how many pieces of clothing or baby items does a newborn really need?  

..hi.. when I gave birth, I breastfeed my baby so I didn't buy any bottle.. then I remember, I had only a few pairs of shirts, pants, caps, gloves, and booties.. well, 6 pieces of each is fine because sometimes, there are babies who easily sweat and they have to be changed immediately to avoid their sweats being absorbed by their body again that could cause them to feel uneasy.. for the bottles, I guess two is fine.. a dozen is too much..

Newborns have a few basic needs. Their waredrobes don'tr need to be huge yet. There is time to build on that. A few blankets and onesies and sleeper sets will often do the trick.

all the infant's clothes my baby used were all hand-me-downs so i didn't bother to count. but as far as i remember i used to change her clothes three times in a day and long sleeves when she sleep and sometimes it depends when she throw up or whatever messy thing she may encounter during the day or night

the bottles...i only bought three cause i did nursing but then we added three again as months passed by and that was enough.

When I had my first daughter, I didn't have to buy anything. Since she was the first baby in my family since...well..me and also on my husband's side. There was enough clothes and materials given to me.

My second daughter, who just turned 10 months by the way, could use all the hand me downs from her older sister. Some of them were even not worn yet.

I love the onesies when they are little.

If I had to go buy myself, I would probably buy 3 or 4 onesies and depending on the season, some warm clothes. I used muslin clothes a lot, but since they are so light, 3 of those would have been good.

i like to have loads of sleepsuits and vests,because babies do tend to be sick quite a lot and instead of mopping it up i liked to just change them,i also had a couple of pairs of trousers and a few tops

Hi Ritchelle,
My son is just 4mos old, when I gave birth, I didn't but half dozen nor a dozen of clothes. I bought 2sets of each, 2onesies, 2 comfortable shirt,2 bibs, 2 pajama and 2 everything. My mom says, baby grow fast, so it's better if you didn't spend to much for clothes, it's best to keep the money to buy formula, or to save for the future.
By the way, if you happen to be organizing baptismal for your baby, lots of people will give you lots of clothes too. :P (just a thought)

Pity it doesn't stay that way. My daughter will be three towards the end of the month. I do at least 1 load of wash a day and sometimes as much as three.... How does someone so small go through so many clothes and leave such a giant mess behind her?

New born babies really needs few basics things which are necessary for the them like cotton clothes,gloves,booties,blankets and sleeper sets.They need at least more than a half dozen.To make them comfortable.