Kids

Storing (Less) Kid’s Clothing

by theminimalistmom |

 

It’s been a while since I talked about kid’s clothing and how we try and keep things minimalist-ish with three young kids. So I thought I would give an update on what we’re doing now, how things are changing as our kids get older (and bigger) and share some of my favourite strategies that work for our family for keeping clothing under control.

Above is what we have stored for our three kids. The top box is shoes and rain boots. The bottom box is summer clothing and hand-me-downs. My kids are now 7, 4 and 2 and our family is complete as they say/ we’re done with babies!! There is a three size gap between the seven year-old and four year-old and a one or no size gap between the four year-old and two year-old. We have cool to cold winters with a lot of rain and the occasional snow day and our summers can go as high as 30C.

Strategies for Small Kid Wardrobes

We’ve made it the last year and a half with two IKEA Antonius units storing all the kids clothes and diapers. It’s getting tight. The culprit: our oldest is wearing a school uniform this year (and they have TWO different uniforms) plus his clothing is getting bigger, just likehim. Luckily the school uniform will be gone at the end of June and we’ll get back 25% of the space once our youngest potty trains in a year and we’re out of diapers. In general I think we do a good job of keeping the kid’s wardrobes modest while still keeping them appropriately clothed. Things we do that help us have less clothing:

  • we don’t buy/accept a lot of clothing – simple but it helps immensely
  • we regularly cull the kids wardrobes for things that aren’t being worn or no longer fit
  • we think holes in the knees of jeans are cool. Someone asked me if we put holes in the knees of the youngest jeans ourselves, like as an ode to distressed jean fashion. I laughed. Nope. He’s just the third kid to wear those size 2T jeans.
  • if the outfit was clean at the end of the day (exception: underwear) it gets worn the next day
  • we try to invest in durable brands for our oldest son that will last through another kid or two. Especially in outerwear and rain boots.
  • we try and wear out items. I won’t send my kids out in torn (besides knees on jeans) clothing or items with big stains on them, but fading or some fraying from lots of use, that makes me happy. So we don’t replace things simply because they look old.

I’m not very particular about what my kids wear and so far they aren’t very particular about what they wear either. I know we are really lucky on this front. There aren’t fights about what to wear in the morning and, THANKFULLY, no one is asking me to go the mall and buy them the latest on trend piece from H&M. We do laundry frequently so at most my kids need a week’s worth of clothes. We try to wash clothing after it’s been worn two or even three times if possible and this increases the longevity of the clothing.

We don’t store a lot of hand-me downs

One thing I am seeing as my kids get bigger: the clothes are wearing out faster. We don’t have as many hand-me-downs to store as you might expect. Sometimes the middle child will be the last to wear something that was originally the oldest. Usually it’s because both of them wore that size for 2+ years so, combined with wearing things more frequently than a lot of North Americans do, the t-shirt is ready to be cut into rags or the jeans are ready to be made into jean shorts or sent to textile recycling.

I *never* buy ahead in sizes during sale season

My oldest did not grow in a steady pattern at all so I decided early on not to buy ahead at end of season sales. It’s just not worth it to me to spend money and take up our limited storage with things that may, or may not, fit one of my kids next year. A lot of our winter and fall clothing comes from Grandmas at birthdays and Christmas and if they have bought in a generous size I’ll store those items for next year. But that’s it. If buying ahead works for you, awesome. But my kids are all over the growth chart and we have very little storage so we get things in season as we need them most of the time.

I let my kids grow into and out of things

I let the t-shirts get a bit short in the body before going to the next size and that oversize sweatshirt gets to be a fitted style before it’s passed down. My oldest just passed down a zip up sweatshirt he has been wearing for over three years. We have adjustable waistbands on EVERYTHING. We roll up cuffs and sleeves for a few months while a child grows into things.

We keep shoes to a minimum

Our oldest is the shoe-a-holic out of the kids. He has four pairs: rain boots, athletic shoes, formal school shoes, pair of Converse. The other two kids have rain boots and a pair of running shoes. They each have a pair of slip-on style summer sandals that we keep out in the winter to wear to the condo pool downstairs.

Of course, I know we could be more minimalist. We spent a month overseas and the kids took about 2/3rds of their wardrobe and with frequent laundry going we did just fine. I’m all about finding the sweet spot between making life comfortable and having less stuff. Right now this is what works for us.

