Ok, I should probably know this but thought I'd ask the experts... :lol:

What do newborns wear when they are in the hospital? Do they just get swaddled in a onsie and a diaper? Do we need to bring something for him to wear?

What about when you get them home? They are mostly sleeping for awhile. Do onsies and sleepers suffice? How many should I plan on having when I bring him home?

Right, now I have no onsies, but they are on the list. And in 0-3, I think I have 6 sleepers or so. Do I need more? I think I have one 3-6 sleeper as well.

Help! It's all the little things I don't have a clue about. :shuffle:

In the hospital, Caroline only wore a diaper, side-snap undershirt (easier to do over the new bellybutton), hat and socks. They provide all that while you are there. But do bring an outfit to take your little muffin home in! :nod:

Once you are home, sleepers or those neato little "potato sack" nightgowns are awesome for sleep-deprived moms who are just too tired to figure out all the snaps. :) After Caroline's umbilical cord fell off, she wore lots of long-sleeved onesies with knit pants for all that sleeping/hanging around home time.

In the hospital, Caroline only wore a diaper, side-snap undershirt (easier to do over the new bellybutton), hat and socks. They provide all that while you are there. But do bring home an outfit to take your little muffin home in! :nod:

This was the same for Emma. I didn't put her own clothes on until we were leaving.

Since Emma was born in the Summer, I mostly had her in onesies, socks and a light receiving blanket on top. Also some lighter sleepers.

I'm weird. I hated onesies with a passion. Connor, born in October, mostly wore cotton pajamas (with feet, long sleeve). Logan, born in october wore those and then one piece shorts outfits as the weather got warmer.

Sarah wore a side-snap undershirt and diaper in the hospital as well (provided by the hospital). The only clothes I had to bring for her was her coming home outfit.

She just about lived in sleepers as a newborn as well as those little nighties that open at the bottom. Stuff like this: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_2/602-5892540-9932638?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000EMXAEM

They make for very easy diaper changes at night.

You might want to get one or two more sleepers and/or some of those nightgowns. Newborns can spit up a lot or leak through diapers, and you'll find yourself too tired to do laundry sometimes. It'll be easier to have some extra clothing around for him than to run out of stuff.

Oh, and always keep an extra outfit in the diaper bag. Even now, I find myself needing that for Sarah on occasion and she's a year and a half!

I learned the hard way that sometimes you need two extra outfits in the diaper bag. And friends that don't laugh at you when baby poops all up his back and you run out of wipes and are trying desperately to get his clothes off without getting poop in his hair.

I brought my own (2nd hand from my sister) sleepers to wear in the hospital. In January I thought it was chilly and in July they had the AC on. I think for the first 6 weeks or so I only had them in sleepers but after that I was putting "clothes" on them, even if we didn't go out.

I would only get more in the 3-6 month range because depending on how big he is, he won't fit the small ones for very long, mabye only a couple of weeks.

Thanks girls! Are the side snap t-shits just t-shirts? They don't go between the legs at all? How long for the umbilical cord to fall off?

If you have them in a sleeper do they need a onsie?

The umbilical cord can take 5 days or 6 weeks to fall off :dunno: The cord never dictated what my babies wore (although I've learnt on these boards that cord care in the US is totally different to here - we basically ignore it).

We used the hospital clothes while there, mainly little t-shirts and nappies. At home, they mainly wore onesies and sleepers, but it was warm so there was a lot of just t-shirts and nappies too :)

The umbilical cord can take 5 days or 6 weeks to fall off :dunno: The cord never dictated what my babies wore (although I've learnt on these boards that cord care in the US is totally different to here - we basically ignore it).

We basically ignore it here too. It is funny but when I was in Nurisng school we were taught all about cord care but once I got pregnant it was " just ignore it" theory.

I didn't let the umbilical cord dicte what she wore. She wore a romper coming home.

Erica, there's some great advice in here! Mine is this: simple is best. Fancy schmancy outfits just aren't comfortable for newborns and they never fit right, so simple clothing is a great idea. Onesies, t-shirts, sleepers, infant gowns, wiggle pants (soft baby pants), socks and snuggly blankies will serve you well.

If you don't get a lot of this as gifts/hand-me-downs and don't want to spend a ton of dough, there's boatloads of this stuff available at second hand shops that's still like new and very, very cute!

For Caleb I bought some dumb outfit to take him home in from the hospital and it didn't fit. I just didn't realize how tiny they are at first. :) For Ahna I bought a very cute sleeper at Gymboree and it was great!

The cord has nothing to do with anything here either. We just ignore it and hope that it falls off as soon as possible. :lol:

J was only in the hospital for 2 hours, so he just went directly into his going home outfit.

