Ways to Store Large Baby Items

Dear S.,

I'm the kinda gal who doesn't leave the good china high up and out of sight - I use it!

With this thought in mind, I'm thinking there must be clever uses to disguise such large items in a space where actual storage is a challenge, as you describe.

I think an exersaucer makes a lovely unbrella stand in the winter - the base catches the water - you can fit many umbrellas without problem and there are lots of nooks and cranies to stow keys or other small items as you come through the door!

And how about that old car seat? If you turn it upside-down, strap it to a stool, add a small bit of scrap wood to the top and neatly apply some excess yardage of fabric, you have a pretty little stand to host unlimited decorational items over the holidays throughout the year!

That swing might pose a challenge to most, but not me! Why, if your child doesn't want it in the playroom for a babydoll, I'd line the seat with a pretty piece of printed vinyl and decorate the rest with 10-foot garlands of green ivy and little white Christmas lights - then, when I'm having dinner guests (that I don't want to indulge TOO much in drink), I simply fill it with ice and put a bottle of champagne in the seat - they only get some if they can grab it on the upswing!!!

Oh, those bouncy seats - those are a challenge! But, if you throw a towel over one and place it in the corner on the bathroom counter, it makes a tidy little storage spot for little packaged soaps and tiny, rolled-up washcloths (just like a hotel restroom!!!). Or - a neat way to display those magazines that tend to pile up in such places...it sure would help with letting you know when the stack has gotten too big - the first magazine to slide off and land in the sink is a sure sign!

I hope my ideas have helped you. If you need any other design or decorating ideas, please visit my website where I have a special button with design ideas you might enjoy. http://www.maidenus.com :-)

Now - my official apology - I just COULDN'T help myself. It's a weakness. It's like a knee-jerk reaction. Blame my mother!

I hope other women give you much more useful advice! Best of luck to you!!!

WR,
T. B.

1 mom found this helpful

We installed ceiling racks that hang above the cars in our garage. (~$60 Home Depot) Also, the last time we were at the airport we grabbed a couple of extra bags that they use for checked baggage. Most airlines have them available near the ticket counters. They worked great for car-seats and they are even large enough for our stroller. And they are clear so you know whats inside!

Hey, maybe you could buy those large plastic gift bags that are for wrapping bicycles and large things such as teddy bears and car seats and stuff like that. Maybe that would work. I have used them many times to wrap big gift items so I don't have to use alot of wrapping paper. I have seen them in the bike area around Christmas time and also in the card/ gift bag area. Hope you can find them, they would probably work to keep your big baby items clean until the next time you need them. They are cheap too. Good luck! you can also get those enormous plastic tubs that are for Christmas trees. They sell them at Shop-ko.

My garage is weather-tight (doesn't flood or get damp), so perhaps this won't work for you. For all the big items that fold more-or-less flat, I got a giant tarp, spread it on the floor and up the wall, leant the biggest item (crib parts) against the wall, then leant successively smaller things against that. I then wrapped the rest of the tarp over the top and secured it with bungie cords around the whole bundle. It wasn't pretty, but it kept everything together, and a tarp is far less likely to tear than a garbage bag or sheet.

The one thing that didn't work with this was the car seat. That went in a garbage bag.

What I did with mine was put them back in their original boxes they were purchased in, of course if you still have them, and we put them up in the attic and when it was time for baby # 2 they were just like new...

Good large garbage bags tied at the top will keep the dust off and most, if not all, of those items will fit in a large bag.

S.,

I have read a lot of responses abou using bags, but I use boxes. Just break the stuff down as muc as possible use boxes and clearly label them. That way nothing to heavy will get stacked on them and break them. I have two children, and am able to use all of my old stuff because I had stored it all this way. Hope this helps you.

Nancy

Wash them, clean them, put them in black bags and use some tape to seal them. Good luck!

We've had leftover boxes from moves that help, even if you keep the original packaging you hardly ever get it back in. Large garbage bags over the cloth parts helps a ton. Break down what you can, like maybe take the legs of the swing apart or if the exersaucer folds for travel then fold it.

If you have a garage, put them in the attic of the garage. Cover them with plastic first.

They have those overhead storage things with pulleys that lift above the cars, have you ever seen them? Something like this...

http://www.organize.com/prheli.html

You have lots of ideas on wrapping them up. I would also suggest that since you are storing in the garage, you should store them high - for example purchase and install some of those racks that mount to the ceiling and have pulley to lower and raise them - check Lowe's and Home Depot. There is less debris and dust up there overall and if you at least place the soft/fabric parts in storage bins or storage bags you will just have the hard surfaces to wipe down when you are ready to reuse them. I wouldn't bother wrapping up the hard parts because, if you are a clean person to begin with, you are going to want to wipe them down when you remove them from storage before anyhow!

