For ease of dressing your little one, nothing beats a rompersuit!

As an all-in-one – that is a top and trousers combined – you don’t have to worry about matching a top and trousers together – just pull on a romper and you’re good to go !

They’re also known by lots of different names – rompers, rompersuits, playsuits, daysuits, onesies, babygros, babygrows.

I recommend choosing a one piece romper with lap (envelope) shoulders because that type of neckline is easiest for getting a baby in and out of without too much fussing.

Rompers may have poppers up the front and down each leg or simply inside the leg. Inside-leg poppers are great as it means you can dress baby quickly and if you choose the footless type, they last that little bit longer than babygros with feet.

As baby gets older, you might like to avoid dressing your baby in rompers which fasten across the front – a toddler quickly learns that they can unfasten the poppers!

Let’s face it, weighing up whether to use use real or washable nappies (diapers) can be a bit confusing. I’ve blogged about this over at my other site so I thought you might be interested to wander over there to read all about real nappies.

There are two blog posts – Why Choose Washable Nappies? and How to Choose the Washable Nappy That’s Best for Your Baby – enjoy!

photo credit: bardgabbard

Here’s some top tips for new mums from Joanne, owner of Cecily Plum, the  cool pregnancy and maternity clothes boutique.

Wear suitable clothing: a loose fitting top which is short enough that you don’t sit on it is fine. It needs to be loose enough that you can lift it easily, and that it doesn’t hitch up all the way round. Alternatively, breastfeeding tops are designed so that you can get feeding access without lifting your top. These are ideal if you want to wear a fitted or long top. Designs vary, and the best ones are cut to flatter the New Mum shape – bigger around the boob and not clingy around the tummy.

A long wide scarf or a wrap can also be a useful aid as you latch baby on if you want to screen yourself from neighbours.

And of course, don’t forget underwear! Nursing or maternity  underwear is a must, you need to be able to unclip quickly, and get something that fits properly. Try ordering a few styles in a few different sizes. Try them all on, jiggle about and keep only those that really fit and feel comfortable.

Cute Baby Clothes

Parents live vicariously through their children and play dress-up!

One of the joys of having a baby comes in the form of choosing cute baby clothes for the baby to wear.  Over the years, parents have narrowed this down to an art, finding and choosing cute baby clothes and making it seem that every day is Halloween for their infants and toddlers.  While scary and grotesque outfits rarely show up on a baby even during the actual Halloween holiday, there are plenty of parents that like to dress their sons as football players and their daughters as princesses.  It’s almost as if the parents start to relive a second childhood through their infants and just want to play dress-up.

And that’s OK really.  It’s just part of being a parent.

The Santa Suit

Every Christmas stores are full of miniature santa dresses and Father Christmas romper suits. These only have a limited season but it seems for parents it’s worth the expense just to see your baby dressed up like a Santa once a ear. Other Christmas cute baby clothes include elf outfits, rudolph costumes and even snowmen suits!

The Sailor

“We want you as a new recruit,” sang the pop group Village People at the close of the 1970s in a song so popular that the US Navy thought of making it an official theme!  People love ships and sailors, though, and have been dressing their baby boys in naval inspired clothes over the generations for over a hundred years.  The reasons aren’t very clear but it seems that every grown man comes across pictures of himself as a baby or toddler in a sailor suit at one time or another.  If a baby could speak he might say, “Batten down the hatches and swab the poopdeck, matey!  And, unless I get a little help bottom-side, poopdeck may take on a whole new meaning!”

The Footballer

Every Dad imagines his son raising up the FA cup to a cheering Wembley football stadium.  Even men who have never been great at football themselves seem to have a burning desire to see their sons run down that famous tunnel and out onto the hallowed pitch  It’s the only feasible explanation for the popularity of baby boys football outfits.  These are more common than the sailor suits and can be bought from football supporter’s shops all over the UK.  Your boy may not be the next David Beckham but you can dream that he is as you admire him in his Manchester United baby kit.  These come in official versions licensed by football clubs and generic versions that just share some team colors.

