Hello!

44 Comments

When my daughter was eight weeks old she had her first public outing. We were off to a backyard birthday party and I dressed her in a crisp white dress with a scalloped edge skirt and capped sleeves. For a splash of colour she wore a bright pink flower headband and matching barefoot sandals.

We did one quick lap around the party and proudly accepted compliments on her cuteness. But it was thirty degrees in the shade and our poor little flower was drooping. The headband made a red indent into her forehead; the sandals slipped off her heels; and sweat dampened the layered skirt.

After only a few minutes we stripped off the whole ensemble. For the rest of the party she lay comfortably in a simple cotton onesie.

What was the point?

Sure, she looked #sopretty – but when it came to my little one, I realised that her comfort should take precedence over my dream of playing dress-ups with a real-life Baby Born.

My little doll has a stunning wardrobe, brimming with dresses, playsuits, skirts and vests – but each of her fancier outfits comes with its own set of challenges, and are just not suitable for everyday (or any day) wear for a newborn.

  • Lace fabric outfits: I have very quickly learnt that there is no room for lace in my baby’s wardrobe. Her sharp little dagger claws that make short work of fine lace, and the thicker outfits are forever soaking in a tub of Nappy San. Have you ever tried to clean chunky milk vomit out of tiny lacey loopholes? It’s like pushing porridge over a cheese grater.
  • Outfits with beads, pearl and sequin embellishments: Can anyone say ‘choking hazard’? My baby is not Honey Boo Boo and this is not ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’. There is no real-life situation that seems appropriate to weigh her down with beads, pearls, sequins and other embellishments.
  • Outfits without nappy support: Knowledge that I can never unlearn… Newborn baby poo has the thick, sticky consistency of the swamp that swallowed Atreyu’s horse in ‘The Neverending Story’. Those little press-studs are annoying, but clothes that fasten between the legs help to keep the nappy up and the contents in. Which, in the case of my child – whose tiny chicken legs that stick out of nappy holes like chop sticks – is particularly important.
  • Any two-piece outfits: Two-piece outfits are as appropriate for babies as a midriff is to a muffin-top. Babies are sweaty, squirmy, and are lifted up and down all day. When my little cupcake is wearing a two-piece, I’m constantly pulling her shirt down and tugging her shorts up to keep her back covered. And then there’s the issue of poop. Again. My perfect storm seems to be a trip to the supermarket with my little one in a pretty two-piece. On more than one occasion she has expelled a month’s worth of excrement as soon as we reached the store, and without the confines of the one-piece there was nothing to stop the car capsule from becoming a bowl of soup.
  • Overalls: Repeat all of the problems with two-piece outfits, and add the difficulty of continually tucking the shirt into shorts (or, even worse, skorts) that gape open at the top. What am I trying to do, raise a little hillbilly? She cannot stand up, so her shoulders cannot support her clothing. And she definitely does not need a tiny little pocket on her chest, as I’m sure I’ll be carrying around her belongings until she is at least five.
  • Tutu skirts: I felt sorry for my tiny tot when I dressed her into a tutu. She just looked so uncomfortable, lying on her back with a thick tufted skirt. But every gal wants a baby ballerina, right? So I persisted. Until it was time to buckle all that tulle into a car capsule. She looked like a squashed meringue.
  • Buttons on the back or nape of the neck: Remember that song that we all used to clap to: ‘Miss Mary Mack, all dressed in black, with silver buttons, all down her back’? Yes, well Mary was not a baby, but I bet her mother still struggled with all those damn buttons.
 Babies are floppy. Really, really floppy. They have no neck control, cannot sit unaided, and in their first few months hate tummy time. Without two sets of hands, there is no safe or easy way to do up a sequence of tiny buttons on their back – at least without sending them into a raging fit.

Can you relate? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • It was so nice when family & friends gifted our daughters the most gorgeous dresses and suits when they were born. But gee did I have the guilts when we didn’t wear them all for the exact reason you mention – pretty but not practical.

    Reply

  • My girls both had and have plenty of pretty outfits but we just work out the right time to wear them.

    Reply

  • My daughter had lots of pretty clothes that were also very practical. She wore little hats instead of headbands though.

    Reply

  • My daughter had lots of ‘dressing up’ clothes and we never went out without a nice outfit on. Second time around my son has only a few nice dressy outfits and spends a lot of time in nice practical onesies! I have definitely learnt and changed my views!!

    Reply

  • Most of my kids first years were spent in Onesies, so easy and practical.

    Reply

  • My niece buys her baby daughter these kind of outfits, only the name brand ones. Not long after getting them, she’s selling them at a loss, lots are never or hardly worn. Such a waste

    Reply

  • Everyone keeps giving me overalls for my toddler! We’re potty training. Overalls and potty training DO. NOT. WORK. Do not give people overalls for their kids.

    Reply

  • Oh i could have written this myself! I have about 500 outfits for my daughters first year and all those cutesy ones rarely got worn. The things she wore the most… full jump suits in winter and the singlet suits that do up around the nappy. I hated her in 2 piece outfits until she learnt to walk. Even now im forever pulling her pants up and shirts down.

    Reply

  • The other day we passed a funeral, and there was a newborn in a SUIT! With his head and face unprotected from the very hot sun!

    Reply

  • “Newborn baby poo has the thick, sticky consistency of the swamp that swallowed Atreyu’s horse…”. OMG, couldn’t have laughed about this anymore – I had tears in my eyes. But it’s SO darn true.

    Reply

  • Having a boy I never thought about any of this!

    Reply

  • So many outfits – worn for photos for the person that gave it to us and then never again! There’s a big thing in Australia at the moment – handmade embellishments on premade shirts – they fall apart! There’s no safety standards – beads and threads, really turned me off handmade stuff when I found out it’s partly made with a glue-gun! MIL insists buying baby headbands despite me saying I don’t like them (seen kids in prams with them around their necks or over their eyes!) Had a good laugh at this article

    Reply

  • The more simple the clothing the better.

    Reply

  • Okay so no every outfit is practical and I don’t agree that children should be made to wear something that is uncomfortable. But for a few moments to get a gorgeous pic that you will look back on and love or look back on and laugh, there’s no harm done.

    Reply

  • When my daughter was born we received so many gorgeous outfits for her but they were so fiddly to put on that I was actually scared to use them (apart from when visiting the person who gifted them to us). Also why do they make clothes for babies that have to be ironed? Do the manufacturers not realise that ironing a size 00 collar or cotton dress is nearly impossible!

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join