Diaper Swappers

abunchoflemons · 01-28-2013, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tris

Get some vacuum bags, keep a bag of your favorites from each size

Quote:

Originally Posted by pgkcb13

I keep a few favorites and a few of the more worn items for play clothes (my kids like to get really really messy, lol). Even with that by the time people give us hand me downs and grandparents 'pick stuff up' we have way too much. Part of me honestly wants to ditch it all and buy like 8 pairs of solid color pants and 8 fun shirts and call it a day!! I get so sick of matching outfits (all those gymboree outfits with a million matching pieces are adorable, but such a pain!).

My oldest girl & second girl were few months difference in seasons so its helped we cloth diaper this time which helps as second is smaller.... we had room to store lots as my mom went nuts like I saw on a post some we never used first time but did second. Some for neither really. So if u think u want to save stuff vac bags as stated in first quote even off brand are great. I have also come into contact since my first kid to moms of first kids getting rid of stuff free exchange type so nice if I sold stuff before... you never know who you will meet... we are expecting boy now & got free clothes from friend simce move to clothe through yr plus my mom is kinda shopoholic so bought stuff too......my sil had stuff too as she had 5 boys but has no room to store that much....

DottieHarley · 01-28-2013, 03:41 AM

We had a ton of clothing when DD was born and struggled with this same issue, our problem is more about space though.
We donate/consign/hand down to others as much as possible. We had lots of ppl be really generous with us, so I love handing really nice, worn-once things to other little girls!
We have kept one medium suitcase of stuff (which means I keep purging it lol). Mostly super sentimental stuff, GN stuff, and multi season stuff, you can pair a short sleeve shirt with a hoodie for large portions of the year, but the same cannot be said for flannel Christmas jammies :-). We are only planning on one more though, and the chances that no 2 would be a girl in the same sizes/seasons are pretty slim.
Plus DH would keep buying new clothes anyway, he is a clothes horse!

DottieHarley · 01-28-2013, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pgkcb13

. Part of me honestly wants to ditch it all and buy like 8 pairs of solid color pants and 8 fun shirts and call it a day!! I get so sick of matching outfits (all those gymboree outfits with a million matching pieces are adorable, but such a pain!).

We have almost entirely given up on gymbo bc 1, there is an outlet near my family so 99 pct of what they give us is from there, and 2, the little motifs are so annoying! Hard to match! And then the kid outgrows just the pants! We will pick up cute tees on clearance - but DD is in plain non embellished osh kosh jeans or khaki pants almost all the time. Dont get me started on finding PLAIN jeans for my toddler, grrrrrr.

mommabullfrog · 01-28-2013, 04:45 AM

Thanks, all! I like the vacuum bag idea. And really, it's probably not that expensive to hit up thrift stores for stuff later on when I need it; we've just been spoiled because between showers and then Christmas, we haven't really had to BUY him any clothes yet ourselves.
I'll be brave and weed through that stuff this week. I now have a bit more inspiration

cherylchoo · 01-28-2013, 08:58 AM

I agree that with baby stuff you can usually find what you need for cheap secondhand. And you never know if the stuff you have will work for subsequent children. Having basic GN in limited number of storage bags in a tote is a great idea. However, there are a few things I think are worth keeping if they are in good condition and GN. Outerwear for 4 seasons states. Infant walking shoes, because no matter what route you choose for that, they are usually spendy. Dress clothes, if your lifestyle needs them, in limited amounts. And then your favorites or ones that have sentimental value. All three of my kids came home in the same outfit, and there were a couple of GN sweaters that they all have worn and I have pictures of them in them at that time. My girls have worn many of the same party dresses, etc.

