Daily Dumb Question (Folding And Storing Baby Clothes)

MuffinMom14 · July 2014

I feel like we need a Daily Dumb Question thread, because I have one every single day. Sometimes I post them, and sometimes I take to The Google.

I washed all the baby clothes we currently have (a virtual shit ton) this weekend, and my question is in parts.

1) How did you store your baby clothes? Like, what goes where? I have a dresser for the kid (but feel like at least one drawer on top should be for diapers/wipes) and a weird small cabinet thing, plus another wire thing with baskets in it. I just don't know what goes on hangers (the weirdo cabinet has some rods) and what should be folded.

2) How do you organize clothes? My husband is colorblind, and he has told me "If you want an outfit put together, fold them together." So, I guess outfits get folded together, even if it's just black pants and a shirt. Ok. That bothers me, sorta. But I get organizing by type, but then...leading me to the next question...

3) What the hell with the sizes? I folded onesies in a huge stack by actual size, not like, 0-3, 3-6, and I have 12-month onesies that are smaller than 3-month ones. Am I missing something obvious? Do some just stretch more or are longer or something? Because I stacked them by actual size, not really paying attention to the the thing on the tag too much.

Here's the dresser:

Here's the weirdo closet with about half the clothes, from before I washed the rest yesterday:

I should take a picture of the whole deal, because I have built-ins all around the staircase that I can put baskets if needed.

AppleGrapeMSTK · July 2014

I think you are over thinking things. I have three drawers- one for tops, one for bottoms, and one for sleepers and socks. Then again, boy clothes are easy; the pants come in so few colors that they literally go with everything and there is no way the clothes will clash. Organize them how it makes sense to you.

I only hang the random outfit that gets ridiculously wrinkled and special holiday outfits.

As far as clothing sizes, it really depends on the brand. 3mo in Gerber is not necessarily the same as 3mo in Carter's. Most tags (either the store tag or the tag in the back) will list weight ranges. I have some NB clothes 5-8lb and some 7-12lb. They absolutely will vary, but I do think it's odd that a 12mo would be the same size as a 3mo!

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

Emerald27 · July 2014

DS doesn't have a dresser. $:\$ "> He has a big laundry basket that all of his clean clothes are tossed into. There's just one size in there, and it's easy for me to just grab a shirt and pair of shorts out of the basket in the morning and pjs at night.

One of the things we are buying before this baby arrives is a big, 6-drawer dresser for the boys to share. My plan is to put just the size that LO is wearing in the dresser. Top drawer will be socks, hats, and other accessories. Middle will be bodysuits and footie pajamas, bottom drawer will be shirts and pants. Jackets and sweaters, and nice outfits, will hang in the closet.

The other 3 drawers will be DS1's.

DaniGrace89 · July 2014

My mom bought us some of those closet organizers which separate the clothing sizes. Baby girl has a massive closet, so I will probably be hanging a lot of things.

SusieBW · July 2014

For DD, she's using 4 drawers of her 5 drawer dresser right now - one for undies/socks/swim suits/tights/etc., one for jammies, one for pants, one for shirts. Dresses are hung in the closet and so are her sports jerseys, skirts and nicer shirts that will wrinkle, just like I would for my own stuff. The bottom drawer of her dresser is where I've been throwing things that don't fit anymore as I come across them, on their way to be sorted and packed away.

I desperately need to clean out her clothes, because I need a place for Baby Brother's stuff to go too. I'm planning to have most of his stuff in her room, with necessities in the nursery. I keep saying that they are sharing a room, but he's just sleeping in the nursery until he's big enough for a big boy bed.

Onesies vary by size dramatically across brands, plus if some of what you have are passed down, they all shrink at different rates, too. Once your LO is here, you'll get a better feel for what fits better and gravitate toward that stuff, and probably end up reorganizing however you have everything stored now. DD has a long torso, so some brands of onesies just never really fit her right when she was a baby - we needed the long skinny ones, not so much the shorter, wider ones.

