What size baby clothes to buy…
Baby clothes come in so many different sizes it can be confusing to know what to buy. Sizes start from Tiny Baby for smaller babies and then up to the bigger sizes. But what size baby clothes will you need to buy for your baby?
The retailer provided ‘baby lists’ will tell you to buy newborn then 0-3 months and so on. This is because they want you to buy as much as possible from them, whether you need it or not!
If you ask your midwife, they should give you an indicative birth weight so that you buy clothes accordingly.
Even 0-3 months size clothes are big
When I was expecting our eldest, everyone at work said ‘don’t buy anything small’, so I didn’t. I bought 0-3 months clothes thinking they would fit perfectly on the day he was born and it would all be picture perfect.
Despite him being an averaged size baby, the clothes I had bought in 0-3 months drowned him. He looked like an octopus is his too-big baby grows.
Even 0-3 month clothes are massive on an average baby. Within days we had bought some smaller clothes. This was so that he could keep his legs in the space where they were supposed to go. The legs on his baby grows were massive.
When the twins came around, we expected them to be small. I bought some basic little vests and babygrows from the supermarket because I knew they wouldn’t be small forever. We then moved them into baby grows mainly from Next because I knew that they had generous sizing so we wouldn’t be rushing out in a week or two to buy more.
On the plus side, the tiny size of baby clothes make great dolls clothes! They are also a lot cheaper than the official doll brand name clothes too.
What size baby clothes should I buy?
Depending on your baby’s projected size, you could start out will a small collection of vests and babygrows and then buy more once you know what sizing works for you.
Try not to buy a lot of ‘outfits’ because you just won’t use them. They do look really cute but you will get gifted these types of clothes. Also, once you are running on no sleep the last thing you will feel like doing is messing around with tiny buttons and loads of extra bits and pieces.
It will be trial and error to see which shops sell the right fit for your baby. If your baby has a big head its best to stick with Next or M&S; if they have long legs then H&M is the place. Some shops have small fitting clothes and some have large. It’s no different from shopping for a dress, unfortunately. It’s best to buy a few supermarkets bits and pieces before expanding into more expensive brands.
This great post from The Mummy Bubble has some great ideas on how many of each size to buy.
Buying lots of baby clothes is really tempting but a sure-fire way to watch your money walk out the door faster than a newborn can cry. Learn more about what you need to do to financially plan and prepare for maternity leave using my FREE maternity leave planner and budget calculator.
2 thoughts on “What size clothes should I buy for my baby?”