Help me let go of my kids outgrown (baby) clothes...

[naturallyspeaking]

HI,
Whew, I have 7 year old, 4 year old (today) and 15 mo old kids. We just moved a few weeks ago to a smaller house and I'm trying to unpack and organize, purge stuff that we don't use.
I did gave away bunch of ds's baby clothes but I found a bag of baby clothes that I kept from my 7 year old ds to use for the next baby (which was a dd and ds afterwards). There are a few clothes that are very sentimental to me (I remember when he wore it, have pictures of him wearing it and so on)...
Now with my 15 mo old ds, he can't wear my 7 ds's clothes since their birthday is opposite and season doesn't match with the needed size.
I tend to hold onto things long and have hard time let go of things especially the items that has good memories. How do I get rid of stuff that I will not use anymore and take up rooms? With dd's clothes, I kept most of her clothes in the hopes of having another dd but my 3rd was a boy. I'm still hoping to have one more girl but since dd is 4 year old, I don't want to keep ALL her clothes.
Do you all keep clothes for your future kids?
Please give me some advice so I can do this...
Thank you.

[VeganC]

Keep only the few clothes that are very sentimental to you, and donate/give away/sell the rest. That's what I do.

[KempsMama]

I've kept the majority of DS1's things, because I knew we wanted another. However, I did go through them and pick out a few very special things, and am compiling them to make a quilt someday. This will be what I wrap my self up in when I'm old and all my babies have their own busy lives.

Even if you don't sew (I don't really, but want to learn) you can pay to have the quilt made. I think it's a great way to save the really special things, which helps purge the rest.

[minta]

I save what my babies wore home from hospital, donate things I was never wild about, and plan to make have a quilt made from the others, as PP suggested.

[naturallyspeaking]

I can't even bear to tear them apart to make a quilt though... I feel like a good clothes going wasted (although it is not wasted...). I just like to look at the clothes as it is to see and feel how small, cute, soft it is. I just need the different state of mind and that's where I need help with... LOL

[ElliesMomma]

why don't you see if you can pare down the pile to only a few select items. elastic bands go bad, let go of those. let go of the socks for similar reasons. let of as much as you can, then pack up the rest into a plastic tub for safekeeping. maybe if you can revisit the tub in a year or two, you can pare out a few more, and so on.

[Lucy Alden]

Since there's no planning for size, season or style I recommend off loading as much as you can bear to part with. I've found that with each kiddo (currently 3 but hoping more) between gifts, hand me downs and Goodwill we're pretty much covered. Here's what I do keep:

1. First outfit
2. First pair of shoes
3. All my DDs dresses. I figure when she has her first baby I will let her take what she wants (if any) and make the rest into a quilt.

I saved almost all of my DD clothes in hopes of having another girl (she's 7). When I finally went back through them I realized that mysterious stains had reappeared, the clothes weren't as nice as I originally thought and that I had no idea if I would ever have another girl. I gave almost all of them away to my girlfriends. And hopefully if I do have another girl they'll hand down clothes to me as well.

I think the hardest part about getting rid of baby clothes is acknowledging that our babies aren't babies anymore.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by naturallyspeaking

I can't even bear to tear them apart to make a quilt though... I feel like a good clothes going wasted (although it is not wasted...). I just like to look at the clothes as it is to see and feel how small, cute, soft it is. I just need the different state of mind and that's where I need help with... LOL

OMG! I want to weep for you, I am the same way. The mere thought of the crushing cuteness of DS's little infant sweaters make me want to burst into tears.

Now, I am certainly not a good example but here is what I have done so far:

The I Can't Possibly Part With It Box - this is where I have stored the must-keeps. I have revisited this box many times and each time I was able to let more and more go.

Items that I left go went to:

The Next Baby In the Family Box - I started this box for my cousins. It contains the "too good/expensive/precious" to give away to stranges.

My family adores hand-me-downs and will be thrilled with the stuff. New babies are expected within 5 years.

The Donate to Someone I Know Who Needs It Box - This might come off the wrong way but I was able to let a lot go by thinking along the lines of "this is really great stuff and will bring joy to someone who might not be able to afford the adorable Brand X outfits where all the pants, shirts, sweaters, socks, hats coordinated."

