Baby Clothes Guide

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A guide to all of the clothes you need for your baby in the first year.

We know baby clothing is really really adorable and it’s tempting to buy a lot of cute baby clothes. But the reality is you will most likely be very tired and want the easiest on and off clothes, at least during the first 3 months. Remember - newborns sleep around 16 hours a day so you will want them to be comfortable.

Note: all of the #s are based on the goal of doing laundry once per week. If you do laundry more often, you can reduce the number of items you need.

For 0-3 Months

There is a difference between newborn-sized clothes and 0-3 month sized clothes. Most babies, unless they are born prematurely, will grow out of newborn-sized clothes very quickly (once they hit 9-10 lbs) so we only recommend getting a couple of newborn-sized outfits and everything below should be 0-3 month size unless specified. If you have a preemie or small newborn, you can check out preemie-sized clothing as well if the newborn clothes are too large, but most babies will do fine with the 0-3 month size.

• 2 Kimono onesies (newborn size) – if you’d like them to wear something different than what the hospital supplies (see the hospital packing list)

• 7-10 Zip Footie PJs

• 7-10 Onesies

• 1-2 Daytime Outfits (optional) - for the rare times you may want to dress baby up a little for special occasions or guests.

• 1 Pair of Stay-On Snap Booties - Socks are not recommended until they are standing - they just don’t stay on. These booties do! If your baby is only wearing footie pajamas at this time, you do not need these.

• 5-10+ Triangle Bibs - it’s amazing how a cute pattern on a triangle bib or a bow can spruce up a simple footie PJ and immediately make an outfit worthy of guests or traveling outside of the house! Plus, they can protect from spit-up and needed a lot of outfit changes.

• Note on Mittens - many lists you see may suggest mittens for your baby to prevent them from scratching their faces. I think it’s better to just keep your baby’s nails filed and let them explore their own hands.

Every 3-4 Months

Baby clothes typically need to be replaced every 3-4 months depending on how fast they grow. Below is what we recommend you have on hand if you plan to do laundry once per week. The more often you do laundry, the less you will need.

• 8 Zip Footie PJs or Zip Rompers

• 7-10 Daytime Outfits - recommend solid colors to create a capsule wardrobe that you can easily mix and match. If your child is in daycare, you may want closer to 10 so you have some extras to keep at school.

• 1-2 Seasonal Nice Outfits (optional) - for holidays, special occasions or dress up/costumes as needed.

• 1 Pair of Stay-On Booties (pre-walking) - Zutano brand or similar

• 5 Pairs of Gripper Socks (once standing - they don’t stay on before then)

• 5 Pairs of Regular, Non-Gripper Socks (once walking and wearing shoes)

• 1-2 Pair of Shoes (once walking - for outside time) - soft-soled shoes are better for early walkers to develop the right muscles - something like Robeez or Freshly Picked. When babies are indoors it’s better to let them be barefoot or wearing socks only to learn how to use the right walking muscles.

• 5-10+ Triangle Bibs - the same ones you originally bought should be adjustable and last the whole year but you can always add more if your baby spits up a lot or you want new styles and colors for seasons.

Extras For Cold Weather

Here are some items you may want to have in addition to the basics above when it is cold outside.

• One Teddy Bear One Piece - for younger babies - a nice and easy one piece to throw on over any outfit when you need to go outside in the cold

• 1 Puffer Jacket

• 1 Sweater or Cardigan

• 1 Pair Fleece Snap Booties (pre-walking)

• 1 Pair Boots (walking)

• 1 Warm Hat

• 1 Set of Mittens - stick with mittens instead of gloves - gloves are very difficult to get each tiny finger in the right space

• Thermal PJs (maybe) - if you don’t have adequate heat in your home or live somewhere very very cold, you may also want some warmer PJs. Babies typically prefer to sleep in 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.

For Hot Weather

Here are some items you may want to have in addition to the ones above for when it is hot outside.

• 1-2 Swimsuits - bright colors are recommended over blues/purples/greens so baby is easier to see in the water

• 1 UPF Rashguard or Long-Sleeved Swimsuit (girls) - UPF clothing is fabric that protects against the sun

• 1 Sunhat - babies aren’t supposed to wear sunscreen before 6 months so UPF clothing, shade, and sunhats are essential for young babies

• 1 pair of sandals or crocs

Our Favorite Brands

• For Footie PJs, Rompers, & Basic Onesies - Primary, Kyte Baby, Mebie Baby, Goumi, Colored Organics

• For Affordable Outfits - H&M , Zara

• For Mid-Priced Outfits - Spearmint Love, Winnie & Crew

• For High-End Outfits - Rylee & Cru , Tea Collection

• For Sustainable/Organic Baby Clothes - Colored Organics, Goumi, Primary, Kyte Baby

• Bibs, Bows, Hats, & Burp Cloths - Copper Pearl

• For Hair Accessories - Parker Baby Co and Etsy

• Young Baby Booties & Socks - Goumi, Zutano, and Amazon

• Older Baby Socks - Bombas

• Shoes - Naturino , Zara, Freshly Picked

Money-Saving Tips

• The more often you plan to do laundry, the less clothing you will need

• You can often find people selling or even giving away huge lots of baby clothes on Facebook Marketplace or Mercari

• There are lots of kids/baby second-hand stores that have nice clothes that are barely worn since babies grow out of clothing very quickly

Other Tips

• Try a capsule wardrobe - pick a few colors that all go with each other and only buy clothes of that color so that everything goes with everything. It’s a huge time saver when picking out outfits.

• Look for items that are machine washable - the last thing you want is to have to dry-clean or hand wash baby clothes - no one’s got time for that.

• Beware of clothes with ruffles - they are SO cute but once you wash them for the first time, the ruffle part often gets scrunched up and will need to be sprayed with wrinkle release or ironed (depending on the fabric).

• If your child is in school/daycare, label all of their clothes, jackets, shoes, and hats. I love these from Name Bubbles because they are customizable, super cute, machine washable, and dishwasher safe.