Sleepers, sleepers & sleepers!!!!! The books will tell you that 6 sleepers is enough. It is- IF you are continuously doing laundry. For us that was a problem & so we had more sleepers. As my best friend once said: you’re either spending more money on sleepers or more time & money on laundry! The choice is yours! We recommend about 10 sleepers per child to ease up on the pressure to get the laundry done NOW. If you have full time help in the house then 6 sleepers should be more than enough to get you through.

Choice of sleeper: try to find sleepers that unsnap all the way down BOTH legs. It is much easier to change your child- especially when they leak their diapers all the way up their backs…well, if you’ve ever changed a baby in this situation with the other kind of sleeper, you’d know what I’m talking about.

montrealmom.com highly recommends the “Pekkle” sleepers available at Costco. They look great & are quality at a great price! They also go on sale multiple times per year 🙂

Onesies– these are the one-piece undershirts with snaps down the front or at the bottom. These are invaluable especially in warm climates or during the summer months. For the very beginning when baby is born, it is better to just have the undershirts that snap down the front but don’t close at the bottom. Reason: the ones that close at the bottom have a tendency to tighten around the umbilical cord stump area. So buy a couple without the bottom that closes for the first couple of weeks & then get the onesies (once again, if they snap all the way down the front you can avoid major messes!) 6-8 onesies is a good amount.

Outfits: Don’t’ waste your time or money!!!!!! If you really want to play dress-up with your new babies, then 1 or 2 cute outfits will suffice- for special outings or photos, etc. Don’t forget you’ll likely be receiving some as gifts as well!

Socks

3-6 pair per child. A few more if your sleepers don’t have “feet”

Receiving blankets

6 or more per child. Try to get ones that are large enough to “swaddle” your babies. Although some babies don’t like to be swaddled, for those that do, this is an excellent way to get them to sleep.

Sleeper bags/Bunting bags

• An excellent way to keep your baby snuggly & warm WITHOUT using a blanket.
• Note that Health Canada recommends that parents only place one light infant blanket over the child and tuck the edges under the crib’s sides. The blanket must only cover the child up to the chest.
• Not necessary, but sometimes makes the parents feel better as WE think they are cold when we see them without a blanket -just remember that generally- they aren’t! Check the back of baby’s neck- if it’s warm then he’s fine!

Burping cloths

I bought flannel fabric & cut 10” or 12” squares & reinforced the edges. I had at least 20 & used them often. In a pinch they doubled as washcloths, etc. They take no room to store, don’t fill up the laundry tub so quickly & were much cheaper than buying 20 receiving blankets. If this isn’t an alternative, then receiving blankets will do. If you are bottle-feeding, you will want more, as bottle-fed babies tend to spit up & drip more while feeding as well as when burping.

Bibs

• Useful at first for bottle-fed babies or if your baby tends to spit up a lot.
• You will definitely need some for introducing solid food
• Do not accept hand-me-downs of vinyl bibs or bibs with vinyl backings unless you have accurate information as to when & where they were purchased. In recent years there were several recalls on vinyl bibs due to lead content. 

TWINS OR MORE: It is a good idea to buy the recommended amount of everything in the clothing/layette section for EACH child- in other words double for twins. For some of the items you’ll be able to get away with just 1.5 times the recommended amount because not both (all) babies will soil themselves at the same time & so your spares can be shared between siblings. Still, if affordable, this is a good place to really double-up.

Happy Shopping Mom-To-Be!

Tanya