Baby Wardrobe Checklist by Age: Australia Guide

A baby wardrobe checklist should shrink as your child gets older, not grow. A newborn goes through three to five changes a day, so you need six or seven of the basics. A four year old changes once, so five or six of each item covers it with a laundry buffer. Most checklists online get this backwards, and most of them were written for a Northern Hemisphere winter.

This is the full 0 to 8 checklist for Australian families, broken into age bands with real quantities. Jump to your stage. Each table lists what is worth owning, how many, and roughly how long that size lasts before your child moves up.

Yes Mila is a small baby and kids brand, founded by Rachel, Emma and Mila. We design in Europe, photograph our own collections, and ship across Australia. We also sell clothes, so the useful thing we can do here is be honest about how few of them you need.

Australian sizing, quickly

The table below is standard Australian retail sizing, the numbers you will see at most Australian stores. It runs backwards through the baby years before flipping to age-based numbers at size 1.

Size	Age	Weight	Typical time in this size
0000	Newborn	To 4kg	About 6 weeks
000	0 to 3 months	4 to 6kg	About 3 months
00	3 to 6 months	6 to 8kg	About 3 months
0	6 to 12 months	8 to 10kg	About 6 months
1	12 to 18 months		About 6 months
2	18 to 24 months		About 6 months
3	2 to 3 years		About 12 months
4 to 8	3 to 8 years		About 12 months each

Two things follow from that table. The first is that 0000 is the shortest-lived size you will ever buy, so it deserves the smallest budget. The second is that sizes stretch out fast after age two, which is when spending a bit more per piece starts to pay off.

Yes Mila uses age-based sizes rather than the retail numbers. Sizes 0000 and 000 both sit in our 0-3M, 00 is 3-6M, 0 is 6-12M, sizes 1 and 2 are our 1Y, and sizes 3 to 8 are our 2Y to 8Y. The age bands below use the retail numbers, with the Yes Mila size noted where it helps.

If you are not sure which size to start with, weight is a better guide than age. The size guide on every product page gives the measurements in centimetres.

Newborn: size 0000, the first six weeks

Size 0000 lasts about six weeks, and a good share of babies never wear it at all. Keep it deliberately small and buy the working wardrobe in 000, the next size up. Muslin wraps and socks are not sized, so they are counted there too.

Item	How many	Notes
Bodysuits or singlets	3	Snap shoulders, full crotch poppers
Onesies or sleepsuits	3	Two-way zips beat poppers at 3am
Soft cotton hat	1	Not for sleep

That is six or seven pieces, and it is enough. Everything else on the newborn list, from wraps to socks to the cardigan, goes in the 0 to 6 month table below because those pieces carry through.

Muslin is the exception to every rule about restraint. It works as a wrap, pram shade, feeding cover, burp cloth and floor mat. Red Nose Australia recommends a muslin or light cotton wrap rather than a bunny rug or blanket, and advises stopping wrapping as soon as your baby shows signs of rolling, usually around 12 weeks. Our muslins come in a two pack, and they soften with every wash.

For a deeper look at the first eight weeks, including hospital bag lists and state-by-state climate notes, read our guide to newborn essentials in Australia. Everything below picks up where that guide finishes.

0 to 6 months: sizes 000 and 00 (Yes Mila 0-3M and 3-6M)

This is where laundry frequency sets the numbers. A young baby gets through three to five changes a day from reflux, leaks and nappy failures, and no amount of good gear prevents it. Buy for the washing machine, not for looks. Your baby is not moving much yet, so clothing is still about access, warmth and washing.

Item	How many	Notes
Bodysuits	6 to 7	Mix short and long sleeve to your state
Onesies or sleepsuits	5 to 6	Footed still easier than separates
Leggings or pants	3	Only once you use separates
Muslin wraps	3 to 4	The single most used item you will own
Socks	4 to 5 pairs	Footed onesies reduce the need
Knit cardigan	2	For air conditioning as much as winter
Hats	2

This is the band where most families over-buy. It is the first size that lasts long enough to feel worth investing in, and the outfits start looking like clothes rather than pyjamas. Resist a little. Six months of wear across two sizes is not much.

Our baby essentials and baby neutrals collections cover almost everything in this table.

6 to 12 months: size 0 (Yes Mila 6-12M)

Crawling changes what works. Knees take a beating, footed onesies get slippery on floorboards, and your baby now grabs at whatever you are trying to do up.

