Staying organized--Clothing

You know, it is really hard to stay organized when you have a baby! If you are like me with a slight case of OCD, it can be nerve-racking. That being said, I have learned a few things I wanted to pass on to all moms. The next few posts will be a series on how I stayed/got organized after my baby was born.

The first topic:  

BABY CLOTHES!  How to ensure your baby wears every article of clothing they are given without going nuts

First: Don't put all the baby clothes in the closet or the dresser or wherever you are keeping them! ONLY have out the clothes in the size your baby currently wears. Yes, all the clothes are cute and you want to make sure you put your baby in each outfit, but you can become severely overwhelmed by the shear volume of articles of clothing.

This was something I learned on the fly. We started getting clothes for Emma from family and friends pretty early on. So--once her closet was put in--I sectioned everything out by size. I hung up all the jackets and one-piece outfits, put all the onesies in the dresser, and so on. I had everything up through size 12months put away in her room. Then she was born. And I felt like I was swimming in her clothes! They were all put away neatly. Everything was organized. But I was still overwhelmed. When she was about 3 weeks old I decided I had had enough. I went to my favorite store and bought two clear 20 gallon storage containers.

Mine are clear so I can see the clothes, but has a pink lid. The handles were very important to me, so I splurged a little on the containers.

Then I went through all of her clothes. I kept out anything size "Newborn" or size "0-3 months." Everything else was grouped together by size and put in the containers. I had tons!! I had to sort those into two groups because we had so many. All clothes up to 9months are in one container and the other is for everything 12months and up. (And yes, we already have a LOT of things size 2T/24months! lol)

As Emma outgrew things, I would change them out. About every 6 weeks I am going through her stuff because some things are size 3Months whereas others are size 3-6 months. (And yes, this frustrates the heck out of my OCD self because her clothing separators in her closet are "0-3months," "3-6months," "6-9months," etc. vs "newborn," "3months," "6months," "9months," etc.) As I put her stuff away, I sort it again! haha This time I sort into four groups:

• Clothes to give to her cousin who will be here in like 2 weeks. (YAY!)
• Clothes to keep for the next baby (AT A LATER DATE! lol) just in case we end up having another girl.
• Clothes to toss because they were ruined somehow--probably because we had faulty/defective diapers for a while.
• And then clothes to use for her future quilt. These are items which, every time I look at them, I can only see my baby girl in them. I can't imagine putting them on another baby--even if I do have another daughter. These are special to Emma and I want to make a quilt for her when she's about a year old of patches from her clothes, jammies, felt "diapers" from her baby shower, and other pieces like that.

Top: Items for her quilt. Middle: All the items she has outgrown already & we are keeping. Bottom: All clothes size 12months and up

So yeah, this takes a fairly decent amount of time, and you have to make sure you are constantly going through everything. You can't just take a stack of onesies, tie a ribbon (or string, whatever) around them, and toss them into the container. No way! You have to make sure the things you are putting away are things your baby cannot wear anymore. You do NOT want to constantly be going through things you have put away.

For example, every six weeks I have to go through ALL of Emma's pants. This is because she seems to be a size smaller in her pants than in her onesies or her dresses. She is almost 7 months old now, but I JUST put her in her 6 months pants. So her 3 month and 3-6 month pants were still in her dresser. And you also have to take into consideration that every brand is sized different. So while most of her onesies/shirts/dresses are size 6 month and working towards 6-9 month, she does have a few onesies that are 3-6 month.

Second: Only do the baby's laundry once (max TWICE) a week. At least at first. The problem is every outfit your child was given is probably adorable. You slip that shirt over their head, poke their little hands through the arms, pull those pants up and ... AWWW!! They suddenly make that outfit "One of [your] absolute favorites!" You are going to want to see your baby in that outfit again and again and again. And if you do laundry every day or so, the likelihood of you putting your baby in a repeat is higher. The more often your baby wears the same outfit, the less likely they are to get through the mountain of newborn and 0-3 month clothes.

