Nursery organization question - STM's??

epaprn · July 2014

How are you guys organizing the baby clothes? We have a 6 drawer dresser and a small closet. Between the shower and my friends and SIL's hand me downs, we have a TON of clothes. I had wanted to use one of the drawers in the dresser for diapers and wipes since the top of the dresser won't have a ton of room once the changing pad is on it with a little basket of creams, etc. I have a drawer filled with 0-3 onsies and t-shirts. One drawer with 0-3 outfits, one with 3-6 outfits and one with 6-12 sizes, one with sizes 12-24mo. I have a bunch of blankets, burp cloths, bibs, washcloths, hats and socks that I need to do something with. Our linen closet is already packed to the brim and is the size of a shoebox. We also have boxes of diapers, wipes, the k'Tan, the Ergo, the bouncie seat, the play mat - all of which I have in the tiny closet. There is one rod in the closet, and I plan to get this for the closet to add more space, but I'm not sure I will be hanging much on it until she's older? https://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/closetAccessories?productId=10000195 I also plan to get some under bed bins to put blankets and maybe winter items/off season items in and put under the crib. I realize this is an individual question, but, maybe some STM's can help with what you needed close at hand, and what could be packed away?

Irisheyes1247 · July 2014

Well if I were you, I would pack away all the bigger outfits until you actually need them.

We have a dresser w 3 drawers and a side cupboard. The top drawer was diapers, cream, socks, tights, white onesies (used as undershirts). Middle drawer was outfits (tops paired w bottoms, because most little clothes come as an outit, so I kept them together to make it easier) and the bottom drawer was jammies and sleep sacks. Side cupboard had burp cloths, washcloths, small blankets.

suitern · July 2014

I would pack away the larger clothes and label the tubs/bags with what size they are. For now I would organize your newborn and 0-3 month clothes until you see how big your LO will be. I folded/rolled everything instead of hanging stuff for DS. With little miss, I will probably be hanging at least her dresses and rompers, but folding everything else.

Irisheyes1247 · July 2014

I hang a lot of things, because it saves me drawer space, but we've always had a lot of dresses so it makes sense.

LTMama · July 2014

We have a six-drawer dresser in the nursery. Top drawers - one was toiletries etc (with a child lock on it), butt paste, all that stuff. Other was burp cloths, diapers, bibs, etc.

Underneath we had onesies, outfits (put together for ease of use), jammies, socks, legwarmers, etc. Bottom drawers were receiving blankets, sleep sacks, bulky things like that.

We just kept out current size stuff and put everything away, sorted by size. Once she needed new sizes then we'd pull out the new stuff and swap out what was in her drawers - keeping multiple sizes in her dresser didn't really work, not enough room. Definitely store and label clothes that LO isn't fitting into yet. That makes it easy to grab the next size up when you're ready for it. Plus if you put those size clothes back in labeled bins once you're done with them, it makes it easy to use them for either your next kiddo, or to give away to friends.

We didn't really hang much of her stuff, still don't. Her dresses get folded into a drawer now, too, since she likes to pick her outfits in the morning and she can't reach hanging stuff.

hizah05 · July 2014

Yep, like everyone else, put away the bigger outfits. I only kept in his dresser the size he was in at the time and still do. I keep anything bigger in the closet until he can wear it.

As he grew out of stuff I put them in totes by size. It's awesome now that we are having a second boy because I have about 10 totes of clothes and all the sizes are together. So now I'm just keeping then that way and will get out clothes as needed.

Jayhawkali · July 2014

We never hung anything and still don't

SingleMom31 · July 2014

We also have a six drawer dresser for our 18 month old. We had 1. Diapers, creams, little stuff; 2. Changing pad covers & PJs; 3. Socks, mittens, bibs, and burp clothes; 4 & 5. Outfits (we got more once she was born, so even though it was only one size, it filled two drawers); 6. Blankets, sleep sacks, misc.

