and sleepers.

crispy11 · May 2016

Oh and for weather, the best way to dress a newborn is in however many layers you are wearing + one more light layer, which could be a blanket.

skooterblenny · May 2016

My 8 lb baby stayed in NB for a month... then 0-3 from month 1 to month 4. size 3-6 month lasted until about month 8 I think? Depends on if you have a long baby (height of mom/dad) - our kid was short so could stay in the footed sleepers/onesies longer.

NB and 0-3 mos they will live in the NB gowns and the footed sleepers. Don't buy too many cutesy outfits.. Buy maybe 1 or 2 dress up outfits in each size for going out to lunch or meeting with friends. They will blow out of their diapers (breastfed babies are the worst! everywhere runny poop!) and spit up and generally just be messy. I swear we went through at least 6-8 changes of clothes per day those first 3 months, along with an entire load of burp cloths every few days. Also depends on your kid. I'm a bit of a clean freak though, and didn't want to smell sour milk on my kids clothes. gross. a single drop of liquid would require an outfit change.

You'll be doing laundry every 2-3 days anyway during the first few months, so I would say at MAX you need 24 outfits of 0-3 mos. And by outfits I mean onesies/footed sleepers. But probably not even that many. Our kid lived in generic gender neutral onesies with a few pairs of CUTE babylegs leggings in the fall (summer was mostly onesies cause it was freaking hot. We only used one layer) and footed sleepers in the evenings (summertime/NB just used a onesie with a muslin swaddle). You will want several swaddles or swaddling blankets too (I would say 3-4).

KimmySchmidt · May 2016

We were in newborn clothes about a month. It didn't take long for her to end up an entire size ahead (wore 6-9 months from 3-9 months etc.) You don't really NEED anything besides onsies and footie pajamas in newborn size but they sure do look cute in those tiny outfits. I'd plan on 2-3 outfits/day. But you may need fewer clothes than you think, because it's going to be dependent on how often you do laundry. Between the spit up on sleep sacks, clothes (both ours and LO's) we did a load of laundry about every day, maybe every other day.

camichael84 · May 2016

As everyone else has mentioned, this all depends on the size of your baby. My daughter stayed in NB for about 6 weeks, and had maybe 10 NB outfits. I know everyone recommends sleepers (they really are the best for blowouts), but we only used them at night and did a onsie, pants, and socks during the day. We typically went through 2-3 outfits a day including sleeper for night. We didn't have as many blow outs as shooting poops that got on me.

MrsCourtney555 · May 2016

I second the sleep & play jammies! DS never fit into newborn since he was 9lb 12oz and we were also very lucky that we rarely had to change clothes since he never spit up. I haven't bothered buying NB for this one either. Take into account if you're breastfeeding or not since BF babies tend to have looser poop. Take a breath mama...even if you have to pick up some stuff after LO is born it's not the end of the world!

BernieRae · May 2016

@skooterblenny -thanks for mentioning babylegs. In was thinking those leg warmers might be good before it gets cold, but wanted a brand recommendation.

Sporty1216 · May 2016

We skipped nb with my son, but he was big! This baby is measuring much smaller, so I plan to have several nb sleepers/gowns.

Also, buy used! Infant clothes get so little use, you can find them in great shape at places like once upon a child. I rarely spend more than $2 on infant clothing. Hit clearances and i was able to get stuff for as low as $0.10!

babylegs are awesome! I'd love to get some girly ones, but probably baby girl is just going to wear the ones I have from big brother. He can still wear them too. Seriously awesome.

skooterblenny · May 2016

also wanted to mention seasonal consignment sales

NashBelle · May 2016

a couple notes on onesies... 1- different brands can be totally different shape/proportions. I seem to remember Gerber brand being long and skinny compared old navy or carters. And 2- did you know that the wide neckline on a onesie has a purpose? It's so you can pull the onesie down over their shoulders in case of a blowout! Meaning you don't have to try to get a poopy shirt up over their heads. It's so brilliant, but unfortunately I never knew that little tip until baby was at least 6 months old or so.

