Baby clothes checklist: what you need, and how many

In the first months, a newborn wears two things over and over. A sleepsuit, which US shops call a footed sleeper, is one piece with long sleeves and feet, worn day and night. A bodysuit (a onesie) goes underneath in a cool home, or alone on a hot day. On a messy day, a newborn can get through two or three of each.

Pants, little jeans and dresses can wait. They look sweet in the shop, but in the first months you reach past them for the sleepsuit every time, and many parents only start on outfits at three or four months. Shoes can wait until your baby walks outside. In a stroller or carrier, shoes mostly just get kicked off.

Nobody knows until the birth. Newborn size usually fits up to about 4 kg (9 lb), so a baby born around 3.2 kg (7 lb) often gets a few weeks out of it, and a baby born at 4 kg (9 lb) may skip it altogether. Most newborns can wear 0⁠–⁠3 months from day one, a little loose, with the cuffs rolled back. Brands differ, and how baby sizes work has the weights and lengths for each size.

So buy a handful in newborn size, three or four sleepsuits and a few bodysuits, and the full set in 0⁠–⁠3 months. Wash what goes into the hospital bag and enough for the first days at home, and keep the tags and receipts for the rest until you know which size fits. A baby born early or small may wear newborn size for weeks, or preemie size first, and then needs the full set in it.

After that, buy one size at a time, once your baby nears the top of the current one, and about the same everyday count in each. What changes is the mix: once your baby sits and crawls, the day moves to bodysuits and pants, and sleepsuits become pajamas, so fewer of them are needed.

Sizing up to get longer wear has a limit. Extra fabric bunched around the chin or neck can shift over the face, and oversized feet in footed pajamas twist around kicking legs. If a neckline slips toward the mouth, put the piece aside until your baby fills it out.

The counts follow how often you wash: set your own rhythm at the top of the list, and allow a couple of pieces still on the drying rack. If you wash and dry every day, five or six sleepsuits can carry you through the week. For less frequent laundry, count the way the clothes get used: a baby who goes through two sleepsuits a day needs seven between two washes a week, and fourteen for one wash a week, plus a couple for the hours they spend drying.

Some babies simply need more. A baby with reflux, or one who spits up after most feeds, can go through three or four outfits in a day. Patterns hide the stains that never quite wash out.

You'll know the count is too low when you find yourself washing a single bodysuit between laundry days. That's the pile to add three or four to. Do not buy extra pieces to fill a drawer. Keep one clean spare set in the diaper bag, so a leak doesn't end the outing.

Look for envelope necks with overlapping fabric at the shoulders. When a diaper leaks, you can roll the bodysuit down and off over the legs instead of pulling it over your baby's head. Two-⁠way zippers on sleepsuits make middle-⁠of-⁠the-⁠night changes far simpler than twelve tiny metal snaps. Make sure ankle and wrist cuffs stretch easily without leaving deep red marks on soft skin.

The everyday pieces also have to survive your laundry. Pick ones that go through your usual wash, and the dryer if you use one, because a sleepsuit that needs washing by hand stays in the drawer when the clean pile runs low.

Warm layers work best when they open down the front. A soft cardigan or zip fleece slips on over any base outfit without wrestling tiny arms through tight pullovers. When you step off a cold sidewalk into a warm shop, bus or living room, you can unzip it in seconds without waking your baby.

Babies grow fast in the first year and jump a clothes size every few months, so a winter coat bought six months ahead rarely fits when winter comes. Buy for the weather today and for the season that starts in the next month or so. To find the size, count the months: a baby born in June is about six months old in December, so the first winter coat is a 6⁠–⁠9 months.

A light jacket handles cool breezes and everyday errands. For wet days, a waterproof stroller rain cover usually works better than a stiff baby raincoat. When real cold arrives, choose one warm outer piece: an insulated pram suit, which US shops call a snowsuit or bunting, covers your baby from neck to toes, or a warm jacket goes with warm pants. A winter newborn may outgrow the first pram suit before spring, while from about six months one suit usually lasts the season.

Buy the hats the season needs: a sun hat from UV 3, a light knit hat for cool days or a warm one over the ears for the cold. Baby hats explains which one when. Mittens and booties keep hands and feet warm on cold walks, but look at the pram suit first: many have fold-⁠over cuffs for the hands and feet that already do the job.

The stroller, the carrier and the car can stand in for clothes too. A warm, windproof stroller footmuff lets your baby ride in lighter clothes, so a pram suit may not be needed for stroller walks at all. On mild or breezy days, a tucked-⁠in stroller blanket does the same job. In a carrier, your body counts as a layer, so a carrier cover or a babywearing coat takes the place of the baby's own jacket. In the car seat, thin layers go under the harness and a blanket over the buckled straps, so the car needs no padded suit.

Clothes are the present everyone brings, at the shower and again after the birth, and mostly in the smallest sizes. Sort what you have by size before you shop. Ask for gift receipts, so a third newborn outfit can become the same one in 6⁠–⁠9 months, and check the season before you swap.

Because babies outgrow newborn and small sizes in weeks, second-⁠hand clothes are often barely worn. Pre-⁠loved bodysuits, cardigans, fleeces and jackets are practical and save money. Run your hands over seams and fasteners, skip anything with a cord or ribbon at the neck, and set aside items with stretched-⁠out necklines that slip off the shoulders.

Second-⁠hand gear needs one more look. A used sleep bag needs a zipper that works and the right size, and a footmuff or rain cover has to fit your stroller and come with all its straps.