We have gifted and hand-me-down clothes/toys he's not yet grown into in a big bin in the closet, but can't figure out how to organize clothes as he grows out of them. We're expecting to have more kids so I want to save everything.
Any tips? Is it worth the trouble to carefully organize everything by size/season? Right now it's all just in a jumble in my own dresser, lol.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I have a ton of hand me down clothes; I only organized through 6 months (DD is due soon) and then I plan to swap out and organize the rest. For now everything else is organized within a giant bin in the closet.
persimmon / 1386 posts
I have a lot of clothes for DD; enough to fill a large plastic bin for each size. I think having it organized by size will be super helpful when I need to pull them back out for DD#2.
apricot / 268 posts
I've seen some really great hand-me-down organization tips on Pinterest. Before I had my LO, I got a bunch of clothes that my nieces had outgrown. Many things that I didn't get around to organizing ended up getting misplaced or not seen until after LO had grown out of them. I'd say it's definitely worth taking the time to sort now, rather than when you're juggling two kiddos!
nectarine / 2521 posts
I made up 3 totes and taped on the sides what size range (from newborn - 9 months) and filled each tote and stored in the closet. Beyond 9 months it's become a bit of a jumbled mess...
grapefruit / 4903 posts
Ours are in space bags, separated by size with an index card indicating size in the front. The bags are stacked in a tote in LO's closet.
persimmon / 1458 posts
I put in large plastic bins labeled on the outside with size. I have gotten lazy with labeling and organizing and it's such a mess. It's so much easier to organize from the get go.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Plastic tote for every size. I have ones for 2t, 3t, and 4t waiting on her.
pomelo / 5326 posts
I have put all her clothes in plastic vacuum sealed bags and labelled with the size.
bananas / 9357 posts
I would definitely at least organize by size. I have 2 large totes. I put each size in a garbage bag and tape a note on the outside with the size written on it.
bananas / 9973 posts
I used Ziploc vacuum sealed bags, stuck a paper with sizes inside each bag (and maybe things they contain if not just clothing). I recently went through and did this because I was worried about silverfish and moths. It really saved a lot more space too! Then I have them stored in plastic bins in the attic. Also labeled with sizes and/or contents on the outside. Sort of like this.
grapefruit / 4731 posts
Space bags!! 
@shopaholic: *bows to you* You are so organized! I'm pretty much in trouble when LO 2 comes ... ruffling through my space bags. Haha.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
i put them in vacuum seal bags. but ending up giving them all to a friend when we had a girl!
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Everything is in plastic totes by size. It was definitely worth it to me, especially now with baby #2 on the way. I already took one bin's worth of clothes and washed them and it was nice to know I just had to open that one bin to get the size I need. Once he's wearing the largest size from the first bin, I'll open the next bin to wash those clothes. It was kind of a pain buying all the bins and organizing them, but I definitely think it's worth it.
grapefruit / 4213 posts
We didn't get too many hand-me-downs because LO is the first of family and friends. But I store her outgrown clothes in plastic bins labeled by size: 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, etc. When things get tight or short and stop fitting as well I stick them in the way back of the shelves in her wardrobe. That way I only have to transfer the small clothes to a bin all at once and they are clean and folded already.
bananas / 9973 posts
@Raindrop: lol, thanks! I wish I could be so organized for my own stuff! But yes to the space saver bags!
eggplant / 11287 posts
Do the space saver bags/vacuum sealed bags leave the clothes very wrinkled?
nectarine / 2220 posts
We're also in plastic totes by size. Her 0-3 stuff is in two totes, one "girly" and one gender neutral, since I assume we'll be team green again for any future babies.
Usually just as I bring out the next size up bin, it's ready to be filled up with outgrown stuff.
pineapple / 12566 posts
I use vacuum bags, although, I try to weed out the stuff I don't like or things that are stained beforehand, so we don't have *that* many clothes in storage. My younger LO is the opposite sex of LO1, so I do get rid of a lot of the really boyish stuff.
@Rainbow Sprinkles: things are pretty wrinkled, but it's not like set in creases. That said, I always wash clothes after taking them out of storage. Maybe if I were more careful about neatly folding and stacking the clothes before vacuum sealing, they might be less wrinkled.
squash / 13208 posts
I get lost of hand me downs - everything is in Rubbermaid totes by size and season
for example:
DS - winter 5T
DS - Summer 5T
DD - Winter 3T
DD Summer 3T
Its a pain to sort but so worth it when it comes time to switch out their clothes for new stuff
apricot / 364 posts
Another plastic totes by size person. It's so convenient to store and don't worry about damaging them. It's also been nice because I have a friend who fosters so if the current child is in a size I have it's easy to let her borrow stuff since I can actually find it.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
@shopaholic: wow that's organized!
I just put ours in totes halfway by size.
honeydew / 7235 posts
@shopaholic: you are my inspiration! I need to do this one weekend.
All of my extra clothes are in boxes or a pile in his closet totally disorganized.
papaya / 10343 posts
I keep two bins going. One for special outfits I want to save and one for the rest (which I offload on friends with younger babies). I don't know if we're having another baby or not but I figure the odds of us having another girl AND the seasons being right are low so I don't want to store stuff. Especially because I'm sure if I had another girl I'd get hand me downs from friends again (possibly some of my own stuff that made it back around lol) or I could just go to garage sales. Baby clothes are too cheap to keep anything that isn't sentimental to me.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
Totes with months/seasons marked on them. Keeps everything organized. I can't wait to sell/donate all the clothes after this one, they take up so much room!
pomegranate / 3604 posts
I have a mix of totes and empty pampers boxes. Blankets, newborn/0-3, 3-6/6-9/6-12**, 9-12. And he's currently in 12-18/18-24.
**For me LO#1 fit 3-6 month for well beyond 6 months....some stuff he was wearing until at least 10-11 months! So I boxed everything that he wore for that period together.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
We just toss outgrown stuff into Rubbermaid tubs. It's not sorted yet, but when I get pregnant again, we'll go through it.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
@shopaholic: That's awesome. I just Googled silverfish, Good Lord woman!!!! Ha. I think I'd love in a vacuum bag if I saw one of those.
bananas / 9973 posts
@Bao: @hellobeeboston: @Mrs. J: @littlejoy: lol, thanks ladies. Yeah, until recently, I just had them in bins with sizes, but we started seeing more and more silverfish lately. Those suckers can live for years on NOTHING. Gave me the heebeejeebees (sp?)
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