Cricket Bug · May 2016

@NashBelle my DD is 3 and that is (wonderful) news to me! I kind of feel like a dolt for not knowing that before, but thank you for the lightbulb moment!! DD rarely had blowouts, but when she did...wowzas!

0SeaMonkey0 · May 2016

My son was 7lbs 12oz at birth but lost almost a full pound in the first few days. Like many others I didn't have much newborn clothes but I had to go out and buy some. I can't remember how long he wore them for, probably only a few weeks but the 0-3 month clothes were so big on him that he really did need to NB outfits.

We had a really hard time with diaper leaks in those early weeks so we went through a lot of clothes every day but the baby clothes are so easy to clean, just wash and dry, no hanging or sorting like adult clothes, so it wasn't a big deal to do a load every few days.

nativetexan512 · May 2016

Great question @kosmo86.

My sis gave me a ton of newborn and 0-3m stuff, but now I am worried about different seasons. Her boys wore this stuff in January-March, and mine will be September. Wondering how much I'll be able to use - I'm just going to wait and see, like someone always easy to buy more.

AMT1107 · May 2016

We skipped NB all together, DS wore a lot of the gowns and footed sleepers with the ridiculous amount of buttons. The gowns were great because they were so simple and when you are done with the diaper change you just pull them over the feet. We used them mostly during the day and then the footed sleeper at night. I also love the Carters onesies, DS wore a lot of the long sleeve ones when we swaddled. Like a lot of PP said, functionality is way more important than cutesy outfits. We rarely had DS dressed in cute outfits unless we went out, which we didn't do very often.

On average I think we changed DS maybe 2 times a day, some days more, some less but finding the right diaper helps a ton too!

erinmarie86 · May 2016

I'd hold of on purchasing size "newborn" a good option is 0-3 months, or just start with 3 months. What's the harm if the clothes are a little big. If you end up having a small baby then you can go buy a few new born clothes if really needed.

I personally go pretty minimal on clothes because i've found we have our "favorite" outfits that as long as it's clean that's what i want to dress my LO in. So i'd say you need maybe 10 outfits (and i think that could be a little high). You'll be doing laundry more frequently (seems like every day!) so even if you have a bad day where you go through 3+ outfits, you aren't waiting a whole week to wash them. In all honesty, if my LO didn't get poop or pee on the outfit I kept it on him. I didn't care about breast milk drops or food (as he got older).

Clothes lasting also just depends on how fast your baby grows. My son was born just a bit over 6lbs and was in newborn clothes for at least a month. In the begining he was moving into clothes sizes a few months before the actual size. So i think he was in 6 month clothes by about 4/5 months. However, now he has slowed down and he's been living in 12 month clothes for what seems like forever (he's almost 18 months). I have a feeling we'll be staying in 12 month clothes till mid summer or possibly even after summer.

On the other hand, my Niece is a BIG baby and was in 18 month clothes before she turned 12 months.

JennM205 · May 2016

I agree with PPs in that the length of time a baby will be in NB clothes varies. My DD was (and still is) pretty petite so she wore NB for about 6-8 weeks. I also agree with PPs in that the zipper footie-sleepers are the way to go. The 2-3 per day rule is probably about right though it might be a little more if you're having a boy. (My sister just had a baby boy and says they're going through outfits like crazy compared to when my niece was a baby - I know boys tend to pee when diapers come off but my nephew is giving Mommy and Daddy a run for it - sometimes going through an outfit at every diaper change!!)

