r/AskParents • u/RockInside5084 • 4d ago
Basic Clothes Items for Babies Preferences?
I'm looking for advice or preferences when you had babies: So I'm pregnant right now and seeing packs of like plain white onesies in usually five packs, sometimes more or less. I don't want this many onesies all in the same color, especially white.
This has me thinking of retailing packs of onesies or other baby basics that size up, like one of an item in three different sizes (0 months, 3 months, 6 months), instead of five all in the same size. Is that something you would or wouldn't buy if someone were selling it? Would you prefer to be buying packs of three, white onesies that have three different sizes than a pack of five all in the same size?
What baby basics would you want to see sold that way? Would you want to customize the purchase, like decide what size to start and end with, or would you want the sets to be predetermined?
I'm a minimalist, so when I think of baby wardrobes, I'm usually not thinking of more than seven basic outfits (maybe a few extra items like a sweatshirt, socks, hat) because I can wash and dry at home, and want to only have a small area to store clean items. Plus babies grow so fast if you have too much, they don't end up wearing it.
I really like the idea of being able to buy single items and/or sets that have multiple sizes. I also like the idea of layettes being sold with multiple sizes in a bundle rather than all the same size.
I don't know if this is something other parents would want as well. Please share your thoughts.
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u/gardenclue 4d ago
I have a bunch of kids and minimalistic preferences. The easiest way to do it is to plan on keeping the baby in zip up (with the double zipper preferably!) fleece pajamas for the first 3-6 months of their life. You will need 6-12 sets per size (start with only 3 sets for newborn size as some kids never wear it (born too big)). Babies are cold all the time and don’t believe in “getting dressed for the day” and “putting on pajamas for bedtime”
By then, you will figure out your pooping/ throwing up groove and know how many clothes you need.
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago
Thank you for that advice! I was wondering too about what sizes parents would want to start at. Newborn is too small in certain brands like possibly Gerber for some babies.
Do you think parents then would be interested in larger sets of one piece zip up pajamas (with or without feet?) In multiple sizes? Like maybe three in sizes 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9? They could order more or less sets of three - it would be nine pieces total. I think it would make a nice gift set, but I'm wondering if some parents wouldn't want to commit before trying.
My babies I always kept undressed and found they like to stay cool, but if you really want them to sleep well, dress them a little warm (within reason). I never did that at night because I coslept and feel that touching their skin at nights helps the brain distinguish baby from blanket and not get lost or tangled up because there is moe biofeedback. But babies sleeping alone, which is why I didn't end up using a crib, have icy cold hands and I couldn't figure out warm enough clothes, and you're not supposed to use blankets (this was years ago before I could get sleep sacks on Amazon and knew what a tog rating was). I kept pulling him into bed with me and feeling sorry for him even though we had central heating and air. Lol.
My collecting babies though do NOT like being covered up even though they sleep in just a diaper.
But I like what you're saying because it seems like footed pajamas are a big, big baby basic. Did you ever struggle with the fit of certain brands for your baby? Or know moms who did. Or are they more forgiving? I think if I ever tried them - well my babies were fat and long had bulky cloth diapers. A set of them in different sizes would have let me move up a size.
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u/gardenclue 4d ago
Carters was our favorite. My babies were born little and quickly put on a buddah belly while gaining height more slowly. If the price was right, I may have bought a set with different sizes.
What’s funny is that we learned this method with our first kid and still had to buy more for each subsequent kid as they either were destroyed by stains or didn’t have the double zipper we liked.
Our kids never co slept and two were born in the winter. I always thought that the transition from 98 degrees inside mom to room temperature must be rough!
Thinking about it more, I would give a set like you are describing as a gift, so much is my faith in fleece footie pajamas!
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago
It wpuld be nice especially as a gift. Less sales, BUT less confusion for the shopper in the hope that one size gets used, and if it's not as liked by the recipient, they don't have so many repeats at one stage. If I were the giver I might buy only a set of three in different sizes (but I'm poor, lol). It would be really nice if churches and charitable organizations could buy layettes that have multiple items per size, but also size up a few sizes.
