Winter Clothing for Newborn

[ariveraz]

I am due in late November (27th) and it is my first pregnancy, so I am clueless. What kind of clothing should I get for the first couple of weeks? Long-sleeved bodyduits? Only footed onesies? A couple of buntings? I live in Chicago, so the winters are harsh. Also, should I get everything 3m or bigger? I hear that babies grow out of newborn clothing (as well as a lot of 3M) in a matter of weeks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[lizajane]

you may find that you don't get out much with the baby in the first few weeks. are you returning to work after a few weeks, which would require you to take the baby out in the cold for childcare?

if you are at home with baby, i would get the footed sleepers. get some cotton and a few fleece. you will probably want to swaddle, so you may not need fleece and a swaddling blanket. you will probably use a tee shirt or a onesie under the sleeper and a cotton hat. this is what we did with my january baby. when i went out with him, i either dressed him in a gap one piece "coat" that looks just like the sleepers or i tucked one blanket all around him and then added a fleece one on top of the tucked blanket. and of course, he wore a hat. i am in NC, so i didn't feel like i needed the carseat cover or a bunting. but we don't have your wind!

if you will be going out with baby, i would get fleece footed sleepers and a carseat cover/bunting thingy. defintely hats and the tiny little mittens to put over their hands. also, put socks on under the sleeper feet.

do you have reason to believe you will have a big baby? both mine were 9.5 lbs and 22 and 21 inches. they never wore newborn sized clothes, they went straight to 0-3 months. they wore 3-6 months by 6 weeks. but they grew at a rate consistant with their birth weight percentiles- meaning they stayed at 95th percentile in height and weight. so they were the size of an average 3-4 month old at 6 weeks.

if you expect an average sized baby- 7lbs- i would get some newborn items and more 0-3. average sized babies wear 0-3 for about 3 months. but you really don't need anything fancy or expensive for the first 3 months because you won't really be going places with baby. you will be very tired and baby could easily get sick with all the indoor winter germs floating around.

the best thing ever for newborns are the gowns. easy to change diapers, easy to fit on most sized babies, last a long time (i just let my guys' feet stick out!) and inexpensive. carter's are nice and soft.

[smilla653]

I live in Chicago, too! Although my baby was born in May, I have some winter experience....

I agree with the PP that you probably won't be taking your baby out much the first few weeks. I would get a bunting in 3-6 month size and take it from there. You may get additional bunting as gifts. I have a friend who lives in New England and had a January baby, and she got a TON of those footed fleece things as gifts from people.

Layers are really helpful. Lots of onesies to go under things, both long and short-sleeved. Even in May, our DS wore mostly all-cotton longsleeved onesies and pants. We took home a bunch of these wonderful onesies they had at the hospital that they gave us for free -- they were plain white, longleeved, with built-in mitts that folded over. Those were great. We swaddled DS in blankets a lot. He always wore socks and cotton hats, even indoors. For outside, I'd basically add a sweater layer and a fleece outerwear layer. I'd look for some really good fleece hats that cover your baby's ears.

I also agree with the PP that sleeping gowns for babies are wonderful for nighttime diaper changes. The Carter's are good. Again, they are usually popular gift items. I bought some nice ones at babystyle.com, too. You can also find organic cotton ones. They are pricey, but I also really liked the Hanna Andersson zippered onesies. They also fit longer than most one-pieces. The opposite stripes pants and cardigan set is hugely versatile, too. My friend with the winter baby got one as a gift from someone and she reported that it was her baby's most-worn item because it was so handy.
http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=DI%7C11%7C1%7C156%7C5%7C156

My DS was pretty average-sized (7 pounds 8 ounces at birth), gained weight pretty rapidly (but normally for a BF baby) and got maybe two weeks of wear out of newborn-sized things. It's nice to have maybe one or two things that aren't huge, but the 0-3 month size should be the bulk of what you buy, and the 3-6 month perhaps even more so.

[Lovingliv]

Well, Congrats on your upcoming arrival! I had a spring baby but it was a very wet, rainy, cold spring. So I would say to get mostly footed stuff. My DD was tiny, so she wore 0-3 months till she was 5 months old! I would get at least a few, until you see how big the baby is!

[Jenn98]

I live just the other side of Lake MI from you, so I understand the winters you experience! My first DD was born in late July, but my second is due in Dec. DD#1 was a big baby (8lb9oz) but grew like a snail and has always worn clothes right at her age. She swam in everything for weeks! She never even got to wear some of her summery 3 month size stuff because by the time she could wear it it was almost Nov! But even though she was a summer baby she wore a lot of cooler clothes because of the air conditioning. I plan to reuse a lot of her clothes with my second DD. I swaddled a lot (lifesaver for us!!!) and so I'm sure DD#2 will be plenty warm enough. We have a mix of gowns, footed and non footed sleepers. We also have onesies and knit pants. In the colder months I always put a plain white onesie on as an undershirt. I also liked the gowns and non-footed sleepers because they seemed to have more "grow" room than the on piece sleepers.

I wish I could tell you if your baby will grow like a weed or not, but my crystal ball is broken ;) But I wanted to toss out my experience just to caution you to not buy too much too big - or, if you do, keep the receipts!

HTH

[MarieBunny]

I would get a carseat cover because it's hard to fit a baby in bunting securely in carseat. Also, I think you'll be better off with footed sleepers. Somehow I found the gowns to always "ride up". Maybe it was just the brand I had. I would get a few newborn sleepers and mostly 3-6 months to start.

[mommytoC]

I agree...a carseat cover is a must! My DD lived in footed sleepers for her first 4-5 months (with a onesie underneath), a mixture of Carter's fleece and terry sleepers, and a few lined cotton sleepers from babyGap. For short car trips (ie. to the doctor and to daycare), DD just wore a sleeper and hat, and stayed toasty warm in her carseat with her LE carseat cover. For walks, we had a LE bunting and a a stoller bag (like from The Company Store).