We kept diapers in a basket on the changing table, burp clothes in a basket near the rocking chair where I liked to sit and nurse, and some extra towels to put on the changing pad for really extreme diapers in a basket on a nearby closet shelf.

BabyBsOven · July 2014

For DD I had 3 drawers and 2 side cabinets for hanging stuff. Top drawer was diapers, wipes and small things in a basket like baby oil, nail scissors, etc. Second drawer was all onesies of her current size and drawer 3 was PJs and socks. One cabinet was all outfits hung up that were in her current size. I hung the top normally and put whatever pants or bottoms that went with it hung over the bar of the hanger, under the top (does that make sense?) or the diaper cover draped over the hook of the hanger if it was a dress. This made it so that when I opened that side of the cabinet, I knew I was taking something out that was in her size and it was a complete outfit, no sifting through clothes, or searching for a matching diaper cover, necessary. The other side of the cabinet was all outfits hung the same way and folded onesies on the bottom but they weren't her size. Every 3 months, I went through both sides and changed out sizes. Hope this helps!

MuffinMom14 · July 2014

@bazingabee you bring up another point. I was going to have burp cloths and bibs (most anyway) downstairs in the kitchen. Some upstairs for night feeds, but not all. Is that weird?

@FamousEA I have 12-month Gerber onesies that LITERALLY are smaller than newborn onesies. What the fresh hell is that? They are hand-me downs, so they have been washed a few times, but everything's been washed at this point, so everything should be the same amount of "shrunk," you'd think.

@AppleGrapeMSTK I'm DEFINITELY overthinking, because that's what I have time to do these days, apparently. Boy clothes are a bit easier, I think, because, there are no tights. No diaper covers. No dresses. No leggings. I wish this were a boy so hard in times such as these.

I'm an organizational freak, and this is making me crazy. Especially since my shower isn't until August 23rd, and I am like "I NEED TO GET THIS......butishouldwait."

This will also get easier once we hit the 1-year mark and the growing slows down. I will have this baby in newborn things MAYBE once, maybe never. So, once I can weed out things and pack them away when they are outgrown, I think my anal retentiveness will relax a bit.

I think I'm going to hang dresses and outfits. *pounds gavel*

TinyTRex321 · July 2014

What I did with my son is I washed newborn - 3 months. I waited on the rest just in case I needed to do returns/ exchanges.

I put onesies, shirts, pants, socks, hats, bibs, and sleepers in the dresser drawers. Outfits that came together went together. Nicer outfits, sweaters, and coats were hung in the closet. Bigger sizes were put by size in storage containers in closet and I labeled the containers. I kept the current size container accessible and as he outgrew clothes they were washed and put in the container for the next baby. Gender neutral clothes were put in a separate bin just in case I had a girl.

I had a sweater hanging organizer hanging in the closest were I kept his blankets, crib sheets, receiving blankets, etc. I also have a small shelf in the closet where bathing suits, shoes, and random things go. I hope that helps!

MrMrsandBaby · July 2014

For babies, I hang nothing. Literally, if I hung it up she never wore it! I just do one thing in each drawer...pants in one, onesies in another, socks/bibs in another, blankets in one, sweatshirts/vests/etc in one...you get it.

As DD got older, I started hanging some stuff but we still just go to the dresser for 99% of her clothes.

I generally only had one size out at a time (we had a LOT of clothes for her) and as she out grew things I would put them in a plastic tote and when it filled up I put it in the basement.

vrj0522 · July 2014

I have a drawer with pjs and sleepers. One with socks, bibs, hats, and other random stuff. One with shirts and one with pants/skirts. Dresses, dress shirts, and coats/jackets go on hangers. Sometimes I store outfits together and sometimes I keep them separate so I say do whatever works for you and your H. I keep diapers and wipes on the changing table.

It really is about having whatever system works for you.

[Deleted User] · July 2014

I'm so glad you asked this question! We have a dresser and a large-ish closet. I have no clue what I should hang up or fold, and boy clothes don't have near as many "nice" options as girls do. I'm thinking maybe I'll hang up specific outfits, but fold sleepers, onesies, and loungy clothes?