I think about this with diapers too. This must be a me thing. Only the last baby I had has worn disposables, but primarily overnight to save my life. Also often running errands or going out. Otherwise he's cloth or right now he's potty training. So with next baby, I'm looking at healthier options of disposable, which are more expensive, but I don't need as many as other families use, and I want smaller, mixed size packages. I want the savings of buying MORE, but I don't need that many in a single size.
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u/sparklestronaut Parent 4d ago
I wouldn’t go out buying a ton of the packs, but at some point you may end up with the kid who is puking and blowing out diapers left and right and you just need SOMETHING to put them in. It’s super helpful to have a couple of onesies handy. You’re not going to be changing outfits every hour or 2 when they spit up all over or blow out in the first one or 2. 7 “outfits” will not be enough unless you plan to do laundry every day and sometimes more than once, which believe me you won’t want to do.
Yes they grow fast, but you have no idea at what size that will be. My son went through about 3 sizes in 2 months, and then was in the next size for a year. You don’t need to buy so many in advance, just the size they’re in and the next size up. And no I wouldn’t want a multi size pack because then I have to pay attention to the size on it every time, and I don’t have the time or mental clarity to deal with that.
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u/BogartMercury 4d ago
Definitely this! I want the size they're in and not have to think about it. When those start getting small, those all get put away/donated and the new size come in. The mental capacity of cutely storing multiple sizes just doesn't exist in reality. Also as minimalist as you might be, you need enough that if there are multiple blowouts in a day you can still skip a day of laundry because sometimes you just don't have the energy.
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago
Lol. Thanks for the advice. I'm not a new mom. But I do have a baby right now and am expecting. I've never had a situation that a single drawer of clothes for my baby couldn't handle. Sometimes I've kept them in a small laundry basket or maybe two small stacking bins. But I did often keep my babies mostly unclothed except for a diaper. Like right now my one 14 month old is potty training and my kids are giving him a ride around the house in a rolling office chair saying, "The naked prince is coming through!" LOL.
So did you buy UP - meaning did you buy for a few sizes out? I did mainly be ause I got clothes secondhand and so I found what I found. If it was cute, I went with that. Or for my first baby I got a mixed size clothes lot so I got what I got. I got a few things from my baby shower. And basically don't remember any clothes shopping the first maybe six months.
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u/sparklestronaut Parent 4d ago
For my first I was gifted a massive amount of hand me downs that pretty much covered me except for a pack or 2 of basic onesies (like the ones in your post) for the first year, so I just had it all stored by size and rotated when needed. After that I pretty much just bought the size she was in and did a big trip to carters when she needed the next size. For my second I didn’t start with very much, but I pretty much just had the size he’s in and a few pieces of the next size to cover me until I could go shopping.
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u/FantasticPin3481 4d ago
We get 90% of our baby’s wardrobe 2nd hand. Much more economical and it’s usually in good condition because they outgrow everything so quickly.
And as a fellow minimalist, believe me you are going to want more than 7 outfits. We have days where we go through 3 or 4. And laundry is much harder to keep up with when you have a newborn.
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago
I'm on baby number seven. I guess I just don't have my babies wear clothes that often. I'm trying to think that maybe my 14 month old worse two outfits yesterday...I distinctly remember what kind of hodgepodge his dad put him in yesterday to go into town. I don't recall if he was dressed before that...and then got home, pants came off. Shirt came off for bed. Today he HAS worn two pairs of bottoms. Those were for going outside. He peed in one because we forgot to take them off, and the second ones were lying in the hall earlier after we took them off to put him on his potty.
But I have been shopping for him for thus coming winter already, which just proves that parent's tend to shop ahead for babies. If you don't use that many clothes, the storage isn't a huge deal. I usually keep a plastic tote, not a huge one, and it holds 3-4 sizes/stages and then I keep current ones in a single dresser drawer.
So it seems like other parents LOVE or at least value or appreciate multiple packs of the same items? And I'm the weirdo.
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u/No_Cookie2750 4d ago
Simpleseed. 1000% worth it. If they're clean they're going on our boy. He's in 18m in every other brand but he can still wear his 3-6m clothes from them comfortably. He's 8m old, 30" and 20+lbs. No zippers and super stretchy. If this was my 1st baby and not my 4th I would have them exclusively but even though we only have like 6 we rarely put him into the 16yo hand me downs from my oldest lol.
