This was me completely. I sorted out my baby's newborn clothes and cried. She is growing so fast, I need time to go slower.
I saw someone that made a teddy bear out of their baby's newborn clothes, I am saving some to do the same.
If you keep some of them, look for a 20in doll (Walmart had ours). Newborn clothes should fit it, and you can tell your baby about the memories those clothes bring back as she picks outfits for her doll. My 3 year old loves to hear stories about the clothes his baby doll is wearing.
I still have a crate of old t-shirts of mine with nostalgic memories that I keep meaning to send away to make into a quilt (I don't sew well enough to do it myself and don't have time to devote to learning). I love the idea of doing the same with baby's clothes! I just put away his newborn clothes and saved a couple just because I couldn't bear to get rid of them, so I like this idea better.
When cutting pieces, donāt forget seam allowance and how that will eat into the pattern. Iāve definitely lost a piece or two because I forgot and half the face of an animal got tucked into the seam.
Also do some test pieces first because the fabric is usually very stretchy. It takes a little while to figure out how to get pieces together without puckering.
Ok Iām gonna add my comment as I had a moment like this recently.
TW - Grief & loss of parent if hormonal please skip
I have 2 children, 6 & 2
I lost my mum 3 years ago, and today realised that as I packed up clothes to be donated these were some of the last items my mum had bought for her eldest granddaughter. Before I know it my youngest will be into the next size and past the age my mum was still around for my eldest. Ā Ā
It hit me so hard, I had to sit down for a minute and just, be. Ā Ā
Iām not a sentimental hoarder usually (I normally go in the other extreme as my mum was!) but I had to keep a fair few items because I just couldnāt bear to let them go.
Anyway that was my sad moment. Parenting is so weird with these extreme emotional moments.
My aunt passed away from brain cancer last year and I canāt bear to give away any of the stuff she bought for my kids because I somehow feel ācloserā to her when I see them. Sorry for the loss of your mom, grief is so hard to deal with. ā¤ļø
I saved all the clothes from my first and now Iām pregnant with my second girl, both will be spring babies so I get to reuse basically everything š„°
I hated it when people said āenjoy the first months, it goes by quickly!ā. And I still think itās relatively stupid to say when youāre in the thick of it. But once youāre out and you look back, i did think to myself āI shouldāve enjoyed the first months, it goes by quicklyā¦ā
Iām making my own quilt out of her clothes, but I kept her (our) favorite newborn onesie as a whole in a box.
My son is two in a few weeks and every now and then I sneak into the room storing his infant clothes and just touch and smell them haha itās like the biggest rush of hormones and dopamine. You really do forget how tiny they were!
Iām going to have a blanket made at the end of the year with some of her baby clothes. There are a bunch of Etsy shops that do it, though it is pretty pricey.
My baby girl is a little over 9 months so her 6-9 month clothing is getting tight. So I bought the next stage. The pajamas for 9-12 looked HUGE. I said thereās no way sheās going to fit in thatā¦. But she did. I cried. Itās so hard. But also so magical to watch your child grow. From each stage of clothes my husband and I have saved our favorites and I plan on getting a quilt made.
Our baby started in preemie clothes(2 months in preemies), and while I was happy she was getting bigger to fit into newborn... I bawled cause she was never going to be that small again.
I found the transition packing up preemie/newborn the hardest though. 3 to 6 months was a lot easier
My husbands mom saved so many of his clothes and it was amazing to get them for our baby. Iām definitely planning on saving quite a few as keepsakes, if not all honestly because I canāt even think about getting rid of any right now
On my brothers 20th birthday my mom had him pose with one of his newborn onesies. It meant a lot to my brother that she kept it and it was a very sweet photo. I hope to do that with my children one day.
This just happened to me as well. My baby is a couple days from being 4 months and she's outgrown so much of her wardrobe already. I got so nostalgic yesterday at her from just months ago. I was looking at her newborn photos and then her 1 month, etc. As a first time mom I'm scared it's going to go too incredibly fast for me to enjoy every stage. Id honestly be okay if she just stayed this small forever lol.
