Essential Newborn Wardrobe by Rebecca Garland

Dressing a newborn baby is often tremendously overdone. It is a joy to shop for all of the tiny little clothes. And you’re not the only one shopping for petite dresses and teeny little shoes. Your baby shower most likely yielded a huge assortment of baby clothes, most likely in the same small sizes. You love your baby wardrobe and wonder how your daughter will ever be able to wear all of these adorable little dresses. You’re right to wonder – she probably won’t be able to wear them all.

The Parent Trap
Many parents make the mistake of buying a full wardrobe for a newborn and then pre-washing the clothing as they are instructed to do by baby books. Then, when the baby arrives she can’t wear dresses or even one piece suits for a couple of weeks due to her healing belly button. Finally, when you can dress her up, she’s outgrown half of the items and the other half are just too fussy to deal with.

If your baby already has a closet full of cute shoes, tights and dresses know that you’re in good company. It’s almost impossible to NOT buy every cute sun dress and romper you come across. But try to resist. If you must buy an outfit,

buy it in a larger size to ensure your child actually has time to wear it – just be mindful of the changing seasons as she grows.

The Easy Wardrobe
Parents of multiple children can tell you that the easier a baby’s wardrobe the better. Between leaky diapers, exploding poops, drool, messy feedings and spit up, your baby will likely be changing clothes at least once per day. Many babies change two or even three times. Newborns have a bowel movement almost every time they feed. This means you’re changing diapers (that have possibly not contained the mess) every two to three hours around the clock. The more layers you have to work through, the more annoyed you’ll become.

Stick to simple pieces and have plenty of them. One piece outfits and socks are perfect for babies in warm weather. As the weather cools, throw on a pair of easy to pull off pants over the onesie. Pajamas with feet are another easy wardrobe option for young babies. The baby is warm from her neck to her toes, but you just have to unsnap or even better, unzip, the outfit to change diapers.

If you have to remove a skirt, remove shoes, pull down tights, and then finally change the diaper only to have to reassemble the outfit, you’re spending a good ten or fifteen minutes changing a wet diaper. And you’re likely doing it every two hours. Little girls aren’t the only ones with clothing problems. Baby boys look adorable in overalls, but by the time you unsnap the overalls and the one piece shirt underneath, you may be too exasperated to snap everything back together again.

Bare Bones
The worst thing of all is that even the most comfortable and easy wardrobe lasts only a few short weeks in the newborn size. Some babies skip right over newborn clothing all together. Spend your baby clothing money on cute clothing in the 3-6 and 6-9 months sizes where your baby will likely spend a bit more time. Very young babies grow extremely fast. They also tend to spend most of their time indoors, possibly swaddled during their many naps.

So keep a newborn wardrobe extremely simple. For the two weeks your baby’s healing belly button should be exposed, find shirts designed exactly for this purpose. Then buy onesies in bulk and throw in a few coordinating pants to keep legs covered if you desire. Find cute socks and booties as everyone loves cute baby feet.

Seek out inexpensive cotton pajamas and buy three pairs. One or two “going-out” outfits should complete the ensemble. For parents in shock that a baby can survive for months in a total of fifteen or twenty clothing items, don’t be surprised. You’ll be doing plenty of laundry to be sure, but you’ll rest well at night knowing your child is comfortable and you’re getting plenty of use out of those few items. Plus your money will be wisely spent on dresses for a baby that actually leaves the house without being completely wrapped in a blanket.

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