A guide for parents
What size baby clothes to buy as a gift
Why newborn is the wrong answer, why "just go bigger" isn't quite right either, and the little sum that gets it right.
What's in here
- Why not newborn
- The bit everyone gets wrong
- Work out the season, not just the size
- What to actually buy
- What to avoid, and why
You're standing in a shop holding a tiny cardigan and you have no idea what size to get. Everybody says don't buy newborn. Fine. But then what?
Why not newborn
Because they'll wear it for about a fortnight, and because forty other people have had the same lovely idea.
It's not that newborn things are a bad gift. One little sleepsuit for the first photos is genuinely lovely. It's that if everyone brings one, the baby ends up with thirty outfits for a fortnight and none at all for the following year.
The bit everyone gets wrong
So you go bigger. Sensible. You pick up something in 6-9 months, feeling rather pleased with yourself.
Except the baby is due in December. Which means they'll be in 6-9 months in June. And you've just bought them a fleecy pramsuit for a heatwave.
This is the bit no gift guide mentions, and it's why so much of what gets given never gets worn. The size is right and the weather is completely wrong.
Work out the season, not just the size
Here's the little sum. Take the due date, add the months, and see where you land.
| Size | Roughly when they'll wear it | So for a December baby |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn | Birth to 3 weeks | December |
| 0-3 months | Weeks 3 to 10 | December to February |
| 3-6 months | Months 3 to 5 | March to May |
| 6-9 months | Months 6 to 8 | June to August |
| 9-12 months | Months 9 to 11 | September to November |
| 12-18 months | The whole year after | December onwards |
So for that December baby, 6-9 months should be light and short-sleeved. And 9-12 months wants a cardigan.
The quick version
Add six months to the due date. Whatever season you land in is the season to buy for, and 6-9 months is the size.
Summer baby? Buy them something warm. Winter baby? Buy them something light. It feels backwards in the shop and it's right when they open the drawer.
What to actually buy
6-9 months, in the right season. The sweet spot. Far enough ahead that nobody else has bought it, close enough that it's not forgotten in a loft.
Sleepsuits and vests over outfits. Everyone buys the sweet little outfit. Almost nobody buys the boring things they'll live in, and those are what runs out.
Patterns and darker colours. White will be ruined inside a week and it'll be blamed on the baby rather than the gift, but still.
Something for the mum. Genuinely. She'll get eleven things for the baby and nothing at all, and that's a strange feeling on a day that's supposed to be about her.
Or a group gift. Four of you pooling £20 each buys something properly useful rather than four more cardigans.
What to avoid, and why
| Skip | Because |
|---|---|
| Newborn size | A fortnight of wear, and everyone else is buying it |
| Anything white | It will not survive the first week |
| Season-mismatched sizes | A 6-9 month snowsuit for a December baby, who will be that size in June |
| Fiddly outfits | Buttons and layers on a baby who cannot hold their own head up |
| Giant teddies | Lovely in the photo, impossible to store |
| Anything that needs sitting up | They cannot do that for six months |
And if there's a list, use it. Somebody who has written a list has thought about this considerably more than the shop has.
We had eleven newborn outfits and about three things in 6-9 months. By the summer I was buying vests in a panic because nothing fitted and the drawer was still full of things he'd never worn.
🌱 And what happens to the eleven newborn outfits
Mostly nothing. They sit in a bag because they're barely worn and it feels wasteful to bin them, and there's nowhere obvious for them to go.
That's what Swapaboo is for. You photograph what they've grown out of, or never got into, we check and value each piece, and it becomes credits you spend on the next size from another family.
The clothes cost nothing. You just pay to have them moved, and how much depends on whether you collect or have them sent.
We're opening a few families at a time and it's invitation only just now.
Common questions
What size baby clothes should I buy as a gift?
Six to nine months is usually the best choice. Newborn is worn for only two to four weeks and is what most guests buy, so parents are typically given far more of it than they can use. Check which season the baby will be in that size, since a warm garment for a summer month will never be worn.
Why shouldn't you buy newborn clothes as a gift?
Because babies wear that size for around two to four weeks, and because nearly every guest buys it. The result is a drawer of newborn outfits, many never worn, and nothing for the following months. One newborn item as a keepsake is lovely; a whole gift of it is less useful.
How do you work out what season a baby will be in a size?
Add the months to the due date. A baby due in December will be in 3-6 months around March to May, 6-9 months around June to August, and 9-12 months around September to November. A simple rule is to add six months to the due date and buy for whatever season that lands in.
What baby clothes do new parents actually run out of?
Sleepsuits and vests, in the plain everyday sort. Most guests buy outfits, so parents accumulate special clothes and run short of the basics their baby lives in. Buying several plain sleepsuits in a larger size is more useful than one smart outfit.
How much should you spend on a baby shower gift in the UK?
Friends and colleagues typically spend somewhere between £15 and £40, with family and godparents often spending more. Pooling with other guests for one useful item is frequently better value than several small gifts.
What baby gifts should you avoid?
Newborn-sized clothes, anything white, clothes for the wrong season, fiddly outfits with lots of fastenings, large soft toys that are difficult to store, and anything requiring a baby to sit up, which they cannot do for around six months.