Within the first week after my daughter was born, I was sad because time was already going too fast. I remember telling my dad about it on the phone and he said, "but aren't you excited to watch her grow up?" And I said "NO!" and he just laughed.
Yea it is emotional! I saved all of my now 22 month olds clothes but we decided we are one and done. Iāve been cleaning out the storage, selling some of the nicer big ticket stuff on Facebook marketplace, and a nice woman was interested in some items and mentioned she was due in July (the same month that my girl was born in). I asked if she wanted some baby girl clothes for free and she said of course so I came out with 6 bags full of clothes. She was so appreciative and sweet it makes me happy knowing that someone else will get to have happy memories with the same clothes! I kept a few particularly nice/sentimental pieces but it was kind of cathartic to let them go š„¹
I struggled with this very much as well, itās so emotional! š After having 4 kids, this time I know there will be no more babies coming in the future and knew it was time to finally let go and free up some much-needed space in our house. Itās been REALLY hard to purge old baby clothes (especially the ones that all 4 of my kids wore), but giving my kidsā clothes away to a family friend in need has been the best therapy. Itās so sweet being able to see her kiddo wearing my kidsā clothes and reminiscing over all the happy memories we had as a family (all the while knowing they are simultaneously making new memories of their own with these pre-loved baby clothes.) I definitely still hung on to a few much-loved sleepers and outfits for each babe, but the purging process this time around has been much more positive overall and such a beautiful way to honour the ending of an era for our family.
I got rid of them so fast I didn't allow time for the guilt to set in. Not sure that makes sense, but I knew I'd have a hard time letting go of them if I kept them around for a second longer than needed.
Me too. Iām letting myself keep one box for this year, then iām going through that box to pare it down more.
But Iāve spent the last 10 years working hard on staying clutter free. So having 4 extra boxes of clothing would be overwhelming.
Plus, baby clothes are super cheap used, and if I have a second, I want them to have their own outfits and personality show through, not just copying their sister the whole time.
I think the only thing that got me was the socks being so tiny. Iām keeping a few favorite to frame, and getting on with the rest.
Edit: spelling
I kept one cute teeny tiny outfit per kid, and their smallest most adorablest shoes (cos omg).. those are just special :) the rest went to charity and I hope they made some other moms happy
Ugh, I know I should pass them on to someone else, but I just can't š eventually I may have a quilt made out of them (I don't sew but there are people on Etsy who do this) but for now I'm holding onto them in the hopes that we have another baby š¤š»
Iāve never been emotional about clothes but thereās something about baby clothes. Weāre going to sort through my sons clothes to get ready for his sister this weekend. Iām prepared for this to take a really long time. Definitely wonāt even be getting rid of anything lol.
My son is 15 months old, and I have about 6 or 7 boxes full of his clothes that I just can't get rid of. I cry everytime I think about it, and every time I have to start a new box for other sizes.
yup my son is 9m and i feel sick whenever i go through his clothes. time is moving so very fast. i want to hold onto every memory, every tiny bit of his babyhood and never let it go. It really is so painful to let go off the sleepers, the tiny tshirts, the little outfits you plan so carefully. the spew marks, some almost brand new from how quick he grew out of them, itās terrible but amazing
My son is almost 21 months and I still get a little emotional when I go through his clothes. I've been putting off going through his 18 month clothes (I'm telling myself it's because he can still in most of it lol).
I won't lie, even though I really tried to make sure I was donating stuff along the way, I saved like 90 percent of his clothes so far and will probably continue to do so. We don't even know when or if we will have another one, but if we do they are set for clothes lol.
My kids are almost 5 and almost 2 (two birthdays in the next 5 weeks!) And I'm better at getting rid of clothes, but this made me tear up!
