Welcoming a new baby to the family is always exciting. One thing that most mums to be (and some future dads) absolutely love is the excitement of going shopping for their little one.
There is so much to buy from nursery furniture, to safety bits and bobs, to travel systems, and of course clothes. Clothes are arguably the thing that babies need most of. This is because babies can be messy from exploding diapers, to sickness, to spilt milk.
Having a young baby is never plain sailing. However, one of the most frequently asked questions by expectant parents is, just how many clothes will my baby need?
How Do Baby Clothes Sizes Work?
If you are a first time parent you may have no idea how baby clothes sizes work and that is understandable.
Before you can know how many newborn clothes you may need it is important to understand what newborn clothes actually means. Many companies have their own sizing structure however, generally speaking this is a good example:
- Tiny Baby
- Newborn
- 0-1 Months
- 0-3 Months
- 3-6 Months
- 6-9 Months
- 9- 12 months
Tiny baby is aimed at those babies that are born prematurely or just very small, newborn is simply for your average size newborn and so on.
This just goes to show how quickly babies change clothing size which could be a factor worth considering when deciding how many newborn clothes to buy.
Should I Purely Buy Newborn Size Clothes?
Generally speaking, we would advise against buying just newborn size clothes. This is for many reasons, one of which is if you have a bigger baby they may go straight into 0-1 months or even 0-3 months.
This would mean that you had no clothes at all for them and that you would have completely wasted all of the money spent on newborn sizes.
Similarly, even if newborn fits initially they could grow out of them in a couple of weeks and you may need to shop for a whole new wardrobe when your baby is just weeks old.
The problem is most parents of young babies do not have the time or energy to go on constant shopping trips so it is probably better to be prepared.
So, What Sizes Should I Buy My Baby’s Clothes In?
There is no way of predicting what exactly your baby’s birth weight will be and therefore the best suggestion is to buy clothes in a range of sizes.
We would suggest only getting a couple of tiny baby clothes as it is better to be prepared but you may not need them.
We would suggest predominantly focusing on getting a mixture of newborn, 0-1 months and 0-3 months clothes. This way you can almost guarantee that some of your baby’s clothes will fit them.
How Many Items Do I Need?
How many items you buy is completely up to you however it is important to remember that you have a washing machine and so clothes can be reused and you don’t need to grow crazy.
Having said that most babies go through several outfit changes a day and you may find yourself too exhausted to keep up with the washing which is completely understandable so in many respects the more the merrier.
It is also important to bear in mind your own personal circumstances such as financial constraints and space. We have however put together a rough guide:
- 20 Baby Vests
- 15 Babygrows/ Sleepsuits
- 5 Pairs of Scratch Mitts
- 15 pairs of Socks
- 2 Jackets
- Any Extras
Other Things To Consider
It is also important to consider that all newborn clothes need to be bought. This may sound silly but it’s true, you will find yourself gaining baby clothes from all sorts of outlets, these could include:
- Hand Me Downs From Older Siblings– If you have older children it may be worth digging around to see whether or not you still have any of their newborn clothes lying around. This could save you lots of money and it could be super cute to see your little one rocking their older brothers or sisters clothes.
- Hand Me Downs From Relatives– Similarly, if you have relatives with slightly older children, perhaps you have nieces, nephews, or younger cousins, you may be able to get your hands on some hand me downs. You may find that they simply offer but if not there is no harm in asking. Most people will be happy to help with the arrival of a little one and will be glad to see their baby’s old clothes go on to be reused and cherished in a loving home.
- Baby Shower Gifts– If you are having a baby shower expect lots of gifts! These gifts very often include newborn clothes so maybe hold out on finishing your shopping until after you see what you receive at your baby shower. However, it is also important to remember that you can’t guarantee that you will get newborn clothes at your baby shower so perhaps see this as an added bonus rather than taking the risk of relying on it. This is especially true if your baby shower is not too far before your due date as babies can be born early and it is a good idea to be prepared.
- Gender Reveal Gifts– Gender reveals are a growing trend and let’s face it everyone loves finding out if it is a little boy or a little girl on the way. Once people find out the gender they often buy even more gifts as they can now pick up more gender specific clothes. Many people still choose to go traditional and get some pink bits for a girl and blue things for a buy. Once again, this can not be relied on but it probably will happen.
- Gifts When The Baby Is Born– It may seem like we are placing a lot of focus on gifts but lets face it you’ll be receiving lots! Another time that you can expect to get extra clothes is when the baby is born. People often bring a gift when they come to meet the baby for the first time. Obviously, this is quite late so once again you probably don’t want to rely on this. However, if you know that you have got less of one thing you could specifically request this from some people. This might sound rude but you will probably find that some people will ask “what should i get for the baby?” and rest assured they would rather buy something that you actually need then waste their money on things that will never be used because you already have 754 of them.
Final Thoughts
Shopping for those tiny tiny newborn clothes can be so exciting and obviously you need to make sure that you have enough to keep your little one safe and snug.
However, it is also important to be mindful of all of the gifts that you will receive and how fast your baby will grow so try not to go overboard with the newborn sizes.
This is why I decided to set up our site Torly Kid, to provide parents and carers with the ultimate guide to everything related to children’s clothing and fashion. From the best outfits for crawling toddlers, to the prettiest dresses for tweens, we’ve got you covered.
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