Baby Clothes: Thoughts on Sara's first 2 months

I would like to put down some thoughts about baby Sara's clothes for her first two months.  I had originally wanted to write a post before she was born about my plans, but it didn't happen.  I'm writing this mostly to process and for myself to know for any future children, but perhaps it may help someone about to have a baby.

I'll try to start from the beginning...

Washing 0-3 months clothes to get ready for baby Sara's arrival!

We don't have a dryer...

Cameron built this beautiful dresser for me.

Drawer organizers from Ikea.

All of Sara's 0-3 month clothes fit perfectly into one drawer!

After reading Marie Kondo's book, one thing that I have truly changed is the way I put clothes into a drawer.  I now always put them in vertically, so you can see every article of clothing from the top.  Even before reading the book, I had started using drawer organizers, and the vertical folding makes them even more useful.

Starting from left to right in the drawer, here are some of my thoughts - things I did well, things I thought I needed but didn't, and things I wish I had bought/bought more of.

1. Short-sleeved white onesies (5) - I thought these would be incredibly useful as undershirts, but I only used one of them ever in the past 2 months, and now they are too small.  They may have been useful to wear around the house if Sara had been born in spring/summer, but as it was, they were basically useless.  I had also envisioned her wearing them under sweaters with pants, but it didn't work out because of my obsession with her having mittens at all times.  I wish I had bought long-sleeved white onesies with mittens and more sweaters.

2. Socks/tights - Very useful, Sara wore socks almost every day with her gowns, but I had way too many pairs.  Basically I just needed one pair of socks for every gown.  I also enjoyed having her wear the lacy ones to church with jeans.  We bought a 2-pack of tights, which was perfect.  The smallest size is just a little too big for her, so I think they will last all winter.

3. Separate mittens (3) - I didn't use these for a long time, because I thought they would not stay on.  However, when I started getting frustrated with all the clothing that didn't have built-in mittens, I tried these, and they worked pretty well.  I wish I had bought more of these.

4. Gowns w/ built-in mittens (12) - Sara wore these almost every single day at home.  They were especially helpful for newbie parents changing diapers in the middle of the night, because there are no snaps or zippers.  The only downside is that her socks fall off constantly.  My regret with gowns is that I only bought only two size 0 Carters gowns, which fit her very well.  The rest were all Gerber size 0-6 months, which didn't really work.  Nothing that fits a 6 month old will fit a newborn very well.  They were functional, but too big.  I wish I would've bought 10 or so Carters size 0 gowns for the 0-3 month period and had her wear only them.  The Gerber gowns will probably fit her very well in a few months.  If you are looking to save money and get more use out of your baby clothes, the Gerber size 0-6 month gowns will work for a very long time.  However, it felt more like just dressing my newborn in size 6 month clothes which were constantly falling off her shoulder.  Also, if you have a chubby baby, they may work, but Sara is a skinny little girl. 

Here you can see the difference between Carters size 0 (left, age 4 days) and Gerber size 0-6 months (right, age 13 days). 

Sara in both gowns at age 2 months.  The Carters is getting a little small, but the Gerber is still too big.

Also, 10 gowns may sound like a lot, but Sara peed on all three of these gowns in one day, so you may go through them faster than you think.  ;)

5. Hats - Sara really hates hats.  We have a million of them, mostly the ones that match the gowns/other outfits.  We have only used one of these, and it was so big that it kept falling into her eyes.  We have a few thicker, winter-type hats which we do actually use.  In retrospect, it would've been easier to just get 1-2 small winter hats for her.  Maybe in the spring, as she gets bigger, we will use the lighter bigger hats, but I have my doubts.

While the hat on the left looks really funny, clearly the hat on the right fits her better.

6. (Starting the left half of the drawer now) Colored/designed short-sleeved onesies - I didn't use any of these.  They probably would've been useful had Sara been a spring/summer baby.  I didn't have very many, just a few I inherited from a friend, so no loss here.

