Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

How many of each type of clothing should I keep for dc?

17 replies

Eddas · 02/09/2011 13:47

I need a bit of help deciding just how many clothes I should keep for each of my children.

I am very lucky that a few friends pass on their children's clothes to my dc but as a consequence (and I realise a lucky one!) they have too many clothes each. I always pass their clothes onto others and would like to do this with the excess even though the clothes are not too small yet. They simply don't need all of them and all that happens is they end up all over the place, their wardrobes can barely house them and they end up looking a mess because they are squeezed into the wardrobe/drawers.

So, I need mn's help to tell me how many things I should keep. eg, how many pairs of pj's does one child really need? ds has about 20 pairs!! So if anyone can help by telling me how many they have for their dc i'd be really grateful.

I'll keep all underwear but I it's things like t-shirts, trousers etc etc.

My dc are 7 and 4, 4 year old just about to start reception and this is the prompt as I know he won't need as many clothes as he has done as he will be wearing uniform majority of the time.

TIA

OP posts:
Original poster
Eddas · 02/09/2011 14:18

I know it's a dull question but giving it a little bump Grin

OP posts:
leeloo1 · 02/09/2011 14:34

Maybe 8 of each thing - ie shorts/trousers/t-shirts; about 4 jumpers and I'd say no more than 3 pairs of pjs?

It depends on the child and how messy they are though. DS (2.11) had more shorts then he could possibly wear - then we started potty training and suddenly he didn't have enough! Also pjs - usually only need one on and one in the wash... until they get a stomach bug then you can't have enough!

Also it depends on how often you do washing and how quickly you can dry things - ie in winter do you need double the amount so half are on and half are in the wash or drying.

You could try taking everything out of their wardrobes etc. Pick out the nicest things or what you like best and give them back what they need to wear for 5 days, wash as normal and give extras of anything they've run out of. After 2 weeks (trying only to use whats now in their wardrobes within reason), add a couple of each thing so you have enough for emergencies and then give away to charity anything that hasn't been worn.

Original poster
Eddas · 02/09/2011 15:03

thanks leeloo I've just been brutal in ds' wardrobe and now have a black sack of in-needed clothes...and it's still full!!! But better than it was.

Now for dd's room. this will be even worse, she's 7 and I hope she doesn't come up and see the pile of rejexted clothes as I know it'll be 'but I like that one' whinge whinge!!

OP posts:
gillybean2 · 02/09/2011 15:09

Depends how often you wash stuff too. I have to air dry here so we need more of everything. Particularly in the winter months. If you have a tumble drier (and are happy to use it a lot) then obviously you will be able to reuse stuff quicker and need less.

re pj's - Ds has summer pj's (shorts and short sleeved), winter ones (fleece type), and ordinary ones (long sleeves and trousers). So I sort of think one to wear, one to wash and one spare works fine. But obviously I keep 3 of each kind because it would be silly to put him in fleece pj's in the summer..

I culled his t-shirts recently. He had more than 30 and, as I pointed out to him, if he wore each one before he came back to the first he'd only wear it a maximum of 12 times in the year.

Chestnutx3 · 02/09/2011 15:27

I refuse to do washes more than twice a week for their ordinary clothes - wednesday and saturday so that determines how many clothes they need. I go for 4 pjs, I think 8 of everything sounds about right. I'm making my 4 year old change out of her uniform when she comes in so she will need clothes for home - as I'm sure either I need to wash them or keep them clean for the next day - pinafore/summer dresses cost £34 each so you can tell I haven't bought loads.

Good luck with your DD, I would do it without her help and just take out things that she never wears.

leeloo1 · 02/09/2011 19:05

Well done! Brutal is good. :) Maybe leave dd's til she's at school and can't complain.

sarahtigh · 03/09/2011 21:26

for winter
5 vests, 8 Pants, 8 tops, 8 (trousers/jeans/ skirts/dresses) 1 nice party outfit, 3-4 jumpers or cardigans, hooded sweatshirt, waterproof warm coat, fleece for when not as cold, trainers, good shoes, wellies (slippers) 8-10 pairs of socks ( or some tights) 3 PJ'S, Dressing gown, younger children all in one puddle type suit, 2 each of gloves hats scarves

school uniform 4 shirts/polo tops 2 jumpers 2-3 skirts/trousers, 1 PE kit, 1 blazer if worn, same coat as before, school bag, swimsuit/trunks, 5 pairs of those grey socks you would never wear elsewhere, my DD not school age but surely they still don't have to have navy blue fluffy big pants?

if extra money and older so don't grow out in 6 months another pair of shoes extra 2 of tops trousers etc. if you live in really cold place extra jumper sweaters, padded gilet type thing

gillybean2 · 04/09/2011 05:39

sarahtigh - only 4 school shirts? That's not even a week's worth...
I only do a white wash once a week or so, so need at least a weeks worth of shirts and vests (including enough for weekend and extra for while those are drying). Plus ds has short sleeves shirts for summer and long sleeved for winter...