I second PPs who boxed up the bigger sizes. If you're short on space, we use the Ziploc space bags - they're simple to use and help a bit.

mrsdanielleM2010 · July 2014

This is a great thread! Baby boy will have a 6 drawer wide dresser, a bookcase with some baskets, and no closet space. (Dh uses the closet in that room).

We will also have one of the plastic drawer organizers like the picture here: https://m.target.com/p/sterilite-3-drawer-large-cart-white/-/A-13981330?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&LNM=13981330&CPNG=Furniture&kpid=13981330&LID=30pgs&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=13981330&gclid=CIKVnLrewr8CFQMT7AodY04A-g

Our plan: two top drawers one for diaper stuff and toiletries, one for cloth diapers.

Next two for clothes - one for outfits one for separate pieces and pjs

Bottom two - one for sleep sacks and blankets, and the last for whatever I need more space for I guess.

I don't know what I'll organize into the plastic drawers yet, and the baskets in the bookcase will have his toys in them.

rlyttle · July 2014

With DS we hung up 90% of his clothes. We have huge closets though. The only clothes I put in drawers were the onsies and undershirts. I put all of the supplies (cream, wipes, ect) in the drawers. I have a diaper stacker hanging from the door knob in the nursery and it holds a lot of diapers. I keep all of the extra boxes of diapers in the closet. I already have the swing, playmat, and bouncer set up in the room.

Djcieply · July 2014

Im probably on the opposite spectrum DS has a mediocre sized closet and our old dresser(only 3 drawers but long) and a chest of drawers (5 drawers but tall and narrower) in his room, so we have a decent amount of storage.

I was able keep all the clothes that are too big for him hung up in his closet according to size, now that he his older there is not much hung up. I think the only stuff that is the current size are the couple of nice dress items he has (which is not many). If I didnt have that space those clothes would have just been packed away. I also hang my K'tan and beco carrier on hangers in his closet.

I used the dresser as a changing table and its long enough to keep a basket on top with diapers wipes, creams and a lamp. The top drawer I kept sleepers, onesies, socks, swaddles or anything other clothing items we used on a regular basis. The second drawer was outfits and the third drawer was blankets.

The chest of drawers is not really used that much, I have a drawer in that that is his outdoor gear, swim suits, water shoes, sunglasses, his hearing protection and other misc things like that. One drawer I store extra wipes and the diaper genie refills. The bottom drawer is where I throw all his clothes that no longer fit and when that is full I pack those clothes away.

Some of this has changed now since he is bigger and his clothes take up a little more space, but I just pack away the items he no longer uses. Like the over abundance of blankets he had are all packed away giving me a whole drawer of space. Im going to have to reorganize when LO moves into DS's room since there will be more clothing. But Ill probably just have to use the closet more than I do now.

I would suggest looking into the wire shelving they have a Lowes or Home Depot, you would be able to get more storage if you added shelving with a rod built in. They (the store) will even cut it to the lengths that you need. I added a wire shelf with a rod and a plain wire shelf above that when DH and I were having to use the closet in DS's room and it really helped.

conradraging · July 2014

I love this thread so much. Were moving to a new house in a different state in November or December so I have no idea what the plan is because I'm not buying dressers until we get there and since it's going to be base housing I don't know what the closet space will be like. But now I have this thread to come back to for organization ideas.

jaime52005 · July 2014

I am hanging the bigger items that won't be used and using drawers for outfits he will be in..I put bins on shelves for hats socks etc still in process of organizing but you get the idea

brittneyandadam · July 2014

I still haven't figured out what works best for us, but I did start to sort through clothes. Like PP mentioned, I'd definitely recommend putting away larger clothes for now and sorting them somehow. I love the space saver bags. We have a larger closet, so it's working out that I hang up all the newborn and 0-3M clothes while using the dresser to store the 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes.

lbonga1 · July 2014

We have a 3-drawer dresser in the nursery. I keep DD1's current size clothing in the top 2 drawers and blankets and sheets in the bottom drawer. All her other clothes are in big Tupperware storage containers.
For DD2, the crib we're getting has a trundle that slides under it for storage, and I'm going to get something like this from ikea: https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/spr/39917062/. You can customize it with more shelves or bins, or a clothing rail. I'll probably get some cute baskets to put on the shelves.