Hope that helps!

We double bagged our baby items in black garbage bags, too. Everything was stored on a high platform in the garage and was fine when we unwrapped them. A friend told me about the giant-sized ziplok bags for storage. I saw them at the store the other day and they looked like a good idea. They are clear so you can see what is inside and the zip closure looked pretty secure.

I see you've gotten several responses, but most suggest using bags, which will NOT stop mice. My garage is detached and we live in the "country", so mice are a fact of life in our garage. To protect my baby stuff, everything goes in totes. For the larger items, I got the largest totes I could find, broke things down as much as possible, took off the cloth parts if I could, etc. For things that won't fit in a tote and cloth parts won't come off, I've gotten creative finding places in the house. For instance, the exer-saucer broke down into two pieces that won't fit into a tote, but I re-arranged some stuff and slid it (slid might be a gentle euphemism) under our bed. The walker I had is in the corner of my daughter's closet standing on end with other stuff inside, on top off, and around it. The baby bathtub? Under the crib for now. It's definitely a problem with a shortage of house space, but you can get creative. The real trick will be our stroller! But I will find a way. :) Good luck!

S....
How about folding them up as small as they can go and putting them in a heavy duty black trash bag? It might take two for the bigger items (Changing table,etc) But it worked for me.

K.

Large black garbage bags - we double bagged our carseat carriers because they won't fit in one bag. It is a little difficult but if you put the bags on from opposite directions and duct tape the 2nd one closed. You can even use duct tape to label the bag, so you know exactly what it is when you go looking for it again.

There are some things too big for this, like an exersaucer, so you just disinfect it when you get it back out, wash all the toys in the dishwasher or by hand and give it a good wipe down, even the seat on my exersaucer comes out so I am able to wash it in the washing machine.

Hope that helps!

Take the cloth parts off and put them into a tupperware tote. Then wrap the rest of the stuff in plastic wrap and tape.... worked great for me.

We've had success storing items like that in a large black trash bag. I twist the top and secure it with a piece of masking tape (stick the two ends together so you have a long piece to write on)and then write what the item is with a Sharpie on the tape tag.

S.,

I don't know if this will work for you, but I went to my local Public Storage and started renting a storage unit. It is not heated, but does not have any outside walls.

M.

I use very large plastic tubs from Lowes. I found some that are enormous. One for the swing, one for the jumperoo, one for the baby bathtub bopee and walker...

Most of those things come apart to some level, so I disassmbled everything I could and stored it in extra large garbage bags and put them on the top shelfs in the garage. If you don't have shelves, they aren't that expensive and sure make a lot of extra use out of a wall. Invest the money and you will still use them after there is no need to hold baby stuff.

I would saran wrap the item and then put into large black garbage bags then put a fabric softener sheet in there. Hopefully it will keep it from getting dusty and smelly! Also..if storage space in your garage is tight, they make these great systems you can get at home depot that you hang from the ceiling in your garage to store stuff. Has been a life saver for us! Good luck!

I used the very large ziplock storage bags, especially for bouncy seats and odd shaped items.

I let my friends who needed them use and store them for awhile. Of course they eventually came back, so black garbage bags and garage ceiling storage are just about right. Good luck!

I used big black contractor bags (they are thicker & larger than normal garbage bags) to store my really big baby items. I also used Space Bags to store the other stuff. They work great!

Hi S.,

I didn't want to use black storage bags because I can't see through them (what's in there?!) and I found giant see-through yellow bags ("Banana Bags") at the Container Store in Bellevue. They are available in different sizes - I think we used the 40"x72" to cover multiple items. Pkg/4 is about $6.

Hi S.-

i too am very organized so i know where your coming from :) anyways. with all my stuff i would take it all apart and separate the cloth pieces and keep those in the house so they dont get stained or moldy whatever. like the carseat cover, take it off but then just throw a bag over the carseat, same with the swing cover and exersaucer. that way your cloth pieces arent ruined. cause most likely the other hardware pieces wont get ruined. if you cover them well enough they wont get sctratched either. once i have taken off all my cloth pieces put the rest out in the garage! oh if you have old sheets use those! they protect better than garbage bags!

have you considered large trash bags? perhaps like lawn debris bags? sounds like these might work for you. also, i think ziplock makes huge ziplock bags for storing large articles. i have found them at target in the past. might work for you. good luck!

I got palate wrap at Home Depot, which is like really good, big saran wrap. Some of bigger items seemed too big for garbage bags and I wanted to be able to see through.

We bought those storage racks that you screw into the ceiling of our garage. Then we wrapped everything into storage bags (the big black garbage bags work great) and piled them up above.

Large plastic garbage bags work for us