Parenting Community

I think I may have forgotten to mention a possable adoption was in the works and she's due in december!

Just my opinion but I wouldn't even worry about the bunting, we got two as gifts and I never once put him in either. The only times we took him out we were driving some where and you are not supposed to put them in those in car seats. My DS was born in January and I just couldn't see taking him out in the cold for the heck of it at that age because he was not big enough to enjoy it and it wasn't worth taking a chance of getting him cold to me. It was covered with blankets straight to the warmed up car and then straight to where ever we were going, and at that time it was mostly just to the doctor, we didn't want to risk him being exposed to germs during RSV and flu season.

Another thing I discovered and loved is sleep sacks. It's a blanket that is sewn into a sack with a zipper. That way they can't work it over their face like a regular blanket, but keeps them warm and snugly. They make fleecy ones and also lightweight ones for warmer weather. The little newborn ones also come with a swaddling wrap which is nice. The best company I found is Halo.

As far as the other clothes, I would just keep it simple because they really grow through those sizes super fast. My son barely wore newborn size and only spent about a month or two in the next sizes until he got to 18M and he was in those for a while finally. Plus for the first two-three months they are really immobile and don't need play clothes. In my experience t-shirts ride up until they are able to cruise, so unless it's cute and worth fussing with, I wouldn't bother and stick with onsies. I think my DS was mostly in jammies with feet until about 4 months. I have heard some really like gowns that gather at the bottom, but I never had those.

My dd was born in Febuary, and I live in MO too.
I wouldn't hurt to have all that stuff, but I don't think you need it all.
If you like to dress a baby up, you can get cute outfits. But if you are strictly talking utilitarian, I think all you really need is about 5-6 one piece pajamas with feet, hats in various sizers, and several of those swaddler sleep sack things like sarahann brought up. Oh and blankets, lots of recieving blankets. Layer those over the carseat to keep them warm, because those bunting things don't work with the seat.
Newborn clothes don't last very long, but if you think the baby might be small, you could err on the side of caution, and get nb. Or you stuck to what I said above, it wouldn't be that big a deal to get one set in nb, and one in 3 month to cover yourself. Then when it is closer to spring you can look for things in short sleeves. I don't think you will use short sleeves in the winter, they are so little that they have a hard time holding the heat.
Congratulations by the way, I don't always comment but I have seen lots of your posts, you must be so excitied!

I agree with most of the previous posters. I probably only used size newborn for the first week or two with my boys. Maybe you should just get a couple of onesies in size newborn and the rest of the clothes in size 0-3 and 3-6.

Also, I liked using the gowns for the first month or so because it was so easy in the middle of the night to change their diapers. And most of them are made with the piece that folds over the hands so you don't need to buy extra mittens. Those Halo sacks can be expensive unless you find some at the sale. In the winter I kept my first son in a onesie and a fleece sleeper when we put him to bed.

I didn't see any bibs on your list. You can never have too many bibs! You should look for thicker ones. I don't know why they make those tiny little thin ones. They don't hold much of anything before it leaks through onto the baby's clothes.

I would only get a few sleepers in Newborn, most everything else I would do 0-3 months but even then not a lot, more of your stuff will need to be 3-6 months, my daughter was born in January and I have to tell you the newborn stuff I only had her in for a week or so. I thought it was easier to just use the 0-3 month stuff because it fit longer. She was 7lbs 11oz and 20 inches long so pretty average size baby and she was in 3-6 months at 1 1/2 months. I also live in MO and the thing that I loved when I did take her out is I got the cover for the car seat instead of trying to put the baby in a "coat" type thing. I tried blankets but they blew away with our super windy winter last year so this just fit over the top of the carseat with elastic and kept her warm.

I also say TONS of recieving blankets, and warm blankets too. I liked the dressing gowns because they were easier to change her especially when she was really little, but she got long fast so they didn't last long.

Where in MO are you? Sounds like you might be close to me, I am in O'Fallon MO.

I am from St. Charles

Nursingbug,

that's not far from me at all!

Honestly, I wouldn't buy anything in newborn size. 0-3 months works for just about every baby unless he's a small preemie. DS was average and the 0-3 month worked just fine. Most will grow out of newborn clothes in about 2 weeks if they even fit in them.

