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Original poster

Do you keep old children's clothes?

29 replies

RainbowRaine · 09/12/2020 11:10

I have had a massive sort out and I have loads and loads of my DC baby clothes, toddler clothes.

I know I need to get rid of some but how?

When I look at the clothes I can picture what they were doing when they were wearing that top or that particular dress.

How do I become less sentimental to the clothes in order to get rid of them?

Which ones do I keep or do I just pick one newborn out and first birthday party dresses and get rid of the rest.

The DC are now all teens or adult.

OP posts:
FortunesFave · 09/12/2020 11:11

I made patchwork blankets out of them.

unmarkedbythat · 09/12/2020 11:13

I have kept the first babygro each of them was dressed in after they were born, and the tiny stupid hat they all wore the first day they were born. But that's it. Once we had decided we were absolutely, totally, 100% never going to have another child we gave everything else away. My youngest is 6, my eldest nephew is 2, we offer to his parents anything we're done with that's in good nick and the rest goes to second hand shops.

Lilybet1980 · 09/12/2020 11:15

I’ve kept anything personalised with their names on plus hand knitted items as they will probably go to cousins if/when they have children. The rest given to friends or charity. I don’t have the space to store lots of stuff.

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BogRollBOGOF · 09/12/2020 11:17

I keep some favourites, but they're generally too heavily worn to have any value other than rag. They've often done about 4 years service at that point if both children wore it.

Muckish · 09/12/2020 11:18

I've kept a couple of things -- a tiny newborn stripy hat, a little GAA top he used to sleep in when he was very small, a particularly adorable babygro, his first sandal, which is so incredibly small I stare at it in disbelief. I did also hold on to some nice handknitted Fair Isle type jumpers for potential younger cousins. Everything else goes to a local charity shop that supports an excellent cause.

Theotherrudolph · 09/12/2020 11:19

Mine are primary age. I have their going home baby outfits and first pair of shoes, that’s it. Either stuff was in good condition and it seemed a shame to waste it sat in a cupboard or it was stained or bobbled and therefore not worth keeping. I have tens of thousands of photos and videos of my children, I don’t tend to keep physical items.

I’d ask yourself what you are actually going to do with clothes from two decades ago (are they not yellowed by now anyway) - how much space are they taking up versus how often do you really look at them? Can you start by photographing say half or a quarter and then recycling those, then see if you actually miss them?

Or there are companies/individuals that sew teddies or quilts from old baby clothes - you could look into having something made for each child with your favourites.

TeenPlusTwenties · 09/12/2020 11:21

Well, I get rid as soon as they are outgrown.
If I were you I'd take photos, and maybe let myself keep a handful of items (eg 10).

MoonDelay · 09/12/2020 11:37

I donated 90% of the baby clothes from our 3 and 2 year old and then discovered I was pregnant 🤦‍♀️

I kept the clothes just incase someone we knew had a baby then decided to give them to charity because they were taking up valuable space! I regularly put away the majority of outgrown clothes and I kept the baby equipment thankfully!

MoonDelay · 09/12/2020 11:42

From my eldest I kept a tiny pair of shoes, and the odd hat or outfit of the others. I have a look through things year after year and realise I just don't need to keep most of it unless it's particularly very sentimental it could be used by someone instead of stuck in a drawer or a box for no good reason!

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 09/12/2020 11:47

Kept my first child’s stuff for the second- second is a month old and I am relishing being able to use and dispose. I’m not sentimental about things, I take lots of pictures and that’s what brings back all the memories.

spiderlight · 09/12/2020 11:54

I've kept a few very favourite things but the rest have been passed on to friends. I love seeing them randomly reappear - I have one friend with three boys younger than mine and her youngest is often in something that mine wore ten years ago, and another friend recently posted a photo of her toddler in a hoodie of DS's that has since been worn by all five of her children in turn.

ChessieFL · 09/12/2020 12:04

I have kept quite a few of my favourite items of DDs and even now she will ask for some of her favourites that she’s grown out of to go in her box. I am quite selective though and don’t keep everything! I like the thought that she may use them one day for her child and even if she doesn’t it’s still a nice memory to look at again.

SleepingStandingUp · 09/12/2020 12:06

Keep a few things that mean the most but consider

  1. Will it just be in a box in the garage / attic and never seen anyway
  2. Is this something they'd like to inherit when I die?
BertieBotts · 09/12/2020 12:08

Doesn't help you now, but I got rid of them ASAP as soon as I know we didn't need any more! I tend to pass on to people I know and see so I can see them being used again which is lovely.

What I've done for some of DS2's clothes though is cut then into rectangles and stretch around a photo frame to make a memory collage.

LolaSmiles · 09/12/2020 12:09

I pass the ones on that I like but don't love. The rest are boxed up in case we have another or I will pass them on once we decide our family is complete.

