Dear easyStorage

I have lots of baby clothes. I am thinking of keeping them in case we have another baby (I had my first child two and a half years ago) or for my grandchildren.

Should I keep them?

Angela, Crawley

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Thanks for the question, Angela.

Sadly the answer to the question depends entirely on you and your personal circumstances, so all we can do is give you some points to consider.

But if you do decide to keep them, we’re definitely the right place to come for advice on keeping them stored the right way.

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Points to consider

This section comes with a warning – some of these points are contradictory, and only you can really decide what’s right for you and your family.

1.       You want another child. Keeping things, therefore, makes sense in many ways.

2.       If conceiving is hard, or you’re going through painful fertility treatments, think whether having baby clothes around is simply adding extra pressure to you to conceive.

3.       Only keep really beautiful clothing items like christening robes or special handknits for grandchildren. Even children’s clothes are subject to fashions, and unless there’s a particular item that you’d like to see photographed down through the ages, their parents may be put in an embarrassing position by you handing them on.

4.       Hoarding lots of children’s clothes will take up valuable space and can easily become ‘clutter’.

5.       If clothes are being kept long term, the fabrics may start to disintegrate if not cared for.

6.       Selling the clothes could give you money towards new ones for your existing child, or towards new clothes for a new baby. (Watch this blog for advice on selling second hand.)

7.       Are you artistic? If so, could you frame baby clothes as pictures, especially if you have a photo of baby wearing them to display alongside? Or make something with fabric?

8.       Dispose of cloth nappies if you can afford to. Yes, they get laundered. Yes, they get disinfected. But would you wear second hand knickers if you didn’t have to?

9.       If you simply can’t bear to part with baby clothes (I personally was guilty in this regard until I had to move house!), why not simply select just a few precious pieces, ones with fabulous memories attached, in a keepsake box?

10.   You could pass them on. Other parents and family members whose children are reaching the age of the clothes may be grateful for them, and these things tend to go around, especially with baby clothes that children grow out of really quickly in their first year. Children grow at different rates. In some years it will be your child who’s passing down clothes. In other years, your child will be passed down clothes from a child who’s grown bigger, faster, in this particular period. And other families will also be having more children, so some may have baby clothes to pass to you.

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If you do decide to keep the clothes

·         make sure they are properly packed away in good quality boxes and packing materials;

·         only keep clothes in good condition. Stains may fix and spread if not removed before storage;

·         make sure that anything being packed away is clean and dry;

·         ironing clothes will help ensure that clothes are dry, but will also save space when packing;

·         use good quality packing boxes, and keep in a safe, cool, dry place. And that is something we at easyStorage can help with - in spades!

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If you have a storage question that you’d like answered, send your question to Alex Fulcher who’ll pick questions for the team to answer each month: Alex.Fulcher@easystorage.com or use #AskeasyStorage and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.