Organizing kids clothes

As most people know, babies and children grow out of their clothes and shoes pretty quicky. Sorting out the clothes by size, figuring out what to do with things that are outgrown, acquiring new clothes and shoes for the next season can be a whole job in itself! I remember the first year of Mini's life, she would only get several months at most, maybe even weeks sometimes at a particular size before having to size up.

From around age one to two, she was finally able to wear the clothes for longer. Sizes in Germany are based on height, and I remember "92" size fit her well for at least a year. Then she grew out of the bottoms first but the tops still fit for longer. One time I went up a shoe size and then those shoes fit for around a year which was great. However the ones afterwards only lasted a few months. It can also be very expensive having to go up sizes and buy a whole new wardrobe all the time, so I thought I'd share some of my tips. Many of which I learned the hard way!

1. Ask around. If you're lucky you might some friends in your circle with children a bit older than yours who are more than happy to have someone to pass clothes and shoes down to
2. Keep clothes that are too big out of sight. We store ours in the attic in Ikea containers. Otherwise Mini would want to wear those things while the clothes in her size barely get worn
3. Look out for the Summer and Winter sales. It's a great way to get a bargin and you can buy things in the next size up for the following year
4. If something is really worn out / too badly stained or you just don't like it, then you can secretly get rid of it
5. Make a plan for what to do with clothes and shoes that are too small. I like to pass on as much as I can to family and friends. It's just nice knowing the things are being used again
6. There are also ways to sell old clothes that are in good condition, like via Flee markets, Ebay, Mamikreisel, Facebook
7. It's also a good idea to put things that are the wrong season out of sight
8. Mend and re-use! We use a stain spray on badly stained items before they go in the wash which works quite well. And if I find holes in clothes, I mend them with a needle and thread
9. Check out all the clothes, regardless of gender. You don't need to be limited by what is classed as "boy" or "girl". They are just clothes!