SusieBW · July 2014

Maybe I should save this for tips and tricks tomorrow, or maybe I'll just repost it there, but for bibs, I made a storage thing like you can get for plastic grocery bags. Like this:

Then I could just shove the clean ones in the top, and pull them out of the bottom when I needed them. I kept bibs in the kitchen because that's where it was the most accessible most of the time.

Maggie6424 · July 2014

So in the top drawer we have diapers/wipes/socks/wash cloths.

Next drawer we kept onesies, rompers, shorts/pants. Next drawer we kept sleep n plays, nightgowns, etc. Bottom drawer is extra sheets and blankets. I just folded and stacked most clothes.

raynes · July 2014

Gerber onseis are seriously small. They do stretch, but DS was rarely in them for the months listed as the size.

We have the 3 drawer Hemnes as our changing station in DS's room. We used these boxes to organize/separate things: https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/00192631/

The top drawer held diapers in one box, socks and bibs in another (we never used a lot of bibs), meds and other health related things in a third. The second drawer is crib sheets, receiving blankets, washcloths and other textiles of that sort. The bottom drawer had toys, extra bags of diapers and wipes, diaper genie refills and boxes of breast pads (before I switched to reusables)

In his closer we hung up something like this: https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60219595/

putting onesies in one sections, shirts in another, pants in the next, etc.

Sleepers mostly were hung up. I always kept a labeled diaper box in the bottom of the closet to toss things into when they were outgrown and generally only kept out one set of sizes at a time.

So far it's a system that's worked for us, but then, that's a boy, so most tops go with most bottoms. I might have to rethink how I do things with a girl, but having separators in the drawers was a huge plus for me.

MuffinMom14 · July 2014

@Di_126 The onesie extenders! I found some, and put them on my registry on Amazon, and if no one gets them (which they won't--I doubt anyone uses the Amazon registry in my group), that is the one thing I'm all OVER. I'm glad you posted about them, because I was wondering how useful they really were! It thought they were a great idea, but I'm a newb, I didn't know.

ADH0906 · July 2014

I have no practical experience yet, but our actual drawer space is pretty limited. I have a hanging sweater organizer in his closet for blankets, bibs, burp cloths, etc. and I bought an over the door shoe organizer with mesh pockets (so I can see what's in them) for the smaller stuff like nail clippers, socks, hats...it's turning out to be the best $7 I've spent in the nursery.

jesslinnn · July 2014

We have a pretty big 3 drawer dresser in the nursery. (I haven't switched DS2's clothes out of it yet, but this it what I did with him).
Top drawer- socks, bibs, sleep gowns, pjs/sleepers.
Second drawer- onesies, shirts,
Third drawer- pants
With the boys I never used their closets to hang clothes (except nicer things, jackets, etc). This one being a girl, I'll be hanging dresses.

I would sort by tag size, but if there was anything oddly small/big I'd put it in an appropriate size stack.

Diapers, wipes, creams, etc I kept in a basket on a small shelf next to the dresser.

Arctic_Seal · July 2014

With my daughter, I only hung dresses and sweaters, but I do have a friend that hangs all the outfits... It just didn't work for me!

But, what I did do that I liked, is that I would put all the things of the size that she was wearing in the top 3 drawers of her dresser and then in the bottom drawer I would put the next size up. This allowed her to wear everything at least once and since it seemed she would grow out of a size overnight it allowed me to go into that drawer when I needed too.

I also kept a box in the closet that I threw all the too small stuff into until it was ready to go into storage.

atraveller · July 2014

My mom bought me the layette clothing and I have all these adorable little newborn and 1-3 month clothing hung in the closet right now - mostly onesies but some outfits. Then I bought these bin holding closet hanging shelves that I've shoved a bunch of hand me downs my friend sent me into. We just got put together our big dresser and hutch that my mom bought - and its currently empty.

