Shopping
Baby list: how many of each thing to ask for
A baby list with no quantities gets you eight three-month outfits and no sheets. Here is how to frame it.
Paul · September 7, 2026 · 6 min read
The problem with a baby list is almost never that it is too short. It is that it does not say how many, and nobody around you knows either.
The result is always the same: a lot of lovely outfits in three-month size, all given at once, and no fitted sheets. Guests buy what is nice to give, which is not what will help you at three in the morning in week two.
Write the numbers, not just the items
A line reading "bodysuits" translates in each person's head into "I will get two or three", multiplied by the number of guests, in whichever size looked cute. A line reading "bodysuits, newborn size, 5" translates into five newborn bodysuits.
That is the only real lever you have. A list without quantities is not a list, it is a theme suggestion, and it will be interpreted by twenty people who are not talking to each other.
The quantities to state
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Bodysuits: 12 total, specifying 5 in newborn and 7 in 1 month
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Sleepsuits: 11, split the same way
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Sleep sacks: 3, stating the TOG for the season of the birth
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Bibs: 8, small towelling ones rather than the stiff wide ones
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Muslin squares: 6 at minimum, in mixed sizes
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Fitted sheets: 4, cut to your exact mattress size
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Hooded towels: 2, washcloths: 5
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Bottles: 6 if you plan to bottle-feed, 1 or 2 alongside breastfeeding
Ask for sizes, not birth months
Newborn size is the one you receive most of and the one the baby stays in least: two to three weeks for many full-term babies. The 1 month size is the one that is always missing.
Say so explicitly on the list. It is counter-intuitive for someone buying a gift, because newborn size looks like the obvious present for a newborn, and it is precisely the one that ends up unworn with the tag still on.
The same goes for season. A baby born in November will spend their first spring in six-month size, so newborn summer outfits will never be worn.
What does not belong on the list
Cot bumpers, full bedding sets, blankets and pillows are still sold as newborn gift boxes in plenty of shops. According to ameli.fr, none of it should be in the cot before age two. A correctly sized sleep sack is the right gift instead.
Nor a breast pump: in France it is rented from a pharmacy on prescription and reimbursed. Someone who genuinely wants to help could give a nursing pillow, washable breast pads, or simply frozen meals.
And a word on car seats: they are a common group gift, which is a good idea, provided it is new. A seat that has been in a collision loses part of its protection even when the damage is invisible. This is not a place where second-hand with no known history makes sense.
Plan for less than you think
A short list that gets completed beats a long one half-filled in the wrong categories. You will fill the gaps yourself along the way, and you will do it far more accurately once the baby is here.
A lot of families end up with too many clothes and not enough of the boring basics: sheets, muslins, bibs. Those are the ones that go through the machine every week for a year.