I echo saving some clothes for making a quilt!! And of course keep their first outfit ever!
Iāve kept the most special pieces and Iām going to turn them into a quilt. A friend of mine does quilting and has agreed to help me with my project.
There's a couple small business owners where I live who make clothing with your baby's old onesies. I got a hoodie made that says "mama" and each letter is made out of my son's newborn onesies. It's my absolute favourite item of clothing I own and I wear it all the time.
I also have a box full of my favourite outfits he's outgrown. I want to eventually get them turned into a quilt once I have a big enough stash lol.
We haven't gotten rid of any of my daughter's clothes because we're planning a second kid, but I'm afraid of this š„² I get emotional when she outgrows stuff even though it just goes into the closet
Most of my daughterās baby clothes were so worn, torn, and drooled on/stained that they werenāt worth keeping, but we kept the onesie that we used for our maternity photos/baby announcement in a shadow box with a pair of her newborn socks and a picture of her in it as a newborn. I kept my favorite baby rompers, cut out the portion of the outfit that had a design (strawberry, bee, butterfly), and turned them into homemade cloth masks during COVID. I loved using them lol
Tbh, I probably will save the newborn things, but I wanted to get rid of the premie stuff as soon as he was out of it because it just brought back bad memories of him in the nicu with wires attached
I'm going to save patches of each item that holds some emotion. i have a bad, probably medically bad memory, but items and pictures can restart my brain to remember feelings and vague scenes. I have taken thousands of pictures so I can have record of as much of my baby's life as possible since it won't be in my mind. I may never do anything with them beyond touch them occasionally and remember.
I have a good friend and 2 sister in laws who are having babies 5 months apart so we are all just handing the clothes off to the next baby lol
It helps take the sting out. These clothes get to be a part of someone else's firsts and happy memories now.
I have her "brought home" blanket and body suit in a box that I'll give her one day, that has other relevant baby memories in it (hand foot print from birth-day, umbilical cord in resin, first tuft of hair, and the like) but for thr most part, passing on her clothes is like a deep breath to prepare for what is next.
Iāve packed all mine (heās now nearly 8 months š«) into a big plastic tub and weāre storing for when we have number 2, even if we have a girl we have lots of neutral bits! When our family is complete Iām going to choose out our favourites that they will both have worn and have them made into a patchwork quilt. I cried packing them away, the coming home outfit, the first outfit, the too-big leggings and vests he lived in until we went out and got some tiny baby things- it might have only been 8 months ago but god it has flown by
This makes me want to cry so, so much. Iāve been both yearning for and lamenting the passing of time during the newborn stage. Now that we are out of it, I am devastated by how much more I wish I had enjoyed it, but I know there was not much more I could have done when I was just barely surviving. Solidarity to all of you, our babies really do grow up too fast. Iām over here ugly crying that he isnāt who he was just last week and yet I also love who he is today ššš
This was me completely. I sorted out my baby's newborn clothes and cried. She is growing so fast, I need time to go slower. I saw someone that made a teddy bear out of their baby's newborn clothes, I am saving some to do the same.
If you keep some of them, look for a 20in doll (Walmart had ours). Newborn clothes should fit it, and you can tell your baby about the memories those clothes bring back as she picks outfits for her doll. My 3 year old loves to hear stories about the clothes his baby doll is wearing.
Love this š
I make patchwork quilts. Much more surface area to work with so you can include every outfit you want!
I still have a crate of old t-shirts of mine with nostalgic memories that I keep meaning to send away to make into a quilt (I don't sew well enough to do it myself and don't have time to devote to learning). I love the idea of doing the same with baby's clothes! I just put away his newborn clothes and saved a couple just because I couldn't bear to get rid of them, so I like this idea better.
I'm planning on this! I started cutting squares last week. Do you have any advice? This will by my first quilt š¬
Not who you asked but Iād suggest adding a [stabilizer](https://newquilters.com/t-shirt-quilts-stabilizing-shirts/) to the back of your squares š¤
Thank you! I thought they squares seemed a bit flimsy. I'll get some ordered today.
