Baby Clothes Storage Ideas And Tips For Small Spaces
How do I store baby clothes if I don’t have a nursery or if my nursery is small?
We recently just had our fourth baby. What a blessing he is and the joy that he brings! Whether you are new parents or seasoned, you know that a new baby brings lots of extra items and clothes to the home. If you do not have room for a nursery or much storage space, this can bring its own challenges on where to store it all. We have a small 3 bedroom home that is cozy but livable for the 6 of us. Our 10 month old shares our bedroom, crib and all in there. So if you are coming here to this blog with a nursery, whether it be a small nursery or large, congratulations, you are already working with more space than think you have!
1. Don’t buy extra baby clothes
If you are anything like me, baby clothes are adorable and hard to not collect a ton of. We dream of how cute our little one will look in these outfits and it’s hard to resist a good sale. One thing I have had to do this time around is really ask myself, do I NEED it? I can easily pick up little things here and there and next thing I know, I have way more than I need and he’s outgrowing clothes he’s never worn. I wouldn’t call myself a minimalist by any means but I am working hard at not having more than I need. Not buying too much can be hard when you don’t know just many items of clothing you’ll need. This is going to change per family but for me, my kids 90% of the time wore zip up (don’t get the buttons unless you want to be dealing with those in the dark!) pajamas daily until they were at least 3 months old. I’m a Mainer and all but one of my kiddos was a cold weather baby so this worked for us. You’ll have to decide how you want things for your baby and try to come up with a good number of items and then try not to go over that. Which brings me to my next tip…
2. Check Out Different Brand Sizes
Ok hear me out, some brands have different lines within them and each of those sizes are completely different! It’s honestly really frustrating when trying to limit what you buy. I have no big advice here but to say, if you are new to the baby clothes game, do some research on how each brand fits.
Let’s talk sizing. Often, Newborn is by itself. I would’t get a bunch of clothes at this stage because you’re going to wake up one day real quick after the baby is born and poof, you’re trying to stuff them into a newborn onesie and the buttons are popping at the seams! It’s ok, we’ve reached a pivotal moment in parenting, your child is growing. This can be hard for us to accept but I promise, it gets easier! The next size is 0-3 months. My kids have usually stayed here for a while as the range is pretty good but be aware that some brands will go closer to 1 month sizes and others will be on the end of 3 months. This is same for 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 9-12.
3. Only Keep The Clothes You Really Loved
If we have our hearts set out on another little bundle of joy, we might be storing all of the clothes that we had from our first. I did this and easily regret saving all of the clothes. By the time your next little comes around, any clothes with stains or are out of date you will likely just stare at in the closet and not choose. So picking your favorites and storing them in one tote is a great way to save on space.
4. Check your inventory
I love to buy ahead when there is a good sale, but what good is buying ahead if you have too much of one thing? Lay out your clothes frequently and take a photo so you can see what you need and remember what you have so you don’t over purchase.
5. Babies don’t need a lot of shoes
Yes, shoe organizers are great, but do we really need that many shoes for a baby? Most of the time, the shoes slip off and really only serve a purpose to look cute. Until your little one is walking around, get a nice pair of warm booties and call it good.
6. Fold the clothes upright in the dresser.
This was a huge game changer for me with storage in my dresser drawers. I really do believe you can fit more this way. If you want to learn how to do it, look for the konmari method of folding clothes on YouTube. Also being able to see all of your clothes, you will likely buy less since you can remember what you have.
7. Hang onesies on one hanger
This is pretty straightforward. Hang 2-3 onesies upside down on a hanger and you will use less hangers and have more space! If you organize your clothes by type (pjs, onesies, shirts, dresses, etc.) you will have easy access to these items and not forget that the onesies are hung on one hanger since you can see them better.
8. Use Drawer Dividers
This is an easy one. Use left over small cardboard boxes to tuck inside the dresser drawer and use them for socks, hair accessories, pacifiers, bows, and other baby gear. These are great to use in the top drawer for all of the little items that would on top of the dresser.
9. Ditch the Changing Table
Maybe I’m being too minimalist here but out of 4 kids, I only have a changing table once. I really don’t think they are necessary and most of the time I just changed them wherever I was. I had a small storage bin in the cabinet in our living room and then one in our bedroom. Our current changing table that we used for baby 3 is now being used as toy storage in our school room.
10. Make the most of your nursery closet storage
If you have a closet, let’s make the most of it. Closet doors can have a door organizer or a hanging shoe organizer and put them over the back of the closet door to store diapers and wipes and other baby accessories or necessities. This is a great place to store things when you have a small room and not a commonly utilized space for the baby’s nursery. Closet shelves are great for storing the next size up clothes.
11. Use a rolling cart and store in closet
This one is great for creating extra space. You can easily roll it in and out of the closet and it can store burp cloths, blankets, diaper cream, pinkies, breast pump, or any other small baby items. We used one of these in our bedroom and stored it in the closet and then would roll it out when we needed it.
12. Use Closet Dividers
This is one that I never ended up using. I found it worked easier for me to store clothes that were too big or out-of-season clothes in storage bins. If you have no space for a tote, then closet dividers may be a good idea! This way you can have different sizes right in the closet and ready to go.
13. Keep Floor Space open
The more space you have on your floor, the more it looks like you have space. Nursery furniture is great, but don’t get caught up in the whirlwind of wanting everything. It can be tough being a new mom and being unsure of what you will need. I would stick to basics, a crib, dresser and maybe a rocking chair if you want it in there and not in the living room. Yes, you may want a swing or activity bouncer but those can stored in another space or if need be, in the nursery if you have the room.
14. Ask for specific items at the baby shower
It’s fun to put lots of fun baby gear on your registry but let’s be honest, a lot of the “bells and whistles” never get used. Confession, I have never used a baby wipe warmer and my hand has warmed them just fine. That being said, no judgement if you want one, you may just find you don’t need it!
How do I store clothes in a bin if I have the space?
The most practical way for babies is by size. I usually group them like this, Newborn-3 months, 3-6 months, 9 months-12 months and then 12-18 months. Here is the hard part, some brands will not fit like their size. If a size looks incorrect, size it up with something similar and put it with that size instead. I also put 6-12 month clothing in the 6 months bin since sometimes it starts fitting at that stage. Use size labels on the tote.
If you don’t have the extra space for multiple totes, get one big bin and use cardboard to divide out the sizes. Plastic bins are great for storage. They keep the smell out if you are storing in a basement and also dry.
Having a baby can be an exciting time but also very overwhelming. Take a deep breath and have fun with it. You are going to do great!