And 8 pairs of pants? That's not even enough to go away on holiday for a week and to have a clean pair for when you get back...

sarahtigh · 04/09/2011 15:09

I did preface my notes by saying for winter,

in most cases I do not think you need clean tops every day; clean vest,socks and pants definitely daily, most people do wash more than once a week and not everyone school uniform is white so if pale blue could go in wash with other stuff, as nearly everyone on MN seems to have washing machine on daily, I was working on idea that what was worn on monday could be worn again on thursday/friday.
Also OP was asking what she thought was necessary "how much does a child really need" not want and I think that would be ample , when i was at school most people only had 1 pair of school trousers/ skirt and 2-3 shirts and 1 coat/pair of shoes ( plus trainers/wellies) which they wore to school and everywhere, may be they were better made then but 1 skirt would definitely last a whole school year

Original poster
Eddas · 04/09/2011 16:20

I have school uniform sorted, it't the out of school clothes we have in abundance and causing me issues.

FYI, before dd started school a friend advised me to get a set of clothes for each day for school. I'm glad she did, she said it would depend if they would change out of school clotehs after school but that her dd (18 months older than my dd) 90% of the time came out of school with something down her skirt/t-shirt and it made more sense to leave her in school clothes rather than dirty 2 sets of clothes, and have enough for an outfit per day with no washing.

I took her advice and actually dd is a fairly clean child so it may not have been necessary, but the uniform doesn't cost much these days, esp if you buy when it's 3 for 2 and get the packs of t-shirts with 3 in a pack.

This year I bought dd shirts instead of t-shirts and I bought 3 (3 for 2) so she will have to wear them more than once or i'll need to wash during the week, but I think she will be able to make them last a week most of the time.

DS on the other hand is messier, but someone handed down their ds' clothes and I haven't bought extra (although I may if need be during the year!) so school clothes wise he has 5 t-shirts, 2 jumpers and 3 trousers. I bought 10 pairs of socks Hmm they were in packs of 5 for £3.50 and I just know they'll go missing Grin

As for things like coats etc, they seem to have about 5 coats each Hmm I sorted the shoe/coat cupboard and was Shock as I hadn't realised how many they had, they now have about 3 each - 2 winter ones and a raincoat. I may as well keep 2 coats each as they are there, but wouldn't go out and buy 2 IYSWIM.

Thanks for all the ideas ladies.

I haven't done dd's wardrobe yet but ds' is so much better since I cleared out loads of things, I can put it all away and not have to cram it all in

DD back at school tomorrow so I may attack her's then, if not tuesday.

OP posts:
Nagoo · 04/09/2011 16:30

I've just bought for DS age 4.

He has
3 pairs of jeans
6 long sleeve t shirts
6 short sleeve t shirts
3 zip up fleece/ tops
3 jumpers.
2 pairs short and 2 pairs long Pjs.

ragged · 04/09/2011 16:58

I wish I could do a right cull (sigh). Problem is that 3 DC are fussy and idiosyncratic about what they'll wear (what is fine one day becomes a screaming tantrum issue the next, sigh). So I feel like I have to hold on to everything "just in case".

cat64 · 04/09/2011 17:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

sleepevader · 04/09/2011 17:48

Eddas this thread is perfect. Im planning on a major cull on my sons wardrobe when he starts pre school. Im also going to ebay some of the BNWT stuff I brought in sales as he now wears a school uniform 2.5 days a week.

He also has too many coats so perfect time for ebaying some!

sarahtigh · 04/09/2011 20:44

great time for ebaying winter stuff , leave it till end of october and you will get peanuts as everyone has winter stuff

also stuff that has been worn but no stains holes can sell in bundles as play clothes

Original poster
Eddas · 04/09/2011 21:01

glad the thread is helping others too Smile

I am lucky that I have space for extra clothes other than just what they need but I am still in the fortunate position that I get given so much they literally couldn't ever get through it!! DD is quite a clean child, ds less so but he has his favourite things to wear.

Ebay is a great idea. I'm going to ebay the extra coats I have, if I can get of my butt and just do it Grin but I can't be bothered to ebay the clothes, plus i'd feel guilty getting money for something given to me so I prefer to hand those on. Even though essentially all the clothes have been through 2 children after my dc have worn them because there's quite a lot it is normally in great condition still.

The other main reason for a cull is that I am trying to be more organised and tidy. A light bulb flicked on a couple of months ago, that to be more tidy I need less stuff. If you have less stuff it naturally is less messy. I'm sick of living in clutter. I grew up in a house with stuff everywhere and where you could be messy and not get told off, which had it's advantages, but I realised as an adult it's less acceptable to be a messy bugger Grin and I needed to change. I don't want my kids to be as messy as I was, although I will never be anal about it, some mess is fine, and some days you just cannot be bothered about it all, but in general I want my kids to be as clutter free and tidy as they can be

OP posts:
sleepevader · 05/09/2011 19:59

I feel the same about changing my perspective on clutter.

Started sorting out ds clothes today. Epic fail! Still to much!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page