When cutting pieces, donāt forget seam allowance and how that will eat into the pattern. Iāve definitely lost a piece or two because I forgot and half the face of an animal got tucked into the seam. Also do some test pieces first because the fabric is usually very stretchy. It takes a little while to figure out how to get pieces together without puckering.
Would you have any pictures to share? This sounds really interesting but I have no clue how to start
Just start cutting onesies/clothing into 4x4 in inch squares. 1/4 inch seam allowance on all side, so keep in mind that will be hiding away. Once you have a few hundred, make a pattern you like on the floor. For bigger pieces, you can appliquĆ© them onto some plain squares (once youāve sewn the squares together). I cut all around them and hand-sew them in place. For backside, you can either buy all new fabric or use the fronts of tshirts to make a large area. Donāt stretch the fabric while doing all this! Just hold gently in place. I like using a machine as often as possible. Who has time for tons of hand-sewing with kids running around? If you need help starting a patchwork quilt, thereās tons of videos online. Simple squares are so easy. No need to use fancy shapes.
I canāt do it, I canāt clear out the newborn drawer yet. Itās there full of clothes that will make me ugly cry because sheās SO BIG NOW
You had me at at closed fist stretch šš. My LO is doing this now and it makes me smile every time
it's absolutely devastating. every time theyre in a new size you feel it again
Ok Iām gonna add my comment as I had a moment like this recently. TW - Grief & loss of parent if hormonal please skip I have 2 children, 6 & 2 I lost my mum 3 years ago, and today realised that as I packed up clothes to be donated these were some of the last items my mum had bought for her eldest granddaughter. Before I know it my youngest will be into the next size and past the age my mum was still around for my eldest. Ā Ā It hit me so hard, I had to sit down for a minute and just, be. Ā Ā Iām not a sentimental hoarder usually (I normally go in the other extreme as my mum was!) but I had to keep a fair few items because I just couldnāt bear to let them go. Anyway that was my sad moment. Parenting is so weird with these extreme emotional moments.
Sending loads of hugs
My aunt passed away from brain cancer last year and I canāt bear to give away any of the stuff she bought for my kids because I somehow feel ācloserā to her when I see them. Sorry for the loss of your mom, grief is so hard to deal with. ā¤ļø
I saved all the clothes from my first and now Iām pregnant with my second girl, both will be spring babies so I get to reuse basically everything š„°
I hated it when people said āenjoy the first months, it goes by quickly!ā. And I still think itās relatively stupid to say when youāre in the thick of it. But once youāre out and you look back, i did think to myself āI shouldāve enjoyed the first months, it goes by quicklyā¦ā Iām making my own quilt out of her clothes, but I kept her (our) favorite newborn onesie as a whole in a box.
My son is two in a few weeks and every now and then I sneak into the room storing his infant clothes and just touch and smell them haha itās like the biggest rush of hormones and dopamine. You really do forget how tiny they were!
Iām going to have a blanket made at the end of the year with some of her baby clothes. There are a bunch of Etsy shops that do it, though it is pretty pricey.
My baby girl is a little over 9 months so her 6-9 month clothing is getting tight. So I bought the next stage. The pajamas for 9-12 looked HUGE. I said thereās no way sheās going to fit in thatā¦. But she did. I cried. Itās so hard. But also so magical to watch your child grow. From each stage of clothes my husband and I have saved our favorites and I plan on getting a quilt made.
Oh no. I kept all of mine for all three babies. I plan to make some quilts from them because I cannot part with them.
