What will I need for a winter baby?

[Climbergirl]

So, DS was born in October, but in Northern CA (so, honestly, "winter" does not really mean cold weather there). This time, I am living in MD (outside of DC) and my baby is due between Christmas and New Years. Last year, we had 3 blizzards (yikes!) and ended up with 4-5 feet of snow outside at one point. Everyone has told us that it was an unusual winter, but I am guessing it still does get cold.

So, what will I need for a baby that will probably be 8-9 pounds at birth right in the middle of winter? Thoughts on quantity and sizes would be helpful

[tzs]

for clothes we just did long sleeved onesies, socks, and hat right off the bat because she was pretty much wrapped up in a blanket all the time.
also footed pajama things. but she always wore a hat. we live in a freezing 100 year old house.
she had a pair of these fake ugg-looking mocassins that people thought were ridiculous but it was the only thing that kept the socks on. robeez and ministar also make some furry booties.
i used my bucket carseat as a carrier alot even though i had a sling because it was just too cold and snowy to take her in and out of the carseat outdoors and this is a floppy newborn you're talking about which makes it harder. so i would carry her inside in it and load/unload there.
i didn't really use the borrowed snowsuit thing because she hated it and would get so hot if we were in a store. in retrospect one of those carseat fleece covers would have been great.

[1blueheron]

We live in New England, in a barely-heated house with a woodstove, and spend a fair amount of time in the woods but not much time in a city. I expect that what you'll find useful depends a lot on your lifestyle. We found the following helpful: very thick warm blankets (for swaddling, for covering a car seat carrier, and for snuggling under); a space heater for bath time; wool baby mittens for nighttime; warm sleep sacks. (And of course lots of kindling and firewood )

The one thing we NEVER used was a snowsuit. Too bulky, too awkward, and she was always either in a car seat carrier (on way to/from car) or right up on my body in a wrap with a fleece blanket over the outside. I suppose it might be useful in a stroller, though? But it always seemed nuts to me to put a tiny baby in a stroller in the middle of winter.

[tzs]

yes! how could i forget sleepsacks?!?

[Bananas]

OH MY GOSH!!! Let me just tell you, even if its 100+ degrees outside, as soon as they break out the long-sleeve onesies.....GRAB EM'. Because whenever it is the actual season that you would need them, you can NEVER find them!! Also the l/s onesies are great because if you have some shortsleeve outfits you like but it's still too cold to wear them, put on the l/s underneath and VOILA all set!! The same thing goes with pants/leggings, etc. So this is also great if you've saved some clothes from your DS and a bonus if there the same sex, but usually people at least have some neutral clothes in the lot.
As far as sizes you can skip nb and go right to 0-3 for the tops since even if the babe will fit into it, it's literally outgrown them in the matter of a few weeks, usually I would stick with nb for bottoms since alot of time those seem to run bigger.
Also, I never got one but if you wanted to or someone wanted to get you something for a baby, they make a covering that goes over the car seat so it acts as a bundle for the baby, it looks super warm and cozy so that might be an idea.

[ErinYay]

Last year's winter was WAY abnormal for the Beltway; expect a very mild winter.

V was born in December in northern-ish Indiana, and we liked sleepsacks, long-sleeved onesies, and fluffery fleece blankies, but otherwise didn't get anything for winter. Oh, other than an oversized parka for me, so I could wear her comfortably!

Don't get anything like a puffy snowsuit made for carseats, as they are really unsafe- we just put her in the carseat (which we kept indoors, not in the cold car) in her regular outfit and a hat, then tucked a blankie over her after she was strapped in.

edited to add:

Originally Posted by Bananas

As far as sizes you can skip nb and go right to 0-3 for the tops since even if the babe will fit into it, it's literally outgrown them in the matter of a few weeks, usually I would stick with nb for bottoms since alot of time those seem to run bigger.

LOL, we took this advice and thought we'd be fine (my first kid was 8lb 6oz) but noooo, Valentine thought coming in at 6lb and change was a grand idea (though she was 21" long...) and took about a month or so to come close to filling out enough to not drown (esp in the long-sleeve dept) in 0-3!

