How to get a bodysuit over a newborn’s head

Why the neckline looks strange

Look at a baby bodysuit and you will often see that the shoulders overlap, like the flap of an envelope. That is deliberate. A newborn’s head is very large compared with their body, and their neck can’t yet hold it up. The overlapping “envelope” shoulders let the neckline stretch much wider than it looks, so it can pass over the head without squashing the face or ears.

Once you know how to use it, the over-the-head bodysuit stops being scary. It just takes a few practice goes, ideally when your baby is calm and fed.

Step by step

• With the clean nappy on, lay your baby on their back on a changing mat, on the floor or with one hand always on them.
• Gather the bodysuit from the bottom edge up to the neckline, so it becomes a ring of fabric in your hands.
• Stretch the neckline wide using the envelope shoulders, with your fingers inside the ring.
• Slide it over the back of your baby’s head first, lifting their head slightly with one hand if needed, then bring the front forward over the forehead and down past the nose and chin, keeping the fabric stretched away from the face.
• Gather one sleeve, put your fingers through from the cuff, hold your baby’s hand and draw the sleeve over the arm. Repeat on the other side.
• Pull the body of the bodysuit down over the tummy, lift the legs gently and bring the back flap down under the bottom.
• Fasten the poppers between the legs, making sure they meet without pulling.

If your baby hates it

Many newborns cry when something passes over their face, even for a second. Keep that moment as short as you can by stretching the neckline really wide and moving in one smooth movement. Talk to them as you do it, and cover their tummy with a muslin while you sort out the sleeves so they don’t feel cold and exposed.

If it upsets them every time, simply use bodysuits and sleepsuits that open at the front for the first few weeks. Many parents switch to over-the-head bodysuits later, once their baby has better head control.

Tops with shoulder buttons

Buttons on the shoulder open the neckline even further, which makes over-the-head tops much easier on small babies. The top in our Oatmeal Teddy Ribbed Top & Jogger Set has two shoulder buttons for exactly this reason, and the sweater in the Sage Cable-Knit Teddy Sweater & Jogger Set also has shoulder buttons. Undo the buttons before you start, put the top on the same way as a bodysuit, and fasten them once it is on. These sets suit the weeks after the cord stump has fallen off, over a bodysuit.

Check shoulder buttons each time you dress your baby. They should be firmly stitched, with no loose threads, so there is nothing small that could come off.

Taking it off again

The envelope neckline also works in reverse. After a nappy leak, rather than pulling a soiled bodysuit up over your baby’s face, you can stretch the neck wide and ease it down over the shoulders, down the body and off the legs.

For everything else about the first wardrobe, including how many bodysuits to have, see our newborn clothes checklist.

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