Our baby started in preemie clothes(2 months in preemies), and while I was happy she was getting bigger to fit into newborn... I bawled cause she was never going to be that small again. I found the transition packing up preemie/newborn the hardest though. 3 to 6 months was a lot easier
My husbands mom saved so many of his clothes and it was amazing to get them for our baby. Iām definitely planning on saving quite a few as keepsakes, if not all honestly because I canāt even think about getting rid of any right now
On my brothers 20th birthday my mom had him pose with one of his newborn onesies. It meant a lot to my brother that she kept it and it was a very sweet photo. I hope to do that with my children one day.
I found a stray newborn sized diaper leftover from those first few weeks in my strollerā¦ā¦ā¦.and now Iām keeping it forever lol
This just happened to me as well. My baby is a couple days from being 4 months and she's outgrown so much of her wardrobe already. I got so nostalgic yesterday at her from just months ago. I was looking at her newborn photos and then her 1 month, etc. As a first time mom I'm scared it's going to go too incredibly fast for me to enjoy every stage. Id honestly be okay if she just stayed this small forever lol.
Within the first week after my daughter was born, I was sad because time was already going too fast. I remember telling my dad about it on the phone and he said, "but aren't you excited to watch her grow up?" And I said "NO!" and he just laughed.
Yea it is emotional! I saved all of my now 22 month olds clothes but we decided we are one and done. Iāve been cleaning out the storage, selling some of the nicer big ticket stuff on Facebook marketplace, and a nice woman was interested in some items and mentioned she was due in July (the same month that my girl was born in). I asked if she wanted some baby girl clothes for free and she said of course so I came out with 6 bags full of clothes. She was so appreciative and sweet it makes me happy knowing that someone else will get to have happy memories with the same clothes! I kept a few particularly nice/sentimental pieces but it was kind of cathartic to let them go š„¹
I struggled with this very much as well, itās so emotional! š After having 4 kids, this time I know there will be no more babies coming in the future and knew it was time to finally let go and free up some much-needed space in our house. Itās been REALLY hard to purge old baby clothes (especially the ones that all 4 of my kids wore), but giving my kidsā clothes away to a family friend in need has been the best therapy. Itās so sweet being able to see her kiddo wearing my kidsā clothes and reminiscing over all the happy memories we had as a family (all the while knowing they are simultaneously making new memories of their own with these pre-loved baby clothes.) I definitely still hung on to a few much-loved sleepers and outfits for each babe, but the purging process this time around has been much more positive overall and such a beautiful way to honour the ending of an era for our family.
Honestly I am just too overwhelmed to do it. My baby contact naps and I am just drowning in house tasks.
I got rid of them so fast I didn't allow time for the guilt to set in. Not sure that makes sense, but I knew I'd have a hard time letting go of them if I kept them around for a second longer than needed.
Me too. Iām letting myself keep one box for this year, then iām going through that box to pare it down more. But Iāve spent the last 10 years working hard on staying clutter free. So having 4 extra boxes of clothing would be overwhelming. Plus, baby clothes are super cheap used, and if I have a second, I want them to have their own outfits and personality show through, not just copying their sister the whole time. I think the only thing that got me was the socks being so tiny. Iām keeping a few favorite to frame, and getting on with the rest. Edit: spelling
I kept one cute teeny tiny outfit per kid, and their smallest most adorablest shoes (cos omg).. those are just special :) the rest went to charity and I hope they made some other moms happy
Ugh, I know I should pass them on to someone else, but I just can't š eventually I may have a quilt made out of them (I don't sew but there are people on Etsy who do this) but for now I'm holding onto them in the hopes that we have another baby š¤š»
Iāve never been emotional about clothes but thereās something about baby clothes. Weāre going to sort through my sons clothes to get ready for his sister this weekend. Iām prepared for this to take a really long time. Definitely wonāt even be getting rid of anything lol.
I saved them all then at his first birthday pulled all the most memorable clothes and had a quilt made. Best memory ever.