Speaking of laundry: just go ahead and buy the baby detergent. Seriously. Yeah, I know it's a little pricey. I know they say the "Free and Clear" stuff is just as good. But it's not. Trust me. You want their clothes to stay soft and cuddly as long as possible. The baby detergent will do that so much better than the stuff we use on our own clothes. And it just smells like... well like Baby! PLUS: If you are following the tip above, than you are only doing laundry like 4-6 times a month. And, unless you have a diaper explosion and need to treat before you wash an item, you really only need to use a small amount. I never fill the cap passed the "1" marking. Well, I do if I have her high chair cover in there, but that's another thing entirely! haha Even then  I only fill to the "2." So a bottle of baby detergent can last you a really long time. They run about $16 a container. Emma is almost 7 months old. We aren't even halfway through a second container. So that comes down to, what?, $40 a year to keep your baby's clothes soft and smelling good? I think it's worth it. Plus, I figure this detergent was tested SPECIFICALLY for baby clothes use. The other stuff wasn't. So even though it says it's free and clear of those harsh chemicals and what not, is it really the safest thing to use on something that will be next to your baby's skin all day? I don't know about that. I'll stick to my baby detergent. That's just me though.

Third: When you do get around to doing the laundry, make sure you put the freshly cleaned clothes and such UNDER the clothes already in the drawers. For those things you are hanging in the closet, put them to the RIGHT of the "section." I have Emma's hanging clothes sorted by type: jackets, shirts, dresses, all-in-one outfits, etc. Once she wears a shirt, I will hang it up and put it to the far right side of the "shirts" section.

You see, you are more likely to pull a shirt or onesie or pair of pants from the top than sort and sift through a whole bunch trying to find that one thing you remember your baby looked so cute in. So by placing things which have already been worn on the bottom, you are increasing the chance of finding an adorable shirt that will become your new all-time favorite. 

The same is true of hanging clothes. You may not realize it, but we tend to scan clothes racks the same way we read: from left to right. You start on the left side and the first cute shirt or jacket or whatever you come to is usually the one you put on your baby. By placing the items they have already worn on the right, you are again increasing your chances of having your baby wear every item!

So come on now. Let's see the baby in another really cute outfit!

Your baby is going to have a LOT more newborn and 3 month clothes than any other size--maybe even more than the other sizes COMBINED! Everyone wants to see the new baby in something they got him or her, and they would rather see it sooner versus later. Who can blame them? They spent (probably) a lot of money on the outfit(s); they deserve to see the baby in it/them. Avoid the pitfall that is "The 'AWWW' Effect"!

EXCEPTIONS:

That being said, you also have to allow for "Exceptions to the Rules." As far as I can tell right now, there are three. First is the: "Christmas/ Thanksgiving/ Halloween/ New Year... Whatever" onesies and other items. Sure. Your baby may still fit in them. But are you really going to want to stroll around the mall in January with your baby wearing an orange onesie that says "My Daddy is under my spell"? No. Of course not. Halloween is over. If it's January, then Valentine's Day is approaching. So go ahead and toss the holiday themed items into the containers. Hold onto them because they are cute (you can always put them in a scrapbook or scrap-quilt if the next baby isn't on the same "schedule" as this baby), but you do not need them taking up valuable space in your nursery.

Another exception? Jackets. I think of baby jackets like I do my own: I always get them a size bigger than I do my shirts. Why? Well because if I am wearing a jacket, then I am obviously going to layer. And if my shirt is the same size as my jacket, then something is going to be too tight and I am going to be uncomfortable. So, that being said: If Emma is in size 6 month onesies and shirts, then I pull out her 9 month jackets. I will still keep her 6 month ones out, just in case, but I rarely go to those when I am picking out an outfit for her. Those are more likely to go in the diaper bag for emergencies. 

The final exception pertains to those with daughters: Get as much use out of the dresses as you can! Especially the summer ones. I still have some of Emma's 3 month summer dresses in her closet. Why? Because I put a pair of pants under it and suddenly it is a shirt. If it is really cold (or the dress is sleevless) you can add a long sleeve onesie under it as well. Conversely, bring out the winter dresses a little early so you can do layering. Put a short sleeve onesie under a sweater dress that's a size bigger and the baby won't feel as constricted (i.e. the jacket effect again). Voila! You have an extra 3 months of wear available to you! Genius, huh? LOL This way, once the pickings become a little slimmer, you can reuse those cute summer dresses in the winter. 

Okay. That's all I have on baby clothes for now. Hopefully these tips will work for you. Maybe you will find yourself a little less stressed by the mountain of clothes. Maybe you will actually be able to say "My baby wore every single thing they were given!" 

Or maybe you just got a good chuckle out of my frazzled state!