Newborn Clothes You Can Skip

When you're shopping for newborn baby clothes, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the choices. When you're a first-time parent, it's hard to know what's necessary and what's a waste of money for those first few weeks at home. Here are the items you can skip when purchasing newborn baby clothes.

Baby Mittens

These little mittens, also known as hand covers, are designed to cover newborn hands to prevent their nails from scratching their sensitive skin. However, there are a number of reasons to skip purchasing these tiny mittens.

• They don't stay on well: although they have elasticized wrists, these mittens don't go far enough up the arm to stay on.
• Your baby uses his hands to soothe himself: in utero, your baby used his hands to soothe himself. Now, in a brave new world, he's going to want those hands more than ever. With his hands covered, they'll be impossible to access and will cause frustration for your baby.
• Hand covers block your baby's sense of touch: many babies love to explore their sense of touch immediately upon birth, grabbing for mom and dad's hands, for instance. You'll find that they will continue to touch everything they can get their hands on.
• You can easily prevent scratching without mittens: with regular nail maintenance, such as filing or clipping, you can keep your babies paper-thin nails short enough to prevent scratching.

Better Alternatives: long-sleeved T-shirts and bodysuits with built-in hand covers.

Baby Socks

In theory, baby socks make sense. They keep your baby's feet warm and help prevent heat loss for your little one who has a difficult time regulating his body temperature. But like mittens, there are reasons that you can skip purchasing socks for newborns.

• One size does not fit all: it seems that no matter the size of your newborn, socks designed especially for him never fit. If he's a bigger baby with some meat on his legs, newborn socks will be tight and uncomfortable. Conversely, if he's super skinny, newborn socks will be bulky and slide off his ankles. Go up a size and before you know it, his socks will start to look like leggings instead of socks because they're so high when you pull them up.
• They're so tiny, they're impossible to keep track of: this may sound silly, but the truth is, unless you're going to take the time to pin all your newborn socks together before you wash them, you'll never find them all when they come out of the laundry. And forget about digging two matching socks out of the dresser drawer when you need them most.

Better Alternatives: soft soled shoes or booties like Robeez, Kaboogie or Cuddle Bee or coveralls with feet.

Clothes with Snaps or Buttons up the Back or That are Pulled Over the Head

Dressing a newborn is difficult enough without having to flip them over to snap or button their clothes up the back. With little to no neck control, it's also difficult to pull shirts over their heads without feeling like you've given them whiplash. You'll find plenty of newborn clothes and outfits that have snaps or zippers up the front.

Better Alternatives: One-piece outfits that zip or snap up the front or kimono style T-shirts and bodysuits.

Pants

I know what you're thinking. How can I avoid putting pants on my newborn? And better yet, why would I? When you're first home from the hospital, much of your day will be spent doing two things: feeding your baby and changing diapers. Pants only serve to complicate diaper changes. In addition to having to pull them down or off to get to a dirty diaper, you've also got to change messy diapers without getting baby poop all over the pants that are around your baby's ankles. Skip the pants for newborns.

Better Alternatives: Baby leggings are great and make diaper changes a breeze.

You will likely find that many of the things I've suggested you avoid are things you'll be given as hand-me-downs or as layette items. My recommendation is to leave the tags on them and return them for larger sizes that you can use later on when your newborn is a bit bigger.

Or, use the money to stock up on items that will be very useful in the first few weeks of your newborn baby's life.

Edited by Jennifer Nicole Sullivan, Baby Clothes Expert