I will say as they get bigger, it is harder to find the kids' clothes second hand that fit and go together. My girls are in the 8 and 10 size now, and I do the majority of their shopping in the end of season clearance for the next year because it is too hard to find them stuff at local thrift stores and mom2mom sales here. The boy is size 5 and it is still easy to find him stuff secondhand. But baby stuff, it is very easy to find EEUC in most places because everybody overbuys and sells it.

thirdtimemomma · 01-28-2013, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mommabullfrog

I've been minimizing our household belongings over the past several months, and have pretty much gotten our kitchen, living room, book collection, movies, closets, linens, etc. down to where I want them to be. I'm having trouble though, with baby stuff!
We just had our first, a four month old boy

We KNOW that we want more kids, probably within the next year. In four months, he's already grown out of two totes full of baby clothes! At this rate, we'll have a dozen by the time he's a year old. I don't feel like we keep too much stuff for him; each size he wears we probably have 7 items of each "type" (sleepers, onesies, pants, socks). Of course, there are the randoms that also fit in there; swaddle sleep sacks he's grown out of, one or two "fancy" outfits for a wedding/church etc., plain white onesies for layering, hats, winter wear (this is winter in Michigan, so he has a newborn coat as well as a 0-3 month coat), out-of-season clothes that people didn't do the math for w/shower gifts etc. What do I keep? Babies are so expensive! I don't want to rebuy all of this stuff if we have a boy in a year, but it seems crazy. We're a new military family, so we'll be having to move it all twice in the next year. And if we're in a 4-season state, it might all be wrong anyway!
I guess... can you just help me wrap my head around it all? Haha... just tell me what to do, please. That's easiest

Depends on how many children u want to have. I just keep 1 boy tote of cross season stuff, onsies, light sleepers, socks in each size. A few favorite outfits, baby shoes and jackets and blankets. I use one tote for clothes for he first year and one for jackets and blankets. I had a girl tote and a boy tote.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DS Forum

March · 01-28-2013, 09:07 AM

We have a set of boy hand-me-downs and a set of girl hand-me-downs, newborn through 4T, in vacuum packs. I've never bought any clothes for my kids. Sure, they're a little out-of-date, but they're babies. It means I get to spend money on shoes and diapers and have my dream stash of diapers and the kinds of shoes I like to put on my kids.

I also have all of my smocked dresses and diaper shirts, newborn through age three or so, from when I was little, so special occasions are covered.

But our house has a large storage closet and a large floored attic; we bought my parents' house, and they're pack-rats, so they built a lot of storage capacity into the house. There are other things that we minimalize, but kid clothes aren't them!

badmisterkitty · 01-28-2013, 01:59 PM

Compelling post. I have 10 totes in varying degrees of "fullness" in a closet with all the kids' clothes. It drives me nuts to look in that closet. It's too much.

My oldest 2 are girls and the younger one fit into almost nothing the older one outgrew. Wrong season, wrong body type, bigger kid, period. And then our 3rd is a boy. I've been debating buying as needed lately. There are probably 2 dozen second hand shops in town in addition to OUAC and when all else fails I can grab some coordinating stuff when Kohl's or Target does their cotton outfits for $5 per piece.

This won't exactly save me any money, though. Which is why I keep 10 totes of stuff.....

I do like it when the boy outgrows something because I can just get rid of it. don't have to save it. lol

badmisterkitty · 01-29-2013, 10:05 AM

I was inspired by this thread and opened the closet full o' totes.

I thinned out the boy stuff to just one year ahead and counted up clothes for this summer so I don't over buy.

Then I went through the girls' summer stuff. Here I thought I would fall short and need to fill gaps, but I was way wrong. Both have plenty. I pulled out some of the more worn and mismatched stuff. Even if some of the stuff doesn't fit come summertime, I think there will still be plenty. Wasn't quite ready to do winter stuff, though.

TalkinBoutMyGirl · 01-29-2013, 12:55 PM

I got rid of it except my favorites. I know that even if there are only a few years between kids that fashions will change (not that I really keep up with fashion) and there is sooooooo much cute stuff. It gets cuter and cuter so I know I'll want to buy the newer stuff or at least new to me. It doesn't take much money to cloth a baby/kid.

