Going through kids’ clothes is a constant job that I happen to loathe. I can’t be the only one who has a tendency to ignore this task and keep stuffing clothing into drawers. This tactic only works for so long, though, because kids don’t stop growing, no matter how many times they refuse to eat dinner.
After almost 5 years of struggling to manage my kids’ clothes, I have learned that if I have a plan for dealing with their clothes, I hate it less. Maybe not a ton less, but less. To make a plan to manage your kids’ clothes, you need the when and the how, and I’m giving you my best tips for both below.
The When
The start of a new school year is the perfect time to go through and manage your kids’ clothes. I know you’re probably groaning because you don’t need to add anything else to your back-to-school to-do list but hear me out. The back-to-school season is a fresh slate, a new beginning. When you’re getting them ready for a new school year, get their closets and chests of drawers ready too.
Unlike many other items on your back-to-school to-do list, it isn’t crucial that you have your kids’ clothes managed and settled before day 1. This is absolutely a task that can bleed past the first day if that works better for your schedule and your mental health.
You also don’t have to have kids in school to manage your kids’ clothes at the start of a new school year. If your kids are in year-round daycare that doesn’t follow a school schedule, you can still use the school calendar to guide your plan for managing your kids’ clothes. They’ll get to school eventually, so this task is nice training for the back-to-school chaos that will ensure soon enough.
The How
Ah, the meat of this post. I’m sure you didn’t click on this post to get an idea of when to manage your kids’ clothes. I’ll bet you dollars to half-eaten donuts you want help with how to manage your kids’ clothes. The good news is that I can help! I’ve developed a 5-step plan for how to manage your kids’ clothes and it won’t even hurt a little bit!
How to Manage Your Kids' Clothes
Sort
Managing your kids’ clothes starts off with a bang. It’s the sorting that we all hate, and it’s the first step. It’s why I never want to manage my kids’ clothes, and it’s probably why you avoid it too. But think of managing your kids’ clothes like ripping off a band-aid. Don’t delay the painful part and you’ll be happier when it’s over.
So, how to sort your kids’ clothes?
I like to take everything out of the closet and drawers to start. Then I take each piece of clothing one at a time and inspect it. If the item has holes or stains, toss it into a bin immediately. If the item doesn’t fit your child anymore, toss it into another bin. The rest of the clothes should be items that currently fit your child and are clean and hole-free. This is your child’s wardrobe. Now you can move on to step 2: organize.
Organize
Now you have a big pile of clothes that fit your kid and don’t give off Big Pig-pen Energy. Hooray! The hardest part of this task is behind you! But it might not look like it. What the heck do you do with these clothes?
How you organize your kids’ clothes is largely personal preference, both your preference and your kid’s preference. However you choose to organize your kids’ clothes, make sure it’s easy for your kids to handle. If your kids are young (and short), don’t hang all their clothes on a high bar in a closet. If your kids are unlikely to fold their clothes and keep their drawers neat, opt for the no-fold method. This method involves designating a drawer or bin for each type of clothing (pants, shirts, underwear, etc.) and tossing the clothing items into the correct drawer or bin without folding them. You have to be ok with wrinkles for this method to work in your house. Luckily, I have no problems with wrinkles (either in my clothes or on my face).
Only organize the clothes your kids are actively wearing in the organizational system of your choice. Keep it simple for them to select items on a daily basis and don’t muddle their everyday options with seasonally inappropriate clothing or special occasion clothing. We will store these items, along with hand-me-downs or other clothes that are still a bit big, elsewhere.
Store
The “store” step to manage your kids’ clothes can be broken down into three categories of clothing items to store: off-season clothing, special occasion outfits, and clothes to grow into. You should have a plan for all three of these categories. By a stroke of good luck, I just so happen to have some ideas for you.
Off-season clothing
The key to storing off-season clothing is to keep it separate from the clothing that your kids are currently wearing. You can store off-season clothing in a bin or a vacuum bag, in your kid’s closet, in the attic, or under the bed. Or, if your kids are like mine and are not at all fashionistas, you can store it right in their chest of drawers. A good tip is to label the drawers so they know which drawers to go to depending on the time of the year. If your kids read, you can label the drawers with words like “shorts” and “t-shirts,” but if they aren’t there yet, picture labels will work well.
Special occasion outfits
Remember when you were waiting for the arrival of your baby and you bought all these cute outfits that were super impractical? You likely cursed those cute outfits when they got in the way of you finding a comfy footed sleeper at 3:00 a.m. after your kid had blowout number two of the night. That’s how your kids feel about their church clothes or other special occasion outfits when they just want to find a comfy pair of shorts and a t-shirt to wear to school. Save your kid the frustration and find another place for these seldom-worn items. In my house, we keep our day-to-day clothes in the chest of drawers and save the hangers in the closet for the special occasion outfits.
Clothes to grow into
If you have more than one kid, a friend or sibling with an older kid, or you like to shop the end-of-season sales, you probably have some clothes hanging around that don’t yet fit your kids. It’s important to manage these too-big clothes when you manage your kids’ clothes so you know what you have when your kids grow into them.
I like bins to manage clothes that don’t quite fit my kids yet. Each kid has a bin for each size of too-big clothes in his or her closet. I like clear bins so I can see at a glance how full (or not!) each bin is and what types of clothing I have at the ready. Try to keep these bins up high if you have younger kids so they can’t intermingle the contents of the bins. I learned that the hard way.
Fill in the holes
Because you’ve separated out the clothes that are gross or no longer fit your kids, you can take better stock of items they might need to complete their wardrobes. If you’ve packed away all but one pair of pants into your younger child’s too-big bin, you know that you need to look for pants. First, check that kid’s too-big bin to see if you have any hand-me-downs or previously purchased items ready. If not, add pants to your list. Now it’s time to go shopping! But because you have a list and know exactly what your kids need, you’re not shopping mindlessly. You can avoid overconsumption and overstuffing those drawers. I like to check my local children’s consignment shops first when I’m looking to fill holes in my kids’ wardrobes. This is a tip that saves money, sure, but it’s also an easy swap that helps the planet just an iota.
Deal with the cast-offs
So, now you’ve sorted, organized, stored, and completed your kids’ wardrobes. You’re in the home stretch! All you have left to do is deal with the clothes that you’ve decided no longer have a place in your house.
Clothes that don’t fit and won’t serve another kid in your family are great to donate. Find an organization that gives clothes to those in need or drop off your items at your local thrift store. Whatever you do, get them out of your house quickly so they don’t grow and multiply.
For clothes that are in no shape to donate, you can look into repurposing these items. There are several textile recycling programs available. You may have a local program or you can try a take-back service like Trashie. I even like to use old t-shirts as household rags. They’re great for cleaning the windows!
If you need help managing other aspects of life, check out these posts that might be helpful:
How Not to Hate Dinnertime with Kids
I promise you will feel better once you have tackled managing your kids’ clothes. What other tasks do you put off doing? I’d love to help!