9.25.2012

Baby Clothes: Letting Go

**This is a long post.**
If you don't care about kids clothes then skip it.
 But I like reading what other people do...
so I thought I would write down what I did.
And I think it will help me stick to my plan this way too!

I have been sorting through baby clothes.
Deciding what to keep and what to give away can be tough.

Since we kept the sex of Eva a surprise...
we gathered a stockpile of unisex baby clothes.
Tons of stuff.

No one wants to not have enough things for their baby...
and when you are a first time parent - you have no idea what you will need or like.

baby clothes sorting keeping.jpg

So we had piles - t-shirts, onesies, pants, sleepers, sacks...
In every size all the way up to about 12 months.

Then Eva was born...
We were giving clothes as gifts.
Little girl clothes.

And she grew so fast and out of things so fast.
I sorted and cleaned her things and packed them away.
The only things I really let go of were things that had stains or I just didn't like.

If it graced her sweet little baby bootie and it was in decent shape...
I packed it away for our future baby #2, with a sniffle and teary eye.

Baby clothes sorting.jpg

Fast forward to being pregnant with Theodore.

I cracked open those boxes of baby clothes and started to get ready for him.
As I was on my third load of laundry... I realized I had a lot of baby clothes.
Maybe too many baby clothes.

Some of them I remembered Eva wearing and they made me cry a bit.
Seeing those tiny baby girl clothes made me hope for another girl... 
just to see them on a little one again.

Then Theodore was born was born.
He only wore the newborn size a few days...
and all of the little girl things were replaced with little man gear.

Reality, common sense and hormonal balance finally caught up with me
 when he started growing out of the 3 month clothes..
I was drowning in baby clothes.

I had some big realizations...

I put my babies in the same favorite outfits over and over - the rest just sat.
20 onesies, 15 sleepers, and 10 pairs of pants are way too many.
Babies are not born in the same season often, and Eva's things were the wrong size for Theodore.
Family and friends will give you cute clothes that are the right size for the new baby.
I rarely dress babies in clothes that I wouldn't sleep in myself.
Tastes change and the trendy things aren't worth the space.

For the unisex clothes...

I sorted everything by size and type. 
Immediately getting rid of anything Theodore didn't wear, that was stained or wore out.
Then I set a number for each item that seemed reasonable to keep.
I picked out of the pile my favorites until I reached the set number.
Making sure that things were mix-and match color wise.

In newborn size:
6 onesies
3 t-shirts
4 pants
4 sleepers/gowns

In 0-3 month size:
10 onesies
4 t-shirts
6 pants
6 sleepers/gowns
3 sweaters/sweatshirts

For the bigger sizes my unisex stash is less plentiful.
But I am keeping the same "rules" and ditching the rest.
If it is season-less, in good shape and worn a lot, it makes the cut.
But no more than what a baby could wear in a week.

Now for the gender specific clothes:

At first I wasn't going to keep anything.
We are planning on having another baby sometime...
but that would be years from now.

But my heart just needed to keep a few things, 
so I set a number.

3 outfits in each size... 
that I loved to pieces.
That was it.

The things that have already accumulated for Mr. Theodore I also went through.
I made sure it was the right season and something I would dress him in.

Then I made a list of the items he needs in each size on my phone.
I was very specific... 3-6 month sweater in tan or white - 6-9 month green pants.

I went from 7 bursting at the seems storage totes to 3 that aren't half full.
A unisex/maternity/general baby tote that will also hold blankets/swaddles and the like.
Then a boy tote and a girl tote.

For Eva's clothes...
She is wearing a 3T-4T now...
so the 2T stuff has to go.

I donated everything girly.
Everything.
If Theodore can't wear it, it was donated.

At first I thought about keeping a few girly outfits.
But then, I realized that if our possible next baby was a girl...
it would be over 4 years until these clothes would be worn.
If it was a girl.
So away it went.

I took notice of the things that were barely worn...
I will not be buying Eva jeans or really dressy clothes.
She doesn't wear them.

I also made note of the things that were so wore out that I couldn't donate them.
Those items were added to a list of things to buy for this year.
I know she will wear it.

