Shopping for a newborn- help!

A question about : Shopping for a newborn- help!

Dear moneysavers,

I know this question was asked like a million times ,but I am so confused! What do I need to buy (clothes and bedding wise ) for a newborn? I have some clothes for size 0-3 month, but nothing for a newborn. I read million of web sites and cant summarise information at all. Some says I need 3-5 all in ones, on Mumsnet forum they recommend closer to 25, some cellular blankets also.. some people says I need duvets, some people says I don't.. I am tired and on the edge of hysteria. At the moment I have nursery + crib+ travelsystem and all mattresses+ 1 duvet- blanket + changing mat. The baby due in late October.

Please help!

Best answers:

• In my experience 0-3 clothing is too big.... My daughter was born 6lb 11 and went into size Newborn. She started wearing 0-3 clothing when she was about 6 weeks. Have a look at Newborn clothing - even if you just buy a couple of sleepsuits to start you off. You will get given loads of clothes so don't stress too much!!
• Both mine were nearly 10lb when they finally put in an appearance so newborn were no good and they went straight into 3 month old clothing.
  Advice:
  Since you don't know if you have a 3lb chicken or a 10lb turkey in there I would ask your midwife how big they think the baby will be at term and then look to see how heavy the baby has to be for the baby clothes you are looking at.
  bear in mnd they grow really fast so if you have a washing machine I would have 4 vests (they are armless and legless babygros)
  have 4 babygros
  have about three cellular cot blankets
  I didn't have duvets for mine
  I had about 5 cot sheets (you can wrpa these around the crib or moses basket mattress)
  they grow a lot so may not be in crib/moses basket very long
  and slow down... relax, you've got til at least the end of september before your baby will be ready, and remember babies dont' know when they are due they come when THEY are ready so you might not meet your little one til beginning/middle of November.
  All the best.
  xx
• Thanks guys, that already helps! I jsut wanted to take advantage of sales now, thats why thought shopping is a good idea. Also, to be honest I dont have many friends or a family here, so I will not be given a lot of clothes.
• If you get a Moses basket, dont buy the overpriced sheets. Use a pillow case instead. Line the basket with one and pop the matress in one. If baby throws up in the night you can turn the matress over ( after mopping it off) and wash the lot in the morning.
• I bought 0-3 months as everyone kept telling me that newborn would be used so little, as it turns out my little one was 5 weeks early and only 5lbs so OH had to go and get tiny baby suits. My advice is to get a very few of newborn and 0-3 and see how you get on, the supermarkets all sell sleepsuits and vests in all sizes (even prem) and they are all open most of the time. Good luck- it's going to be amazing!
• Oh and keep the receipts on unopened/ unused clothes and exchange them if you need to. I second the use of pillowcases as sheets x
• I'm 33 weeks pregnant with my first. I can't recommend nearly new sales/ the mse ebay app for buying bundles of clothes, bedding etc. I don't have a big social circle either, the friends I do have don't have children so I'm not expecting to receive lots of donations. The quality of items I have bought at the nearly new sales/ ebay bundles is really good- babies don't seem to be in clothes sizes for long enough for them to show any wear and tear. Budget was a massive factor in using these to get things but having seen what I've bought for buttons if I was pregnant and money was no option I would buy through sales/ ebay again! I've picked up brand new babygrows still in packets for 50p a pack, 'designer' clothes (I would bever even consider buying these full price/ shop sale price) for 10p an item etc. I'm being induced at 37 weeks as baby is small on growth so I have bought smaller sizes. Personally I wouldn't buy smaller sizes until later in your pregnancy- if you find out then baby is on small side you can pick up the basics for really cheap.
  Bear in mind the following as to how many of each thing you need:
  1. Budget!
  2. How often are you going to wash and dry? If daily then you can probably get away with a minimal number of vests, babygrows to start with.
  3. Don't get suckered into buying 'real' clothes for baby. The few mums I have met all spent a fortune on jeans/ dresses etc. baby lives in babygrows and vests as they're easier and comfier for the little one.
  4. Think of what baby will wear daily- vest, baby grow and depending on temperature a cardigan. Factor in a couple of changes a day in case of poosplosions and clean clothes for nighttime.
  5. Where will baby sleep? Moses basket during the day? You'll probably want 3-4 cellular blankets (my mw said not to use fleece/ quilts) to rotate between basket/ crib/ pram and wash.
  I basically picked a number and went with it.
