Here's How Many Pairs Of Pajamas Your Baby *Actually* Needs

Buying clothes for a baby can be so much fun — until the cashier tells you your total. Individual pieces seem so cheap, but when you buy a small mountain of them it all adds up. You may need to be choosy about which items you bring home, both for the sake of your wallet and to make sure you can actually cram everything into your nursery's closet. So if you're trying to figure out how many pajamas a baby needs, know that the answer depends on a couple of factors.

If you don't have a lot spare cash to blow on clothes your baby will outgrow in a flash, or space to store a ton of extra outfits, you might be looking for the minimum number of pajamas you can get away with having. According to BabyCenter, having between four and seven pairs of pajamas for baby is ideal, and Baby List recommends having four sleepers in your baby's wardrobe, too. If you've got easy access to a washing machine, there's no reason four or so sets of baby sleepers wouldn't work for you. Keep in mind, too, that unless there's a diaper explosion that destroys an outfit overnight, you don't need to pull out a freshly laundered sleeper every night. You most likely re-wear your pajamas for a couple of nights, and baby can, too.

Every baby is different, of course, and expert advice can sometimes clash with reality. My son has struggled with severe reflux since the day he was born, and he legitimately went through four sets of pajamas (not to mention cribs and swaddle blankets) in a single night. I also don't have a washing machine in my apartment, and though I can use one only two floors below me it isn't always possible to get down there when I need to because I'm chasing after a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old.

If you're in a similar boat, you'll probably want to keeps lots of extras on hand. If you know you're mostly likely going to be doing a lot of diaper and outfit changes overnight when you're still half asleep, you'll probably want to invest in sleepers that make changing a little easier according to Pop Sugar. That can include sleep gowns (which are open at the bottom for easy access), and zip up pajamas so you don't have to fumble with a million different snaps in the middle of the night.

With winter approaching, you might feel like you need to run out and buy warmer sleepers for baby instead of the lighter sets that got you through the summer and fall. But Very Well Family noted that you can invest in sleep slacks and wearable blankets to keep your baby warm at night. instead of purchasing a whole new drawer full of PJs.

Buying extra pajamas can certainly make your life a little easier, and give you a little more time between laundry days. You might be tempted to buy pajamas a size up so they'll last longer and give you more bang for your buck, too, but that can actually be a bad idea. The Consumer Product Safety Commission noted that baby pajamas should always be snug fitting, because it's much safer if a fire should ever break out.