And that it it...
There are bags and bags of donations and some empty totes.

Now I need to tackle my closet... EEEK!

14 comments:

Adrienne said...

I remember after my second turned one...when we'd decided that was it...I put everything out in my dining room and living room and had a 'first come first served' party for anyone from church who wanted free stuff. It was gone in an hour. I'll tell you - we've lived in 13 different places in our almost 30 years...many of them apartments...with two over seas moves. SO...there's not much of anything saved from baby days! Favorite books. A few stuffed animals. Thank goodness for photos!! I regret not saving one newborn and one toddler outfit for each of them...if just to pass down when their turn comes to have a little one!

Noe said...
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Noe said...

You are so neat! I enjoy reading posts like this. I am not even a mom yet. But as we are currently in the TTC journey I'm ashamed to report that I already have an almost full storage box of gender neutral 'stuff' in it, if little swim suits count as gender neutral LOL... I know I shouldn't do it... but I can't help it! I keep on telling my self that I will one day pass it on to my sister or something... like my mom and aunt used to do when we were little.
I should learn from you and keep my self from getting too much, or getting attached to things that I don't actually need.

Sandra Kohlmann said...

I seriously envy your system and your will power. Having twins that were born so tiny and grow so slowly means we they wear clothes for a long, long time. They have clothes they've worn for well over a year. Also, they were fierce spitters from birth to 9 months, so with two of them, we would go through 6-10 onesies every.single.day. Crazy, right?

Since we needed so much stuff, and it was worn for so long, I became attached to almost everything they wore. On top of that, many of their clothes were handmade, so I can't get rid of any of those things. Almost everything else they have has been a gift, and that makes me feel guilty giving it away. Oh, and I LOVED dressing them in all the vintage clothes that my sisters and I wore (my mom saved a lot). I want my kids to have the same experience, if they want it, so I am saving. I actually look forward to the days when they'll play hard enough to wear clothes out, so we don't have to keep them.

So here I am, with a pair of two year olds and 5 large totes stuffed with baby clothes. The upside? We have plenty of storage space in our basement. And I know that I'll be able to use much of it again, if we have a boy. I am the least stylish person I know, so won't have a clue if the clothes are out of style.

Unknown said...

We have so much baby stuff it's ridiculous. I do the same thing as you, put them in my favorite stuff over and over again. Finley mainly wears four sleep sacks over and over because they are her softest pjs. The old Carters snap front sleepers seem rough to me for some reason.

Unfortunately Aubs was born and March and Fin in August so the months are completely off. We have a little bit of leeway because we live in Florida.

My big predicament now is to keep the clothes or not because we are pretty sure we're done at two kids but still "what if"

Kate @ Daffodils said...

I just did the same thing with my boys' clothes! I only kept super special or sentimental outfits and in good condition unisex 0-12m clothes. Everything else I sold/donated. I kept everything from my first and then had another boys in the same season and still didnt reuse many things, so away they went! It feels good to clean out adn know that someone else will get use of them!

Laura said...

Impressive. I' want to cry each time the boys have to go up a size. I've been fortunate that they've been able to share clothes but when Reed graduates to 6-12 they'll be totally off. I'm going to have to force myself to get rid of things!!

Unknown said...

This post is very helpful! Because we have a few extra bedrooms, and tons of closet space, I have been able to save all of Will's things. Bags and bags and bags of them. If we ever have a girl, we will have to start from scratch because everything is all boy in this house!

Kelly said...

Good for you! I am such a baby clothes hoarder. I wonder if my boys will even be able to wear any of the same infant clothes because of how different the seasons will be. I have an entire closet full of boxes of baby clothes that I just can't part with yet until I know whether or not they will fit h2o. I guess after he comes it's time to get serious and donate what we don't need! I don't have room for all that stuff ;)

Adriel Booker said...

Not sure if you already have a plan but we're going to be gathering baby bundles to take to PNG. It might not be in your budget to ship to Australia but thought I'd throw it out there just in case. ;) And wow, your system is amazing!!!!

Unknown said...
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