I strongly recommend string and button type clothings for newborns. Afterthat, just swaddle up the baby and you are done!  Fast, easy and need not lift up baby’s head while dressing.  I still remember the time when I had my first baby, I was not confident and are quite worried about carrying my baby, changing my baby etc. I quickly registered that string and button type of clothing work best in newborns.  For button type clothing, do ensure buttons are sewn on well that they will not fall off unless you cut them.  Material wise, get natural cotton or those with high cotton percentages whenever possible, look at the label, it will tell you the percentage and material.  String types as also known as Kimono Baby Wear.

For quantity wise, I will recommend first time parents to buy 5 pieces of short sleeved tops for day and 5 pieces of long sleeved ones for night (if you are lazy to do laundry, you can get more.) I change my baby’s clothing 2 times a day, subject to weather conditions as well. I also think its perfectly ok to buy nice clothing as baby clothes are so cute to begin with. We do need some nice outdoor clothing as well plus a nice swaddle blanket.

Swaddling the newborn is important, and when you cover baby’s lower part of body with blanket after swaddling, do tuck the sides of the blanket under the baby cot or playpen mattress, in a way that you are very confident the blanket will not cover the baby’s face, repeat that every time baby wakes up for feed, its important.  

Note: my tip is based on singapore’s weather.  

Newborns love to wiggle, it is important to note never place baby too high in a cot or playpen so that when they wiggle, the blankets/nappy will not cover baby’s face.  This is taken at Thomson Medical Centre.  Baby’s feet touched the end of the little baby cart she sleeps in from wiggling and waiting to be carried for feed. 

Baby in picture was taken just before her bath (yep, in this picture, she has not taken a bath yet after delivery), that explains why she has an additional towel like clothing, cos she’s not wearing any hospital provided clothing yet.

3 to 4 month old baby
When baby learns how to turnover, and enjoys doing so, you will begin to hate the string and button type clothing.  It is time to get round neck tees for baby.  This will work perfectly well for a long time, so I suggest you buy more of this, you can also get bigger sizes if you see a sale going on that’s too good to miss.  

Swaddle blankets   Instead of buying too many swaddle blankets, we used nappy cloth to swaddle baby and it worked great.  We then used the swaddle blanket to act as baby blanket. Comfort is the key, and it does not mean that you have to buy branded clothing. We do not put on baby’s shorts or long pants on newborns as it may cause discomfort to baby’s belly.    If you need more information on swaddling babies, you can take a look at this website:www.colic-baby-bootcamp.com/swaddling.php Singapore has a warm weather all year round, so its not practical to get swaddle blankets that are too thick.  Here is a picture of my happy baby swaddled up in nappy cloth.

With exception to Chinese New Year where I will buy branded clothing from Kiddy Palace or major supermalls, my baby’s daily wear are mainly purchased from pasar malams (temporary markets that usually pop up around festive corners) and local neighbourhood markets, there are tons of good deals available in Singapore nowadays.  My baby’s round neck tees costs around SGD10 for 3, and they are comfortable to wear.

 

 

 

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