How many clothes for a winter baby?

[LadyPeter]

I am sure this question has been asked many times before, but I couldn't find the right search terms...so if you need to point me to a previous thread, feel free.

Our baby boy is due in November and I have no idea what a reasonable amount of clothes would be for him, and in what sizes. Assuming he primarily lives in one piece outfits for the first 6 months, how many of the following do I need?

Newborn sleep & plays
0-3M sleep & plays
3-6M sleep & plays
Hats
Socks
Newborn T-shirts
0-3M T-shirts
3-6M T-shirts
Sleep sacks
Swaddlers

I plan to do laundry 2 times a week, if that helps. And is there anything I'm forgetting? TIA.

[jvs195]

So much depends on your climate, his size at birth and growth rate, will he be a spitter/reflux... Don't overbuy anything too small. You will get tons of inappropriate outfits, (because they are so darn cute, but never practical). If you are as freaked out as we were for the first you'll be afraid to put most things on him. Think soft cottony things. He will be curled up for months and you will be carrying him - what would feel good to both of you. YOu can't go wrong with onesies in every size. Basic knit leggings since it's November (again depends on the climate) Pick one outfit you really like for photo (birth announcement/going home) and the rest should be basics that are seasonless.

[swissair81]

I'm on my 4th kid & I still have no idea. I usually buy out half of carters. Between diaper blowouts & spitup you can go through an inordinate number of onsies & sleepers daily. I don't usually do laundry for the first couple of weeks, but I seem to remember my mother taking home baby laundry every other day for a bit.

I wanted to note that most sleepers have feet & if not, booties do better than socks on little newborn toes. I find the socks much more useful as hand mitts. That way your baby can't mutilate his/her face with those itty bitty nails that are so much fun to cut.

A lot of the baby stores (like Carters- which is hands down my favorite baby store for jammies & undershirts & stuffs) have a layette list of useful things. Some magazines do too. I usually alter them- for instance, I hate the gowns with the elastic at the bottom. I know people don't like drawstrings, but you can't just let baby hang out of the gown. It should be helpful with numbers of undershirts, sleepers, hats & stuff. The BB book might also have a list in the clothing section.

[PMJ]

Man... I remember being in your boat last year at this time.

I agree w/ PP -- don't buy a whole lot now (you will get a lot of stuff as gifts) and you just don't know DC's size.

I LOVE the one-piece outfits from Carter's (closed feed) and the Sleep 'n Plays from Target. I got a bunch of Carter's one-piece outfits that had zippers (and not buttons) -- highly recommend that. Who invented buttons for any infant makes no sense to me !

I would have 1-2 hats, but I have heard not to let the baby sleep in these b/c they get too hat. (Just for going out)

I had one sleep-sack, which was AMAZING. I could put her in short-sleeved onesies and use the sleep sack and was not too worried about her getting too hot, or too cold.

Expect to change outfits at least 2-3 times a day.

Good luck w/ everything!

(Trying to remember what other items you asked about, but now I forget. So feel free to private msg if you have more ques.)

[citymama]

I second the Carters recommendation. Both my kids lived in their onesies and footed sleepers for the first 6 monthss. At least for 3 months, seperates are hard, IMO, b/c then you have to deal with socks as well. Anything over the head is a pain with a floppy newborn. Sleep and plays rock.

Our dds are small at birth - my 8 week old is still in sz newborn carters sleepers (also fits in 0-3). We have about 6 footed sleepers, 6 onesies, a couple of sleepsacks (hardly ever used), 3 pairs of hanna baby socks (truly the best ever), a couple of hats in circulation at any one time...don't forget swaddle blankets!

[lchang25000]

I second the Carters recommendation. Both my kids lived in their onesies and footed sleepers for the first 6 monthss. At least for 3 months, seperates are hard, IMO, b/c then you have to deal with socks as well. Anything over the head is a pain with a floppy newborn. Sleep and plays rock.

DS was born in mid-Jan. (very cold here in the winter) and he didn't wear anything except onesies and cotton or fleece footed sleepers the first few months even when we took him out. We hardly used socks and hats. We never used sleepsacks, just the swaddle mes and miracle blanket. I would make sure to have plenty of onesies, footed sleepers, and bibs in case your baby is a big spitter upper like mine was. We had about 2-3 swaddle mes and 1 miracle blanket. DS did not star wearing separates until he was about 4 months old.

[LadyPeter]

Thanks to everyone who posted and responded via PM. We're in Kentucky so it gets cold in November and stays that way through mid-April. (Anywhere from 0-35 degrees Fahrenheit.) Also, my husband and I are short and were small babies. My mother, MIL, best friend, and SIL have already donated quite a bit. So, here's my stash so far.