01-28-2013, 03:41 AM	#12
DottieHarley Registered Users Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Washington, DC suburb Posts: 1,558 Ratings: 61 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	We had a ton of clothing when DD was born and struggled with this same issue, our problem is more about space though. We donate/consign/hand down to others as much as possible. We had lots of ppl be really generous with us, so I love handing really nice, worn-once things to other little girls! We have kept one medium suitcase of stuff (which means I keep purging it lol). Mostly super sentimental stuff, GN stuff, and multi season stuff, you can pair a short sleeve shirt with a hoodie for large portions of the year, but the same cannot be said for flannel Christmas jammies :-). We are only planning on one more though, and the chances that no 2 would be a girl in the same sizes/seasons are pretty slim. Plus DH would keep buying new clothes anyway, he is a clothes horse! __________________ 'ing and 'ing with DH since 05/05 Professional WOHM to DD 01/11 and two long doggies eswap

01-28-2013, 04:45 AM	#14
mommabullfrog Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 105 Ratings: 12 Feedback: 100%	Re: keeping baby/kid clothes for future children? Thanks, all! I like the vacuum bag idea. And really, it's probably not that expensive to hit up thrift stores for stuff later on when I need it; we've just been spoiled because between showers and then Christmas, we haven't really had to BUY him any clothes yet ourselves. I'll be brave and weed through that stuff this week. I now have a bit more inspiration

01-28-2013, 08:58 AM	#15
cherylchoo Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: a Texan in the northern Detroit 'burbs Posts: 24,011 Ratings: 42 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: keeping baby/kid clothes for future children? I agree that with baby stuff you can usually find what you need for cheap secondhand. And you never know if the stuff you have will work for subsequent children. Having basic GN in limited number of storage bags in a tote is a great idea. However, there are a few things I think are worth keeping if they are in good condition and GN. Outerwear for 4 seasons states. Infant walking shoes, because no matter what route you choose for that, they are usually spendy. Dress clothes, if your lifestyle needs them, in limited amounts. And then your favorites or ones that have sentimental value. All three of my kids came home in the same outfit, and there were a couple of GN sweaters that they all have worn and I have pictures of them in them at that time. My girls have worn many of the same party dresses, etc. I will say as they get bigger, it is harder to find the kids' clothes second hand that fit and go together. My girls are in the 8 and 10 size now, and I do the majority of their shopping in the end of season clearance for the next year because it is too hard to find them stuff at local thrift stores and mom2mom sales here. The boy is size 5 and it is still easy to find him stuff secondhand. But baby stuff, it is very easy to find EEUC in most places because everybody overbuys and sells it. __________________ Detroit-area SAHM to Rose 12/03, Ginger 11/05, and little Ian 4/08.

01-28-2013, 09:07 AM	#17
March Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 1,510 Ratings: 11 Feedback: 100%	We have a set of boy hand-me-downs and a set of girl hand-me-downs, newborn through 4T, in vacuum packs. I've never bought any clothes for my kids. Sure, they're a little out-of-date, but they're babies. It means I get to spend money on shoes and diapers and have my dream stash of diapers and the kinds of shoes I like to put on my kids. I also have all of my smocked dresses and diaper shirts, newborn through age three or so, from when I was little, so special occasions are covered. But our house has a large storage closet and a large floored attic; we bought my parents' house, and they're pack-rats, so they built a lot of storage capacity into the house. There are other things that we minimalize, but kid clothes aren't them! __________________ Laura, mom to ds "Big D" (1.09), dd "Azalea" (10.10), and twin girls M and B (3.13)! Wife to my favorite. Cloth diaper industry geek. Birth geek. Church geek. Last edited by March; 01-28-2013 at 09:10 AM.

01-28-2013, 01:59 PM	#18
badmisterkitty Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,633 Ratings: 68 Feedback: 100%	Re: keeping baby/kid clothes for future children? Compelling post. I have 10 totes in varying degrees of "fullness" in a closet with all the kids' clothes. It drives me nuts to look in that closet. It's too much. My oldest 2 are girls and the younger one fit into almost nothing the older one outgrew. Wrong season, wrong body type, bigger kid, period. And then our 3rd is a boy. I've been debating buying as needed lately. There are probably 2 dozen second hand shops in town in addition to OUAC and when all else fails I can grab some coordinating stuff when Kohl's or Target does their cotton outfits for $5 per piece. This won't exactly save me any money, though. Which is why I keep 10 totes of stuff..... I do like it when the boy outgrows something because I can just get rid of it. don't have to save it. lol __________________ Amy ~ Everything in moderation, WOH, glass half full, not committed to any labels, try, try again mama to 3! H 11/07 and M 8/10 and B 8/12 Last edited by badmisterkitty; 01-28-2013 at 02:00 PM.