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How to Store and Organize Baby Clothes

Babies grow at a tremendous rate and the beautiful clothes that we buy for them are not in use for very long. So, what do you do once your little one has outgrown their clothes and how do you get organized and keep on top of it all?

Do you plan on keeping the clothes for your next baby or do you plan on gifting them to a friend, relative, or charity?

There are two parts to organizing your little one’s clothes. There are clothes that they actually wear and then there are the clothes that they have outgrown. We’re going to take a look at the best way to organize both areas.

Organizing Clothes in Baby’s Room

The way that you go about organizing your baby’s clothes depends on a few different factors and what works for one parent does not necessarily work for the other.

What space is available for clothes

Be under no illusion how much space baby stuff takes up in your home, never mind the car seats, diapers, pushchair, bassinet, and jumper.

That is all before you even get to the clothes that they need or go through. So before you start buying you need to be very clear as to how much space you have available to store their clothes.

If you are fortunate and your little one has their own room with their own storage space then getting organized will be far easier. But if you are lacking in space for your little one’s clothes then you may need to think outside the box.

There are a whole host of different storage ideas available to help you get organized and ensure that all your little ones’ clothes and accessories are kept together and are always tidy. We’ll look at a few of these options late on.

Is the space shared with a sibling of different age?

Another thing to consider is if your child is sharing the space with a sibling who is a different age because then you’re going to not only have double the amount of clothing but you will also have clothing of two different sizes.

Again this may just mean that you have to think a little more carefully about your storage options. 

mother looking at baby clothes

Your storage options will need to be divided equally between both children in order that their clothing can be stored separately and that you do not end up having to go through piles of clothes to find the item that you are looking for.

Is the space shared with a sibling of the same age?

The things that you will need to consider if you have twins or triplets in one room are that there will be double the amount of clothing and for the most part, they will be in the same size. Another thing to consider of course is are they the same sex.

Storage options will need to be carefully thought out and ensure that they use all the space available in the best possible way.

It will depend on the season we are in

Each season the clothes that your baby needs will change and with this so will the storage options that you will need and the amount of space required.

Jumpers, coats, and snowsuit take up far more space than summer dresses, shorts and t-shirts, and cute romper suits. You will need a storage solution that is both flexible and can grow with your baby. 

Start With The Basics

So to begin with, you’re going to need some sort of hanging system in order to keep all those tiny clothes in order. The best way I found to do this was to color code my hangers.

So for all clothes that were 0-3 months  would be on blue hangers, 3-6 months on pink hangers, and so on until I reached 9-12 months

Another great option if you’re not keen on the multi-colored hangers is to purchase some closet size dividers. These are placed on the rail and help to divide clothes based on their size. These are a great visual system that is easy to keep in order.

If you don’t have any hanging space and are just using drawers, then color-coded hangers or closet size dividers will not work. But draw organizers and labels will become your best friend.

Drawer organizers are super useful especially when your baby is small and all their clothing is quite small too. These organizers can be placed inside your drawer and will help to keep each type of clothing such as socks, rompers, and burp cloths.

Drawer dividers can have multiple uses and can really help to keep all those tiny clothes organized.

They’re inexpensive and easy to use, provide easy access to everything in them, and are super easy to change around to suit your needs and the needs of your growing baby – baby clothes get bigger very quickly. 

Steps To Organizing Baby clothes

Now that you have some ideas on how to organize all those clothes, here are a few tips to start the process of getting super organized.

1. Wash Everything

Before you start sorting out all those baby clothes make sure that they are all laundered and clean. This is super important whether you are using the clothes or they have been outgrown and are being stored away for use with your next baby.

2. Sort By Size

The first step now is to sort all those clothes into groups by size. So go ahead and sort through them all and put them into the correct pile.

3. Decide If Items Are Worth Keeping

Now is the time to have a really good sort out and get rid of any clothes that are stained or that you really do not like. Start with the smallest size and pull out anything that is not suitable.

mother organizing baby clothes

Place all these items in a bag straight away so that they do not get mixed up with what you are keeping and can be easily loaded into the car and dropped off at a local donation center.

4. Fold or Hang Everything

So whether you are using a hanging system or a drawer system, you now need to fold or hang everything up. Make sure to keep everything in their size piles.

Remember if you are using the colored hanger method that you know which size is going onto which color and that they do not get mixed up.

5. Time To Put It All Away

Now that everything is organized it is time to put everything away. If you are using the colored hanger method then this should be super easy, you just hang everything up from the smallest size to the biggest.

Ensuring that you keep all the hangers in the right color order. If you are using the closet size dividers make sure to place them in the correct place to clearly separate the clothes by size.

For the drawer method, you just need to decide what is going into each drawer and what is going into each drawer divider within that drawer.

6. Take A Break

Now that everything is super organized and all your baby’s clothes are easily identified according to size, why not sit back and bask in the glory of how beautiful that organized space looks.

Organizing Baby clothes That Have Been Outgrown

As we said babies grow out of clothes at a tremendous rate and you will very quickly find yourself drowning in a sea of clothes that no longer fit your little one. So what do you do with them then?

Well the first thing you need to decide is if you are going to store them for your next baby or if you are done having babies, are you going to gift them to friends or relatives or even. to a charity.

So here are a few tips to get you on the road to sorting those outgrown clothes.

mother and baby laundry

1. Launder Everything

No matter whether you are storing clothes for your next baby or giving them away it is important that everything is clean and laundered.

You could place a bin in your baby’s room or in your laundry room and pop all the clean outgrown clothes in there ready to be sorted at a later day.

2. Sort by Size

So all the clothes are clean and now just need to be sorted into piles according to their size. You will need to sort through every piece of clothing and place it in the correct size pile.

3. Keep or Bin

Now is the perfect opportunity to sort through all the clothes. Starting with the smallest size, go through each size and remove any clothes that are stained, damaged, or that you simply do not love anymore.

4. Get Folding

Pop on your favorite tunes or binge watch Netflix and fold everything into neat piles according to their size. Make sure you do not get them mixed up or you will be back to square one.

5. Storing options

So you have a few different options available as to how you are going to store your outgrown baby clothes. The option you choose will depend very much on how much space you have to store those clothes and how many clothes you actually have to store.

If you are short of space for storage then the vacuum storage bags are a great option as they take up very little space but can still hold an incredible amount of clothing.

Place one size of clothing per bag so that everything stays organized and is easy to find when you need it.

6. Label with the size

You can pop a label inside the vacuum bag before you seal it or could label the outside of the bag with a sharpie.

7. Pack inside storage boxes

Once you have all those baby clothes sorted and packed into storage bags and they are labeled with the size you are ready to start packing them away inside storage boxes.

It’s best to start with the smallest size and fill the storage box before moving on to the next one. Make sure that you label each storage box stating what is in it like baby clothes and the sizes contained within.

This labeling will make it super easy to find exactly what you are looking for in the future.

8. Store Away

Now that all those clothes are sorted, bagged, labeled, and ready for storage, it’s time to move them to the basement, attic, or where ever you will be storing them.

The Final Thought

Now that everything is organized and you feel that you have really accomplished something.

Whether that’s sorting our your baby’s clothes in their room or the clothes that they have outgrown, sit back put your feet up and enjoy this moment because all too quickly you will be back to square one.

Remember we said babies grow fast well they never really stop and soon enough those beautiful clothes that you organized in their closet will again be banished to the ‘outgrown bin.’