Minimalists...a question about kid clothes - Page 2

[Ruthla]

It depends on how often you're able to do the laundry, and how many clothes they're likely to need in that time. If you can only do laundry once a week, you'll need more clothes than if you do laundry daily.

Whatever you do, make sure to have extra stuff, in case you get behind on laundry, in case somebody plays in the mud and needs a change mid day, in case somebody get sick (vomiting or diarhrea) and needs more frequent changes until he or she gets better.

If your child normally wears the same 3 outfits, I'm assuimg you do laundry every day or two. I'd keep 5-6 outfits for that child (her 3 favorite, plus 2 or 3 spares.) Also make sure to keep any "specialized" outfits- uniforms, fancier clothes for holidays or special occasions, etc. 5-8 outfits should be plenty for the baby too. I'd keep all 4 swimsuits- they don't take up that much space, and you just may end up using all of them. It's hard to put a wet suit back on if you want to go swimming a 2nd time in the same day.

I need to go through DS' clothes soon. He has exactly 4 school outfits (4 dress pants and 4 SS polo shirts) but he has WAY too many handmedowns for summertime. Now that school is nearly over, I need to tackle the shorts. Some he sleeps in, so I want to keep some softer shorts for that purpose. I also want some dressier shorts (shorts versions of khakis) so he won't need to wear pants to shul (we go every Saturday) in the summertime. We're currently getting handmedowns from 2 different families, and we simply have too many shorts and T-shirts! He probably only needs 4-5 knit shorts and 2 pairs of dressier shorts, and about 6 T-shirts (not counting the HUGE ones he wears as nightshirts. He needs 3 of those.)

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

We live in New England so each of my kids has about a week's worth of warm and cool clothes. Plus about a week's worth of jammies. For example, DD will wear a larger hand-me-down shirt as a nightgown in warmer weather, then add pants when it's cooler and if it's cold then wear the pants with the matching shirt. DS will wear a onesie on hot nights, with jammy pants on cooler nights and the actual shirt and pants set on the colder nights. And on the really cold nights he will wear the onesie underneath that. They each have 2 bathing suits (I didn't buy either one) and they each have a few sweatshirts/sweaters. And DD also has a few dresses that were given to her. Everything is stored in dressers in the bathroom so I can put the clothes away as soon as they come out of the dryer.

[nascarbebe]

When I just had DS he had a pretty small wardrobe, less than 10 outfits per season. However now that I have DD that has changed a little

DD (16 months)
15 dresses (mostly casual, and some dressier for chuch)
5 tops
2 skorts
7 shorts (all but one are hand-me-downs from DS)
2 pants
3 summer pjs
2 pairs Robeez shoes

DS, who is almost 4, has about
5 pairs of shorts
2 jeans
1 pair of khakis
5 "nice" collared shirts for church
10-ish other shirts
12 underwears (we're obsessed with underwear)
3 summer pjs
2 pairs shoes (he lives in his green Crocs, lol)

I'm getting better about getting rid of our outgrown clothes because I'm sick of the growing Rubbermaid bins in my garage. We only have 3 with old clothes, one per year, but I don't want any more than that. It's so hard when I'm not sure if we're done having kids or not. ONe thing that has cured me is that very few things I saved from DS are not working out with DD because of the seasons and he was smaller. So that's frustrating. I'm finding more joy finding good homes for the clothes.

[farmkids42morrow]

This is what I did when we were first simplifying...

Choose your kids' favorite clothes, or have them choose if they're old enough & put them together to make complete outfits (shirt, shorts or pants depending on season, socks, undies). Make a guess at how many outfits they will go through before wash day - maybe 5? (Depends on how often you wash obviously, once a week you'll need more than 5) Pack away EVERYTHING else in a bin but don't put it somewhere that you can't get at it easily. Then...just wait and see how many clothes you really need. Do you find yourself needing extra undies for a little one? Get out a few more pairs. A messy eater who gets food on his shirt every time he eats? Get out a few more shirts that match the pants in your chosen outfits...You get the idea. After a couple of weeks with this system you will know exactly how many pieces of clothing your child needs. Give away the extras so you aren't tempted to say "this is cute" and get it out again!!

[sothisislove]

well I'm jealous!!