I am reading Peter Walsh's Its All Too Much and in it, he makes a point about how memories are attachted to items, which is why it is hard to let that item go and something about how we (people in general ) remember really wonderful moments in time that have past and by letting that Christmas outfit go, somehow that memory will be erased. Of course it won't be but it is hard to do so none the less.

[clutterwarrior]

I am actually rather relieved to find someone else is the same as me in this regard!

I have 3 children and have always struggled with letting go of things from their baby years. My first two were girls, and after having a boy as our third, I felt sure we would not have any more children so I gave away the best things to my sister and sold some on ebay, but even after doing this I felt a bit of regret.

Especially have had an issue with my son's things...I think because he is my last, my baby, and also he was very sick with cancer when he was 18 months old, so all his baby clothes mean so much to me, so much emotion is dredged up when I hold his things....a feeling of loss of that time in his life when it should been a happy time. I have been thinking about this though recently and decided just to keep one or two things, as holding on to a bag of clothes is not going to bring back the time I lost with him as a baby.

[Pinoikoi]

I have 4 sons and a baby girl on the way.. I am not planning anymore kids after this, and actually am hoping dp goes for a V..

Anyway, almost all of my baby things were handmedowns from a nephew (1 yr older than my oldest) and then they got handmedowned to each of my littles.. except for my girl who is getting all new..

It was great to have so many handmedowns when we unexpectedly adopted and had THREE days notice that we would have a new son.. and it opened the idea to me that I was half expecting another baby to come along, and that's why I was hanging on to stuff..

but I am done now. I think for most people, 5 kids is PLENTY. So I went through all the baby things with one goal in mind.. if I could see myself putting it on baby girl (stain free, good condition, style doesn't turn me off) then I kept it. I also kept ONE outfit for each kiddo for when they grow up so I can give it to them when/if they have babies.. if it wasn't a fit item for a momento of that type, then out it went too..

I got rid of a ton of stuff, and it was very freeing. I do think we (as humans) attach a lot of sentimentality to these kinds of objects, and I had to clear my head of the emotional stuff in order to really do it.. I think this baby really helped me with that.

[madskye]

I just gave away 4 bins of baby clothes yesterday...I thought it would be harder, but I picked out one cute bathing suit that called out to me, and everything else went.

[StephandOwen]

I kept the outfit ds came home from the hospital in (a green one piece outfit with pooh bear that I bought him) and the pj's he wore the night he came home (because they were so freaking cute! A gift from a friend- red, white and blue, looked like it was a flag with stars and stripes one piece pj's with a matching hat. I think from old navy???). I also kept his first pair of shoes (tommy hilfiger, also a gift from a friend). Most of his baby clothes was given to his bio-dad's sister, who had a baby boy a year after ds was born. Now all of ds's outgrown clothes go to my mom, who has an almost 4 year old boy. My mom makes out well from this deal since most of ds's clothes are still new with tags because he refuses to wear anything except plain white t-shirts and specific pants/shorts. So he has a fuuuull closet of clothes that have tags still that he won't wear. And yet future MIL won't stop buying him clothes

[Koalamom]

I really would love to get rid if baby clothes as I have a ton, but I do want more kids and since dh is disabled there will probably not be extra money to buy new clothes in the future. I so want to get rid of the bins of clothes, but they are name brand too, and I wont be able to afford that in the future. Is this justification to save them?

[clutterwarrior]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I really would love to get rid if baby clothes as I have a ton, but I do want more kids and since dh is disabled there will probably not be extra money to buy new clothes in the future. I so want to get rid of the bins of clothes, but they are name brand too, and I wont be able to afford that in the future. Is this justification to save them?

Sounds like it is enough reason to hold onto them...otherwise you will just have to spend money buying more clothes.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by clutterwarrior

Sounds like it is enough reason to hold onto them...otherwise you will just have to spend money buying more clothes.

I need to hear it is ok to keep clothes that I may never use (like if I never have anymore girls and only boys, and keep those girl stuff for years, just to save money from having to buy clothes).

So what is the rule of thumb for clothes on what to have for kids on hand and packed away?
I need some structure like how many shirts and pants allowed enough for a week? If this isn't a good thread for this, someone give a holler.