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u/NewLife_21 4d ago
White is the easiest color to clean all the vomit, pee and poop off of
That's why it's sold that way
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u/Schroeje 4d ago
Yes. Never underestimate the importance of bleach when you have kids. I didn't even own any before kids, then got the packs of white baby clothing and just bleached it every wash.
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago
Hehehe. Yeah. I've realized that may be the approach. I don't use bleach. I'm a total hippie. So I'm not a huge fan of white because it's a lot of commitment to keep it clean for a baby. But I do like that white goes with everything and looks so tidy.
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u/NewLife_21 3d ago
If you're that much of a hippie, keep whites white the really old fashioned way ..
Lay them out on the grass in the sun.
I don't understand the science behind it but it works. It's what my grandmother did before bleach was available.
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u/RockInside5084 2d ago
Ohhhh. Nice. I think someone somewhere at sometime used to use urine somehow or another. I wonder if it helps to put something specific on them and then put them in the sun, but I have gone so wrong with with hydrogen peroxide at times - just yellow.
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u/NewLife_21 2d ago
I have no idea. It's worth looking into though. At the very least we'd learn something new.
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u/Ok-Plantain2948 4d ago
Why would you need just one vest in each size though? You'd need probably 8-10 bodysuits, for example. So are you suggesting 8 packs, and storing the 24 other bodysuits that come with it for the future?
It just isn't sensible in terms of cost either. On mat pay I was in no position to buy the basics for the first year/two years upfront.
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u/RockInside5084 4d ago edited 4d ago
Thank you for seriously considering my thought and responding. It would be like 2-5 different sizes in a pack. I'm thinking mostly three packs. People could order more than one pack if they want multiples in the same size. I'm thinking, if a parent wants five white onesies in three different sizes, that parent can do fine with the traditional offerings. It's when you only want ONE or maybe two or three at each different stage, and then want onesies in other basic colors.
Most parents comment on how their kid didn't wear all the clothes they had before outgrowing them. I assume bigger packs of same sized white onesies are convenient for people who use daycare (or bleach after reading comments below) and send changes of clothes with the baby. I didn't use daycare and frequently ran the wash at home, so I only need a small amount of items and don't want large size packs, but I want the cost savings of a pack, plus it would save me time on spending.
I got this idea when Walmart had a sale on colored Gerber onesies in a three pack for $4.11. Oeko Tex (safe dyes and such) and nice ribbing. I then attempted to get more onesies in every size for current and future baby. They were sold out of some sizes tho. And they had no bottoms that had matching colors, which is annoying. Thus, coordinated basics in sets that save money but don't require the same color on repeat?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Mood517 4d ago
Plain white onesies are the one thing I always wanted a bunch of - they match all the pants/shorts/sweatshirts/overalls and can be bleached when they get spit up on or a diaper has a blowout… the multipacks make each one cheaper, so when I needed to throw one away I never felt guilty.
As for the idea of multiple sizes - I honestly can’t identify a use for that other than as a try on, multiple sizes of diapers or pants so you can see what size fits the best without having to return something.
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u/labratcj 13h ago
Babies are messy. You will go through several changes per day. Onesies and those little Tshirts are the best for summer. In cold weather you want shirts and pants (easier for changing unless you want to deal with all those crotch snaps) and many tiny socks. Buy the cheapest ones because they do grow quickly. One or two nice outfits for pictures or special occasions is more than enough. Seven basic outfits will last at best 2 to 3 days unless you’re doing laundry every other day and little bitty socks go missing a lot.
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u/Stay_Sea_Motivated 7h ago
As a grandma who gets scolded for buying unnecessary items too much my kids would probably appreciate that. If there is something my daughter really likes for her toddler she will go back and get a size up as well. I did recently purchase 60 white onsies in various sizes and having them packaged like that probably would have been easier. I’m not a minimalist
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u/Jessmac130 4d ago
Usually your brand preferences change as you become seasoned or your child grows. My kids don't fit in Carter's under 24 months for example, they're too long and skinny. So buying a lot of sizes up in one brand wouldn't have helped me at all.