Originally Posted by SashaBreeze

"moving to Hawaii" ... When I got done I had 4 boxes left. I felt liberated!

It was a little difficult to get use to, but ohhhhh so liberating. I am no longer a slave to my laundry. Good luck.

Question: How are you no longer a slave to laundry? Don't you have to wash daily? I'd end up skipping a day, which might turn into 2 or 3 and then have to have a 'naked day'. Hmm...

I am jealous though! Good for you for increasing your happiness!

[SashaBreeze]

Originally Posted by sothisislove

well I'm jealous!!



Question: How are you no longer a slave to laundry? Don't you have to wash daily? I'd end up skipping a day, which might turn into 2 or 3 and then have to have a 'naked day'. Hmm...

I am jealous though! Good for you for increasing your happiness!

Thank you, and good question.

Before the radical redo I tried, oh I tried sooo hard to stay on top of things with laundry but I was just fighting a loosing battle. The kids, dh, and yes even I would get clothes out drop some in the closet floor or bedroom floor think "oh, I'll get that later" said clothes would get kicked around mixed with dirty laundry and put in with the dirty clothes. My children would try on outfit after outfit throwing the ones they didn't want in the floor to end up in the laundry. I was doing at least 3 loads of laundry a day (well, most days I had my weak moments) and still drowning in the stuff. I felt trapped in a thankless never ending job. Washing clothes all day that no one wore.

Now, yes, I do still have to do laundry daily but there is a difference. The difference is that I feel like I have a say in the matter. I have chosen to make my job easier by eliminating a problem that has hung around for over a decade. There has been a handful of times that I have skipped a day or two here or there because of being busy but the great thing is that even if I took every single clothing item we own and dumped them in the laundry I would still have less laundry than I use to have on a regular basis.

Of course having a laundry service would be a dream, but since that is not going to be happening any time soon I decided to act on my frustrations and haven't regretted since.

Hope my answer helped.

[Gray's Mommy]

Originally Posted by Hopefulmama

We are totally in the same boat. I am overwhelmed by clothes. Grateful but overwhelmed. Subbing here.

This is the best thread EVER:

[ashleep]

OP here! Thanks for all the input, mamas! I am moving next week (ahh!) and I have narowed it down to:
For DD:
4 shorts
6 shirts ( this includes play and nice ones)
3 dresses (she has 1 that she wears every day, the other 2 are for when the fave is dirty)
lots of undies b/c she goes to grandma's and we have extra to send over there
2 swimsuits
lots of socks, maybe 10 pr


For DS:
about 10 shirts (he is MESSY!)
4 shorts
3 pants
lots of socks
potty training undies
1 swim trunks



I need to tackle their shoes. Scary amounts of shoes. I also have about 4 tubs of clothes up to sz 6/7 for DS in the basement (from SIL). I need to sort those and get rid of 2/3 of it. Sigh.

I am determined never to get this burdened by blessings again!

[elephantmargaret]

we do laundry once a week. My kids are kinda messy. I like for them to have 12-14 regular outfits and then 1-2 dressier outfits (our church isn't really dressy so for DS esp it is mainly for weddings etc). MIL LOVES buying girl clothes so DD has I dunno 3x that many. DRIVES ME CRAZY. I had to talk to her recently about buying so many dresses.... we play outside-in the dirt-in SHORTS not dresses.

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by SashaBreeze

This is what I did. For our clothes in storage I decided to play a little game I like to call "moving to Hawaii" by that I looked at the clothes with the idea that if I was moving to Hawaii and had to pay to have things shipped there what would make the cut? I had a storage building that was packed to the ceiling 8'x10' with boxes of hand-me downs. When I got done I had 4 boxes left. I felt liberated!

That's really a cute idea

[claddaghmom]

i am minimalist in every aspect of my life except closets.

see i made an agreement w/ dh that he can have his closet, fill it, dump in it whatever.

but i noticed the other day that dd's closet is more like her dad's than mine. must be genetic.

i have
two pairs of jogging shorts
one pair of denim shorts
two frumpy nursing tops
one yoga nursing top
one skirt
one nursing dress
one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of sandals
one swimsuit


so obviously you'd think i could do this w/ dd. not so. in part thanks to the grandmas. and thrift stores. and target clearance. and ebay.

she has 6 or 7 swimsuits. i don't know how many actually. she's worn 4 so far.

and probably 20 or 30 outfits.

only a few dresses surprisingly.

and wayyyy too many shoes. in fact, i just decided today that she doesn't even wear them. i am going to sell them all on ebay.

it's sad. really sad.

