Hey mamas. If there is one thing I dread, it's the time of year when I have to go thru the kids clothes to swap out those that don't fit and change for the season. With 3 kids, I'm literally spending 1 -2 days going thru this nonsense! Ugh!
Can anyone offer any tips or tricks to make this go any easier/quicker the next time around?
Thanks for saving my sanity! =)
PS - I already use huge Rubbermaid plastic storage bins to sort the clothes by size. And I spend good money on their clothes, so pitching/donating at the end of every season is not an option. I would like to get some repeat wear out of the clothes that still fit year after year.
(My kiddos are 8.5 yrs (girl), 3.5 yrs (girl), and 5 mos (boy).)
Are you having more? If not, any outgrown boy stuff can be eliminated however you choose: gift, donate, sell, etc.
Same with stuff outgrown by the 3.5 yo.
After that, just keep the 8.5 yo's outgrown stuff in size labeled containers. The 3.5 yo will probably rarely need anything bought for her--except special items. and then you season shop for the oldest and youngest.
Well...I just did this yesterday. I have 2, ages 2&4 and it just takes time. It goes quicker with no kids around. I figure you either do it all at once, taking 1 to 2 days to get it done or you do it in small amounts, like over a couple weeks as you wash you decide if it is stored or tossed or kept in the drawer. either way you probably spend the same amount of overall time on it. I keep an empty basket in the closet to throw things in throughout the season that they outgrow, or to store out of season items I bought on sale. I do the whole divide by sex and size and store in a labeled plastic bin in the attic. But everytime I do it I'm like, am I really spending this much time on clothes? I do plan on having more children though, so hopefully it will be worth it!
It just takes time, especially with 3 children. But with only 1 boy I guess I would think he's too little to have many clothes that are for next season already stored.
I have clothes for our 7 yr old that are all the way up to 12-14, for the 3 yr old boy all the way up to sz. 7 clothes. My friends are always sending me stuff for them that their kids have outgrown and I have the tubs too. I store them under her day bed I always take about a week. I wash them and hang them up as I go so it takes longer. i know they are clean but they just smell so much fresher just washed and dried.
I have at least one tub for each size, maybe even one tub just for PJ's in size 8 winter and one for sz 6 jammies Summer...It helps top be very organized and just take it slow, that way you get the best amount of wear from the clothes.
Updated
It just takes time, especially with 3 children. But with only 1 boy I guess I would think he's too little to have many clothes that are for next season already stored.
I have clothes for our 7 yr old that are all the way up to 12-14, for the 3 yr old boy all the way up to sz. 7 clothes. My friends are always sending me stuff for them that their kids have outgrown and I have the tubs too. I store them under her day bed I always take about a week. I wash them and hang them up as I go so it takes longer. i know they are clean but they just smell so much fresher just washed and dried.
I have at least one tub for each size, maybe even one tub just for PJ's in size 8 winter and one for sz 6 jammies Summer...It helps top be very organized and just take it slow, that way you get the best amount of wear from the clothes.
Try keeping space bags in the closet. Keep filling them up as the clothes either get too small or as the season change and you don't think she will wear it again. Then, once full, you can shrink it and store it. You can slao toss in a piece of paper (on the side0 saying what size clothes adn the season.
I also like to keep a bag in each closet for donations. Then I call the VA to come and pick up about 4-8 times a year.
I have 3 kids as well. You sound more organized than me! Though I do make sure to buy the BARE MINIMUM amount of clothes per kid per season, and have learned expensive stuff isn't worth it after a few years of seeing it rarely gets worn. I have a small amount of expensive and sentimental stuff I save for the "grandkids one day" or give to special friends as hand me downs or "ebay one day", but all the cheap/normal stuff that's worn goes to our thrift store since we have a huge number of needy families in our town. That's my favorite option now, so I shop accordingly, not with the "everything we buy is precious" mind set like I used to. However, anything that will fit a younger sibling gets labeled ""Future (their name)" and put in a closet. I do the same sort after each season, putting away the outgrown and bringing out the stuff that now fits a younger one, which usually only takes an afternoon. Less clothes makes it faster!
Sounds like you're doing what I do in general.
I have 4 kids left at home. The 15 year changes out his own clothes, keeps out of season things in a bin.
With my triplets (age 6), I have two boys and a girl and the two boys are 2 sizes apart.
I have room in their closet to hang all summer and winter tops so that saves me space in the bins.
I use regular plastic bins for large amounts of clothing. But for things that fit no one yet, I put in under bed bins to save space.
Things that my 15 year old outgrows or doesn't like I put in an underbed bin waiting for my larger triplet to wear. He's already been wearing some of his older brother things so I keep clothes that don't go out of style for a long time, lol.
When the larger triplet outgrows things I put those in an underbed bin as well as he doesn't outgrow everything all at one time. He's 2 sizes larger than his triplet borther so it takes time for the smaller one to start wearing those.
With the triplets, I just pull out clothes I know will not fit them next year and put them where they go or pass them down to another triplet mom friend whose trio is a year younger than mine. Everything that will fit next year just goes in a big bin, including pajamas. I put boy clothes on bottom, then girl clothes, then boy clothes again, so it'll be easy to pull them out next year.
Mine have plenty of clothes but not so much that I can't do the triplets in a matter of a few hours, and they have separate rooms with separate dressers on two different levels of the house. I just pull out winter pajamas from the bins and replace with the summer ones. I just be sure to pull out clothes as they're too small to save time when it's time to pull out of the bins.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
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I actually like the vacuum storage bags better most of the stuff I can keep in the bedrooms this way instead of lugging it upstairs to the attic and then I don't have to lug them back down again. I actually pulled out the winter stuff awhile ago. But I agree it is a pain in the butt!
Here is what I do:
1. with EACH load of laundry before I hang/fold/put away I make a decision on keep or "toss" all year long
2. in the winter i get the t-shirts that have the sewn in long sleeves attached and in the spring summer cut them off for his summer t-shirts GREAT money saver!!
3. when possible get the "convertable" pants that go from long pants to shorts/capris again from winter to summer
4. the clothes that are just DONE, go to friends/family after that they go to a second hand store
Oh and we keep to hold one or two favorite shirts from that year and we shadow box them with a picure of them wearing that item and add to the room decor!
Sorry I can be of no help because I've been putting off the clothing swap-out for the past few weeks, although it doesn't help that it's almost mid-October and been the in the 70's / 80's the last week or so. I'll be watching for some good ideas ~ thanks for the post :)
