What to do with outgrown baby clothes?

[LittleLlama]

DS is almost 5 months and has grown out of SO many clothes already. I didn't expect to be putting away 9 and 12 month outfits already! Anyhow, we do hope to have more children so we're saving everything but I don't know what to do with it in the meantime. Right now all the clothes are in a drawer that is rapidly overflowing.

We don't have any good "box" space. In fact, we have considered renting a storage unit since we have so little storage room (Stupid HOA requires that if a vehicle CAN fit in the garage, it has to and boxes in the way don't matter : )Since we're in AZ, storage outside is fairly impractical. Anyhow, I suppose eventually it will all end up in a box marked "baby" in some storage facility, but I'm hoping for something a little more clever.

[Zach'smom]

All outgrown clothes are put in rubbermaid bins according to size and season. The boxes I just packed were labeled winter 2005 size 5/6.
Then they are all stacked in the storage area of our basement. That makes it really easy to find what you need when you need it. If you are short on room you could put them in under-the-bed boxes too. And always get rid of anything that is stained, ripped or that you know you wouldn't put on another kid for whatever reason. That way you don't have as much stuff.

It piles up fast!!!!

[shirabira]

You can buy those storage bags that shrink when you take the air out of (forgot how they're called), put all the clothes inside, shrink it and put it under the bed. It doesn't take much space. Or you could sell all that stuff to one of those second hand stores and save the money to buy new clothes when your other kids arrive.

[*andiflipping*]

I also do the rubbermaid storage thing....

I have them in our bedroom closet...The closet slants down so that is all we use it for is small storage...

[Shiloh]

rubbermaid rocks.
I put a list on paper on the top inside of what is in there.

[miss_sonja]

If it'll be a few years before you have another, why not pass them on to someone? You'll get 'em back or someone else will pass clothes on to you. If not that, then...gotta second the Rubbermaid suggestions. Labeling is crucial!

[srain]

We keep a box under our bed to put stuff that's outgrown; when it's full, we label it and put it in a closet. You may want to consider, however, how much money you'd be spending if you have to rent a storage area for hand-me-downs. Wouldn't you be better off giving them away (or selling them, if you have the energy) and getting new stuff when you need it? You're probably going to be getting more into a people-with-kids social circle over the next few years anyway, and getting appropriate hand-me-downs is usually pretty doable for the first few years.

[boheime]

They make big garage shelves that hang from the garage ceiling for this purpose. Then you put your storage up there and it doesn't take away from your garage space.

[rachelmarie]

We were keeping everything ds had outgrown. We just recently decided to only keep what we really liked of his, outfits we have special memories of him wearing, and gender neutral newborn things. The rest we'll either give away or sell on ebay.

We keep all that in rubbermaid tubs in a closet. Though, they aren't organized or labeled!

[KC in KS]

First thing is get rid of all outfits you don't like. The ones with the impossible snaps or horrid elastic. If it drove you nuts with this babe, it will with the next, too. Out it goes!

Then get rid of the ones that you can replace easily. Onesies, blanket sleepers, and the like are cheap and easy to find at garage sales once you get pregnant again. In the meantime, let some other baby enjoy them.

Now you only have to store the ones you really like and use. Avoid cardbord boxes - they don't keep the insects out of the clothes.

[LittleLlama]

Avoid cardbord boxes - they don't keep the insects out of the clothes.

Oh man, I learned that the hard way : A lot of the clothes were DH's so I can't get rid of them, mil would flip her lid... maybe I should just give them to her to store

[turtlewomyn]

I toss anything with nasty stains on it. We are planning one more child, and I am hoping the next one is a boy, so we keep any gender neutral clothes, and then the really cute girl outfits in case we end up with two girls. The outfits we aren't that into go to my niece. I also have some canvas boxes that I bought from the container store website. They have a label on them, and come in three sizes. I also have these for my maternity clothes.

[PeacefulSeams]

I sorted all my sons old clothes and kept 4 plastic tubs full (1 for each season). The tubs are the biggest sized ones they make. I figured a baby doesn't need a huge wardrobe. All the clothes I didn't want that were in good shape, I sold to a local used clothing store that specialized in baby stuff. Ususally they will give you cash or store credit. The rest I tossed in the trash.

[mightymoo]

I love the rubbermaid containers for that - I have the see through kind, so I just print out a page that says 'Boy Clothes - 9 months' or whatever and just slip in the side facing out between the clothes and the side.

I agree though - I realized after having #2 that I will get so many new clothes for the next baby as gifts, etc. What I did with DD's clothes was just look through and find the stuff I really liked and sold or donated the rest. I kept a few very special outfits in her memory box so she will always have a couple that were just hers. But other than that I just picked my favorites and from her toddler and up clothes - the ones that were in the best condition - definitely makes it more manageable.

[*clementine*]

The rubbermaid thing worked for me as well. Now I just go to the box marked with the correct size I need and have tons of stuff to choose from.