For parents of many, how do you manage storing hand-me-downs? I would love to hear from those of you with big families, those of you that are the buy ahead type and anyone with an more elaborate or more stream lined system than mine.

  • Hi,

    I have two boys aged 2 & 4a, I keep the oldest clothes for the youngest. Their sizes aren’t much different about 2 sizes difference. When my oldest needs clothes I buy tops a bigger than the one that fits so they last longer and just roll the sleaves up, other pants I buy the right size even thought they have elastic waists as my boys are both skinny. Adjustable wait ones I do like but the ones I do find are jeans and dress pants which my boys don’t wear. Most of the time the clothes go straight in my youngest drawer as they have large drawers – hand me downs all fit in 1 drawer.

  • We have two boys (6 and 4,5y) and the younger is almost as tall as older – so no storing there. Clothes goes directly from one to another. I don’t buy bigger sizes, I buy what fits and when he grows out of it, the younger one gets it. Clothes is easy – after two boys most of casual clothes is damaged and not worth storing. So far so good, but I hate to think what happens when they wear same size. We’ll have everything TWICE! TWICE! It happend already with shoes. same shoes, same size. I give away what I can, but those shoes are probably multiplying themselves.
    third kid is a girl (3) – harder. She MINDS what she wears, so no point in storing anything for her. we got a lot of hand-me-downs , far more than necessary, but she wears all of it:-) changing 4x a day, matching socks and skirts. but she does not spoil it, so I am able to hand it down again.
    I keep the VERY BEST clothes for my sister and her kids. Not much, just the expensive stuff (winter jackets) or things we find most usefull. 1 big box.

  • If buying ahead doesn’t work for you, then don’t do it! Many times when I have bought ahead, I’ve had regrets. Now I’ve learned staples from certain brands are worth it. I keep boxes of the next 2 sizes up from my oldest and if I see something on sale in a future size, I buy it and store it in the box until it’s needed. I have a cold weather and warm weather bin for each. I do have a lot of storage space and many hand me downs to store. But, it still gets to be too much. sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to just donate it all and buy when needed. But I’m thankful of all the hand me downs and my girls enjoy them as well. Best of luck!

  • I have two kids, a boy and a girl, 14 and 11. I still stockpile trousers (jeans and cargo pants) for my son. He grows so fast at this age, I really like being able to pull a larger pair of jeans out of my box when his trousers are too short. I have a plastic bin for each kid — clothes to grow into and out of season clothes are stored there. In the past I kept a plastic tote for each size: size 7 son, size 4 daughter, etc. When an unexpected growth spurt hit, I’d have everything ready to go.

    It works for us. I keep the totes out in a shed. At the change of seasons everyone tries on “new” clothes to see what fits. I’ve had a lot of success getting rid of clothes this way, too, since my daughter will feel very attached at the end of a season when she wore a dress every week, but by the following spring she will not mind disposing of that item.

    We shop from thrift stores, not the mall, and I’ve talked to the kids about how much kinder it is to the planet to buy used. We talk about how it helps people (through the charity shop) to buy second hand, so I have not had any requests to buy new (whatever) from the mall.

  • I only have two boys–one now in college and one still in high school–so I can’t speak to the systems of a large family. But when they were younger and school aged, we used the duffle bag system. We had one large duffle bag for each of them, the one for my older son filled with hand-me-downs and the one for my younger son with things the older had outgrown (or occasionally, wouldn’t wear). Our home is small and we really didn’t have room for more than those bags in the storage closet, but quite a lot fit into them. They really enjoyed “shopping in the suitcase” as they called it.

    And–shoes! Expensive shoes are a thing (plus shoes do take up a lot of space). My older son was into trying out sports for a while and seemed to be always needing/wanting new shoes (the younger one could care less about shoes). Trail running shoes, cleats, sprinting shoes…whew. Thankfully, when their grandmother wanted to help or buy gifts, she helped with shoes. And at some point, parents can reuse some of them. For a few years, I had much nicer running shoes than I would have purchased for myself as hand-me-downs from my son (before his feet grew much bigger than mine). We built shallow shelves into the side of the front entry closet to hold shoes, but we also try to limit the number per person (easier now that son #1 is off at college!).

  • I’ve got three kids…boy 7, girl 5, boy 3. I keep some of the hand me downs from big brother in a tub, I have a friend that also hands down to the youngest and I have two cousins that hand down to the girl. I’m pretty ruthless going through the clothes, but it still seems to be a lot. Kids seem to grow out of clothes before they wear them out, and I’m cheap, so its hard not to take these clothes. Last week I was able to sort and eliminate half of what was there.

