If you're an expecting mother it can be a little overwhelming as your due date approaches. Aside from the fact that your life will be changing drastically in the coming weeks, months and years, it's not like you can hit the snooze button and take a timeout when it comes to the clothes that your little bundle of joy will need starting on day one. In fact, newborns need lots of clothing, and you can easily spend a small fortune keeping up on your baby's quickly growing wardrobe needs.

But with a bit of preparation up front, you can make sure that your baby has all the newborn clothing essentials that they'll need during those first few important months. Here are some additional things to keep in mind.

Lean on Those Basics

Since babies grow so quickly in their first few weeks and months, you'll want to lean heavily on newborn clothing essentials that you'll actually need, and that means buying basics. Furthermore, since many newborn baby clothes shrink in the wash, you might even have less time than you think before that cute bodysuit or snap top is running a little small.

The good news is that there are plenty of basic newborn clothing essentials that you can use to establish a baseline wardrobe for your bundle of joy, and you can even save more money by bringing some tops home from the hospital. As for a basic checklist, look to have about a half dozen footies and coveralls, in addition to three or four side snap tops. Then you can add in matching pants, a few swaddles or sleepstacks, as well as hats and socks to complete the set.

Footies

Footies and baby pajamas are great as a standard, all-day outfit. In fact, since babies spend up to 80 percent of their time sleeping during those crucial first few months, allowing them to spend much of their time in sleepwear just makes things that much easier.

Coveralls

For those times when baby is up and moving around, or if those footies are in the wash, Coveralls are a convenient and easy way to keep baby comfortable and cool during the day. As the weather shifts and it gets colder again, this newborn clothing essential can also be layered with other outfits.

Layette Gowns

Because it can be difficult to get clothes on and off again over baby's head, many newborn clothing essentials feature easy access snaps and lap shoulders. Layette gowns have an elastic band at the bottom to help make late-night changing a breeze. The lap shoulders allow for over-the-head or top-down dressing, allowing you to softly change baby while they sleep peacefully. Many of our layette gowns come with an adorable matching hat to provide baby with full comfort and temperature control.

Swaddle Sack

If you haven't witnessed the wonder of swaddling yet, you might want to give it a try. But instead of worrying about all the folding and tucking needed for a tight and comfortable swaddle that can help your baby sleep, opt for swaddle sacks that take all the guesswork out of it.

Swaddle Blankets

As any veteran parent knows, swaddling your newborn is an essential skill to master as a new parent. Little ones not only look cute bundled up in a soft swaddle blanket, studies have shown it helps them feel safe and promotes sleep.

Plan Your Newborn's Outfits

While much is made about the newborn clothing essentials you'll need to keep your baby clothed and comfortable all day or night, it's also important to be organized and have a gameplan when it comes to your newborn's clothing essentials. There's nothing worse than reaching for an important garment only to realize it's in the dirty bin, and a little bit of planning up front can help you avoid those problematic discoveries.

Whether you opt for a strict weekly schedule or something a bit more open-ended, you'll also need a reliable way to wash all those clothes since every moment is fair game for a soiling when you're dealing with a newborn.

If you're ready to get started with the clothing essentials that your newborn needs, check out our footie pajamas. Predict your baby's eye color instantly by simply selecting mom's and dad's eye colors, and get your customized chart with our baby eye color calculator.