BertieBotts · 09/12/2020 12:10

I have a ten year gap between my first two so I don't keep DS1's clothes. Although there are things I like, and I'm not motivated by the "latest" style, fashions change so quickly that in 10 years, something I liked before looks odd or naff. It will be been worse if you wait a generation or until DC have children of their own.

zigaziga · 09/12/2020 12:18

Patchwork blanket made of the sentimental stuff. The rest is in bags for charity/ for another DC, depending.

Onekidnoclue · 09/12/2020 12:21

You know you need to become less sentimental about the clothes. The issue is detaching the clothes from the memories. Getting rid of the clothes doesn’t mean losing the memories.
I think you need to focus on the positive of sharing your children’s clothes with someone and it’s becoming their chance to create happy memories in the outfit.
Involve your DC. Ask them to choose a favourite item to keep. Plus their first outfit or similar then the rest is to go. If you’d like to involve them more ask which charity they’d like to support by donating their old clothes. Then crack on!!! And once you’re done give yourself a massive pat on the back and a treat for sharing your good fortune with others.

PinGwyn · 09/12/2020 12:24

I did with my eldest (he's a teen now!) but I learnt my lesson after #2, I knew we weren't going to have anymore kids so I just passed them on to friends/family/charity or disposed of them when we were done with them.

I think it's nicer to know they're being used by someone who needs them than thinking about them getting dusty/mouldy in a box and let's face it - no one wants to inherit a pile of old clothes.

BikeRunSki · 09/12/2020 12:31

First shoes, hospital hats, one bit 2 favourite garments. The fire engine T shirt that DS wore constantly for about a year, washed overnight. 10 years later he still wants to be a fire fighter. I’ll give it to him when he qualifies!!

skankingpiglet · 09/12/2020 13:05

With DD1 we kept everything as we wanted another DC. As DD2 grows out of things I give away to friends, sell, and charity shop them. Like others, I've kept first sleepsuits and shoes plus a few other special things. It amounts to about 1/2 a carrier bag full.
I have also kept a small plastic lidded box of favourite toys and books. They are all solid or mechanical (rather than electronic plastic stuff) and are not only memories, but are nice to have to hand when a friend visits with a smaller child. We visited a friend a few years ago when our DCs were very little and they produced a similar box of what had clearly been their now-adult children's toys, which was lovely, so that inspired me to do the same.
That said, the lack of second hand sales this year has meant our loft is groaning again. I sell old toys and nicer clothes brands online, but more average clothes go for pennies and are a pain to sell via Ebay or Marketplace. I've put that stuff to one side until the sales start again.

OP I struggle to detach from things too. I find it helps to clear things in passes. Go through it once and get rid of everything you feel happy to lose, then do the same again a month or two later (and possibly a third and fourth pass after that). I don't know why it works, but everytime I manage to get rid of more and it never feels a wrench. It's like my subconscious is able to reclass the previous 'maybes' to 'rehome' in the gaps between revisiting it. There are some things I need to process letting go of I suppose, as I would find it very upsetting if I removed everything that eventually goes during the first sort through. It also gets easier to let things go the more you do it.
Specifically with the clothes I remind myself we have so many photo albums, and the clothes are all in there to be seen, remembered, and enjoyed. I now have little problem moving the clothes and toys on (other items with more history are still very difficult - it is a work in progress!).

Original poster
RainbowRaine · 09/12/2020 13:19

It's so hard, I have 8 DC worth of stuff, I am overwhelmed with it all.

I have sorted 7 sacks for family, 1 sack for my friend, 1 sack of baby clothes to go somewhere and 3 sacks for clothing bank, so far.

I'm on the last lot to sort now and having a 5 min break.

Thank you everyone, keep the comments coming so I don't end up changing my mind and keeping the baby stuff.

OP posts:
starfish88 · 09/12/2020 13:27

I made a massive photo book so I could remember DS wearing all the clothes when he was that tiny. I also gave all the unisex bits to a friend who was having a little girl and sold or gave away everything else. Knowing someone else was going to enjoy the clothes that DS had grown out of was helpful.

SleepingStandingUp · 09/12/2020 13:27

Just think that this way your baby clothes get to live on for other children and make new memories for families

SquishSquashSqueeze · 09/12/2020 13:32

I have kept first outfit and first shoes, that's it.

Then I do the following...

Branded/higher end/scandi stuff - sold individually on a relevant facebook buy/sell group.

High street brands - in good condition may get sold as bundles by size either on facebook marketplace or ebay, or taken to a local shop who buys in baby/children's clothes/equipment etc and sells it on in exchange for cash. (But I do this cheaply, I want it gone! Depending on contents, £5-£10 per black bag of a single size)

High street brands - less than perfect - maybe lost their shape a bit, minor marks - bundle up by size and put on Facebook marketplace as free to collector.