7. Newborn shirts w/ mittens - These were somewhat useful, but I wish they had been onesies instead.  Sara wore them under dresses mostly, because they were too short to wear alone with pants.  She also wore them maybe once or twice at home with leggings when all the gowns were dirty.

Newborn shirt with dress (left) and with leggings (right).

8. Sleepers - I have several of these, but unfortunately only one has mittens.  I used it frequently, but mostly when we had to go somewhere with the car (like to the doctor), because it is better for her legs to be separated for the car seat belt.  I didn't use it as often as I wanted to, because I was always afraid it might be dirty when I needed it.  I wish I had had at least 5-6 sleepers with mittens.  I only have used the sleepers without mittens a few times, with the separate mittens.  I could've done without them, if I had had more with mittens.  The one with mittens is a newborn size, and it has fit her very well.  It's just now starting to get too small at 2 months.  I wish I had more in size 3 months.  I know I need to let her hands go free, and we do sometimes, but she scratches me really bad while breastfeeding, so I like to at least have the option to just fold over the sleeve to cover her nails.

Bringing Sara home from the hospital (left), age 2 months (middle & right).

9. Long-sleeved colored/designed onesies - Sara did not wear any of these.  She could've worn them with jeans, but we didn't really have anywhere to go.  By the time we were using the separate mittens/going without mittens, we started putting her in special Christmas long-sleeved onesies.

10. Long-sleeved colored/designed shirts - Sara wore one of these once, with the newborn shirt underneath before we realized the separate mittens would work.  We probably would've been fine without them.

11. Leggings/jeans - She didn't wear the leggings often, so we probably would've been fine with only 2-3 pairs.  I had a problem with getting clothing from different places/people in that they didn't seem to ever match the shirts.  Many of the leggings I had matched short-sleeved onesies, and it is too cold for short sleeves.  However, she wore her jeans quite a bit.  I had 2 pairs of newborn size jeans, and I could've used maybe one more pair.  As an adult, I have no problem re-wearing my jeans before washing them, but babies tend to drool and spill milk on their clothes, so it would've helped to have duplicates.

Sara smiling in her Christmas long-sleeved onesie, separate mittens, jeans, and lacy socks.

12. Dresses - I only had 2 dresses, both of which I received from a friend, and I was so glad to have them.  I would've been happy to have a third, but I was able to make due by having Sara wear jeans to church sometimes.  Our church is pretty casual, so it's not a big deal to wear jeans.  Sara wore both dresses several times.  Also, I wish I had bought a jean skirt.

Brown polka-dotted corduroy dress (left), pink plaid dress (right).  I even happened to have a matching plaid shirt, so we were twins one day.  :)

13. (a baker's dozen) Fancy dresses - Hanging in the closet, Sara has two fancy dresses, a white one she wore for her baby dedication and a Christmas one.  I haven't found another occasion for Sara to wear the white dress, but I still think it was worth it.  She has actually gotten quite a bit of use out of the Christmas dress by wearing it to various parties.

In conclusion, I would like to try to find what would've been the ideal wardrobe.  This is for a girl born Oct. 13, who is rather petite.
 - 10 size 0 Carters gowns w/ mittens
 - 5 size newborn sleepers w/ mittens
 - 5 long-sleeved white onesies w/ mittens
 - 2 colored/designed sweaters
 - 2 pairs neutral leggings
 - 3 pairs jeans
 - 3 dresses
  - 1 jean skirt
 - 1 fancy dress for dedication
 - 10 pairs regular socks
 - 2 pairs lacy socks
 - 2 pairs white/cream tights
 - 6 pairs separate mittens
 - 2 small winter hats

We also added recently (all size 3 months):
 - 3 long-sleeved colored/designed onesies for Christmas
 - 2 pairs colored/designed leggings for Christmas
 - 1 fancy dress for Christmas
 - 1 big fuzzy coat w/ feet, mittens, & hat all built in

At this point, I am putting away the size 0 Carters gowns, the newborn shirts, and the newborn sleeper.  Our little girl is growing up!