[1blueheron]

oh, and I loved the baby legwarmers for cold spring mornings that turned into warm days

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

I went with a lot of fleece. Fleece sleepers, fleece tops, fleece blankets. And wool. I didn't put a snowsuit on DS if he was going in the car - just a nice cozy fleece sleeper and then blankets on top of the car seat (you know that the ones that strap in underneath the baby are no-nos, right?). I did have a (you guessed it!) fleece snowsuit for when I was standing at the school bus stop to get DD on/off the bus - he'd be in his Ergo all bundled up.

One thing my friend has, which I am going to copy this coming winter, is an insert for the Ergo - some kind of fleece blankety thing that attaches to the inside and keeps the babe warm. Genius.

[1blueheron]

Oh geez, I forgot one of our number one items - a corduroy sack filled with feed corn that gets microwaved until warm. Used to preheat beds, couches, car seats, sleep sacks. But I guess that's more if you're dealing with cold indoor temps, as we were. Still, cheap to make and might come in handy.

[Friday13th]

I loved those two piece Carter's fleece sets for DS1. They're a fleece hoodie and matching pants. I'd just put them on over a sleeper with a warm hat and tuck a blanket around him in the carseat then pop him into the carrier when we got to the store.

I didn't have any NB sized stuff for DS1 but he came home at 6lbs and would just curl up in a little ball, pulling his arms and legs out of sleeves and legs and into the main body of the sleeper so we had to go out and get some smaller stuff that fit better.

And yes to the PP who mentioned bulky snowsuits being unsafe, as are the Bundle Me carseat covers. If you want a carseat cover go with one of the shower cap style that fit over the top and don't go between baby and the straps.

[34me]

We used a ton of union suit thingys for my 8lb January baby in Colorado. We also only used fleece sleepers over her clothes and then a blanket on the carseat. This was 16.5 years ago so there wasn't the cute little covers they have now. We kept our house comfortable (65F in a 3rd floor apartment) so inside she wore what we wore. Swets, onesies (ok, we didn't wear theese ), socks, etc.

[chel]

my first was an aug baby in the south, my second was a jan baby in the midwest. big change.

i highly recommend a bucket carseat with a cover. just too darn cold to take a lo out of the carseat.

as for clothes, i was able to keep the house at a normal temp so lo just wore footed sleepers with a short sleeve onesie under it. lo wore this day and night.

i found the hat from the hospital was the best. stayed on great and wasn't too bulky

[busymama77]

Both of my babies are Winter babes - well, my first one is - January - and my 2nd one was born in early March, so it could be either Winter or Spring. Where we live, the weather is so extreme at times or it could be mind boggling - like 65 in February. Crazy. You just never know!
For my ODS, we had TONS of footed sleepers/sleep n plays, l/s onesies, comfy pants (Carter's), and fleece blankets. Most of the items I purchased from consignment or garage sales. For my YDS, we did the same, but didn't need them for very long as it started warming up shortly after he was born.

[SilverFish]

we had a feb baby in montreal. so basically dead of winter. we did the bucket seat load up in the house too... just regular clothes (onsie, socks, sleeper, fleecy mitts and hat, then fleecy blankets tucked in over the harness). a stretchy wrap was invaluable... she was so small that she fit under my winter jacket perfectly. that was really the best thing because she could be dressed in just a sleeper and hat, and we would both be totally warm and snug when walking around. a sleep sack would have been good, as would a carseat cover, but we made do with lots of largish fuzzy and fleecy blankets. we swaddled for sleeping (still do) so there was no needed to dress her in anything more than a regular sleeper.

we did finally purchase a thick fleecy sleeper to use as a top layer when she was a bit older and not wanting to be wrapped up in blankets all the time. this we used for cold days in march, april and may, especially when travelling, or out on walks when she was too big to fit under my jacket.

if i had a winter baby again, i'd use:

stretchy wrap
lots of fleecy blankets
car seat cover and bucket seat (we transitioned to a convertible earlier than was probably practical)
hats (way more... i was always misplacing them and then searching madly for them)
maybe some mitted sleepers? her hands were usually a bit chilly, but we never found good mitts that actually stayed on her tiny hands.
thick fleecy sleeper