What is your strategy for keeping the amount of toys in your house under control, especially if you are saving some for a future sibling?
Have you done a big purge (with or without kid involvement)? Get rid of them one at a time every so often? Just keep them super organized?
watermelon / 14467 posts
I try to keep them very organized because we live in a small space and don't have a dedicated playroom. But it's a losing battle. I need to go through and create better storage in their room/closet because the toys can't continue to live in my living room once we have an infant.
cherry / 175 posts
Bins bins and more bins! I buy the clear plastic ones and sort out the toys for what ds will currently play with and take out a few at a time and keep the rest in a closet/basement. The baby toys I store in big colored tubs for baby #2 and have them in a corner where ds can't be curious about them and try to play with them again. I honestly can't wait to purge some of these toys though.
coconut / 8472 posts
The things that bug me most are the toys with lots of little parts. For example, DS got a tool set with a bunch of random little things and tools in it. He doesn't really play with it, just occasionally likes to walk around with the screw driver. Most everything else can be neatly put away in our playroom. I do have a few small baskets for the small toys that can stay there.
Every so often I go in the playroom and I gather up all of the tiny piece toys (or anything else) that are driving me nuts that don't get played with and I put them in a big bin like this - http://www.containerstore.com/s/storage/bins-baskets/elephant-canvas-bin-by-3-sprouts/12d?productId=10032607
The bin lives in our guest room closet. I will also take bigger toys that don't get any use out of the playroom and put them in the same closet. When DS is bored, I'll go grab some things from the bin or closet and see if the novelty will interest him. Or I'll let him pick some stuff.
For the future sibling stuff I got a smaller square bin from Target and pulled out all of the baby toys from the big bin and put them in it, and stuck it in the nursery. Eventually I'll need to bring that down to the playroom too, I guess. We don't do much playing in the bedrooms. Once those toys are outgrown, they'll go in a bag for give away.
We could probably do a better job of rotating, especially with a new baby coming next month. But this at least is easy for now. And I've found he plays with his toys more if he's not overwhelmed by sheer volume and clutter.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
let me start off by saying that no one would look at my place and think that i actually had things under control. however, i'd like to think that i keep it a few degrees less than total toy apocalypse by using lots of bins and baskets. i also have a good number of toys stored away in a closet because i started the toy rotation thing (but didn't get very far), and if LO wants to bring something out from the closet, something else has to go in.
grapefruit / 4903 posts
I try to limit the number of toys that come in to begin with (only at holidays) and store the toys that are no longer age appropriate in the attic. I rotate some of the toys as well, keeping those not in use in a closet. They have plenty of toys, but I find they play with them and enjoy them more when there are smaller quantities out in any given room.
honeydew / 7463 posts
I try to keep it organized and every 2-3 months I look and see what junk we've accumulated in the toy box (party favor type of stuff) and immediately junk it. Then as I see things he's outgrown but I'd like to keep just in case there's another baby someday, I put them in storage.
My gonna lie, most of the things my MIL buys don't make it to storage 
But she's so excessive she'd never notice.
I donate anything in good shape (which is most).
I have to be pretty cutthroat because we're in an apartment.
If there's a toy I'm undecided on, maybe one that was in the back of the toy bin and I'm not sure if he wants it, I put it out in the evening or during a nap and see how he reacts when he gets up. If he's not interested I donate.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I don't have the discipline to rotate, my son has had access to everything, all the time. I do a donation round once or twice a year, either to families with smaller kids or to my son's school if the stuff is in good shape and has all the pieces. Otherwise, I recycle what I can and send the rest to the dump. There's no point in sending puzzles with missing pieces to Goodwill, IMO.
But really, the best defense is being careful about what I allow into the house. It's a lot easier to control that flow, than the outflow, because my son can not part with his stuff.
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