What is the best way to organize and store outgrown baby clothes? I recently asked myself the question about storing old baby clothes as I was putting away the clothes that no longer fit my daughter. Although she is only fourteen months old, my daughter already wears 24 month and 2T sizes. I therefore needed to move the smaller clothing out of her dresser and closet to make room for the clothes that fit her now.
If Poppy were for certain the last child that my husband and I would have, I would have tossed most of the outgrown baby clothes into a bag, keeping only the special outfits, and donated the lot to a thrift store. However, my husband and I are planning on having at least one other baby sometime in the future. I therefore wanted to keep at least some of the too small baby clothing.
My first step for organizing the outgrown baby clothes was to separate the outfits that I really wanted to keep from the outfits that I was not in love with. If I were to have another daughter, I would definitely put her in hand-me-downs. However, I would also want to buy her a few special pieces of her own like newborn baby shoes. I therefore weeded out any clothes that I did not absolutely love. Everything else went to a thrift store or a friend whose daughter is younger and smaller than Poppy.
Of the outgrown baby clothes that I decided to keep, I then organized each piece by size. Previously I had just been tossing all of the too small clothes in one large plastic container. To organize everything, however, I put all the clothes of the same size into paper bags marked with the size. I then put the full paper bags inside the plastic container. If I have another daughter, I can easily pull out the clothes by size without having to rifle through every single outfit that Poppy ever wore.
As my daughter continues to outgrow her baby clothes, I will continue to organize the pieces that I want to keep by size. The plastic container of outgrown baby clothes is now safely stored in my basement. The too small clothing will be kept neat, clean, and organized until needed at a future date.
What do you do with the baby clothes that your children have outgrown?
Image Credits
Container of Jumbled Baby Clothes 2013 Heather Johnson
Container of Baby Clothes Organized by Size 2013 Heather Johnson