The Baby Princess

Even little baby girls don’t escape the dress-up play imposed by their parents, but are dressed in more traditional items like frilly dresses, white tights, and little patent leather shoes.  Their mothers may imagine them to be princesses or fairies, but mostly just do their best to make them beautiful.  Since all babies are beautiful and the only thing more beautiful than the average baby is your baby, they don’t have to try too hard!

For some expectant parents, baby blankets may be fairly low down on the list of priority buys.

My advice is to think again – an organic cotton baby blanket is a truly versatile buy – for both the early months and beyond.

Firstly, in the early days a baby blanket is very handy for wrapping your baby up in (”swaddling”). Babies love being swaddled – it makes them feel safe ansd secure – after all they were used to being held tight for 9 months in their mummy’s tummies.

Out and about – a baby blanket is the ideal size for tucking round your baby in a pram or buggy to keep them warm and draught free. An ordinary household blanket will be too large and bulky.

Size matters – Make sure that you buy a large baby blanket of at least one metre square. A larger than normal baby blanket means that you can use it at night, as a pram or buggy blanket, or even during the day as a play mat. That way you get lots of use out of your baby blanket before you even remember the times you used it as an extra wrap or baby comforter.

Organic Cotton Baby Blankets

When you are expecting a new baby, one of the most wonderful – but most confusing – events is choosing newborn baby clothing.

Like parents all over the world, you may have spent months planning for the new arrival, making sure that you have tried to buy your baby the best of everything you can. But by the time you have bought those newborn baby essentials such as a car seat, bassinet or cot and baby bath, you may be puzzling over exactly which clothes your new baby may need.

Hopefully, the new arrival will, of course, get some new baby gifts, but there are some infant clothing essentials you won’t want to leave to chance!

Firstly, you need to consider practical issues. Babies get through many changes of clothing in the first few months. Getting clothes stained with milk (or worse!) will happen every day, so it’s best to not indulge in expensive designer clothing, apart from the odd fun outfit, until your little one is older.

Prioritise clothes and accessories which are practical as well as cool to look at and you will save yourself a lot of hassle in the first few months of your new baby’s life.

As a mum, I can recommend four “must-haves”. These are all baby items which I myself,, couldn’t do without for those first few weeks.

Rompers – For ease of dressing nothing beats a rompersuit! They’re also known by lots of different names – rompers, rompersuits, playsuits, daysuits, onesies, babygros, babygrows. Choose a one piece romper with lap (envelope) shoulders for easy dressing and in a cool print (for interest), if you can!

Inside-leg poppers are great as it means you can dress baby quickly and if you choose the footless type, they last that little bit longer than babygros with feet. As baby gets older, you might like to avoid dressing your baby in rompers which fasten across the front – a toddler quickly learns that they can unfasten the poppers!

Baby Hats – Even if your little one arrives with a full head of hair (!) every newborn baby needs a baby hat to keep their little head warm. Beanie styles look very cute on both baby boys and girls.

Sleepgowns – A baby gown is essential for at least the first six month. This is because they keep your baby snug and warm but also provide easy nappy access for night time changes. It’s a good idea to check the nightgown length – buy one just a little bit longer than other brands and it should last until your baby is between 6-9 months.

Baby Blankets – A cotton baby blanket is a truly versatile buy – for both the early months and beyond. Make sure that you buy a large baby blanket of at least one metre square. A larger than normal baby blanket means that you can use it at night, as a pram or buggy blanket, or even during the day as a play mat. That way you get lots of use out of your baby blanket before you even remember the times you used it as an extra wrap or baby comforter.

Once you’ve chosen your newborn baby clothing, you need to think about what it is made from. A newborn baby’s skin is incredibly soft and delicate. A newborn has spent the last 9 months enveloped in a protective environment – their mum’s tummy. Their skin has not yet been exposed to the wind or sun, so you need to make sure that it is irritated as little as possible.

That’s why I would always recommend buying organic baby clothes. Organic baby clothes are made from cotton grown without pesticides or chemical insecticides. It is also made from cotton plants which have not been genetically modified.

