Keep, pass-on or donate.

Here’s something that will be news to no-one: babies grow, and fast! That adorable onesie she came home wearing, the outfit he met his grandparents in, her first birthday party dress… they’re now sitting in storage – boxes of tiny clothes taking up room.

That clutter helps no one, but there’s another downside to storing clothes – it actually damages them. Even if you wash and dry clothes thoroughly and store them in a dry, dark place, it’s likely they will suffer. Protein stains from drool, milk spills and spit-up get embedded in the clothing. If they’re in regular use, the marks are kept at bay, but in storage, they develop into yellow and brown stains. Most of these become permanent and are resistant to cleaning. Elastic and stretchy clothes will lose their elasticity, especially if they’re stored in a warm environment.

So, baby clothes need to come out of storage, but how do you tell if they’re keepsakes, hand-me-downs or ready to be donated?

We’ve made things simple with a checklist of things to consider before adding an item to the ‘keep’ pile. 

 

Donate or pass on, if the clothes are:

Super girly or masculine

If you have non-neutral clothes, it might not be smart to keep them for future children, unless you’re really comfy blurring gender lines. The chance of having that same-gender again is only 50/50.

Very tiny

There’s no way of knowing how big your next baby will be. If you had a premie the first time around, that 10lb second baby (ouch) won’t ever fit those tiny clothes.

Strictly seasonal

While high-quality merinos will suit most seasons, it’s best to get rid of anything that’s very heavy, or very light – light blousy dresses, or heavy jackets. If your next child is born at a different time of year, he’ll have outgrown the items before the weather gets cool or warm enough to wear them.

Damaged or stained

If you wouldn’t put your baby in the clothes now, don’t expect your mind to change later.

Really useful to someone else

Whether they’re a permanent donation to the Salvation Army or a loaner to close family or friends, they’re doing more good being used.

 

Keep if the clothes are:

Emotionally significant

Perhaps your next baby won’t ever wear that tiny beanie, but you can’t bear to part with it. Some precious items are worth holding onto, for the memories.

Versatile

If something will work across seasons, genders, and is stretchy to accommodate growth, it might be worth keeping – you’ll have a better shot of getting your next baby into it at some point.

Clean, tidy and high quality

Everything you keep should look almost new. This means you’re more likely to still have some wearable things when the next baby comes along, even after being stored for a few years.

 

When should you let those baby clothes go?

Letting go can sometimes be difficult – it can be farewelling some happy moments in your life. That includes maternity clothes too – even if you ended up really hating those stretchy jeans, saying goodbye feels like letting go of that precious time. Many of us keep clothes well beyond any useful point if they hold beautiful memories.

If this is you, then it’s time to make some choices. Keep a few outfits that are really important to you and have some lovely memories attached. You can even have some items made into a special memory quilt or cushion, so you can have them forever in a useful way. Then give away the rest.

You’ll have your storage space again, you can feel good helping out another mother, and know that clothing will be used again to create happy memories for someone else.