How many outfits does a baby need?

[HeatherB]

While we have had three baby boys, we're currently enjoying our first baby girl. I confess, I love baby clothes and am sorely tempted to buy many things for my new DD! Since she's our first girl, we really do need an awful lot for her (i.e., an entire wardrobe!), but I want to be reasonable in how much I'm buying for various sizes.

So, how many outfits do YOU think a baby needs in any one size? Do you allot some outfits as play versus some dressier or for special occasions? If so, how many "special" outfits do you think are needed? What about shoes and socks?

Girly stuff is awfully dangerous - and I loved buying for my boys, as it was!

[Knitting Mama]

If you can't get hand-me-downs, I would really play it by ear. My daughter was a pipsqueak and wore preemie clothes for the first month or two, and then wore newborn clothes for at least 3 months. But I hear that is fairly uncommon and many babies are out of NB clothes by the first or second month. So until you know how your babe grows, it might be best to just get a couple of adorable outfits and then pick up more as needed. Even now, she wears a size for at least 3 or so months before moving on, hence us being in 6-9 month stuff at nearly a year old. But again, I hear this is not common.

Dressy outfits-- I have one or two in each size. They aren't used often for us, so it doesn't makes sense to have more. But she does wear dresses a lot, they're just not dressy dresses, and I generally put baby legs on with them to protect her wee knees.

She only has a couple of soft soled pairs of shoes (e.g. Bobux, Robeez, knockoffs, etc), because shoes are, IMHO, not necessary until there's lots of outdoor walking going on (she's a crawler and cruiser, not yet a walker). But, I like having the soft shoes because it makes it easier to keep her socks on.

[mommariffic]

I have a problem with pretty children's clothes, especially girls! 

For new babes I find that anything easy works (and about 2-4 outfits in each size...) I love sleep sacks (light cotton for spring/summer, and wool for winter..) and zipper onesies. Anything with buttons = totally angry when it's 3am and I'm sleep deprived and the baby is kicking while I'm trying to fasten them. Most people don't buy newborn stuff because it goes quickly, but I love having a few outfits on hand that aren't running a bit bitter (and I've had big babes, 9+ lbs each time...) 

Older infants still get onesies  (my 8 month old lives in them) and I love cardigans for little girls (so so so cute) so a few of those and some soft cotton dresses (casual but can be fruffed up...) 

[waiting2bemommy]

I bought around a dozen 0-3 mo onesies and a dozen 3-6 mo onesies. I bought a pair of jeans, a few cute shirts and maybe 4 dressy dresses in each size and then the rest was sleepers and play clothes (a few one piece rompers and lots of comfy stretchy pants/leggings to be worn with onesies.) Dd is 10 months and in 12 month clothes and we can still stretch those 3-6 mo onesies with no problem. I don't like to use onesies once they are standing/walking so I didn't buy any after 6 months but the ones we have still work fine for occasional use at bedtime or whatever.

In terms of clothes now, I have 4 thrift stores that I get most of dd's clothes from, so I mainly buy separates vs actual matchy outfits. Right now she has 3 dresses, 2 skirts, 5 pajamas, 4 jeans, 6 or 7 stretchy pants/leggings, a few cute tees, and some assorted hoodies and fleece tops. I plan to buy her probably 6 or so more shirts and a couple more dressy dresses (we dress up twice a week so this is important for us). When we go out to run errands or something she usually is dressed like me: hoodie, tee and jeans/ sneakers, or a dress/long shirt with leggings. She has a few pairs of cotton pants that are more like sweats that she doesn't really leave the house in.

I actually find that the cost for me is in accessorizing. Millions of hairclips, barrettes, colored elastics, earrings and shoes to match every outfit, I'm having a blast but her dad's wallet is not, lol. He was just complaining today because I bought a new pack of hairbows in target.

On a side note, not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know where they sell 12 mo pants that fit skinny girls, or have the adjustable waistband?

[macy]

i generally stick to a 3 pack of the thin Gerbers brand sleepers and 3 or 4 warmer sleepers, a few onesies, 1 or 2 sweatpants, and 4 sleeveless sleepsacks, and a million bibs. and i do laundry every other day for my refluxy baby. i also got a lot of "cute" clothes from my daughter's 4 first time grandparents but i really only use them so i can take pictures to show them i used them and then i change her back into her comfortable clothes.

i say go ahead and get extra cute stuff if you want to and can afford it - baby clothes are generally cheap (especially if you shop thrift stores or outlet stores) and you will always have friends you can pass the stuff on to when you are done with it. i will admit it is fun to dress my daughter in cute clothes sometimes. it sounds dumb but it kind of makes me feel proud to see her dressed in something "spunky" on occasion. i think she's most comfortable in sleepers, however.

i think 6 pairs of socks for each size is enough. i haven't used shoes yet for my 5 month old.

the special occasion stuff might be more fun to pick out later, when you know what the occasion will be.