SweetMonty19 · July 2014

@epaprn‌ Don't buy that item from Container Store. I worked there part-time a while ago and that double hanging clothes rod was always returned. :-(

epaprn · July 2014

SweetMonty19 said:
@epaprn‌ Don't buy that item from Container Store. I worked there part-time a while ago and that double hanging clothes rod was always returned. :-(

I have something similar in my closet, but a little different. Why did people return it? Did they say why they didn't like it?

SweetMonty19 · July 2014

@epaprn‌ That particular one just isn't a good product....however, I guess using it for baby clothes would be fine. I don't think it is sturdy enough for adult clothes. It just happened to be an item constantly returned so proceed with caution. :-) But they do have a good return policy if it doesn't work out!

tatorhead328 · July 2014

@jaime52005 I just showed your picture to my husband and said, "This! This is what we need!!" Love your organization!

fernane · July 2014

We will hang most stuff, and then use baskets on the shelf in the closet for things like socks, shorts and pants. We foster as well, so we have all size clothes that we keep in labeled bins, by size, in another closet, until we need them.

jaime52005 · July 2014

tatorhead328 said:
@jaime52005 I just showed your picture to my husband and said, "This! This is what we need!!" Love your organization!

Oh thank you! I did my daughters the same way glad my picture helped

chardonnay24 · July 2014

With #1, we had a big dresser with 2 little drawers and 3 big drawers, plus shelves. We kept bibs and hats in one little drawer, socks and BabyLegs in the other drawer, and the clothes of his current size in the top drawer. We put the bigger sizes in the other 2 drawers. Blankets, burp cloths, and diapers and wipes went in a hanging closet organizer. We kept rash cream in the bathroom, but we didn't use it very often. Pacifiers were in a canvas bin on top of his dresser. We hung sweaters, jackets, and overalls, but folded shirts, pants, and pajamas for the dresser.

We are room sharing with #2 for the time being, so things are a little bit tight this time. We got a little set of drawers to go on top of our dresser for things like bibs and pacifiers. She gets 2 drawers for clothes (current size) in our dresser and the rest of the clothes will be going in storage until she's big enough. I still need to get some drawer organizers so that we can separate all the hats, socks, and shoes. My friend is making us a diaper stacker for our CDs and wipes. We're using a hanging closet organizer for blankets, swaddles, and burp cloths again.

We have always hung our Ergo on our entryway coat rack and the bouncy seat and activity mat were set up while he was using them and stored away when he outgrew them.

ETA: Posted too soon

MrsLaLaBug · July 2014

LTMama said:
We have a six-drawer dresser in the nursery. Top drawers - one was toiletries etc (with a child lock on it), butt paste, all that stuff. Other was burp cloths, diapers, bibs, etc.

Underneath we had onesies, outfits (put together for ease of use), jammies, socks, legwarmers, etc. Bottom drawers were receiving blankets, sleep sacks, bulky things like that.

We just kept out current size stuff and put everything away, sorted by size. Once she needed new sizes then we'd pull out the new stuff and swap out what was in her drawers - keeping multiple sizes in her dresser didn't really work, not enough room. Definitely store and label clothes that LO isn't fitting into yet. That makes it easy to grab the next size up when you're ready for it. Plus if you put those size clothes back in labeled bins once you're done with them, it makes it easy to use them for either your next kiddo, or to give away to friends.

We didn't really hang much of her stuff, still don't. Her dresses get folded into a drawer now, too, since she likes to pick her outfits in the morning and she can't reach hanging stuff.

This sounds exactly how our dresser was organized. Great minds!

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