    Rules are: if it has a hole or stain, it’s too trendy or uncomfortable-looking, or a repeat, I pass it on. We also have a school uniform, so the kids probably need even less than I keep.

    I’m going to an outlet mall next week (a forced side-trip with a friend) and after doing the purge, very little will be purchased. Knowing what I have is a good way to stop the over buying.

  • I loved reading this post and all the comments. I have girls that are 3 and 5, with another girl due next month (she’ll be our last).

    I have shallow bins for hand-me-downs and buy-aheads. They are clear and I can see easily what I have. The bins are a pretty good size, but I can easily fit five under a twin bed. Toddler and little kid sizes are one size per bin.

    As the girls outgrow items, I ask myself if I would buy it again. If I would, I store it. I’m a huge fan of cloth diapers, but I decided that we aren’t doing hand-me-down underwear or socks (after infant sizes). They are getting harder on their play shoes, but the soccer cleats and church shoes get saved. They’ve never worn out a jacket or sweater.

    • I love reading the comments too. Interesting to read how people navigate kid’s clothing based on their climate/storage/ages of children.
      Like the “would I buy it again” test for storing items for a next child.
      I’m still debating hand-me-down underwear… maybe a no and I cut it into rags? My middle kid has a very slight frame and it was hard to find underpants small enough for him. The toddler has a completely different build so I really don’t need to save those for him. I try and think back to my childhood and I would not have been happy with hand-me-down underwear. I remember being upset with homemade underwear!! (But of course I had to wear it).

  • We have four kids – girl (15), boy (13), girl (8), boy (6). As clothing becomes too small for the older girl and boy, I keep only items that would be expensive for us to buy like coats, snowsuits and footwear. As a piece of clothing becomes too small throughout the year, we donate it if it is still wearable.
    Twice a year (April and October) I have each child do a “fashion show” for me where they try on every piece of clothing in their closets. From that I can see what’s needed for the upcoming summer/winter seasons, then we go to the thrift store together to fill in any gaps.
    Each child has 1/2 of a standard size closet (no dressers) and everything is on hangers except for underwear and socks. This has worked really well for us 🙂

    • I forgot to add that I budget $20 per child per month ($80) in an envelope so that when I need to buy clothing for them, I’m prepared (our 13 boy currently has size 11 feet…and growing 🙂

      • We have a rolling budget for clothing too (we use the YNAB tracking and budgeting system). Really helps as we try to just buy clothing and shoes once in the fall and once in the late spring.

  • As my two oldest boys have gotten older (12 and 10), we have less clothing to store. They each do have a bag at the top of the closet that had some next size up clothing BUT, I still store a lot of hand me downs for my 6 year old boy. I’ve found that h hding on to these items is worth the storage space, not only for the financial savings, but also for the time it saves me! (I don’t have to go to the stores or shop online very often :). I only keep itemsthatbare in good condition or super practical. Unfortunately they take up a lot of room in his closet, but avoiding the stores helps keep me sane when life gets busy!

  • I have decided that for us (4 and 2 yr old girls and 8 month old boy in mountainous VA climate) that if I had to be super minimalist with the shoes each would have a pair of crocs and a pair of rubber boots. Those are the perfect type of shoes for us since we also live way out in the country on a hobby farm. Which means mud, and LOTS of it! Since i don’t have to be super minimalist i plan to keep 5 pairs of shoes per walking child: A pair of crocs, a pair of sneakers, a pair of nice sandals (“town” shoes), a pair of rubber boots, and a pair of snowboots. I’m actually always astounded that people with capsule wardrobes have so many fashion shoes. I personally have two pairs of “town” shoes; Sperrys and a pair of nice leather boots. I think it is the difference in location though. Because the rest of my shoes are: muck boots, hiking boots, snowboots, and ballet style crocs that I use for gardening and such in summer. For myself I try to stick with leather or a quality brand, but I honestly feel it is more economical to just buy used for the kids. You can usually find shoes in decent shape and I have definitely passed shoes down so it has been worth it so far. With how fast they grow while they are young and the hazards of pets/ country living I would have more stress over keeping them in good condition than is worth it 😜. Once they get older I will start buying them new shoes but those probably won’t get passed down. I definitely agree with the idea of buying neutral outerwear. Our snowboots tend to be black and our snowpants are gray, but I haven’t been as successful with the coats. I am realizing that I still have way too many baby clothes though because I basically only use sleepers stop their feet stay warm. After our youngest girl outgrows things I may purge the girl things. It will mostly depend on if we have another girl relatively close in age. We have the storage room but I don’t like having anything that’s just going to sit around for a long time.