[flightgoddess]

You should still have some 'boy' clothes that could be considered gender neutral: jeans, solid color tops, overalls, jackets, pants, some socks, some stripes...girls can wear those too! Then 'accessorize' with some of the girly things: jean skirt and tights? Ruffle butt pants? Look for girly clothes in less common colors (browns, blues, red) and then they might 'match' more to some of the boy stuff you already have. 

[chel]

let me first say i am frugal.  with dd1 we didn't have lots of money and was more than willing to use gender neutral/boy stuff.  for some reason didn't have any girl connections but tons of families with boys willing to give us stiff.  with dd2 we had a neighbour that was willing to loan us some girl stuff for the newborn stage.

we've been luck not to need to buy much.  but we also don't need much.  my dd didn't throw-up and was a late eater, so didn't have a need for a large amount of clothes due to messies.  plus my kids never had lots of hair, so no bows, bands, etc.  i also don't use shoes until they walk.  my kids spent alot of time in the south in the summer, so rarely a need to keep their feet warm so not a lot of need for socks.  my kids also have long legs so footed stuff never worked.

for ME about 8 outfits per season works great.

never had a need for dressy stuff

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy 

On a side note, not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know where they sell 12 mo pants that fit skinny girls, or have the adjustable waistband?

My favorite girls' pants ever: http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10001_-1_659907_132013_24101|132920|132917_newborn|girls|leggings_newborns

They are super soft and fit like leggings but look like jeans-- jeggings for babies!

[emsparrow]

I love baby clothes, but we haven't needed much. Our girl is not a big spit-upper (and i don't change her for just a little spit-up) and rarely has poo explosions, so one outfit a day suffices almost all the time. I like to have 3 sleep outfits, lots of socks, babylegs, 1-2 pairs tights (I use these only rarely b/c they're a pain for diaper changes, so I'm tempted to not change her as often as I should), a pair of jeans, 2-3 pairs of softer pants, 3-4 tops, 2-3 dresses, and 3-4 sweaters, a couple of hats and at least one pair of booties if it's coldish out. I mean, I have more than that, but that's all we really need. Thrift stores have supplied most of our cutest clothes, so i don't mind having a few extra things. We do laundry just once a week right now, sometimes twice. As for play vs. dressy - totally has to do with your personality and your needs. We go to church, so I usually dress her up a little for that, but I don't like super frilly stuff, so those dresses are sometimes used for every day as well. But dresses are great, b/c depending on fit, they slowly turn into shirts as the baby grows, so you can usually get a lot of wear out of them. Definitely get some things you enjoy, esp. since she's your first girl! I like to keep an eye out for end-of-season sales at my favorite online stores that I can't afford new (Polarn O. Pyret, Olive Juice, Tea Collection, etc.) - you can usually get a very good deal.

[hhmomma72]

DD is 10 weeks.  We've about 8-10 onesies and 5-6 "outfits."  Two sleepers we actually use but often just swaddle her in whatever she was wearing that day.  She's starting to spit up more but until then I had to think if I had changed her in the last 24 hrs or not.  All clothes are gifts or hand me downs.  dp likes to do laundry like crazy though.

[Triceratops]

girl clothes are dangerous on the wallet :P We have tons of clothes because my SOs mom loves to shop shop shop.... and i find it hard to make sure that each outfit gets worn at least once!

[HeatherB]

It does seem like the spittiness of the baby plays a big role in how many outfits they need. I am grateful this sweet girl doesn't spit up very much (nothing like her oldest brothers did!), so I, too, can have her in the same outfit all day and never have it soiled. But, then, that takes some of the fun out of getting to dress her up.

And, yes, on the accessories! I have found some fabulous headbands for her and need to be careful not to splurge too much! Thankfully, DH melts when DD is wearing a bow/flower. So he doesn't mind when I buy another!

[MacKinnon]

I've got a crazy spitter this time around! I'm not really sure what I had in 3 to 6 month, in terms of quantity. Probably 4 fleece sleepers for nighttime. A handful of cotton one piece outfits, four pairs of leggings with a variety of onesie style shirts and cardigans. Three or four new two piece outfits. That was the new stuff, most of it gifts.  Then I had a bunch of stuff from DD1 and DS- like four fleece sleep sacks, probably five or more two piece outfits, five or more cotton sleepers, a bazillion onesies. All the misc. stuff that accumulated, random shirts and things. We're hitting 6 to 9 months now, and I'm off on seasons with DD's hand-me-downs and no one is buying us stuff now. I was just debating how much I need to have. She has two one piece outfit things, four zip-up cotton sleepers, one cotton dress, and a couple things for the warmer weather, but that's about it. I can't get buy with that, it's like two days worth of clothes, or less, depending on how much she spits and if I put her in real "clothes" vs. just staying in sleepers all day. With three kids and a WOH job, laundry is an issue. I can't be in a situation where I need to do wash every other day, I don't have time. So, I get to shop.

DH is unaware of this.

Oh! And I ADORE the headbands and flowers, love them! I'm very happy for you Heather that you can buy them! My DH hates them, he calls them "brain squeezers" and asks why I would "do that to her." It makes me a bit annoyed, honestly. They're so cute!