Teach Mom Learn

My favorite part of registering for baby stuff was picking out adorable baby clothes for Rae to wear. There were so many soft, cozy, adorable outfits, and they were all so tiny!

At my baby shower, we received dozens of outfits in every size. I was so excited to bring each one home and start stocking her newly designed nursery.

Once Rae arrived, some outfits quickly became favorites. I realized what worked well for us, and those outfits were the ones Rae wore almost daily.

Here are 10 ways to ensure your little love is comfy and happy in their adorable wardrobe:

1. There is never enough. When you’re starting to pick out baby clothes, you may think about how many outfits you should buy in each size. For Newborn and 0-3 Months outfits, you can never have too many options. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we often went through 8 outfits per day at some points.

Between exploding diapers, spit-ups, and general messiness, infants require frequent outfit changes. Once they hit the 6-9 month range, fewer clothes will be fine, but until then, stock up.

You will save yourself the frustration of rushing through laundry to ensure you’re ready for the next mess if you have a drawer of clothes ready to go!

2. Zippers, Velcro, and magnets are your friends. When it comes to baby clothes, easy is always best. The last thing you want to do is wrestle a screaming baby into some intricate outfit with 17 snaps and buttons.

Zippers, Velcro, and magnets can be closed in a matter of seconds, saving you time and stress and saving your baby frustration. Onesies with only 3 snaps at the bottom aren’t bad either, but you definitely want to avoid snapping the entire length of your baby’s legs.

If you do have outfits with a lot of snaps along the legs, make sure you have the option to pull them down rather than relying on opening them up from the bottom. Many rompers, jumpsuits, and overalls can easily be pulled down over your baby’s shoulders for quick diaper changes.

I love Target’s Cloud Island clothing and everything on Magnetic Me‘s site.

3. Use your eyes, not the size. Like women’s clothing, baby clothes vary drastically in size. In the picture below, all 3 pairs of pants are marked the same size from the same brand, and yet they fit Rae at completely different ages.

When shopping for baby clothes, and especially baby pants, pay close attention to the waistband. Make sure what you’re getting is wide enough to fit your baby comfortably and leaves some room for their little belly to expand after a few meals!

4. Always feel the inside seams. Selecting adorable baby clothes is so much fun, but surprisingly, not all baby clothes are designed with baby’s comfort in mind.

To ensure your baby is comfortable in their new clothes, feel the inside of the outfit carefully. Make sure there are no rough seams, particularly if the outfit has a sewn-on design.

If you absolutely have to have the outfit despite stiff seams, layer a onesie underneath to help keep your baby’s skin safe from the friction.

5. Consider safety features. As I’ve been searching for new clothes for Rae this summer, I keep coming across sunhats that have ties under the baby’s chin that promise to keep the hat on no matter what. Please, please don’t buy these hats for your baby.

Babies squirm and move around randomly. They need hats and accessories that will break away rather than potentially resulting in a dangerous situation.

Look for hats with Velcro under the chin, like this reversible sunhat from Target. Baseball caps are great too!

6. Buy the right sleepwear. When you have a newborn, many people recommend the baby nightdresses that look like they’re straight from the 1800s. Because there’s no zipper, snaps, or feet, they’re super easy to pull up for the dreaded middle-of-the-night diaper change.

To be honest, these didn’t work for us. Rae tossed and turned a lot in her sleep, so her nightdress would ride up and expose her little legs within an hour. She’d get cold and wake up cranky. Also, without the structure of pajamas with legs, her diaper was more likely to move around and result in a mess.

When it comes to baby sleepwear, buy footie pajamas with zip closure and nonslip feet. They’re safe (baby won’t slide on your floors), comfortable, warm, and super easy to work with no matter how tired you are or how angry your baby is.

Cloud Island Sleep N’ Plays from Target are perfect. They’re lightweight, soft cotton, they zip up from foot to neck with only one optional snap, and they wash perfectly. We loved them so much that Rae wore them nearly constantly last spring and still sleeps in them almost every night!

Sleep sacks are essential for your peace of mind and your baby’s comfort. When your baby is little, it’s an extra layer to keep them warm at night so they (and you) sleep better. As they get older, the sleep sack keeps their legs contained so they can’t climb out of their crib.

I am in love with this Hudson Baby sleep sack from Amazon. Rae’s worn them every night from the time she was 6 months old.

7. Dress for the temperature. This was a hard one for me when Rae was first born. We brought her home in December, so trying to keep her warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to avoid overheating was a balancing act.

There’s something called a Thermal Overall Grade, or TOG, rating that helps you solve this problem based on room temperature, especially at night. The Tot’s “What Should Baby Wear to Bed?” provides advice from a sleep expert.

What to Expect has a great guide for how to dress a newborn for cold weather.

8. Go for the easy options. Babies and toddlers do not enjoy getting dressed. It feels like wrestling a dragon over a pit of lava every time they need to be changed. I’m actually winded after getting Rae dressed for the day!

To make the process easier, go for outfits with fewer pieces. Jumpsuits and rompers make getting dressed much faster. Also, ponchos are absolutely adorable for baby girls and can be put on them in about 5 seconds!

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9. Buy nonslip, comfortable shoes. Before you realize it, your little nugget is going to need some shoes! When you’re searching, look for shoes that are nonslip so your baby or toddler doesn’t topple.

Find shoes that are easy to put on, especially those that slip on or have Velcro. Ballet flats are a great option for baby or toddler girls too!

My favorite shoes for Rae are Toms Alpargatas in the aptly-named tiny sizes, Luvable Friends fleece booties from Amazon, Coodo sneakers from Amazon, and ballet flats from Target’s Cat & Jack line. They’re cute, functional, and she’s able to run around in them as easily as she would barefoot.

Don’t forget to buy all their socks nonslip too!

10. Don’t get attached to anything. This is a tough one. There were certain outfits I loved more than others when Rae was a baby. Even though they were more special to me, they were just as likely to become the victims of a poopsplosion as any of the others.

If you want your baby to wear an outfit that’s very special to you, I would wait until right after they go to the bathroom to put it on them. I would also suggest covering them with a dishtowel when you feed them and keeping a bib on as much as possible.

While most of the time, stains wash easily out of clothes (especially if you wash them right away! I can’t tell you how many loads of laundry I did off schedule to make sure of this!), sometimes the damage is too bad or too gross. Just be prepared to let any outfit go, and take tons of pictures while it lasts.

What are your favorite baby clothes tips? Which outfits did your little love wear again and again? Please share in the comments below!

For more of my favorite things for babies, check out my must-haves for babies!