  *I have 10 vests/ grows in tiny, new born and 0-3 months. These were all bought secondhand and will probably be sold on for a similar price to what I bought them for so really no skin off my nose!
  * 3 cardigan/ jacket type things in each size
  * 4 blankets
  * 24 muslin cloths- all any mum tells me is to always have a muslin handy. I have no idea why but i'm sure when i'm covered in some sort of bodily fluid it'll be apparent...
  * 24 x asda value white flannels to wash baby with. (50p for 2)
  * 4 x pillow cases for moses basket/ crib
  * 3 x baby hooded towels
  There are loads of things you'll *want* to buy but if you think about what will make life easiest for you when baby gets here then that should point you in right direction. Good luck and remember there's no hard and fast rules!
  Also the pregnancy forums on here are really good for advice from mums to be and existing mums.
• I also agree on the secondhand recommendation. We got lots of hand me down clothes and they had received such little wear. Babies are small for such a short time. For new clothes I have found Sainsburys clothes attractive, good value and good quality.
  This is what we have used (baby is 6 weeks now):
  Bundle of newborn short sleeve vests, but for an October baby you will need long sleeved ones too.
  Bundle of 0-3 vests. Our LO was 8lbs and out of newborn stuff by a couple of weeks old.
  5 moses basket sheets (or pillowcases) - our LO is a major league puker! No mattress cover needed, it has a waterproof surface.
  Pram blanket (cellular blankets for sleeping to reduce risk of overheating and suffocation, but in the pram I think any kind are okay as you are with them).
  3 cellular blankets - these are absolutely fab.
  16 muslins - see above ref to puke
  16 terry squares - these are probably non-essentials, but they catch the surprise wees and poos that my LO likes to do on the change mat at 2am.
  We bought a small trolley from IKEA to put them on, no special furniture.
  2 hooded towels, freebies from the Bounty packs
  Things that have been nice to have:
  A bath support was great to put in our bath, and meant we didn't have to worry about holding a slippy baby, although they are not in use for long.
  Activity playmat with arch of toys - LO is just getting into this now.
  Baby sling - we have the stretchy wrap type, a cast off from my sister. I didn't realise how useful this would be to comfort a windy and upset baby.
  Swaddle suit - we got given a cast off one of these and it has been great, but also easy to swaddle with a very light blanket or large sized muslin square
• which pregnancy forums do you ,guys, mean? Like Mumsnet?
• No, if you go to the main 'marriage, relationships & families' board, (i.e. Don't click into this money saving mums sub group) and have a look for the three groups. There is one up to 12 weeks, a 12-24 weeks, and a general one for over 24 weeks (think it's called 'mse pregnancy group 28'), although everyone is welcome in all of them!
• If I'm calculating correctly you are over 24 weeks so have a look at this group: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...93276&page=174
• If you want to take advantage of the sales, I'd suggest picking up some basics (e.g. sleepsuits, vests) in bigger sizes to put away. Until you baby's here, you won't be sure what size they'll need to start with. It can be very tempting to buy season-specific things like a winter coat or snowsuit in advance, but until you know what size they'll need at the right time it might not be worth it. My MIL gets a bit crazy in the sales and my son has a bunch of thick trousers and long sleeved tops that fit him now when it's too hot to wear them. I'm hoping they'll still fit in the autumn.
• My approach was to buy 6 vests and 6 babygros in newborn size and 6 in 0-3 months size in plain colours, but only washed one pack of each before the baby was born. That way if baby was big, the unopened pack of newborn stuff could go back and be changed for a larger size. If the baby was small, the 0-3 month stuff would not be wasted as the baby would grow into it. We then had fun shopping when the baby arrived for more gender specific babygros in the correct size. As it is mine ranged from 7lb 10oz to 8lb 10 oz when they were born, and although the heaviest wasn't in newborn clothes for very long, he did get a few weeks out of them, so nothing got wasted.
• Definitely dont buy moses basket sheets, they're a pain when you change them so frequently, we used pillowcases and muslins.
  My LO was 8lb 2oz at birth so fit newborn for about a day I think lol but M&S and Next do a 'first size'and we got a good month out of those before we moved to 0-3months. I went overboard on clothes when I was pregnant but once she was here yo want to go and shop for them and spoil them so rein it in if you can because you'll want to spoil them once they're here - its part of the fun!
• Oh, so "newborn" and "first size" are different? I was hoping its just different jargon in different companies