I thought I'd add...it's a great time to buy a bunting, since there are 0-3 month and 3-6 month buntings on clearance at both LE and LL Bean. I especially like this one from LE:

http://www.landsend.com/cd/ov/prod/0,1467,2_17273_52597_17707_146883_124846_,00.html? sid=0558102627444120900&CM_MERCH=PAGE_17704

Good luck, and happy shopping! :)

Ann

DD 11/05

[Alice523]

My son was born November 30th, but I am in Northern CA, so a much milder climate. We had a carseat bunting sleepsack type of thing that we loved. It was made by Koala Baby in 3-6 month size and I tried, when he outgrew it at a few months old, to get it in a larger size because it was great! We used it every time we left the house. It was basically a thick, hooded sleepsack with a slot in the bottom to stick the carseat/stroller buckle through. The sack part of it made him more flexible than in a footed bunting. If you can find one, it was very easy to use and seemed so cozy.

We loved sleepsacks! We had the Carter's 0-9 month size with sleeves. Babies R Us carried them. My son slept in a onesie (regular short sleeved) and socks with a sleepsack and swaddled in the Miracle Blanket. We had a few gowns, which we used with a onesie and socks. They were very thin, but I felt okay with the Miracle Blanket on top of them. My baby was really tall, though, so his feet often popped out of them and exposed his calves. It was just as easy for diaper changes to put him in a sleepsack.

Around the house, James was dressed in a short sleeved onesie with a footed sleeper on top of that. We had cotton and fleece and I loved the cozy fleece ones Carter's makes. I really wish they made them in bigger sizes! Sometimes, we put him in a onesie, cotton pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and socks. (Just FYI - the footed sleepers are sooo much easier to use!)

We also had a fleece hat with earflaps and lots of beanies. (He always wore a beanie and then I'd put the hood of the bunting on top.) We had some mittens but our bunting had little foldover mittens. What else... lots of little blankets for the stroller, the carseat, etc.

James was 10.5 lbs. He wouldn't have fit in anything newborn and as it was, he outgrew some of his 0-3 right away. He was in all 6 month clothing by 6 weeks. Of course, he was a really big baby. I expected a big baby, so I purchased a few basics used in 0-3 just to get us through. You can always leave things in their packaging with receipts so that you (or someone else!) can return/exchange later. I did that with a lot of clothes even in 6 month. Every gift we got was 6 month sized and I ended up with too much, so I exchanged it months later.

Sorry so long but when I was in your place, I wanted detail! I wish you the best with the rest of your pregnancy and your baby's birth. Late November is a wonderful time to have a baby. :)

[DrSally]

This was all great advice. I was raised in MN and lived in Chicago and now live in CT. For my Jan baby, a carseat cover was a must. Everyone kept asking where I got it. I like our kiddopotomus one (sorry couldn't find a pic) that is shearling on the inside and faux suede on the outside ($35 at BRU). It's much easier and you can unzip it when you go in the store. Then I even put a little blanket over the opening when running to and from the car. At a certain point it got too hot for DS and he couldn't see as much, so we took it off when he got bigger. But as pp stated, you prob won't be going out much for a little while. I thing our ped recommended at least 6 weeks of avoiding crowded places (the mall) to avoid winter viruses.

Fleece footed pjs are great (Carters don't pill) and again, agree with pp, that some cotton pj's or gowns are good when you want to swaddle so they don't overheat. Swaddling really does a good job of keeping newborns warm, in addition to its other benefits. Hat and mittens too. I love the sleep and plays with the fold over cuffs (carter's has them) b/c I could never keep the mittens on my baby. Long sleeve cotton onsies and socks under the pj's are a must in the winter.

I had a baby on the large size (8 lb, 7 oz) and only used a few NB things, but got good use out of 0-3 and 3 month.

Best of luck!

[jhrabosk]

Everyone here has offered terrific advice, but I'd like to add just one more thought. My DD is 10 months and I've only recently had to think about buying her clothes. Between my shower and gifts after her birth, she's had the hugest wardrobe. She has so much that there were things she only got to wear once or twice.

People LOVE to buy baby clothes. You wouldn't believe who comes out of the woodwork and how generous they are.

I would recommend buying a few basics, if it'll help you feel prepared, but keep your receipts and don't clip the tags until the last minute.

HTH!

[ariveraz]

Thank you all SO MUCH for your advice!! This is all very useful information. We are probably going to have a big baby, so I really appreciate hearing your thoughts on that as well. Thanks again!

[mhanscom]

Layer up and footed outfits are the best. The socks always manage to comeoff. Oh, and buy a fleece swadling blanket the velcro helps it stay in place.

[luv_my_girl]

Hi, I had two winter babies, and these were our favorites:

- footed one pieces, in fleece or velour. I really fell in love with velour as a warm material that also looks cute. Gap has a lot of velour sleepers for sale in the autumn. In the first few months, I used (gasp!) the same clothes for daytime and nighttime interchangeably.

- always a onesie underneath. We just used the standard white Carter's onesies, nothing too cute. For the first month, we used the wrap style undershirt until the umbilical cord stump fell off. We probably had 6 of those.

- nothing complicated. No tights, nothing that pulls over the head. Babies spit up so much. Save the fancier clothes for when your baby is 6-12 months and can sit up.

- no snowsuit - too bulky. We used fleece blankets instead.

- My kids were 7 lbs each, and they defiinitely wore the 0-3 size for the first 2 months. So you will need some smaller sizes. You may get a lot at your shower.

We also used a portable space heater/fan device to keep our bedroom a little warmer, and to warm up the bathroom at bathtime.