The rest of it looks pretty good. I don't remember what size buntings come in but we had one of the JJ Cole ones that worked through 1 year so we got the whole winter out of it. Though honestly unless you plan on doing a lot of walking outside you might not need it. I never had one with DD when we lived in DC since I drove most places. I just used the blanket. Here in Germany I got one because we knew we'd do quite a few outdoor activities like Christmas markets and sightseeing, but he was an October baby, so he was older at that point. This year I have the bigger one for DS because I need to walk DD to preschool.

I wouldn't worry about mittens - look for a coat with flaps you can put over their hands. Mittens can be hard to keep on.

The sleep sacks are great. I still use them on DS. Not all kids like swaddling, so he may or may not like the swaddle type. Neither of my kids liked swaddling - they had to have their arms free. They come in two weights - cotton and fleece. I had just fleece when he was little because I got them before they made cotton ones, but for a winter baby, fleece is the way to go. Now that he's older we have a mix. I would get about 3 of them. Unless DS has a messy night, he wears them for 2-3 nights with new PJs every night.

Thanks guys!

(I'm in Springfield for the fellow MO mommies)

I'll concentrate on 0-3 and 3-6 mostly then

I didnt mention bibs and reciving blankets cause I assume, and sense those are OSFA anyway (Already have a christmas bib, just in case!

I went to a church consignment sale yesterday and it reminded me that I wanted to tell you to work the outside of the sale first. Usually the clothes are in the middle and all of the accessories, toys, and furniture items are lined around the outside of the clothes. You can find a lot of the little things you might want to get like socks, shoes, bibs, receiving blankets, etc. When I went I found a bag of 4 or 5 pairs of cotton pants in different colors in size 6 months that the seller had bunched together to sell as one instead of hanging them up. You never know what you might find! Good luck!

You can never have enough onesies! You will be changing his clothes .. alot! I was changing my little guy, 3 or 4 times a day before I got smart and started putting a bib on him after meals Also, you may want to start looking into 3-6 month now.. It's amazing how fast they grow out of things, my son went from 0-3 month fitting perfectly to looking like muscles Tee's within about 2 days.. We have a wonderful store in our area called Once upon a Child that has clothes on consignment, the average cost of often brand new outfits is $2.50-$3. Congrats! I think it's a wonderful thing that you are doing

one of the consignment stores here (Children's Orchard) had a tent sale last weekend with lots of $1 items. I got several awsome deals- several summer outfits in 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12, a few things in 0-3 and a couple nb. my biggest score was 2 Halo Sleep sacks with removable swaddleing one cotton, one fleece!

I also found two going home outfits- an adorable fleece overall and shirt set with penguins on it, in NB size, and then I found a cordery overalls and shirt with Mickey Mouse winter theme ("Snow Angel") in 0-3 m, just in case. Both outfits were new w/ tags, total I paid for both of them was $5.95

so this weekend at the bigger sale I'll concentrate on more sleep/play things and the odds and ends.

Congratulations to you Vicky! I think the PP's nailed it. I am in MO as well - KC area. I agree that the car seat cover is a must for our cold winters rather than trying to deal with a coat for a newborn and my child lived in one pice sleepers that either zipped (easier) or snapped up for the first year of her life basically unless we were going to church or out for something nicer than just errands or what not.

One other thing to mention since you are a "consignment mommy" is Just Between Friends. I am a HUGE supporter of this sale and I think they have one in your area of MO. (and other states too of course). If you have not checked this out it is a very large, nice, clean and well organized consignment sale that happens 2 times a year.

www.jbfsale.com if you want to check it out. Springfield's is going on right now actually! I literally get EVERYTHING I need for my 3 y/o through this sale. I love it!

the sale I mentioned thats going on this weekend is JBF I got to go last night as a new mommy and I did get a car seat cover for $8! plus another halo sleep sack and a bunch of sleep and plays!

Then today I get a foster call for an 18 month old boy!!!! AHHHHHH Going to pick him up tonight and probably make another run to the JBF sale for a few things for him!