Also, just wanted to mention the snap-front onesie shirts (shown below). They are not something I had on my list of "necessities" when DD was born but they were what she was put in at the hospital (with a diaper and a sleep sack). They turned out to be kind of amazing so we went out and bought a package as soon as we brought DD home. They were great for skin-to-skin in the first days/weeks because we could just unsnap the front and lay DD on our chests without having to unclothe her completely. They were out of the way for diapering and could be worn under a sleeper, sleep sack, Swaddle Me, etc. I'd definitely suggest getting a few if they aren't already on your list! (Though get them in smaller sizes only - we only used them when DD was in NB; may possibly have bought them in 0-3 if DD had grown faster...but definitely wouldn't have needed them past that.)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/l0/8tl6ushu5we5.jpg

ETA: Correction

asht · May 2016

With my first I didn't buy newborn but then he to go out and buy them on the way home. She was born at 41 weeks and only 6poumds 4 oz when we left the hospital. Swam in newborn and lasted several months

sunshinern96 · May 2016

I would definitely have at least a few newborn outfits. DS1 was 8 lbs even and wore newborn onesies for probably 6 weeks and newborn pants for 2 months at least! He weighed a lot at birth but was still slim so the 0-3 pants literally fell off of him for a long time. We actually had to run out and buy more newborn clothes because he spent a couple of months in them. So many people are totally against getting NB clothes but I am a postpartum nurse and honestly, most babies I see who are below 8.5 lbs fit very well in newborn sizes. Remember that baby will lose up to 10 percent of their birthweight after birth (sometimes more!) and it can take a couple weeks for them to gain that back too. I would start with at least 3-5 NB outfits/sleep and plays and then you can get more if needed. Bringing a NB and 0-3 outfit to the hospital just in case is also a good idea because there are babies who will just jump straight to 0-3!

izzetoot · May 2016

Keep in mind all brands run differently in sizing. A N in one brand may be a preemie in another and a 0-3 in another. Gerber runs small and is super cheap. Gymboree super huge. Carters TTS. My tiny tot was only 5lbs 7oz and we didn't get any N so DH ran to Target and got two 5 packs of Gerber onsies he lived in for the first two weeks

Ive fallen in love with a brand called Kickee Pants

bc the material is super soft and very stretchy so the clothes last twice as long as regular cotton, in my opinion. They are much more $ than a 5 pack of onsies for $6, but I would rather have 5 high quality footies & onsies he can wear for 4-6 months vs a shit ton of clothes he'll outgrow every few weeks and stuck with tubs and tubs of outgrown clothes. Plus KIckee Pants are always on sale

Tippy05 · May 2016

I'm a little late here but would agree with most ladies here. DS1 wore newborn clothes for MAYBE a couple of weeks and DS2 was over 9lbs so never wore them. Both wore sleep gowns at night and made for easy middle of the night diaper changes. During the day they wore a lot of footed sleep and play outfits. I never went crazy with the SUPER cute and/or complicated outfits. They do blow out of them quite a bit and you'll get the occasional poop up the back blow-outs. Plus, babies sleep so much and some of those outfits just don't look all that comfortable.

Also, I'm a HUGE fan of baby legs, especially in the winter. My kids are 4 and 5 and still wear them on their arms under short sleeved shirts. DS2 broke his arm last month and we were still wearing long sleeved shirts and sweaters because it was cold but they didn't fit over his cast. Instead, he wore a short sleeved shirt with a baby leg on the uncasted arm. Works perfectly!!

NashBelle · May 2016

I second the kickee pants! They are super soft and cozy and very well made.

audi681 · May 2016

Don't buy a lot of clothes!! I know it's hard to resist, but you will be doing so much laundry that he/she can wear the same stuff-the stuff that fits well- over and over.

I would buy a few nb size! We were told 2 days before delivery that my son was 7.5-8 lbs and he came out 5 lbs 11 oz.

I really like the way Gymboree clothes wash and hold up. The best deal are the Carter's sets (short sleeve/long sleeve/pants). I would have 4 of those for each stage + 3 sleepers and you're good. Too many clothes is a waste of money and drawer space.

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