Here are my tips for dealing with kids clothes. I have been very blessed to receive many hand-me-down clothes from family and friends. It is almost a full time job sometimes dealing with them. When you purchase clothing from the store you can buy the correct size for the season and most likely your child will be wearing them immediately or at the coming season. When you receive hand-me-downs it is a wide variety of items!
Closet size dividers are great for the first year. I made my own or you can purchase them most baby stores. I sized the clothes by: 0-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 9-12m. The newborn clothes were in his dresser and if an item said 6-12m size I put it in the 3-6m location. Better to see it sooner than later and it was too small.
The thing that I didn't realize as a new mom was that once he reached the 12m size clothing that he might be able to wear his clothes more than one season. The 12m t-shirts fit him snugger for a more trendy look, but I had purchased a handful of t-shirts at the end of the last season that were 18m size. These t-shirts I am planning to layer with in the fall. I was able to score a bunch of long sleeve t-shirts (that I hated the fronts) for really cheap. Also, shorts if they are long enough for boys (we don't want nerdy short shorts happening) can last more than one summer.
For example, Owen's waist is so narrow if he is in a disposable diaper his 12m shorts might fall off! He is also wearing 0-3m gap swim trunks, 9m polo swim trunks...etc! See what I mean. It is hard to organize all these little clothes! If I had put up his swim trunks I could have ended up messing myself up and he would have had to purchase more!
What I am realizing now is that it is easier to organize his closet by season. The smaller stuff does go towards the front of his closet and the larger items the back. The top rack is the season we are currently on. So right now, all shorts, short sleeved items, summer pjs etc are on the top rack. That rack might range 9m-2T. If I have received hand-me-downs that are much larger they go on the opposite side of the closet to be dealt with later. The bottom rack then becomes fall/winter including coats, jeans, sweaters, long sleeved shirts etc.
I have also found it is easier to fold the pants and shorts. I have a bin on the floor that I size the items, put a rubber band around all of them and then use a piece of paper with the size on them so later I can easily identify the size.
Tips on hand-me-down clothes. My newbie mom mistake was to wash everything and sort as I pulled from the dryer. Now, I know better. Sort items and then wash before putting in his closet (will save you some laundry!). This is because there are some things that I will NEVER put on my son. This might be winnie the pooh, stained or damaged clothing. If I really like the item that is stained I will try and get it out. Usually, I have great success with a week long oxy clean soak, a regular wash and dry in the sun. If it still doesn't come out, it goes back in the bin to hand to the next person (I would normally not save the items as other suggested, but my in-laws might freak out if I accidentally got rid of a family heirloom!)
Another tip is to create some bins/drawers for the following categories.
- swim items
- hats
- bibs
- shoes
- nursing items
- keepsake items
For instance, when we went to the pool for the first time I might have forgotten items, but since it was all in one place and most was hand-me-down stuff from other mom's they usually had everything we needed!
Also, when Owen out grows some shoes my first thing is to look through the shoe bin and usually we can find what we need! I have had to purchase chucks b/c they are just too darn cute!
This is the bottom of his closet. The green bin I put the clothes I want to save for future children. I will sometimes put items that were out of season for Owen that were so adorable. The diaper box under the clothes I put the items that Owen never wore or that I didn't like on him. For example, after he could sit up I didn't prefer onsies anymore.
I hope some of these tips helped you! Or you enjoyed looking into my over organized brain!~hehe!
