Upon request of a few friends here
in St. Andrews I will be typing up a "how to" of sorts for those
expecting little ones here.
While what I say is certainly not
a rule of thumb, and will probably be very disorganized, it is compiled of
information I wish I had when preparing to have Annika here in Scotland (and
simply having a baby in general).
Preparations:
Ok, so let's start with clothes,
shall we? What do you need?
For a newborn, I would say 2-3
cutsie outfits for things such as "bring home" from the hospital, and
church. Then after that, around 7, no more than 10, just every day outfits. But
do feel free to go crazy on things such as footie pajamas! Not only will you be
at home with a newborn (therefore not needing to put on day clothes), but it
can be cold here, so if you do decide to go out, you can leave your little bit
in his/her jammies and not have to worry with things such as socks. I strongly
suggest getting pajamas that zip instead of button for newborns. Late night
diaper changes and snap buttons really mess with a sleepless mommy, and a
wardrobe frustrated daddy.
Do you need scratch mits, hats,
socks, and bibs? Yes. The best scratch mits I have found are £1 for a
pair at Tesco's. They come in boy and girl colors, are very affordable, don’t
fall apart in the wash, and best of all, they stay on! Not all babies
are bad about scratching their faces, Annika for example really only had two or
three incidents of face scratching. However, on very cold days I put them on to
keep her hands warm, and trust me they make a difference!
I personally do not like hats.
Why? Well Annika hates them, and they slide around a lot. Infact, you will see
me putting my ear muffs on her frequently to avoid hats. But there will be
times where you will want and need one for your little bit, so get a few in
several sizes.
Bibs. Bibs. Bibs. Annika has about
25, and we often use 10 a day. It wasn’t always this way, infact, there was a
time where I thought I could bag them up and get rid of them. She rarely would
spit up, and drooling was a minimum. But then one day, when she was about 3
months old, the faucet turned on, and she drools constantly! She isn’t even
teething yet!! This may not happen with your baby, but I still suggest being
prepared. I was able to get most of my bibs in the States, but if you go
shopping here, M & Co has a so-so, slightly overpriced, selection. Boots
has several different kinds to pick from. One of my favorite styles being those
that simply have an elastic neck (no Velcro or snaps) and will fit baby
possibly up to a year of age. So yes, they are huge, but oh so nice!
Socks are a pain in the rear. They
fall off, disappear, and frustrate frazzled moms. But they don’t always have to
fall off! I have several pairs for Annika that I refer to as "the tall
socks". They are like knee-high socks for babies, and never have they
fallen off or even come close to doing so. I have no clue where to get them
honestly. I however will point you towards Babies R Us or Carter's (both are in
the UK). If you ever take your little one out in a snow-suit, they will
remarkably still get cold feet if you don’t put socks on them, so needless to
say, if it's cold, use socks. If you have a baby girl, feel free to ditch the
socks on as many outfits as possible, and go crazy with tights. Not the thin
material (like panty hose) tights, but the good thick kind. They can be found
at M & Co for £4 and sometimes buy one get one half off. So get a few pairs
in different colors.
If you are a local to Scotland or
any other cold place which you will go outside often in, please invest in a
snow suit for your baby! They can be found at several of the local charity
shops, and sometimes on sale at M & Co. Do not get them in newborn sizes
though! You will use it twice (maybe) and have to toss it later. A snow suit is
definitely something that is okay to be worn very baggy in for baby.
I will talk about pacifiers at a
later time, but let me go into another topic that I consider “clothing”. That
is the pacifier clip. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this one
item. If you are lucky enough to have a baby that likes pacifiers with loops on
them, buy two or three of these. They are a strip of fabric with a Velcro loop
on one end, and a clip on the other. Basically you simply clip the pacifier to
the baby’s bib or shirt, so when it falls out the mouth you don’t have to rush
off to sterilize and replace it or worse yet lose it. Anytime you see Annika,
she will have one attached to her. She may be seen playing with or tugging the
pacifier out of her mouth, but at least the darned thing isn’t on the ground!
This section is for moms with baby
girls. I have found that I had many boy hand-me-downs given to me, or that
several boy items were the right size and price for Annika to wear. But do I
want her going around looking like a little man? Nope! So what I have found to
be a handy trick is to go ahead and keep some of these boyish items and have
them “spiffed up”. How do I do this? Well I go and buy cute accessories (such
as hair clips and ties) then walk over to the In Stitches shop on Bell Street
and have them sewn onto to clothes. Viola! You have yourself a personalized
girl outfit! Yes, yes I know, why don’t I sew these things on myself… well
probably due to my failure at anything needle and thread. Kudos to those who
can sew, but it is not my thing!
Onesies! Buy them. Here in Scotland,
buy them in long sleeved sets. Again, avoid newborn sizes, and just go for the
0-3 month sets. They are great for layering, and you will want them when you
take baby out.
So let’s review what you need:
Newborn Nice Clothing: 2-3 full
outfits.
Pajamas: 5 or so pairs, I suggest
footie pajamas and maybe 1-2 gowns for nights that Dad will be doing the late
shift (diapers are a thousand times easier to get to this way). For newborn pajamas, try to get the zipper
kind!
Scratch Mits: 4 pairs (For those
of you in the states, I can send you a picture of what kind to look for).
Socks: 5-6 pairs (the taller the
better), or 3-4 pairs of tights.
Bibs: Lots. In several different
sizes, and types so you can figure out which works best for you. I really like
the soft Velcro kind so they don’t make that awful noise when I’m trying to
sneak them off of a sleeping baby. Start with 10 bibs minimum; go up from there
as needed.
Hats: 3-4 in various sizes.
Different brands will also fit differently from others and wiggle around less,
so try several types.
Coat: 1
Snowsuit: 1
Pacifier Clips: 2
I hope that this list has been helpful to you.
I am sorry I am not the most eloquent with explaining things, especially over a
compute! Let me know if you have any more clothing related comments or
questions, I will get back to you ASAP!
No comments:
Post a Comment