  • My son(10) and daughter(8) are 2.5 years apart in age but very similar in size. Living in Winnipeg our seasons are very distinct, so outerwear is most important to me. The kids shop together and choose a style/colour they both like, as they know it will be passed on from oldest to youngest. Rain jackets are the more comfortable lined style bought to be worn spring thru fall with layers underneather depending on weather. Winter gear is worn everyday for months, so its is very good quality, and usually last 3-4 years. Both grandmas like to knit making scarves, hats, mitts, are in plentiful supply (so handy when things get wet) and instantly change up an outfit from one child to the next.
    The only hand-me-downs I keep from others are formal wear. We have little need for these very expensive items, so a suit only worn once by my newphew is worth keeping for a few years, to save on that expense. Otherwise I buy as needed, and one grandma often gifts clothing at Christmas, or a tshirt from a vacation, which helps.
    I have one small storage box, which doubles as a bench, in my daughters room to hold both kids out of season cloths, and one drawer for formal wear. Everything else is in their closets/dressers We have a spring ‘fashion show’ and a ‘fall fashion show’ to sort clothing, donating or cutting into rags what no longer fits/is wearable.

    • Anne: I love that your kids shop together to choose a style that they will both like. And wow, yes good winter clothing is so expensive. We’ve had a colder than usual winter here in Vancouver and there was even snow for a few weeks. We had snow pants for the younger two but I could not track down anything for the oldest that was less than $100! I scoured all the usual places to buy second hand but nothing came up. So he survived snowmaggedon with a few extra layers and rain paints.

  • I’ve got three boys (7, 5, 2) and very generous in-laws. My boys have too many clothes. We live on the prairies, so we get extreme cold and somewhat extreme heat (for Canada). The things I’ll buy ahead are running shoes (they need indoor and outdoor shoes for school) and boots, because when I find them on clearance, I stock up, as with three kids, someone will wear them, and the shoes don’t really get passed down because they get worn out. I also will buy mitts/gloves/hats/etc. ahead because we need good quality outerwear for the cold winters and that stuff is expensive! I definitely save stuff to pass down, if it’s still in good condition. I rarely have to buy clothes for the younger two, which is great.

  • i have kids in a 20 year age span…have stored and culled plenty but mostly snow pants, jeans & the best hoodies & soccer cleats & muck boots…nice robes too if they want them. have had enough space in one spot that it was worth it but glad we have gone through about the last of the stored stuff. i found packing them neatly in zip up bags (garbage bags at first and then had some zip up bags from an Asian market that worked better. I like them better than totes for this). Anyway, focused on the things that are more difficult to find second hand and well worth the storage space even if only a certain percentage fit the shape or style of the next ones in line. i also purchase second hand so if my favorite thrift store is having a .25 sale on kids clothes i would purchase freely if i find treasures in those categories. even if something didn’t fit, i didn’t mind the donation if it got returned or passed on to our local foster care group and so on.

    jeans are just so hard to find, as are decent khakis and dress pants for concerts, special events, etc.

    we cull clothes not infrequently…yesterday polo shirts were ousted because of the pronouncement that the collars are annoying and not his thing…for an 11 yo. since they were worn by someone else and/or inexpensive, happy to move them out. if i didn’t buy so inexpensively for their clothes over all (except shoes & unders) then i’d be much more tied to them getting their value out of it.

    girls clothes – i admit harder to stay away from. but second hand lets us cycle through new fun things since she enjoys that and has a slew of older brothers, so gets more “new.”

  • My one-year-old daughter has a very small bedroom (54 square feet) and I took the bifold door off her closet to wedge a three-drawer dresser in there with three shelves mounted above. Top drawer of the dresser contains some clear drawer organizers for socks, bibs, tights, hats and mitts (she has two of each for the current winter season). Middle drawer contains all her current pants (about 6) and tops/onesies (15 or so) and sweaters (3). Bottom drawer contains current sleepers (4 — she wears them twice in a week) and footless rompers (6). There’s ample room in every drawer because her clothing is still very small (she wears 6-9m and 9-12m clothing currently). I do laundry once a week unless something that we only have one of (like her sleep sack) gets dirty and needs to be washed right away.

