Baby blankets/bedding question

Hi all,

Can someone please tell me or give me a rough idea of how many baby blankets I will need? Also, how many layers in the cot? I am reading that I should use cotton, but how come when I go to the baby stores they are hard to find and sell the fluffy/polar fleece type blankets? Also, the muslin wraps, do I really need them? I really am quite clueless, I don't like what the baby shops tell me because I seem to need so much stuff according to them..... 20 or 30 newborn growsuits? Or then again maybe I do?!

Thanks in advance.

hi there!
I didnt use any blankets or sheet in the cot for the first 6 months - we wrapped bub in muslin wrap and another blanket if cold. I had about 6 and this was enough to rotate.

My little ones both went in to sleeping bags early and this prevented them getting trapped under sheets as i found they will crawl close to snuggle in them.

As for growsuits. I had about 6-10 and about 15 singlets.

I dont know when your baby is due but i found size 000 in the best as although a little big to start they grow into them very very quickly.

I have 3 cots sets which i rotate and use now. i never run out.

You will have time after the baby is born to buy more so dont worry xx

hi

we've also gone to a sleeping bag early but we have a couple of muslin wraps & a couple of blankets as well & a lot of bunny rugs that we use with a blanket for the pram etc. i read somewhere that the cellular type blankets are great to start with as they're more breathable (i think that was it).

we had about 7 0000 suits & a few 000 to start with. DS grew out of the 0000's after a few weeks and is just starting to get too big for the 000's now. as PinkPalace said, 6-10 is sufficient to start with. we have about 8-10 singlets. i've found that i'm washing so often that i don't run out of anything! i did find that i went through more clothes & singlets in the early days (i.e more than one change a day) - but i was an amateur at things like putting on the nappy tight enough or DS would throw up after a feed etc. nowadays we're not going through as many changes!

It depends on where you live, and what season you have your baby in!!!

Where I live, muslin is useless in winter, but a must have in summer. I used (mostly) flannelette wraps in winter. And then a blanket and sheet over the top in the bassinette/cot. But my baby was born at the end of April, so already cooler weather here. To save on washing sheets, when you put your baby down to sleep, pop a cloth nappy under their head so if (when!) they spew you just replace the nappy :).

I personally feel that you definitely need wraps, about 6 maybe? And then temperature-appropriate blankets for the cot. You can't go wrong with cotton blankets, and you can always layer them if needs be. Look for those waffle, or cellular type blankets.

As for clothing, 30 is probably excessive :lol: but you do need a fair bit! My DS wore 00000s for weeks and weeks, and then 0000 until he was almost 4 months, so it really depends on the size of your baby. I would suggest being prepared for all eventualities ;). I didn't have any 00000 clothing, and my mum had to go out and buy it for us while we were in hossy, as nothing I had fit him!

Thanks girls, that is a great help.
I don't have any 0000 clothes as of yet, but plenty of 000. I will get a few NB size but won't be going overboard. I like the idea of sleeping bags, they sound ideal. Bunny rugs, I didn't think of that, I am not due til 21 Jan, but am finishing up work on Christmas Eve, and I really don't want to be out in the after Christmas sales looking for baby gear. Time is flying, it only seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant!

Definitely be organised before Christmas!!! You could have your baby by then, or not long after ;). Some babies just don't like to wait, so be organised and beat him/her to it :).

I wouldn't go nuts with very small clothing unless you know your baby will be small. We started with a bunch of 000s (my Mum's advice), and DD wore those for a few weeks before growing out of most of them and going into 00s. Now (5 months) she's into a mix of 00s and 0s and some 1s (sizes vary considerably between different brands). Since the hospital shop will probably stock a few sets of small clothes, and assuming there is someone you could send to target to grab a couple of things if you really needed it, why spend money for things that you might not use ever. There is enough to buy as it is.

Granted, if your baby is very small you'll need to buy some smaller clothes for them, but newborn clothing is so simple (all-in-ones will do fine for ages), it's not hard to stock up on the tiny sizes if you need it.

Also, people will probably give you clothing.

We had about 8 or 10 changes of clothes in total at the start. Washing every day (cloth nappies plus she was and is still a spewy baby, so lots of mess), I never ran out. In jan you won't have long drying times so it'll be even easier.

We used a sleeping bag from about 1 month. It depends a lot on whether your baby likes being swaddled or not. They will teach you how to swaddle in the hospital, and many babies sleep a lot better swaddled because they can't throw their arms about when they startle, and wake themselves up that way. Ours hated the swaddling and could get out of it easily within about 3 weeks, so we gave up on that and put her into a sleeping bag. If you are looking at sleeping bags, grobags are great!

I was given sleeping bags, but have never used them,. We had a short winter this year & I found that wrapping her in a muslin wrap, with another blanket over the top has been plenty. She is 8 weeks now & I still wrap her to go to sleep, (although she generally pulls her arms out now) and I put another light bunny rug over her & tuck it in quite tightly at the sides & bottom. We sleep with the ceiling fan on & it's not too warm yet for two light wraps.

Clothing... I agree with Tenar... I think it's better to have mostly mid-size clothing such as 000 - if you have a small baby they will grow into it, but they don't shrink if you buy too small clothing!
I also waited until she was born to take the tags off everything we had bought & been given, DH had instructions on how to wash everything while we were in hospital.
Keep in mind too your baby is due in summer, he or she probably won't want much more than a singlet & nappy a lot of the time.

HTH :)

Where do you live? If the weather's anything like Sydney, I suggest that if bubs is going to be born in January you'll not need to buy any blankets. Or maybe just one in case you get a freak cold night. (Depending on where you are, of course...) For the cooler summer evenings a flannelette wrap does just fine over a muslin one. Then, once the weather starts to cool down you'll know what you need (i.e. you'll know if you're going to transition to a sleeping bag or if you are still wrapping then you'll know you want a couple of blankets then).
And 20-30 growsuits?!? :o Only if you're planning to wash once every 3 weeks, LOL! Phoebe isn't a chucky baby, so we got by on about 5. And my DD who was born in December didn't wear a growsuit til she was about 6 months old. Singlets are definitely the go for summer babies IMO :) (They're cheap too, so that's a big plus!)