Cold Weather Must-haves?!?!

BABYLEGS!!! They are baby legwarmers that you can put under clothes, but you still have easy access for diaper changes. Good for boys and girls! We're in TX, and right now it's starting to get chili in the mornings, so my little guy wears these in place of pants, since they're easy to remove for later when it warms up. But when it gets cold both my boys (3 years and 10 months) will wear them under their pants. They're also great for crawlers so their knees don't get all red. Makes for easy diaper changes. And they're super cute!!

www.babylegs.com is the website, but you can also just cut the feet off of knee high socks. If you want, you can sew a hem at the bottom. But I don't sew, so I don't, and they don't fray.

Layers are best. That way if you're inside you can remove the warmest layers if needed.

I agree with long sleeved sleep sacks! Carters has the best, in my opinion! I'm sure there is a store near you (usually in outlet malls) so get on line and look. I really liked my car seat zip up snuggle thing (JJ Cole) but you have to think about if your baby will still be in the carrier by then. If you have a small/average sized child probably, but my kids were both out of their carriers by 6 months, so it wouldn't be a good investment for you! I would also suggest those fleecey blankets sold at Target and Babies R Us. They are great to throw on top of them in the car or in the swing or bouncer at home. If this is your only child, they probably won't be outside much so I wouldn't even invest in a winter coat. You want the coat to be at a minimum so they can fit inthe car seat safely, so go with a heavy sweatshirt or quilted type jacket for the most part. If you do take the baby outside just layer! Finally, find some mittens that don't have a thumb hole...works great for those little ones you can just slide them on and be done!

Loved Bundle Me by JJ Cole, they make a lite version that I used here in TX since our winters don't get too crazy but I would use that and a winter knitted hat. On days when it didn't go above freezing I'd put a fleece jacket (had a cute Carter's bear one) and then the hat. As far as basic clothing a onesie works great under all outfits and zip up sleep sacks are good for sleeping. And as their feet, socks and a pair of soft soled shoes go a long way to helping keep toes warm.

Agree with Bethany on the onesies. You can get a 4 pack of long-sleeve ones at a Carter's store for about $10. Worth every penny.

At that age (we're in Indiana, so the weather's similar), we had the LL Bean fleece zip-up coat that was awesome! Get some gloves, hat, and some socks/slippers, and you'll be fine.
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61318?page=trail-model-fle...

We never used one of the fleece wraps you can place over the infant seat but knew plenty of people who did.

Good luck - it will be an adjustment at first, but you'll get used to it.

Unless you plan on having your baby outside a great deal or for extended lengths of time, just be sure to have long sleeve onsies with long pant legs and feet, a warm coat for going to and from the car, a hat and mittens (if your baby will keep them on - mine never did), and cozy sleep sacks. You are not supposed to have blankets or anything else in the crib with them, so I had a couple sleep sacks - they look like a tank top at the top with a zipper that zips all the way to the bottom, which is sewn up so their legs and feet are free to move around but still be covered. (BTW: they are called "sleep sacks" because they are for sleeping, not for traveling.)

This notion of having all this 'stuff' to keep baby warm is just a huge marketing ploy to get you to buy more. Kind of like bumper pads. Unnecessary. Dress your little one the same as you and s/he will be comfortable. If you bundle them too much, they could be too hot, causing them to sweat. Then getting them in and out of the car with damp skin (even covered in layers) is worse than just having them in less layers. Plus more layers on means more layers off when they need changing!

Onsies are great for the first layer.
At night, use a blank sleeper.
Socks, socks and socks, keep those little toes warm
A hat
A snowsuit
A fleece blanket to keep in the car

When I lived in the Seattle, WA area with my babies, I had this great fleecy blanket piece that was cut to fit into the car seat. So as long as the baby had a comfortable long sleeve outfit, they had the extra warmth of that blanket. I don't recall the name as it was a hand me down that I returned to the mother. The problem with the sack type gowns is that you can't place the baby in the car seat correctly.

My other favorite outfit are the 100% cotton outfits from Hanna Anderson. They can wear them to bed and all day and look adorable.

Onesies under his./her clothes, thick socks, layers of clothing, hats, a car seat cover. I would imagine that the baby won't be outside much, so just make sure he/she is layered and covered when you do go outside.