    Because of our distinct seasons and her unpredictable growing (or lack thereof — like I said, she’s still in some 9m outfits) I don’t buy ahead, but that doesn’t prevent grandparents from doing so. Anything that doesn’t fit yet gets stored on the top shelf in her closet and I go through the pile as she grows out of things and I need to replenish her drawers or as seasons change. I’m happier to take the excess to the consignment store or pass along to friends than stuff her drawers full with more than she can wear in a week.

    I keep two clear bins under the basement steps marked “to sell” and “to save.” As she grows out of things or I receive something that’s impractical, I toss it in the “to sell” bin and make an appointment at the consignment store when the bin is full. Anything that’s very high quality or that I particularly loved goes in the “to save” bin. I’m not planning on another baby so this is mostly for sentimental value. I don’t want to keep more than one “to save” bin, so I’m pretty selective about what goes in there.

  • In the earlier years with our seven kids (6 boys, 1 girl – currently ages 8 to 22) I saved any clothing worth saving. Shirts and shorts were always getting stained or torn, so I needed back ups. We live in NW Florida so with our climate its shorts and t shirts for well over half the year- close to 9 months, so jeans tend to last well between children. With so many boys, I always had something to fit no matter the body type and with ‘time to shop’ being scarce it was nice to be able to just head to the attic. I have found over the years that elastic waists do not fare well in hot FL attics and our shoes generally do not get passed on b/c they always wear out first. All our bins are clearly marked with what sizes/types of clothing are inside – we have a large attic and at one point I think we had well over a dozen bins. Our own Mall 🙂
    I still constantly cull clothing and shoes, but now they are big enough to help the process and have definite opinions about what they wear! Only five are still at home, so the attic storage has shrunken considerably. I go through and pull out things that I have lots of duplicates of or that no one will wear and donate/pass on/consign about twice a year. No matter what’s in the attic though, I’ve always had formulas for how much clothing we keep in the bedrooms. Two dress shirts, two dress pants, 7 t shirts, 5 shorts, 2 jeans – athletic shoes, dress shoes, flip flops socks and underwear. (I have a fashionista SON that loves bowties and shoes so that’s a thing…) BUT we are also a very athletic family so sports wear/gear is our nemesis! Soccer uniforms, cleats, running shoes, compressions shorts/shirts, golf shirts and then all the gear!!! It’s an ongoing battle to keep things corralled. But our system has worked for us.

  • I have six kids (6 months to 8 years), five of them boys. With so many boys so close together, it’s definitely worth it to me to save clothes. I keep a small wardrobe for each child (one dresser drawer each), and I try to only save things that are in pretty good condition. As you have discovered, that has meant less as the kids (and clothes) have gotten older. I have one plastic container of shoes in the garage, as well as a couple of bins of clothes. Then I also have several bins of clothes in the kids’ closet. I don’t use their closet for their currently worn clothes, just storage, so that works well. I do accept hand-me-downs, but I am very particular about only keeping the items that I know we will use. As far as my daughter’s clothes, I started out saving everything that was good, as with the boys clothes, but as several years went by with no more girls, I stopped saving her clothes and passed them on instead. I didn’t want to store so much when I was unsure if it would be used again. Now I’ve been going through the baby and toddler girl clothes that I kept and passing them on as well. I have found many of the items stained from sitting in storage so long, which makes me more determined not to save things unless I know I’ll be using them again soon. I’ve also gotten better over the years at determining what clothes I actually use, especially with baby sizes. All the cute little jeans and outfits are nice, but I’ve found that I prefer my babies be in a comfy sleeper instead, so now I generally save one or two cute outfits and pass the rest along. It’s also helpful for me to remember that we always get more clothes! Each new baby has received new clothes, and the older kids always receive some clothes for gifts. Thinking of this helps keep me from storing excess clothes or things in only okay condition, just in case.

    • Annaleah – I found the same thing with my babies, by the third all he wore was comfy sleepers. The first had newborn size jeans!! Hahaha.
      Love hearing from a large family 🙂

  • I have a son (the eldest) and two girls; and so I only have to worry about girls hand me downs. We do get given a lot of things; and I am ruthless about sorting them as they come into the house. If they are the wrong colour, style or fit, they leave as quickly as they came in. Because I keep such a small number of items, I just dump them all into a refuse sack in the cupboard, and pick things out when needed when I do my twice yearly wardrobe sort. When they were babies, I kept a lot more, sorted into sizes, because it makes good financial sense when you are on maternity leave; and because they go through them so fast – it was a lot of brain work to organise however. At one point I had about 5 crates of baby clothes in the cupboard.