I'm glad you posted this thread as I have no idea how I am going to organize it all - but thinking under clothes onesies (short sleeve) will go in one draw with piles based on sizes. Pulling the sizes that get to small out and getting ready for donation or giving to another friend. Outfits will be hung or in a drawer depending on type (we're team green, so if we end up with a girl - dresses will go in closet) and then drawers will be saved for sweaters and sweatshirts cause we live in cold climates and then sleep onesies with footies. I'll also use the top drawers for burp clothes, extra changing pad covers, extra diaper stuff, etc.....

BUT....all that may change in a heartbeat. At the moment, nothing is washed so first I have to wash it all then I'll figure it out. We're also not going to wash everyting new, so depending on size of baby when born, there may be a few newborn things that go back for credit - with tags still on as we have a lot of newborn stuff.

ariel06 · July 2014

I hang all outfits/ don't wash until I know we'll for sure use them. And I write on the tags the purchase date/store, so if I need to exchange I can easy find the receipts. Gift receipts just get taped on the tags.

I only put out the current size in the dresser and have the rest in tubs in the closet.

yoyopez · July 2014

i put everything on hangers and then hang like things together: pj's, dresses, shirts, pants, and outfits. we also have a large 3 drawer ikea dresser as a changing table. i keep diapering supplies, hair and nail care items, thermometer, meds, socks, & swimwear in the top drawer separated into lid-less shoe boxes. 2nd drawer is extra bibs (rest in kitchen), burp cloths, changing pad covers and pee proof liners. 3rd drawer is mattress pads, sheets, blankets, and pack-n-play sheets. future clothes are hung and stored in another closet. outgrown clothes are stored in the top of the closet in diaper boxes with the size clearly marked on the outside with a sharpie. i may have to stop using the diaper boxes as some of the newborn white onsies i got out to wash for tater have yellow stains and i'm not sure where it's from.

savicke2009 · July 2014

Holy crap! You guys are on the ball! I havent really washed anything. . Stuff I buy at the consignment shop, I run through the washer and dryer and then I have two bins, 0-6 months wintery stuff, and 6+ months summer stuff and its in #2s closet right now.. im trying to convince #2 that he wants to share a room with #1 and it is a losing battle.. once I do, little lady will have #2s room and furniture, which consists of a dresser/changing table combo that had two wide drawers

and one drawer will be tops & onesies and the other will be one pieces & sleepers

(most likely

)

pinkshades05 · July 2014

When DD was a baby, I had a drawer for PJ's and one for outfits. Then I hung up any dresses that she had. Now, she has a drawer for PJ's, warm clothes, cooler clothes, and socks/panties along with dresses that are still hung up. I hate hanging up baby clothes, though.

J3nn1f3r7 · July 2014

I think we have too many newborn and 0-3 months but right now all onesies are in one drawer, pants in another, sleepers in another. We are cloth diapering and have all the diapers in a drawer. That'll change as I need an additional drawer for small things like socks, nail clippers, etc. I plan on putting the diapers on top of the dresser once I get a diaper caddy of sorts.

In the closet I have little room as our winter jackets are in there... no other place in the house for them (small rental!) So I've made due with putting a hanging fabric shelf thingy in the middle to use just for baby which houses disposable diapers for trips out, receiving blankets and such. Then o managed to fit what used to be a shoe rack that is now being used as shelves... and that has the next sizes up 3+ months.

Like you once we get through the first stage of clothes I think it'll be easier to find room for things.

As for sizes I took the time and matched onesies and such with others rather than just the tag. Most of our things are hand me downs and the sizes vary so much! I didn't want to run into him not wearing something because it was too small before I even put them in the dresser. I had 9-12 month stuff look more like 3 months and so on.

We still have a shower in August so my organization may change a bit. But as of now and all my nanny experience and with us living in a small house... I'm trying to be smart about it and make due. Also we're moving in February so I am putting all 9+ months into storage and hoping our next house has more room!

Want a personalized experience?

Daily Dumb Question (Folding And Storing Baby Clothes)

Re: Daily Dumb Question (Folding And Storing Baby Clothes)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards