When you nested during your pregnancy, you wanted to organize everything! But now that the clothes are piling up — whether from your baby shower or hand-me-downs from friends and family — it’s hard to know exactly how to organize baby clothes.
Even though your baby’s clothes are little, they can create a big pile!
To help you stay on top of things before they get too out of hand, check out some of our tips and tricks to help you organize all of your baby’s clothes!
How To Organize Baby Clothes
1) Sort By Size
First things first, separate your baby’s clothes by size and put them into piles to help make the process a little bit smoother.
Once you have all of your baby’s clothes sorted by size, hang them up or fold them. Keep reading to find out just exactly how to do this!
2) Stash Away Older Sizes
After your baby’s clothes are organized by size, you’ll notice that your baby isn’t going to wear all of them right away.
If you want to hang them all up anyway, go for it! But if you’re short on space or just want to be conservative with the space you do have, pack up and store older sizes of clothes that your baby won’t use any time soon.
3) Label Storage Bins
While you’re at it, label the storage bins.
This way, when your baby outgrows their cute little onesies and needs clothes that fit them, you know exactly where to look. This system helps you easily access your baby’s clothes later on.
4) Purge Your Baby’s Clothes Every Three Months
Baby clothes are sized by manufacturers in three-month increments, so you have:
- Newborn
- 0-3 months
- 3-6 months
- 6-9 months
- 9-12 months
- 12-18 months and so on
(After your baby’s first birthday, the structure of their clothing sizes changes a bit.)
A good rule of thumb is to purge — or clean out — your little one’s clothes every three months. To do this, gather all of your baby’s clothes in the size they are currently wearing. Then separate those clothes into three piles:
- Clothes that still fit
- Clothes that don’t fit
- Clothes that your baby just doesn’t wear or are stained
Just because it’s in your baby’s closet or dresser doesn’t necessarily mean your baby wears it. You probably have go-to outfits for them as well as outfits you don’t care much about.
When you purge the clothes by size every three months, you'll be surprised to see what clothes your baby doesn’t wear!
5) Donate Or Store Clothes You Aren’t Using
After you purge your baby’s clothes and have piles of what your baby wears and what they don’t wear and what fits and what doesn’t, it’s time to figure out what you’re going to do with them.
You have a few options when it comes to these pieces of clothing we mentioned in the section above. Here are a few ideas:
- Pass them along to friends or family
- Donate them to a local charity
- Save them for future babies down the road
If anything is torn or stained beyond repair, don’t be afraid to toss it in the trash.
6) Grab The Bigger Sizes
While we’re still on the topic of purging and deciding what to do with all of these clothes, don’t forget to get out the bigger sizes for your baby!
If you notice a lot of the clothes from your 3-6 month purge no longer fit your baby, then it’s time for you to grab your baby’s 6-9 month bin of clothes and start sorting through them, repeating tips four and five.
Once you do this, decide if you want to hang up the clothes or put them in drawers.
7) Set Zones And Maximize Dresser Space
You’ve become a pro at sorting through and separating your baby’s clothes, but now you need to put them somewhere!
First, decide where you want everything to go and set up zones. For example, pants and sleepers can be stored in the dresser, and onesies and outfits will go in the closet.
This is just an example. It’s best after you take inventory of your baby’s clothes to separate your space into zones based on your unique nursery or room and then decide where you want everything to go.
Tip: One way to organize your baby’s dresser is to prioritize from top to bottom, so the most used items will be in the top drawer and the least used items will be in the bottom drawer.
To help maximize your baby’s dresser storage, add space dividers inside the dresser drawers.
Those little onesies and pants don’t take up too much space, so if you have them together in one drawer, a space divider can help keep them separated and organized!
8) Organize Your Baby’s Closet
OK, this is a big one: organize the closet! You might be asking yourself: But how?
First, start with closet divider labels. These are simply labels of each size — you’ll have one divider labeled newborn, one labeled 0-3 months, one labeled 3-6 months, and so on.
Of course, you’ve realized your baby’s sweet little clothes don’t take up that much space when they’re hanging up, length-wise anyway. So next, add an extra closet rail at the bottom to really multiply the space in your baby’s closet.
To use the closet rails and make the most of this space, hang your baby’s onesies upside down. What we mean by this is flip the onesie upside down so that the bottom part of the onesie (where the snaps are) is the part that is hanging on the hanger.
(So you’re going to snap the buttons around the hanger instead of putting the onesie on a hanger around the neck opening like you typically would with your shirts.)
This way, you can actually hang up more than one onesie on each hanger. You can snap two or three onesies on one hanger!
Additionally, consider purchasing an over-the-door pocket organizer to hang on the back of the closet door. Use it to stash away small items like socks, wipes, creams, hats, or tiny little shoes.
Also, put a cube organizer in your baby’s closet. The cube organizer comes in so many different sizes — you can go as big or small as you want! And when you get the cube organizer, don’t forget the storage bins that slide into it.
You're making great use of your space by putting this piece of furniture inside the closet. Use these cube storage bins to store any extras, like toys, swaddles, and blankets.
Or use them to store clothing that your baby can’t wear yet. Just don’t forget to label the cube storage bin!
9) Put A Laundry Basket In The Closet
While we’re still on the topic of your baby’s closet, we recommend putting a laundry basket (or two!) in there.
You can use one basket for the obvious: dirty clothes. Then use the other basket for clothes that don’t fit your little one anymore.
With this method, you can separate and sort as you go. On a daily or weekly basis, you’re already sorting without having to actually sit down and sort all at once!
10) Use A Rolling Cart
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you share a room with your baby for at least the first six months. This can make organizing and using your baby’s clothes a little tricky sometimes.
If you’re short on space, like when your baby is in your room the majority of the time, consider using a rolling cart to store clothes.
The rolling cart can be a place where you keep your baby’s go-to outfits. (Definitely stash some extra onesies on there!) And the great thing about this idea is that it’s mobile — you can take your little one’s essentials with you from room to room.
Use the rolling cart for storing sleepers, diapers, and wipes to make for a quick and easy change, especially during the wee hours of the night...or morning!
11) Keep A Few Outfits
Last on our list is to help you remember to keep a few outfits.
We know there will be some outfits that are just so hard to get rid of! Your baby looked too cute and you’re just not ready to pass it on...and that’s OK!
Keep a few sentimental outfits, like holiday and birthday ones, and store them in a special place.
Staying Organized And Sleeping Well
By now, you’ve learned how to organize baby clothes, including storage ideas, purging ideas, and donation ideas.
You know how to organize all of your baby’s precious clothes in a way that fits your lifestyle and space. And now that their space is nice and organized, they’re ready for a good night’s sleep...and so are you!
Try Newton Baby’s Crib Mattress and Crib Mattress Pad to give your baby a breathable and comfortable sleep surface!
