Tina Harvey

Babies move through clothing sizes ridiculously quickly. Clothes are constantly entering and leaving the wardrobe. I was warned by others, thankfully, that the drawers end up a mess after quickly grabbing items one-handed, and that babies often don’t get to wear all of their clothes because you use what’s on top or just washed. Babies also enjoy your full attention, so they don’t tend to like being ignored so you can pick an outfit for the day.

Also, the WASHING! There is so much of it! It looks like a small amount, but that’s because they’re tiiiiny. It’s deceptive, and they actually take so much longer to wash and dry, and then put away – the worst part in my opinion.

Told of all these problems by others, I wanted to create a system that solved them before they began. Everyone around us generously gave us between 1 week and 1 month before it became a mess. We are now eight months in, and the systems haven’t failed us!

Baby Clothes Organisation Ideas

For our baby’s clothes, we had a wardrobe with 4 large drawers. We didn’t want to add any more furniture than needed in her room, so we wanted to work out a way for the wardrobe to feel neat, with easy-to-access clothes and blankets, etc.

Organise by size

We bought and were given multiple clothing sizes before the baby was born. We went through every single item and arranged them by size – it took foreverrrr!

Initially we had 4 separate drawers for:

• Newborn/first size
• Up to 1 month
• 0–3 months
• 3–6 months

When the baby went up in size, we would then swap out the drawers with the next batch of clothing, packing away or donating the smaller size. So when she was fitting 0-3 months, we prepared 3-6 months and had them in a drawer ready to go. No faffing or rushed sorting!

Drawers shifted up so that current clothes were at the top, and it became a simple rotation system rather than a manic reorganisation every few months.

Divide clothes by type

We divided all clothing by type and used the drawer dividers to keep them in place.

My fiancé gets props for being the absolute best folder! I’ve had to carry it on for months now, but it really does make a difference.

We folded everything and stored it on its side, Konmari style, so we could see each item. When they are piled on top of each other, it’s easy to just grab the top layer and go, but we knew we wanted to see everything we had and get a chance to use it. We’ve learned from others that otherwise nothing gets worn!

We sorted by long-sleeved vests, short-sleeved vests, sleepsuits, t-shirts, trousers, and so on. It made everything so much easier to find, made it easier to create outfits, and most importantly, made putting away much easier!

Hang outfits you actually want to use

Matching hangers make a wardrobe look cute, but they are also practical, as everything hanging at the same height means you don’t lose them amongst each other.

I really wanted to dress our little one in all of her cute outfits. I know a lot of people use onesies/sleepsuits most of the time though, and in all honesty, that seems easier to manage! However, if you’re a little extra like me, here’s how I set out to solve the impending problems.

We hung matching sets and outfits we created, so when getting ready, it was easy to grab and go. We put together some outfits with a vest and accessories too for complete ease in the mornings.

We didn’t decide exactly what our baby was wearing each day of the week, just had some ready-made options. (Highly recommend doing this as an adult too btw!)

This meant we weren’t missing any outfits and she actually wore all of them!

We used wooden age hangers to separate the clothes too, and used the ones not in use to easily identify the boxed items.

Give accessories their own home

Small baby items can easily get lost amongst the bigger clothing items.

We used a 3-section caddy for:

• Bibs
• Socks/tights
• Hats

And again, it made it much easier to grab when needed, plus put away!

The system changes as the baby grows

A good organisation system needs to be adaptable. By 3-6 months, we had far more proper outfits than with the smaller sizes. This meant one drawer was no longer enough.

We instead used two drawers:

• One for vests, sleepsuits, indoor/under clothing
• One for folded outfits such as trouser-and-top sets

The basic principle stayed the same even though the storage changed a little.

Organise around activities too

We applied the same technique around the nursery.

Bath towels, flannels, bath accessories/products together in a caddy. Blankets and sleeping bags together in another drawer.

Think about when you use things together, rather than organising purely by the type of object that they are. Everything needed for a particular task is within easy reach.

For example, at bath time, we grab the caddy with the bath items. For swimming, we grab the bag with the swimwear and swim nappies.

Reflections after 8 months

The best systems are not the prettiest ones – although this was pretty cute – they are the ones you can actually maintain. Organisation should make everyday life easier, not create another job to maintain.

Baby clothes are not necessarily hard to organise initially, but the constant turnover makes it difficult to maintain. Especially when you’re in the midst of a huge life transition and have a little one to take care of.

Eight months in, and we are still using this system, still have a tidy, organised wardrobe, drawers, and caddies. This is because it actually supports our life and how we use things.

And most importantly, it means less time sorting tiny clothes and more time to bow to our little Princess’ every demand!

Some of the items we used to organise can be found here.