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I made a lot of mistakes when I was first setting up my son's wardrobe. I didn't listen to what experienced moms were telling me, which was buy what you need when you need it and keep it simple.

I had tons of jeans, button down shirts, over the head sweaters, shoes, none of it worn and all of it expensive, because hey, little stuff is so cute.

Now, I know what I am buying, I know which pants work, which shirts will be worn. I do buy one or two "special occasion" outfits per year, but more often than not, I have my son in comfort clothes. I also buy multiples of shoes, boots and outerwear since those are often needing to be washed.

I definitely have this problem with hand me downs- it's getting a little easier now that we've figured out a few things though. I used to save the stuff that was "fine" and basically the only purpose or ever served was clothing my child on the days where I was woefully behind on laundry. I also kept getting like we had plenty so I wouldn't buy much but then I'd realize we had major gaps in her wardrobe- like I know my friend would buy shirts and leggings in sets but the leggings would rarely make it to us because they'd wear out so much faster or he girls would grow out of the shirts first so we'd get the leggings in a different batch of clothes.

Now when we get a load of hand me downs I do an initial sort and ditch everything I don't love. As her girls get bigger the donate pile grows because they do lots of character stuff and we don't. When I am ready to get ready for the next season I pull out everything again plus the stuff I may have purchased in advance and purge again both as I go and after I find matches. Some stuff I make a list of things that need matches. I still end up with an abundance most of the time but it is at least all usable!

I really don't, but it helps that we don't get hand me downs from anyone. My mom will occasionally pick up stuff for him (DS 18m) at a consignment store or on sale, but she always checks with me before buying to see if it's something he needs.

We are lucky that we live in a warm year round climate (Florida) where he can almost always wear shorts and t-shirts, so it's easy to buy larger sizes on sale.

I am also crazy about making sure his clothing is super soft and comfy and easy to move in. I don't like seeing kids in stiff or uncomfortable clothes. So I'm kind of picky about what he wears. And it's very hot where we live, so everything has to be lightweight and not tight. I have a hard time finding shorts that meet this criteria and have a loose waistband. Plus he naps in his clothes at daycare so I want them to be comfy for that. AND stuff that I'm okay getting dirty at school.

He has a few "nicer" pieces of clothing in each size like for church and stuff (like polo shirts), but that's about it. He doesn't have stylish/brand name stuff, but I don't care.

If people were giving us boxes of hand me downs, I would for sure get rid of most of it. I don't have space. Lol.

Yes and no. We are the ones giving away to friends everything he has outgrown, not receiving hand-me-downs! So I dont have anything "ahead" - everything in his closet I have purchased (plus a gift here or there) in his current size, which is 18-24 month. That said, I still have too much. Haha. But it's my own fault. When you're one and done you can justify to yourself a lot of spending, unfortunately!