Winter layette, summer layette: what the season actually changes

People often imagine a January birth and a July birth need two completely different lists. In practice the season shifts three items and leaves the rest almost untouched.

Total quantities of bodysuits, sleepsuits, muslins, bibs and sheets do not change: laundry and possets dictate those, not the weather.

What actually changes

The short-sleeve to long-sleeve split, first. Out of a dozen bodysuits, a winter birth leans towards eight long-sleeved, a summer birth towards eight short-sleeved. The total stays twelve.

The sleep sack TOG next. It is chosen for the room temperature, ideally between 18 and 20 degrees, not for the month on the calendar. A thick sleep sack in a well-heated room does more harm than good.

And the pramsuit, the only genuinely seasonal item on the list: useful for a winter birth, entirely pointless in July.

Winter has a hidden effect on quantities

There is one, and it is not about warmth: drying. In winter, without a tumble dryer, a sleepsuit takes far longer to get back into the drawer, and a damp sleepsuit is no use to anyone.

In practice that pushes a winter birth towards the top of the range on sleepsuits and bodysuits. It is not a temperature question, it is a rotation question.

And in summer, the one common mistake

A hat is still useful in July, for the very first days and for the trip home. Two is enough whatever the season.

Conversely, a newborn in summer needs fewer layers than people assume: a bodysuit alone is often plenty indoors. Cool feet are not a sign of being cold, the back of the neck tells you far more.