How Much Clothing Do You Keep Per Size/Child

[beaners]

I am drowning in baby/toddler clothes right now.  I'm trying to sort out some things for a garage sale and donating.  How much do I keep? I'm keeping a few favorite outfits, but what about beyond that?

 

I have 2 girls close in age, followed by 2 boys close in age.  We are planning on adopting one or two children within the next year, if things work out.  We have *no idea* at this point what sizes we might need for them.  We're also planning on having more babies at some undefined time in the future.  So I can't just say, "Well, we don't even know if we'll have more kids, so why bother keeping any of it."

 

How many onesies, shirts, pants, dresses, etc do you keep for your babies and kids?

[Hannah]

I'd keep 14 summer outfits and 14 winter outfits for each size and gender. 

As well as a coat, hat, scarf and mittens (if you have that kind of weather) and a swimming costume.

[Kathryn]

I've kept everything so far.

[beaners]

14 outfits sounds reasonable.  I can't keep everything. That's what got me into this mess! :lol:   We have two small sheds for all of our storage space, and I have about a dozen large storage bins not so strategically placed in our living space because the sheds are full. There have been storage bins in my living room and dining room for so long that I don't even "see" them anymore.

[Desert Strawberry]

I keep the things I'd have trouble replacing. 

We get a lot of hand me downs. Our friends have large families. We pass things around all the time. I know if I needed things, I could have a full wardrobe in less than a month. So I don't keep much. 

 

A few special items, and those things are that are harder to find- like fleece jammies. Not easy to find in Louisiana. Baby swimwear. Things like that. 

[prairiewindmomma]

A general rule of thumb:

 

For babies and toddlers: 12-14 outfits

 

For boys:

2 white dress shirts, long sleeved

2 polo shirts

2 dress pants: one navy, one khaki

dress shoes

2 ties

belt

 

4 pairs pajamas

6-8 shirts

4 bottoms in season (either shorts or slacks)

 

For girls:

4 dresses

6-8 shirts

4-6 bottoms (skirts, leggings, jeans, slacks)

 

It works out so that I have 1 56L tub per gender per size.  I've just let go of all of my little boy stuff, and I'm letting go of my baby stuff as preemie baby outgrows it.

 

 

 

 

[Jerico]

I kept all until we were done having children then I got rid of everything as the baby grew out of it. We've talked about adopting but the chances of that are so slim that if it did happen I'd just shop used and get new stuff.

[Laura Corin]

I'd keep 14 summer outfits and 14 winter outfits for each size and gender. 

As well as a coat, hat, scarf and mittens (if you have that kind of weather) and a swimming costume.

I'd do that for very small children who spit up or overflow their nappies.  For older children, seven outfits per season is plenty.  I just cleared out Hobbes' wardrobe and he now has about that.

 

L

[texasmama]

First, take a very critical eye and weed out the things that are worn, have even slight staining, that you never really liked that much, etc.  Then, put the clothing into seasonal and "like" piles - onesies, pajamas, shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, socks, coats.  Then go through and choose a reasonable wardrobe for one child per season.  Also weed out items that seem dated.  If it is 10 years between kids of the same gender like in our family, some of the clothing will be very dated by the time you get around to using them.  Onesies and winter coats never go out of style, but other things do.  You can get underbed plastic storage boxes, which are very handy and utilize space for storage that is often overlooked. 

 

It would bother me a great deal to get rid of things and then have to rebuy them, and I have ample storage space, so take those tips through that filter.  I did not get rid of my boys' clothing until we found out that our last baby was a girl.  I then had 40 boxes of boys' things that I sorted and passed on to others.  Yes, 40.  Some were diaper boxes so they were not large boxes at all, but I have a picture of my youngest son sitting at the top of "clothes mountain" before I got rid of it all.  I also saved my girl clothes until we were done having babies.  My girls are ten years apart in age so the fashions changed quite a bit, but some Laura Ashley dresses and such were very classic and were worn by my 22 year old niece, my 18 year old dd and my 7 year old dd after being passed down.