Anna had trouble with her body temp, so she needed more than the gown the hospital provided. She had to wear her going home sleepers for the entire time we were there. I'd suggest packing an extra pair of sleepers just in case. It certainly can't hurt.

At home Anna wore sleepers with a diaper shirt underneath (Jan. baby) with little mitts and a hat.

J (July baby) mostly wore sleepers, or 1 piece outfits (some shorts, some long pants).

Even if it's hot, he make sure you have a hat and lots of long sleepers for the first while. They can have trouble with their temp. at first. I'd also probably have more sleepers than 6 if you don't want to be doing laundry every day. My kids could easily go through 6 in a day at first. :lol:

OH YEAH! Good one. I forgot about the hats and mitts. :nod:

They are just t-shirts that don't go through the legs, but instead of just pulling over their head it opens at the front, with a snap closure on the side. Cord care becomes a big deal if it takes forever for the cord to fall off - Caroline's took nearly four weeks, and by that point the pediatrician was saying to let her wear stuff that didn't cover it over so that air would get to it and help it dry out. All doctors are different on that front.

As to needing a onesie under sleepers, it depends on the kid. We only did extra layers on Caroline for maybe the first two months. By then we realized she was a pretty toasty kid and didn't need the extra insulation like smaller babies do.


Thanks girls! Are the side snap t-shits just t-shirts? They don't go between the legs at all? How long for the umbilical cord to fall off?

If you have them in a sleeper do they need a onsie?

I second the don't bother with the cutesie outfits. We had SO many cute outfits for Camille, but she mainly wore sleepers and all those outfits are boxed up looking brand new!

You know, even though I am having my #3 I was asking myself the exact same question. OK, A lightly different question...
I was taught that NB babies don;t know how to insulate the body heat and that thye have to be in long sleeved shirts and pants (don;t remember if 1 or 2 layers) during the first few weeks. Has anyone else heard of this?
So if mine is a July baby, how do I dress her in an ACed area? and how outdoors (if/when we go)? How many layers?

You know, even though I am having my #3 I was asking myself the exact same question. OK, A lightly different question...
I was taught that NB babies don;t know how to insulate the body heat and that thye have to be in long sleeved shirts and pants (don;t remember if 1 or 2 layers) during the first few weeks. Has anyone else heard of this?
So if mine is a July baby, how do I dress her in an ACed area? and how outdoors (if/when we go)? How many layers?
I've heard to dress NB's with one more layer than you're wearing. If I had a summer baby, though, I would just let them live in a onsie and a diaper. Maybe just covered with a light blanket.

Erica a big thing is check how the outfits do up! If they snap or zip in the back FORGET it! It's too big a hassle to flip a newborn on his tummy to try to do up snaps or a zipper in back. Make sure the snaps/zippers are in front. My sister found that out the hard way with her coming home outfit for the oldest one.

Graham is a July baby and when we went outside I would have him in a onesie and socks with a receiving blanket and when we were inside with the a/c I would have him in a sleeper with long sleeves/pants.

I never dressed Mason in additional layers even when he was a newborn. He is a January baby and I just put him in a sleeper inside but if we were going outside then I'd put on a sweater and he had his cozy thing in the car seat carrier to keep him toasty warm.

I'd suggest getting some small socks - most socks are 0-6 but they swam on Anya for months. Look around (maybe at BRU) and you'll find some that are tiny. She wore them the first month plus.

Also, I'll be the voice of dissent and suggest some NB sleepers as well if they think your son will be on the small side - 0-3 always seemed so big the first few weeks.

I agree with Marcy on having a couple of NB sleepers on hand. Ahna could only wear one thing (besides the tiny side snap shirts we had) for almost two weeks and that was a preemie size sleeper from Gymboree. Everything else had to be rolled up so much it was ridiculous.

I didn't layer my kids in their clothing, though both were born in May and into AC land. Up front I just dressed them, then swaddled them in a blanket. But some of that is personal preference. You'll be able to tell if they are too hot. :)

I wouldn't buy too many NB clothes though. If you have a big baby they won't fit. We were given NB clothes as gifts that were never worn b/c I give birth to monsters :lol: It's a good idea to have a couple and then once baby is born you can get whatever you need in the right size.

Erica, are you having a shower? If you are, don't even bother with buying onesies (well, maybe just a few to pacify your own nesting instincts LOL)-you will have loads of onesies from the shower.... would everyone agree?

Mitts are definitely a good thing! We just bought a pack of 3 pair, and it was enough, I just washed them as needed, and we never lost any, so it was fine.

I would avoid buying sleepers with lots of embroidered stuff on them- except for those couple cutesie going out pieces that you just "have to have." I always felt that the rough fabric on the inside of the sleeper which is used to put the embroidered design in place was too rough to be against new newborn's skin, and I didn't want to mess with putting a onesie AND a sleeper on him (after the three times I did it, I threw in the towel hehe)..

