Dressing a newborn in hot July?

[Anonymous]

I think this question may have been posed before, but I'm still confused. Our baby is due July 7 and I'm sure that the weather is going to be as hot -- if not hotter -- as it is now. Obviously, she'll be inside our air-conditioned house 90 percent of the time, but the top floor (where her nursery is) still stays fairly warm (even before pregnancy, I used to wear not much more than a t-shirt and underwear to bed during the summer months). On the other hand, people always seem to dress newborns warmer than they dress themselves, especially the first few weeks. SO..what in the world do we buy? A footed sleeper just sounds soooo hot for July.

I'm thinking of buying the following clothes:
6-8 short-sleeve onesies
6-8 short sleeve t-shirts
2 sunhats
1-2 footed sleepers
5-6 little outfits to wear on top of onesies (short sleeve dresses, pants, tops)

Does that sound right? What am I missing? I don't know why I find this baby-clothes-in-July thing so perplexing!

[Anonymous]

OP again. Amending my question to also ask -- would a sleep sack be necessary? Most of my friends used these with their babies, but again I'm thinking that a sleep sack sounds way too hot for July... your thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I had the same question! My baby is due at the end of July and I just can't see putting her in long-sleeved, footed outfits, but what do I know?

[Anonymous]

My son was born last august - your list sounds pretty good. Look for one piece outfits, or those little carter's outfits that have the onsie and pair of pants that match.

[Anonymous]

My first daughter was born in late July - your list sounds pretty good. I would add socks - my greatgrandmother used to always say that making sure your feet are warm is very important

You can always just feel baby's arms/legs, and if they feel cold, add another layer, or put a little blanket on. For those first couple of months, my DD was pretty much on me all the time, which kept her pretty warm anyway.

[Anonymous]

cotton onesie and maybe some socks are sufficent for July. Just be aware of how cold you keep you AC in the house or wherever you take the baby. Some places are colder than others bc of the A/C

[Anonymous]

I always carried a couple of lightweight blankets to deal with the AC issue.

[Anonymous]

This is just my humble opinion, but OP, your list sounds like too much. I had an August baby and for the first few weeks, all he wore were onesies and sometimes socks... that's it. (that is, after the umb. cord stump fell off.. for the 1st week until it did, i just dressed him in white side-snap t-shirts). During the day, I always had a receiving blanket to wrap around him when he slept if I was worried about his legs being too cold. At night, for the first week or two we used those newborn gowns since his legs were so bowed, they didn't fit well in the legs of sleepers, but once they did, I put him in very light/thin cotton footed pj's. A Sleep sack would be too much. The extra "outfits" were a waste, maybe worn once or twice. You really don't get out of the house that much. Pants were not necessary and actually would've been a pain given how often diapers need to be changed, and non-onesie shirts are a pain b/c they ride up so much. And they outgrow the newborn/0-3 month stuff SO fast, it will blow your mind. My DS outgrew all that stuff by 2 months old.

I would recommend the following, although a lot depends how often you want to do laundry, and for ex. if your baby spits up a lot you might need more if you don't want to do laundry every other day:

-3-5 side-snap t-shirts until umb. stump falls off
-6-8 short-sleeve onesies
-4-6 thin footed PJ's
-3-4 receiving blankets
-6-8 pairs socks
-2-3 "cute outfits"
-hats, etc.

[Anonymous]

I don't think a sleep sack will be necessary - you'll probably end up swaddeling baby in a light blanket for sleep. (Except when a worrying grandparent is around and wants to cover baby in additional layers, LOL.)

I had a late August baby and his daily uniform for the first month was a kimono wrap top (from the hospital - I figured why go out and buy them when I could take some home for free), diaper, socks, the hat from the hospital, and a light weight blanket, either swaddled or just lightly wrapped around him. After a few months, I loved one-pieces that zipped up the front. In fact, we used to send him to daycare in these "PJs."

[Anonymous]

I would recommend a light cotton Swaddle-Me wrap; that plus an undershirt/onesie will be enough for sleeping. How many onesies you need will depend on a) whether your child is a spitter [mine went through 4-8 outfits a day -- but bibs help!] and b) how many loads of laundry you feel like doing (or can have someone do for you, even better).

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for everyone's helpful advice. I'm revising my last-minute-before-baby-arrives shopping list!

[Anonymous]

My daughter was born in late July. She lived in onesies until about October. At night I swaddled her. I don't think we used footed sleepers until at least September or October. Sometimes I'd go through several onesies a day from spit up etc. but I found I just did the wash more often so I didn't really need to have a ton of stuff. Once the weather got cooler she wore a sleeper under the swaddle blanket. Eventually I used a onesie under a sleepsack (which I then swaddled in a lightweight blanket).

[Anonymous]

Onesies! If you keep your house on the cool side, some lightweight, long sleeve one piece outfits.

[Anonymous]

The most you need is onesies. If you keep your house very cold maybe some socks too. For night sleeping I always just left my son in his diaper and swaddled him.

[Anonymous]

I had an August baby... but here's what I'd recommend:

Babies have a hard time regulating their temperature in BOTH directions. So the answer is NOT to over-bundle/over-dress your child in July. In the air-conditioning, he may need a very lightweight cotton blanket (the cheapie baby blankets work great for this) socks may also be needed. Outside, you will want to dress him in as little as possible and keep him shaded. I believe it is Gerber that makes 3 packs of these paper-thin little cotton onesies... I thought they were great. For nighttime, a long sleeve/footed onesie (again, cotton, unless you set your thermostat to 60 degrees) is probably fine. A sleep sack (made of fleece), is definitely too hot.

I don't think you need more than one sun hat, but that's just my opinion. Anything that fits when he's born won't fit in a month or two, so save your money for when he grows.

Likewise, if your baby is 7-8 pounds at birth (pretty standard), he will outgrow most of the 0-3 month clothes in about 3-4 weeks... so again, save your money, just buy a few of those things at that size.