    I would like to build them capsule wardrobes, but family have started buying cute clothes in lieu of toys, and I don’t really want to discourage this. The kids don’t seem to bothered by the clashing styles, and can usually put together a few outfits from their collections.

  • I totally agree with these points. I have 7 kids, so you would think that keeping hand-me-downs would work for my family, but it doesn’t. Kids grow differently and have different body shapes and preferences. For example, my 4 and 6 year olds are the same size. They wear the same wardrobe, but have different needs. The 6 year old won’t wear any pants but leggings. And her clothes have to fit tight or she’s miserable, but the 4 year old is the opposite – she likes softness and bagginess.

    The boys aren’t picky, but they wear things slap OUT before they can pass it along. The clutter just isn’t worth a few pennies of savings, especially when I get my kids’ clothing used for the most part. (I left my link on this topic in comments)

  • I have a 2 and a half year old son, and I’m pregnant again but having a girl this time. Baby clothes are the hardest to store, because they go through so many sizes and they don’t get worn out so it’s harder to get rid of them!

    Our baby clothes were also worn by my niece, who is now 15 months old. Hopefully I’ll be able to give them straight back to my sister again for her eventual number 2 🙂

    With my son’s current clothes he only really needs tshirts, shorts and swimwear. We keep them in separate drawers so that he can find and choose his own clothes more easily. Plus we have one box of clothes for him to grow into, but now that he stays in sizes for longer than a couple of months I’ve stopped buying ahead nearly as much.

  • My boys are 13 and 10 now, hence the size of their clothes are bigger. (I keep shoes, jackets, sports gear and jeans friom one child to the other. ) Yet, they still have the same 3 drawer Flexa drawers as when they were little. The drawers host their underware, 7 T-shirts, 1 shirt, 3 trousers, 3 shorts , 2 jumpers. swimming togs, hat, scarf, gloves. Luckily, they both wear uniforms to school, but the uniforms are in my wardrobe, as I have space to hand them (4 shirts, 2 trousers, a jumper, a tie, a school tracksuit and a T-shirt) each. Easy!
    The problem is the sports grear! One plays gaelic football and rugby, and trains 6 days a week, the other plays gaelic football and hurling. In a small house, it is hard to find a place for all the dirty boots and for all the gear. We have a large drawer under the stairs dedicated to the sports clothes and gear, but I find it an ongoing srtuggle to keep them at bay.

  • I buy ahead for certain things where the sizing or season doesn’t have to be exact. But I have 1 grow-into box for each kid and that’s it so will only do it when I find a bargain I know we will need within a year AND we have space in the box. I found this works well for thrift store scores (plain long sleeve t-shirt get worn year round so I will get next size up when I see a like-new one) or for my daughter I can get a high quality summer dress at the end of the summer and know that will work over tshirts in fall/spring and through the next summer if I size up, since length on dresses gives lots of wiggle room (we start with them a bit long and she wears them till they are tunic tops over leggings).

  • I admire your discipline! I have two girls and can’t resist dressing them as cute as possible. So if I see something really cute, I get it even if they don’t need it. (They are my weak spot, I hardly ever buy for myself.) They are 3 years apart and born in the same season, and so far the outgrown clothes of the bigger have been perfect for the little one. I store everything unless it’s broken or was somehow unpractical/just didn’t work out. I have to say that sometimes I’ve ended up not using something I stored, but since we have space in the basement, it hasn’t amounted to a problem. I also buy one year ahead at the sales, and so far it’s worked out. The girls have been growing quite steadily. Only with shoes I was once unlucky, but they still get a chance with the younger one!

  • I need to do a cull. My daughter wears about 1/4 of the clothes in her wardrobe. She’s not a fussy dresser and likes to live in sweat pants and t-shirts. Very interesting post – I agree with all your reasoning.

  • Well, I have twin girls (6 years old) plus one on the way. When I wasn’t sure of baby number 3 showing up, I stopped storing the outgrown clothes. I am a buy-one-year-ahead shopper but still all the girls’ clothes fit into their closet. I sort their clothes by season -spring/summer and fall/winter – as we live in Calgary and the seasons can be fairly distinct though I do try to buy items that layer well.