Mitts are definitely a good thing! We just bought a pack of 3 pair, and it was enough, I just washed them as needed, and we never lost any, so it was fine.

I never used these with either of my kids. I didn't really get it. I know it's so they don't scratch themselves, but I never had a problem with them doing that.

I never used them either (mitts). I see alot of people around here just put a sock over their hands :dunno:

I used mittens with all 3 of mine. They were all born with long fingernails and scratched the crap out of their faces. I only used them for the first few weeks, but they were definitely worthwhile :)

My thoughts:


I didn’t use mitts at all. But I cut nails often. :nod:
I did use onesies constantly for my Sept baby, even when he was first born and it was still hot.
If you are going to get some NB sleepers, just keep the tags on. Can't hurt to have them on hand.
I didn’t like my boys in sleepers all the time, so I did get a lot of outfits. Personal choice, of course. I just view sleepers (even those called sleep n play) as PJs, and so I wanted clothes for daytime. Nothing fancy. Many little overalls and pants, with short or long sleeved shirts. We also had some soft cotton outfits w/out feet. Personally, I found any non-PJ outfits that did come with feet never fit my kids right. The waist and the leg length were not in sync. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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<o:p>They wore some things like these:</o:p>
<o:p>http://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/0/optimized/204920_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=273&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg (javascript:pop('http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=169112&EXTRA_PARAMETER=ZOOM&trackingCat=18744&PseudoCat=18744&CURRENT_PAGE=0','PDP','directories=0,location=0,me nubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,status=1,toolbar= 0,width=480,height=620'))</o:p>
<o:p>http://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/5/optimized/217405_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=273&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg (http://javascript<b></b>:pop('http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=188582&EXTRA_PARAMETER=ZOOM&PseudoMasterProdID=188582&trackingCat=18746&LinkType=EverGreen&PseudoCat=18746&CURRENT_PAGE=0','PDP','directories=0,location=0,me nubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,status=1,toolbar= 0,width=480,height=620')) </o:p>
<o:p>http://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/0/optimized/221430_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=273&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg (http://javascript<b></b>:pop('http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=194824&EXTRA_PARAMETER=ZOOM&trackingCat=18747&LinkType=EverGreen&PseudoCat=18747&CURRENT_PAGE=0','PDP','directories=0,location=0,me nubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,status=1,toolbar= 0,width=480,height=620'))</o:p>
<o:p>http://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/4/optimized/217284_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=273&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg (http://javascript<b></b>:pop('http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=187554&EXTRA_PARAMETER=ZOOM&trackingCat=18744&PseudoCat=18744&CURRENT_PAGE=0','PDP','directories=0,location=0,me nubar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,status=1,toolbar= 0,width=480,height=620'))</o:p>
<o:p>(er, that last one is just a concept example - they weren't wearing Phat Farm :lol: )</o:p>

I found that mitts came in VERY handy... Nikita was born with long fingernails, and even though I cut his nails often, even when they were cut, he'd still manage to scratch his face.. So we did make good use of the mitts for the first couple of months or so....

I second the idea of keeping the tags on. I wanted to be ALL prepared and washed all of the clothes we got at the baby showers before Nikita was born, and then I realized some stuff he'd not wear that much, and we could have probably returned it, but oh well....

You won't really know what will work best for you until the baby arrives. As much as I swore I would dress my newborn girl in pretty smocked dresses everyday it just didn't happen. The things I thought I would use the most, I ended up not liking as much and some things I thought I wouldn't use were my favorites.

I also hated all the sleepers with footies. If you have a long baby, they don't fit correctly. The concept is good but in reality it doesn't always work out.

I liked the two piece cotton knit (like t-shirt material) pants and long sleeved shirts as well. They are comfy, mix and match, and don't look totally like PJs (if that bothers you).

I'd say just wash a few things and see how you like them. Then you can decide what to exchange or return and what to get more of.

Also, BRU (last I checked) will allow you to return any unused item to their store and they will give you store credit. As long as they carry the item, they don't care where it was originally purchased from (or they didn't ask anyway). It is great for exchanging shower gifts that you aren't sure where they were purchased. I even exchanged a few unopened packages of disposable diapers that weren't the brand I wanted. I usually ended up with a nice store credit and could get the things I really wanted or needed.

We had several pairs of mitts as well and I could never get them to stay on. I think socks work better to protect their hands when they are newborn. It's really only the first few weeks that they scratch themselves like crazy. Clipping their nails is good but sometime even then they are sharp enough to draw blood. Keira also had odd nailbeds and I ended up cutting the tip of her little finger and then was afraid to clip her nails after that.