I just pared down my own clothes after reading the Life Changing Art of Tidying Up, and I've moved to my kids clothing now.
I'm overwhelmed with the amount of clothing my 3 year old and 6 month old have. Almost all of it has been gifts, I rarely buy clothes, yet we are still drowning in kids clothing!
Does anyone have a surefire formula / list for what you have for a season / size?
pineapple / 12566 posts
I think it depends on how messy your kids are and how often you want to do laundry. I probably do laundry twice per week for my LOs, and DD has an outfit change at least 2-3 times per day. I could probably get away with 5-6 tops/bottoms for my 4 yo, but I need double that for my 19 mo, especially if I keep the same laundry pattern.
pear / 1610 posts
I have a hard time with this too! So many clothes. I have a friend who only had like 5-6 outfits per kid per season and would rather do wash more often. I think it can depend on your lifestyle some too and if you need "dressier" clothes for your kids more often. I'm excited to hear tips too!
grapefruit / 4187 posts
We need 7-10 bottoms and 10-15 tops and i also invested in 7 swim outfits this summer because daycare has water play every morning and i dont want to do laundry more than once a week.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
We do laundry once a week. Our boys probably have about 10 outfits per season? So an outfit a day + extras?
For example, here's what Xander (29m) wears weekly in the summer:
3 short rompers
4 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of pants
6 t-shirts
10 pairs of socks
5-6 pjs
2 swim suits (one for daycare, one for home)
Logan (8m):
5-6 short rompers
7 pjs
1 swim suit
Plus they each have spare clothes at daycare (Logan has a romper and pjs, Xander has shorts, t-shirt, and a romper).
nectarine / 2242 posts
@Adira: Thanks this is super helpful! My 6 month old ended up growing much slower than people thought so currently his dresser is FULL of sweaters and long pants in his current size because we thought he'd be wearing them in the spring! Not sure why I haven't just gotten rid of them, I just feel guilty we never even wore them!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I don't think there's any way to follow a formula for kids clothing. I basically buy as little as possible, twice a year, but it means that the clothes get really worn out from the washing.
I've also learned, for example, that my son doesn't want to wear button down shirts, so I don't buy them any more, no matter how cute I think he'd look in them. I also don't buy any "fancy" clothes or sweaters because he won't wear those either.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@HappyBaker: Yeah, I thought Logan would end up reusing most of Xander's clothes, but he's growing at a totally different rate, so I had to buy all new rompers for him this summer because he didn't fit into Xander's old ones. And most of Xander's 9month rompers are fleece, so I had to get Logan all new ones since he's fitting into them during the summer. It's annoying! But one of my best friend's had a baby right after Logan was born, so anything he grows out of (or can't wear for whatever reason), I just pass along to her.
grapefruit / 4649 posts
I just read the book too, kids clothes are on my agenda for today so I have been thinking about this too.
My plan is to go through and do the "spark joy test" and then layout what is left. We have a ton of clothes but most are hand me downs so after I see what I like I am going to lay it out, make outfits, and ditch the stuff that doesn't make an outfit or seems like too much of a duplicate.
I am aiming for 3 nice outfits for going out to dinner etc, 7 cute play outfits, 3-5 back up, play at home kind of outfits, 7 sets of pajamas (she crawls around the bathroom while my husband showers and crawling+water= disgusting pajamas.) I will likely also keep a few outliers- a few cardigans and a sweatshirt and our ridiculously big collection of tutus.
That makes for:
15 outfits
7 sets of pajamas
1 sweatshirt
3 cardigans
Tutus
Probably not minimalist but it works for us, a lot of the outfits will be mix and match as well but for the purposes of laying stuff out my plan is outfits.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Kids clothes are tough!!! Plus you can't really mix and match a lot of items (have you noticed carters pink shades dont ever match up!)
coconut / 8472 posts
My very unscientific method is to buy some clothes all at once for the season, usually at least 7-10 tops and bottoms (laundry once-ish per week). Then if I feel like we're running out of things and having to do laundry too frequently, I get a few more items.
I like to shop consignment stores and sales to get a bunch of fill in clothes for cheap. And the big shopping I do is generally at Carter's with a coupon and at the Gymboree outlet.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
I find this almost impossible to answer. I mean, need? One or two outfits. But realistically? I would say whatever works with how often you do laundry. Maybe start counting what comes out of the dryer.
pomelo / 5678 posts
DD rotates 3 pairs of leggings (that are capris), and about 5-6 dresses. We do laundry everyday. She has MORE clothing as backup, but those are our favorites and in constant rotation.
pomelo / 5093 posts
I tend to go by storage ability. So, I bought my child a small dresser, and it all needs to fit in there. Works really well, and it keeps me from slacking on the laundry too much.
cantaloupe / 6923 posts
Honestly my babies could probably get by with 1 outfit a day per week. But I cant. I need them to have more than they need to have. Lovely book, just not for me 
pear / 1809 posts
I know people have mentioned they go by how often they do laundry, but I also take into account vacations. Earlier this year, we went on an 8 night trip with our son where we did not have access to a washing machine, so I needed at least 9 outfits for him to wear, plus a couple extras in case he got really dirty.
bananas / 9227 posts
For us, it's all about laundry. DD (and it seems all the other little girls at daycare/preschool) insists on changing her clothes at every tiny drop of water. We go through tons of clothes whenever she's actually wearing something. Daycare has 2 or 3 outfits in her cubby and the weather here is always changing so we have a ton of clothes anyway.
pear / 1961 posts
@t.h.o.u.: I hate that about Carters!! I'm pretty picky about what I buy there for that reason...I really prefer to be able to mix and match.
We aren't exactly super minimalist around here, but I do try to keep their wardrobes small. We have enough that I only do laundry once a week (one outfit per day). I was going to list out what we have for my younger LO but it sounds like a lot since we are in CO and need to have everything from sleeveless rompers to sweatshirts. I also like to keep everything out as long as possible so we still have some 3 month leggings (now capris) and cardigans (now 3/4 sleeves) in the mix.
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