Should I Register For Clothes

2017 Update: We all the same stand by this advice on what should moms register for baby clothes— links have also been updated below.

Welcome to installment three of our registry for working moms: general baby clothes. What should new moms register for clothes for their baby? Which are your favorite brands and types of babe clothing — and have they changed through the months and years with kids? We've already talked about carseats and strollers, cribs and sleeping gear, and now: baby clothes for the registry. As I mentioned last time, I envision the entire serial going through these categories (stay tuned!):

Carseat — necessary from coming home from the infirmary!
Stroller — how many take you tried? How many do y'all continue? (e.g., big stroller, umbrella stroller, jogging stroller)
Cribs and sleeping gear — crib and bassinet rocker, if necessary
Clothes — daytime dress, baby socks
Babywearing carrier — infant and xv-lb.+
Infant toys — swings, seats, and other Large Things to register for (Exersaucers, etc)
Essential books
Diaper bag
Nursing clothes
Breastfeeding pillow
And 1 final category: The Biggest Flops (stuff y'all hated).

Offset, some general tips on baby dress:

If you tin can, register for things like onesies and footed sleepers in multiple sizes — that first year you cease upwards needing a ton of different sizes, and it's squeamish to just have them on hand. Notation that for season-specific clothes information technology's difficult to do this in advance considering yous don't totally know how big your kiddo will be when born, or how he or she will abound.
Don't get also crazy registering for infant clothes, though — you lot may end up antisocial some things (for me it was sleeping gowns); you might finish upwardly loving others. Information technology really is a affair of taste — likewise as what fourth dimension of year your babe was born in. For Harry (born in May), for example, we kept him in a diaper and swaddle for pretty much the outset 3 months — mostly SwaddleMe, but we also had a Woombie Air and an Aden + Anais Piece of cake Swaddle we liked. After that, to be honest, we've kept him in footed sleepers for most of his first year.
Try a few brands of clothes — only in general I found it easiest to choice a few brands I like and stick with those for all of the boys' clothes. Things fit differently (length, width), wear differently, and and so forth — right at present I pretty much exclusively buy Carter's, Erstwhile Navy, and Gap for the boys. For round #2 these accept held up… fine, I suppose. I've heard that some people who know they want a lot of kids recall the fancier dress (Splendid, Petit Bateau, etc.) concur upward better for various rounds of hand-me-downs — and then you lot get more for your coin. As they say, your mileage may vary.
Randomly: try a few brands of diapers for your little 1 too — they're a flake like pants. Each brand fits a scrap differently in the ascension, the leg holes, etc., etc. Nosotros were large fans of Huggies for both boys. (I have no experience with material diapering — if anyone would like to write a guest mail on your experiences with it, please contact me!)

Specific Recommendations

Swaddles: I like the SwaddleMe; the Woombie Air and Aden + Anais muslin ones were both nice alternatives for a summer baby. (Again, for H, this is pretty much all he wore for the first few months of his life. We would stick him in a onesie or footed sleeper if nosotros were wearing him.

Pajamas: I'k a big fan of the footed sleeper, at least afterwards the swaddling months — bonus if it has a zipper instead of snaps. Sleepers without feet don't make any sense to me (babies do Non practice socks) and pajamas as separates, while adorable, just seem like they ride up and get all bunchy while the kiddo sleeps. Once the kiddo is out of swaddles, the sleepsack (a wear blanket) is a must. We've always liked the Halo sleepsacks in bailiwick of jersey and fleece; we've also had a few Aden + Anais sleepsacks for summer. (Pictured: Harry in one of his zip-up footed sleepers.)

Socks and Shoes: Practise not underestimate the ability of a baby to kick off every sock you lot try to become on their feet — this goes double for shoes. Then for my $.02, for the starting time year I'm more a fan of footed pants or footed sleepers to keep their trivial toesies warm, at least until the babe is itch and needs the traction of bare feet. For the rare outing where we wanted booties, we loved the Zutano babe booties for the starting time year, which the boys wore as "shoes" — they were super warm and, amazingly, kickproof. (I've read that it'south better, developmentally, to let them be in bare anxiety rather than shoes, then at that place'southward that.) In general, I would non consider whatsoever socks without grippers on the bottom for traction until the kiddo is 3 or 4.

Other clothes (onesies, pants):Nosotros rarely used these (actually only for babywearing and parties) until the boys were older, like 6 months. My big tip with onesies: if you can, annals for ones that accept a VERY wide opening at the cervix, if not a 5-cervix or kimono-like folds and snaps. My boys' heads were both so wobbly and soft that it freaked me out to put dress on over their heads. (We loved our Kate Quinn Organics kimono/wraps. The designs aren't my favorite, but I liked the functionality of the Petunia Picklebottom onesies we were gifted by friends.) Nosotros haven't tried them, but these Zutano wraps look expert. As a 2d-time mom I was ok with the boatneck openings on Carter's onesies, but when I was a start-fourth dimension mom they freaked me out. Nosotros got a TON of denim for baby gifts from friends — denim jackets! denim overalls! jeans! — and I volition say that these were some of the to the lowest degree-used things in our boys' wardrobes — they were just and then stiff it felt brutal to brand the boys vesture them. (Pictured: a rare photo of Jack in clothes!)

Summertime apparel for babies: I always become freaked out at the possibility of either boy getting a tan, so I make them wear rash guards whenever we go to a sprayground or pool, and a chapeau (with a chin strap) pretty much all the time. Amazon has a one thousand thousand rash guards; Land's Finish and Old Navy both practise sometimes every bit well. I like this blanket with UV protection (ROSK Sun Cover) for dank but sunny weather condition.

Winter clothes for babies: Be very careful with a puffy jacket — you never want it to interfere with a tight seatbelt in your carseat or stroller. (The CarSeat Lady has a very thorough tutorial!) It depends on your situation, merely a lot of times a stroller/carseat cover like JJ Cole or vii A.M.® Enfant will be better for the babe considering he can be attached in tightly merely warm and snuggly under his stroller cover. In full general, for our boys we would just add a fleece bunting/coverall on peak of their footed PJs and and then either put them in the stroller/carseat with bunting or the carrier. (To be actress careful, bring the encompass with you when you get your carseat-installation checked to make sure it's safe to use in the car.) We loved the Zutano fleece chapeau, and accept used a million mitten clips to keep their mittens attached to the coat.(Pictured: Jack in his monkey/sherpa coverall from Carters.)

Boy-specific items: I don't think you really demand anything specific for boys. A friend gifted us Peepee Teepees, which were beautiful, merely honestly we just kept a washcloth near the changing pad for this purpose.

What are your favorite infant clothing brands? We'd love to hear your thoughts on:

swaddles and blankets
PJs
socks and shoes
general clothes
spring/summer clothes
fall/winter clothes
boy/girl specific items

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Picture below via Stencil.