[MittensKittens]

DD has way too many clothes. DS has less, but without actually counting I would guess that he has about 10 different cardies/ jacket type things, some of which were his sister's. I feel sad about getting rid of stuff.

Anyway, I was wondering if all those who say they do three loads of laundry a day have dryers? I line dry, and I do a load a day. When I really, really, really need to get rid of another load because the laundry is "flooding" the bathroom, I might do a second. But I just don't have the option of doing many loads a day, because I don't have a dryer and only have space to hang one load to dry, which takes about a day where I live. When I do a second load, I have laundry hanging to dry on chairs, radiators and so on.

[SashaBreeze]

Originally Posted by MittensKittens

Anyway, I was wondering if all those who say they do three loads of laundry a day have dryers?

Yes I used my dryer.

I hang out big/thick things (blankets, jeans and so forth) and diaper covers, but everything else I dried in the dryer. I often felt guilty about the HUGE amount of water and electricity I waisted when I did that much laundry. Yet another reason to par down the clothes pile.

[SashaBreeze]

Originally Posted by ollineeba

That's really a cute idea

Thank you.

Unfortunately the idea was born out of desperation.

[ashleep]

I am moving next week and will finally be able to have a clothesline (or two!). Do you ladies that use one find it easier, harder, or the same as far as keeping up with laundry?

[Danidama]

Bumpity bumpysugarcakes :-p

[sarasprings]

Great thread! We probably have too much, especially for DS2 who finds his own ball shirts at garage sales, but once a month we go through almost all there clothes in a few days because they are so messy. It really bothered me at one point, but both their closets and drawers have empty space in them, so it feels okay now. I would say we have these:

DS1 (7)
10 play shirts (tanks, ss, ls)
20 ss shirts (some are faves that will only fit for another month or two and the next size up is in there)
8 ls shirts
15 shorts (I need to work on these)
15 pants (need them for wet days)

DS2 (3yo)
15 ss shirts
8 ls shirts
8 pants
5 shirts

They each have 2 pairs of shoes and one pair of winter boots, rain boots, and crocs.

I get almost everything used and cheap, which is probably part of the problem.

[enfpintj]

la la la la la la!!! I can't hear you!

I never knew a thread could make me feel guilty. I am usually a very simple person, but this clothing thing is rough. Usually for my DD not my DS. I also move stained clothing to the grub category since we have woods, and they work outside with DH and need clothes that can get muddy with "the red clay of Tara" that never comes out. So I have lots of regular clothes and lots of grub clothes.

I sorted the winter stuff the other day to see what they would need. Only a few things for DS. DD still has >20 shirts and 8 sweaters and several sweatshirts,etc.. She hardly wears all the shirts in her dresser. She sticks with 6-7 faves. I try to rotate. They all get handed down again (except the grub) or go to a thrift store, but I always wait til the possiblity of her wearing them is gone. maybe I need to be firmer about culling the lesser faves from the beginning. It is hard to shut the drawer.

I'll think about this tomorrow...

[pearl2]

I am sitting here feeling really silly because not once did it ever occur to me that I don't have to keep all the hand-me-downs. I mean, duh. We've gotten bags full because we just had a little girl. She's now 2 months old but I have amassed an enormous wardrobe for her--all the way up to 24 months. Clothes bags started pouring in like my house was the Titanic and I've just hit the Clothes Iceberg. My ship is sinking fast just trying to keep up with organizing them and then finding them a place to go. Of COURSE I should just pick the few that I like and send the rest on! I could even try to sell some of them at a consignment store or maybe testing the waters with a consignment sale if I am up for prepping the clothes.

[boheime]

Spring/Summer - 8 shirts, 3 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of sandals

Fall/Winter - 8 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 10 pairs of socks, 1 pair of shoes - we also have been ending up with one nice dress outfit and shoes per kid

If dd decides she wants any skirts or dresses, they replace shirts/shorts/pants accordingly.

1 swimsuit, 1 jacket, and 1 coat

probably about 9 pairs of underwear