Organic cotton is best for clothing for environmental and humanitarian reasons, as well as for your baby’s sensitive skin. So you are not only doing the best thing for baby, but best for the planet too.

Space print baby nightgown

Choosing newborn baby clothing is a lovely moment when you are expecting a new baby. When I designed my new organic baby clothing collection, I had four “must-haves” on my list.
These were what I myself, as a mum, couldn’t do without for those first few weeks.

Rompers – For ease of dressing nothing beats a rompersuit! Arabella Miller rompers have lap (envelope) shoulders for easy dressing and are available in two cool organic prints. Inside-leg poppers mean you can dress baby quickly and as they’re footless, they last that little bit longer than babygros with feet.

Baby Hats – Even if your little one arrives with a full head of hair (!) every newborn baby needs a baby hat to keep their little noggin warm. I designed a fuss-free beanie style which looks cute on both baby boys and girls.

Nightgowns – A baby sleepgown is essential for the first few months, keeping baby snug and warm but providing easy nappy access for nightime changes. I found my nightgowns so useful that I designed the Arabella Miller sleepgowns to be that little bit longer to last between 6-9 months. Nothing beats eczema-friendly soft organic cotton next to your baby’s sensitive skin.

Baby Blankets – Truly versatile – for both the early months and beyond. I designed an extra large organic cotton baby blanket so that you can use it at night, as a pram or buggy blanket, or during the day as a play mat. Arabella Miller organic cotton baby blankets are an affordable luxury buy – a double layer of organic cotton in two delicious prints with a contrast trim. My baby blankets can be washed again and again and then handed down, still looking hip and feeling soft.

Organic cotton baby clothing is made from cotton grown without pesticides or chemical insecticides. It is also made from cotton plants which have not been genetically modified.

I believe that organic cotton is best for clothing for environmental and humanitarian reasons and I also believe organic cotton clothing is best for a child’s sensitive skin, particularly those who suffer from eczema, like my youngest daughter.

When non-organic cotton is produced, more chemicals are used per unit area than any other crop – accounting for 16% of the world’s pesticides (”Picking Cotton Carefully,” Institute of Science in Society, March 2007).

These harmful chemicals cause water and air pollution, polluting the land, killing plants and animals, and causing illness and even death for farmers and workers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 20,000 deaths occur in developing countries each year from poisoning by agricultural pesticides used on crops, of which many, due to their relative toxicity, can be attributed to cotton. In Benin in West Africa, 24 people died as a result of poisoning from cotton pesticides in 2000 – this included 11 children under the age of 10. (Information from The Soil Association – UK)

Growing organic cotton without chemicals means that not only is it safer for the workers and farmers who grow and harvest the crops but the land is not damaged by over use of chemicals and the farming is more sustainable in the long term.

Organic farming uses crop rotation on the farmland and natural fertilisers instead of chemicals and artificial fertilizers. Biological pest control (using one species to eat the species destroying the crop), is used instead of harmful chemical alternatives.

As well as being better for the environment, organic cotton is often bought directly from the farmer or a local co-operative. This means a fairer deal and more income from the crop for those who farm it.

Around 150 g of pesticides and fertilisers are used to grow the cotton for just one T-shirt – this is the equivalent of a cup of sugar (Soil Association).

However, when you chose to buy organic baby clothes you are helping to reduce this chemical cocktail on our planet. ??In addition to the environmental and health benefits of choosing organic cotton there is also the fact that it feels so much nicer next to your skin. The cotton fibres are longer and you can feel the soft, luxurious quality.

Space print baby nightgown

Baby sleepgowns are essential items for your new baby’s wardrobe for at least the first six month. This is because they keep your baby nicely snug and warm but also provide easy nappy access for night time changes. It’s a good idea to check the nightgown length – buy one just a little bit longer than other brands and it should last until your baby is between 6-9 months.

Don’t just buy one nightgown either – it’s a good idea to have at least three – one to wash, one to wear, and one “just in case”!

Organic baby nightgown with cute space print design from designer baby clothes company, Arabella Miller.