4 Newborn footed sleepers (Carter's)
8 3M footed sleepers (Carter's and Baby Gap)
16 prs of Baby Gap socks (0-6 months)
3 Baby Gap hats

Am I OK to start? Should I put LS onesies on my registry or just wait and see what rolls in? Clothes are so fun to buy, even for boys.

[citymama]

Thanks to everyone who posted and responded via PM. We're in Kentucky so it gets cold in November and stays that way through mid-April. (Anywhere from 0-35 degrees Fahrenheit.) Also, my husband and I are short and were small babies. My mother, MIL, best friend, and SIL have already donated quite a bit. So, here's my stash so far.

4 Newborn footed sleepers (Carter's)
8 3M footed sleepers (Carter's and Baby Gap)
16 prs of Baby Gap socks (0-6 months)
3 Baby Gap hats

Am I OK to start? Should I put LS onesies on my registry or just wait and see what rolls in? Clothes are so fun to buy, even for boys.

dd1 was born during a new england winter and even then, we didnt use l/s onesies as undershirts. in the spring and fall, they're nice as separates with leggings.

i think your stash sounds fine. dont forget something warm as outerwear - we never used our bunting, but we did use a particularly cozy fleece zipper over her cotton footies when going out. we used blankets too.

[lizzywednesday]

Thanks to everyone who posted and responded via PM. We're in Kentucky so it gets cold in November and stays that way through mid-April. (Anywhere from 0-35 degrees Fahrenheit.) Also, my husband and I are short and were small babies. My mother, MIL, best friend, and SIL have already donated quite a bit. So, here's my stash so far.

4 Newborn footed sleepers (Carter's)
8 3M footed sleepers (Carter's and Baby Gap)
16 prs of Baby Gap socks (0-6 months)
3 Baby Gap hats

Am I OK to start? Should I put LS onesies on my registry or just wait and see what rolls in? Clothes are so fun to buy, even for boys.

That's some nice stuff!!! Putting clothes on a registry is kind of a crapshoot - IME people who are going to give you clothes are going to shop according to their own tastes, though I got some great stuff from friends based on stuff I'd put on my registry.

My experience with my DD, who arrived at the end of winter (NJ/PA) and was a slow gainer, was that DD was in NB sizes for what seemed like forever. (Seriously. I expected a big, fast gaining baby. DD was 8lbs 1oz at birth, 19.75 inches; she was in NB sizes for her first 2 months.)

I'm finding that Carters' stuff runs a bit roomy, so the 3M sleepers are a bit big on her feet (she's in 3-6mo clothes in 80% of brands; Carter's & OshKosh Genuine Baby is still big on her, as well as Hanna Andersson, but that means I'm going to get a lot of use out of those things this summer!!!) but she's definitely outgrown the NB ones (although it took her 'til almost 3 months to do it).

Also, I am a huge fan of the sleep sack/swaddle sack instead of the baby-gown ... we had plain cotton ones from Halo that DD practically lived in (!) and they are fairly season-less if you layer Baby's clothing appropriately. We used l/s onesies and thick bootie-style socks under the sleep sacks because I was so afraid DD would overheat if we put her into a sleeper and then the sleep sack. (Nowadays, she sleeps in cotton snap sleepers from Carters with a lightweight flannel blankie tucked under her arms.)

I am one of the fans of sleepers/sleep-n-plays with snaps vs. zippers because you don't have to undress Baby to change diapers with snaps. Not all zippers are conducive to this, though some manufacturers are changing this. (We have a cute sleeper from Halo that zips from the neck down, rather than the ankle up, and I would get lots more of those if I could consistently find them.)

[doberbrat]

I think you're good to start .... might want to add swaddle blankets and a fleece snowsuit if your lifestyle requires it. - we were out and about -walking, hiking to the dog park etc w/both girls as nb so I needed a good fleece snowsuit but most get away w/o one.

both of my girls were winter babies in New England. For dd1, everyone told me not to buy small sizes b/c they would be useless. dd1 was a peanut - born at 6ish lbs, and stayed petite to this day. she was textbook sizing. nb for a while, then 0-3 until 3mo, 3-6 until 6mo etc. I needed nb clothes in the beginning b/c the 0-3 were HUGE on her -so I ran out and bought some.

dd2.... ha ha. just turned 7mo yesterday and in in 12mo clothes. she outgrows them faster than I can get them washed and into the drawers.

some of it depends on the temp in your house. in ours, its a 'balmy' 60 at best in the winter. 55 isnt unusual. so undershirts and fleece sleepsacks were a necessity. socks for under the sleep and plays too.