Sleepsuits

It is perhaps an old fashioned term but sleepsuits, certainly when I was little, were known as babygrows or bodygrows. Hardly anyone calls them that any more but to my mind calling them sleepsuits is inaccurate. Lily practically lived in them day and night for the first few months and so bodygrows, as I prefer to call them, have been an essential part of her wardrobe.

That's not to say that bodygrows aren't still an essential piece of clothing for Lily. While we often dress her in 'little girls clothes' now – hard to resist all the pretty dresses, dungarees and what have you – she still has a good stock of bodygrows. They are definitely the outfit of choice if she needs to go to the doctors or baby clinic because it's just far easier to undress and re-dress her when she's wearing one of these. On dreaded jab days I am able to pop Lily's legs out, get the horrid jabs in and then quickly re-dress her for a much needed 'well done my brave girl' cuddle.

I also find bodygrows are handy to pop in the changing bag as an emergency change of clothes should Lily have an unexpected accident when we are out and about! They roll/fold up pretty small so don't take up a huge amount of room.

Now Lily is nearly five months old bodygrows have become more night than day wear but I do prefer to use the type with built in hand covers when putting her to bed as she is a terror for scratching herself (and I wouldn't trust her not to prize scratch mittens off at night!). Not all sleepsuits have these - you have to hunt around for them- but they are great as they are a bodysuit and scratch mitten in one and cover the hands thanks to the inclusion of a special fold over section in the cuff.

If like our Lily your baby is prone to depositing some of her feed, then it's worth investing in a number of bodygrows but don't make the same mistake as me and buy too many! I had no idea just how quickly Lily would grow and ended up with several newborn bodygrows that she never even got to wear. It's important that your little un has enough room to stretch her feet and toes in the bodygrow and Lily's soon became too snug for her. My mother-in-law suggested cutting the feet off but I really couldn't have Lily in bodygrows that I had re-fashioned with a pair of scissors, not when they really aren't that expensive to replace (if you shop around).

I also managed to shrink a few of her bodygrows. I wrongly assumed they could be tumble dried (which perhaps the more expensive ones can but mine were from the budget end). I learnt a valuable lesson that day – always check the washing instructions! I now err on the side of caution and don't tumble dry any of Lily's bodygrows. They dry pretty quickly on the airer or washing line anyway.