    The current clothes they’re wearing hang in the closet. The next size up clothes are stored in travel cubes right at the top of the closet along with next size footwear. (I used to use totes that took up space in the guest room until I realized that with travel cubes I could fit everything into their closet)

    I keep the outgrown clothes in rubbermaid totes in the basement also sorted by season. Twice a year, I take the totes to a consignment/resale/thrift store to sell or donate so I never have more than 2 totes of outgrown clothes at any point in time.

    The only hand-me-downs I accept are party dresses from my niece as I wouldn’t usually buy those. Even then, there’s rarely more than 7 dresses at a time and there’s enough room in the closet to hang them until the girls grow into them. Like you, as the girls grow older I let them wear the outfits (regardless of tag size) until its snug so quite a few of their clothes last 2-3 years especially as there’s now a 2in height gap between them.

  • Our boys are 22 months apart and both on the small side. Currently, at 6.5 + 8.5, they could share clothes and sometimes do. I almost always save clothes to hand down to the smaller one, especially since they have similar skinny body types. If there are items my older kiddo refuses to wear, I’ll keep it for the younger one. However, before keeping, I always ask the younger one if he likes it. Both boys have VERY strong fashion opinions, so I’ve mostly stopped buying in advance, unless it’s a brand I know fits them well and that they like. Both boys love to wear chino style skater-brand shorts, so I’ll stock up at second-hand stores if I see they have brands they like. Target stopped making the ONE brand they love AND that fit my skinny guys (finding jeans and shorts for skinny-waisted boys is the hardest thing ever), so if I ever run past that brand (Shawn White), I buy it, even if it’s a size up. Austin weather can get chilly in the winter, so each boy has a heavier winter coat and a sweatshirt. My oldest is averse to wearing pants, so often packs shorts in his backpack to change into later in the day. Both ride bikes to school and are made to wear pants since the mornings can be chilly, but the afternoon has warmed up a good 20 or so degrees. It’s our compromise. As for storing clothes, they have each have a drawer for current weather clothes and another drawer for off-season and next size up clothes. This has been working for us. We’ve been lucky to have invested in good shoes that they will be able to be passed down to our younger son. Each boy generally keeps two pairs of shoes–an athletic pair for school and flip-flops for the rest of the time. We’re originally from Arizona where flip flops are worn year round, so my kids often require flip flops to be handy. Finally, in terms of amounts, each kiddo has 5-7 pairs of shorts and pants and 7-10 short sleeve and long sleeve tees. Even though we have the space, this is what works best for us–just means I can’t skip a week of laundry 😉

  • We have 5 kids ages 4-14 and I think I’m good with the level of storage of stuff we have in the in-between sizes. We use the upper closet shelf in 2 closets to keep a total of 5 bins of clothes. I mostly keep jeans and khakis for the boys and nice hand-me-downs for our 4 year old girl, 8 years younger than her sister. I have a friend who could clothe her 3x over in Hanna Andersson, Primigi and Gymboree, so I’ve tried to be very selective when she lets me come “shop”. I am very grateful for those hand-me-downs as we’re a single income family and my husband works for a non-profit, and our older kids are getting more expensive in pretty much every way. 😉 As for shoes, the top shelf on a shoe rack in the garage holds the in-between sizes.. I don’t keep them all, but always hold onto Keens and whatever is still in great shape. Oh, and we keep winter coats and boots, too. I’ve bought a good one in each size and they’re just getting passed down, so girls have worn navy and blue coats and boots unless some have popped up secondhand that are more girly. We could be more minimal, but this works for the space we have (1700 sq ft) and our budget. Nothing has to be jammed under beds or in the crawl space or garage and I can easily find what we need when a growth spirt happens. So our storage serves us and isn’t a burden. Generally we buy secondhand or on a deal, buy big, buy neutral and then wear those items long. Grandma still likes to buy stuff, but generally those graphic t-shirts or colorful pants get worn by one kid and donated. If things do make it to the 3rd boy I find I’m tired of seeing that article of clothing, but it’s hard to tire of basics like jeans and such. *sorry to be long-winded

    • Thank you so much for sharing your system for your large family. This is the kind of thing I want to hear about as a mom of younger kids and I know it’s helpful to other families too. Love the thought you’ve put into your system 🙂

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