If you have a good system for buying kids clothes…
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Anonymous
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Specifically, culling out things that don’t fit, shopping, and having replacements on hand, what is your system?
How often do you shop? How do you know what/how much you need? How often do you check to see what’s been grown out off? Do you do a regular review where you go through everything, or do you pull stuff out as you notice it’s too small? How does that work, timing-wise, with the shopping? If you cull first, how do you deal with basically half a wardrobe while you finish shopping/wait for stuff to be delivered? Do you buy a lot at once or a little at a time? If you use ThredUp or other thrifting options as well, I’m particular interested in hearing from you. |
Anonymous
| I buy year round as kids grow out of stuff. Often the same thing but a size up. I shop poshmark and tea collection FB groups. I have many dresses/leggings in same color and pattern in several sizes. |
Anonymous
| Twice a year I go to consignment sales. I also accept hand me downs from friends. My kid is young, though, and may have more opinions about clothing in a couple of years. |
Anonymous
| I have 8 year old daughter, she has older nieces, so some hands me down. I also get clothes from Facebook Buynothing group. She is not picky about the clothes yet, but I know she will be soon. So for now, I only buy random items truly needed, mainly new shoes. I also learnt not to buy something on sale that will sit in the closet for months, because I don't know how quickly my child will be growing. I try not to spend too much money on clothes, because my income is average for this area. |
Anonymous
| Hand me downs and Buy Nothing. I change them out like once a year around their birthdays, when they would be around their new size. If I notice there is a need for a few new pieces, I shop Cat & Jack at Target almost exclusively. I like the quality and the styles there and my girls do too. |
Anonymous
| I have boys who wore husky size pants and didn’t care for clothing beyond basic athletic wear. I would wait for old navy/children’s place type sales and buy their favorites in the next size(s) up. I could frequently get items around $6 each. Sometimes they skipped a size and I was able to put brand new stuff on buy nothing which never bothered me not using because I didn’t pay much to begin with. I buy bathing suits for the next years in the off season on Lands’ End clearance type sales. |
Anonymous
| We replace year round as needed. I have them put anything that doesn't fit anymore in a bin so it doesn't sit in their drawers. As they start saying "I don't have enough pants" or whatever, we then go through the pants they have and decide what we need to buy. |
Anonymous
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I thrift for 90% of my kids wardrobe. She’s 12 now. I go through her clothes and get rid of stuff when I change out the seasons. I have 2 large tubs in her closet. If I buy ahead I keep clothes in those tubs. So I found some Nike soccer/running shorts last week but they’re too big so they went in the tub for next year or the year after. Winter stuff and school uniforms are in tubs too. Seasonal stuff that fits us in her dresser right now.
I get rid of stuff twice a year. I either give it away on buy nothing or it goes back to thrift store. |
Anonymous
| We have an old house and small closets, dressers. The kids only have spring/summer clothes or fall/winter clothes in them- but not at same time. So when the seasons get ready to change I check last years stash in storage and see how many items they have and I eyeball to see if I think it will fit. Then I buy all the new and do the switch out. Old season stuff gets checked through for holes and stains and discarded, donated, or stored for next yr. Then I put the new stuff in their dresser plus lasts years stash for that season. I do this times 3 kids. It’s time consuming and the only part I like is the buying and throwing old stufd away |
Anonymous
+1 I try to grab bundles on buy nothing that are the next size up — inevitably it’s a mix of sizes, with some stuff that fits now and some to grow into. I put too big and unseasonal stuff away and just repopulate drawers. And also a cat and jack fan if the great handmedown network does not supply (usually leggings as were in the age range where the knees wear out before kids outgrow them). |
Anonymous
How often do you shop? How do you know what/how much you need? I buy on sale at the end of every season for next year so there is something to start with at the beginning of every season, and then fill in throughout the year as needed. How often do you check to see what’s been grown out off? My children have a laundry basket in their closet where they throw things that don't fit or don't feel comfortable. Do you do a regular review where you go through everything, or do you pull stuff out as you notice it’s too small? We go through all clothes when we swap them out at the end of every season and things that we don't think will fit at the end of the year go in the bin for outgrown clothes, and things that we do think will fit go in the bin for next season. How does that work, timing-wise, with the shopping? If you cull first, how do you deal with basically half a wardrobe while you finish shopping/wait for stuff to be delivered? Do you buy a lot at once or a little at a time? Between what we have leftover from the previous year/season and the basics that I bought on sale, we have enough to start out the season, and then we fill in the gaps as needed. For example, we had a pretty good start with summer clothes this year but one of my kids realized she didn't have enough of the pajamas that she preferred, so we bought a couple more pairs for her so we didn't have to constantly be washing the same pair over and over again. Or last week my oldest daughter must have been at the tail end of a growth spurt because she had to throw four pairs of shorts in her outgrown basket, so we bought a few more in her current size and a size up since everything is on sale right now. |
Anonymous
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I have a only child 9 year old boy with lots of close cousins and friends that share clothes. So we get and give hand me downs. Until this year, when buying more I bought everything on sale in advance and stored it in closet bins and swapped out each season as needed. This year his growth patterns have changed, he is wearing some items from last year still and I have way too much of the next size up just sitting. And I have a feeling his style and preferences will change before he needs them. And he is in the last kids sizes so will need adult sizes next. But his feet skipped 2 sizes and shoes I had waiting I had to just get rid of. So I think I'm done buying ahead and will just wait until we need something and buy it then. Honestly we have far too many clothes anyway so it would be good to just stop buying anything and let it thin out on its own.
Its easier to have a system when they are little. |
Anonymous
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Same stuff, but bigger sizes. He has the same soccer shoes in several sizes, Adidas shoes, H and M socks and t-shirts, Uniqlo sweat shirts/ pants and light jacket.
Shorts are all some kind of Adidas ones all bought on sale. |
Anonymous
We have a similar approach. Two clothing seasons and storage bins in the basement for out of season clothes. Twice a year we get the bins out and make kids try stuff on and refill their closets. We buy Old Navy, Uniqlo, and a couple other mail order providers. Our kids are stable sizes now so we don't buy ahead. We used to stash great sale buys and future sizes in the storage tubs by size. Everything outgrown goes to my sibling's children, unless it is too worn out. |
Anonymous
| If it doesn't fit, I put it out in the hall on a table and then take it to the basement where I put it in a large Tupperware container. Twice a year I take the stuff to a consignment store. I tell them to donate the stuff that doesn't sell. Lather, rinse, repeat twice a year. |