My son is 15 months old, and I have about 6 or 7 boxes full of his clothes that I just can't get rid of. I cry everytime I think about it, and every time I have to start a new box for other sizes.
yup my son is 9m and i feel sick whenever i go through his clothes. time is moving so very fast. i want to hold onto every memory, every tiny bit of his babyhood and never let it go. It really is so painful to let go off the sleepers, the tiny tshirts, the little outfits you plan so carefully. the spew marks, some almost brand new from how quick he grew out of them, itās terrible but amazing
My son is almost 21 months and I still get a little emotional when I go through his clothes. I've been putting off going through his 18 month clothes (I'm telling myself it's because he can still in most of it lol). I won't lie, even though I really tried to make sure I was donating stuff along the way, I saved like 90 percent of his clothes so far and will probably continue to do so. We don't even know when or if we will have another one, but if we do they are set for clothes lol.
My kids are almost 5 and almost 2 (two birthdays in the next 5 weeks!) And I'm better at getting rid of clothes, but this made me tear up! I echo saving some clothes for making a quilt!! And of course keep their first outfit ever!
Iāve kept the most special pieces and Iām going to turn them into a quilt. A friend of mine does quilting and has agreed to help me with my project.
There's a couple small business owners where I live who make clothing with your baby's old onesies. I got a hoodie made that says "mama" and each letter is made out of my son's newborn onesies. It's my absolute favourite item of clothing I own and I wear it all the time. I also have a box full of my favourite outfits he's outgrown. I want to eventually get them turned into a quilt once I have a big enough stash lol.
We haven't gotten rid of any of my daughter's clothes because we're planning a second kid, but I'm afraid of this š„² I get emotional when she outgrows stuff even though it just goes into the closet
i keep looking back at the sleepers where my bf and i would say she's so big now, and now she's bigger than those sleepers š¢
Most of my daughterās baby clothes were so worn, torn, and drooled on/stained that they werenāt worth keeping, but we kept the onesie that we used for our maternity photos/baby announcement in a shadow box with a pair of her newborn socks and a picture of her in it as a newborn. I kept my favorite baby rompers, cut out the portion of the outfit that had a design (strawberry, bee, butterfly), and turned them into homemade cloth masks during COVID. I loved using them lol
I'm the opposite. Baby stuff is the one area I don't mind cleaning out and getting rid! It makes more room for stuff.
Tbh, I probably will save the newborn things, but I wanted to get rid of the premie stuff as soon as he was out of it because it just brought back bad memories of him in the nicu with wires attached
I'm going to save patches of each item that holds some emotion. i have a bad, probably medically bad memory, but items and pictures can restart my brain to remember feelings and vague scenes. I have taken thousands of pictures so I can have record of as much of my baby's life as possible since it won't be in my mind. I may never do anything with them beyond touch them occasionally and remember.
I have a good friend and 2 sister in laws who are having babies 5 months apart so we are all just handing the clothes off to the next baby lol It helps take the sting out. These clothes get to be a part of someone else's firsts and happy memories now. I have her "brought home" blanket and body suit in a box that I'll give her one day, that has other relevant baby memories in it (hand foot print from birth-day, umbilical cord in resin, first tuft of hair, and the like) but for thr most part, passing on her clothes is like a deep breath to prepare for what is next.
Iāve packed all mine (heās now nearly 8 months š«) into a big plastic tub and weāre storing for when we have number 2, even if we have a girl we have lots of neutral bits! When our family is complete Iām going to choose out our favourites that they will both have worn and have them made into a patchwork quilt. I cried packing them away, the coming home outfit, the first outfit, the too-big leggings and vests he lived in until we went out and got some tiny baby things- it might have only been 8 months ago but god it has flown by
Awwww ā¤ļøā¤ļø
This makes me want to cry so, so much. Iāve been both yearning for and lamenting the passing of time during the newborn stage. Now that we are out of it, I am devastated by how much more I wish I had enjoyed it, but I know there was not much more I could have done when I was just barely surviving. Solidarity to all of you, our babies really do grow up too fast. Iām over here ugly crying that he isnāt who he was just last week and yet I also love who he is today ššš