Keeping baby clothes and supplies organized is a lifesaver for busy parents, enabling them to quickly locate what they need amidst the chaos of parenting. We’ve pulled together our favorite practical and time-saving strategies to declutter and organize your baby’s wardrobe. From clever storage solutions to efficient folding techniques, these tips will help you stay organized as your little one grows.
Keep Organizational Products Neutral
While baby-themed organizational products are tempting, opting for more standard items in white or neutral colors ensures they stand the test of time. Designate specific areas for different items and utilize bins, baskets, drawer dividers, and labels to keep everything sorted and easily accessible.
Maximize Closet Space for Baby Clothes
As you can imagine, most closets are best for hanging items like dresses and jackets but many other items such as sleepers and tops can easily be hung if you have the space. Slim baby hangers will maximize your horizontal hanging space. Since the clothes are short you can also maximize the unused space below in a couple of ways. If you have a double hanging (upper and lower rod for short hanging items) you can easily tuck a bin or basket underneath the hanging items on the shelf (or the floor) to store other items such as bulky blankets, extra of anything, shoes, hats, etc. If you have just one high clothing rod, you can add another lower rod to expand the hanging space. Always sort clothes by size, type and/or season and consider using hang tag size dividers to separate making it easier to find what you need as the baby grows.
PRO TIP: Labeling makes sure everything has a home and that items can be found and replaced easily.
Organizing Baby Clothes in Dresser Drawers
A dresser is best for items like onesies, pajamas, or socks. The more you sort and group like items the better. Expandable drawer dividers help manage the volume of each category and are removable and allow you to revisit the placement as the clothes get bigger and take up more space.
PRO TIP: The more dividers you have the tidier the space will be.
Dividers are typically plastic or bamboo and create designated sections in the drawer. We recommend avoiding piles in a drawer since it decreases the likelihood of using things on the bottom of the pile and it’s harder to find what you need – you may need to remove the pile to sift through.
Instead, use the file folding method, which allows you to see all the items. File folding (folding each item and inserting it in the drawer like you would a piece of paper in a file drawer) will maximize the space and ensure that you use what you have since you can see it all.
Keeping the Changing Table Tidy with Drawer Organizers
The top drawer of the dresser/changing table is most often used for the diaper changing items and other small items like bibs, pacifiers and small accessories. Using drawer organizers or fabric bins to separate these smaller items makes it easier to find what you need without rummaging through a messy drawer.
Accessories like bows can be organized in shallow trays, attached to a ribbon, or corralled in a basket. Using a clear over the door shoe bag is great for tiny shoes but can also be used for all sorts of miscellaneous baby items.
Smart Solutions for Baby Socks
Socks in most households can be hard to manage. Make it a tiny baby sock and it’s even harder to keep track of. One of my favorite hacks that I used as my kids grew up, is utilizing a lingerie bag for socks in the washer and dryer.
Keeping the bag handy in the nursery and laundry room will increase the chances that socks don’t disappear and will make for easier matching, saving a ton of time. Matched socks can be organized into baskets.
Along the same lines, washing baby clothes separately makes folding and storing much faster, as you won’t need to sort through a mixed pile of clothes.
Designated Bins for Outgrown Clothes
As your baby outgrows clothes, immediately place them in designated bins for donation, resale, or future use. This proactive approach keeps the nursery clutter-free and saves you from trying on clothes that are already too small.
Create a Sentimental Keepsake Box
Establish a keepsake box for sentimental items – this helps define and encourage the process for letting go and avoids large bins of clothes that need be sorted later.
By implementing these time-saving strategies, you can streamline the process of managing baby clothes and stay organized.