Item	How many	Notes
Bodysuits	6	Still the base layer for everything
Tops or tees	5	Separates start winning here
Leggings or pants	5	Reinforced knees earn their keep
Onesies for sleep	4	Non-slip feet or footless
Cardigan or sweatshirt	3
Sun hat	2	Broad brim, from about September

Size 0 runs roughly six months, the longest stretch you have had so far. It is the first point where cost-per-wear genuinely favours better-made pieces. A good cotton legging washed twice a week for six months is cheap. A thin one that pills after a month is not.

Browse the full baby range for this age.

12 to 24 months: sizes 1 and 2 (Yes Mila 1Y)

Walking, climbing, food. Clothes now need to survive being worn through a playground and a meal in the same afternoon.

Item	How many	Notes
Tops and tees	7	Two changes a day is normal again
Pants or leggings	6
Shorts	4	More in QLD and NT, fewer in Tasmania
Dresses or overalls	3	Optional, depends on your child
Sweatshirt or knit	3
Jacket	1	2 if you get a real winter
Sleepwear	4	Check tog against room temperature

Layering matters more than heavy garments across most of Australia. A long-sleeve top under a knit handles a Melbourne morning and comes off by ten. A thick coat only works for the handful of weeks it actually suits, and then it sits in the cupboard. Our layering pieces are built for exactly this, and the jackets and coats range covers the one proper outer layer most families need.

2 to 8 years: sizes 3 to 8 (Yes Mila 2Y to 8Y)

Each size now lasts about a year, which changes the maths completely. Fewer pieces, better made, worn far harder.

Item	How many	Notes
Tops and tees	8	Split between everyday and going-out
Pants or leggings	5
Shorts	5	Year-round in the north
Dresses or skirts	4	If worn
Sweatshirts or knitwear	4
Jacket	1 to 2	One light, one warm
Sleepwear	4 sets
Swimwear	2

Sun protection becomes a wardrobe decision at this age rather than a sunscreen decision. Cancer Council Australia recommends clothing that covers as much skin as possible, noting that UPF ratings run from 15 to 50+ and that closely woven fabrics offer better protection than loose ones. A long-sleeve cotton top does more work than a reapplication reminder.

Shop the girls and boys ranges for sizes 2 to 8.

What gets over-bought, and what gets under-bought

Over-bought, every time:

• Size 0000. Six or seven pieces is plenty.
• Dressy outfits under size 1. Worn once, photographed, outgrown.
• Shoes before walking. Feet develop better without them.
• Heavy winter coats in northern states. A knit layer covers it.

Under-bought, almost as reliably:

• Muslin wraps. Three or four is a floor, not a ceiling.
• Plain leggings and pants in sizes 0 to 2. These are the pieces that wear out.
• Sun hats. They get lost. Own two.
• Sleepwear in sizes 3 and up. Four sets, not two.

Why Australian lists should be shorter

Most baby checklists that rank well online were written for the UK or the United States, where a winter wardrobe is a genuine category: snowsuits, thermal base layers, fleece-lined everything. Australia does not need that outside of Tasmania and the alpine areas, and even there a good knit and one quilted layer covers it.

The practical effect is that an Australian family can run a smaller wardrobe than the lists suggest, and spend the difference on fabric quality instead. Cotton that keeps its shape wash after wash is worth more over a year than three cheap versions of the same thing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many clothes does a baby need in Australia?

For the first six months, six or seven bodysuits and five or six onesies is the working number, because you are dealing with three to five changes a day. That drops to six bodysuits and four sleep onesies once separates take over, and by age three or four you only need enough for one change a day plus a laundry buffer, so five to eight of each item.

What size baby clothes should I buy first in Australia?

Buy lightly in 0000 and load up on 000. Size 0000 fits babies up to about 4kg and typically lasts around six weeks, and some babies skip it entirely. At Yes Mila both sizes sit inside our 0-3M. Size 000 covers 0 to 3 months and 4 to 6kg, which is a much safer place to put your money.

How long does each baby clothing size last?

Roughly: 0000 for six weeks, 000 for three months, 00 for three months, 0 for six months, then sizes 1 and 2 for about six months each. From size 3 onward, which is age two to three, expect around a year per size.

Do I need different clothes for summer and winter in Australia?

In Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern WA, mostly no. You swap a few long-sleeve pieces in for a couple of months. In Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and southern SA, yes, but layering handles it better than heavy garments. A long-sleeve base plus a knit covers most of the year.

What is the most useful thing to buy more of?

Muslin wraps and plain cotton bottoms. Muslin gets used daily for the first year in five different ways, and leggings and pants in sizes 0 to 2 are the pieces that actually wear out rather than getting outgrown.

Work out which band your child is in, buy that table, and skip the rest. Browse the full baby range or the girls and boys collections, with free shipping on Australian orders of $100 or more.