How Do You Organize Baby's Stuff?

[himom]

We finally had a baby shower and Joshua's first load of clothes and stuff just came out of the dryer. He's due two weeks from tomorrow, so I'm anxious to get everything together in case I go into labor early. My problem is figuring out where to put it all!

Can anyone recommend an organizational system that works? For instance, how do you keep matching hats, mittens, and booties together? Or should I even bother? Any clever tricks to keep pairs from losing each other?

And how about bath stuff? Should lap pads, burping cloths, & bibs be all together or does it matter?

To give you an idea of what I have to work with:
I have a changing area set up on top of a three drawer dresser. Next to the dresser is a set of corner shelves that I thought might be useful for keeping creams, lotions, etc on....unless they should go on top the dresser with the changing pad?

We also have a large bookshelf set aside just for Josh's stuff, as well as another bookshelf that actually has his books and toys already on it.

What kind of stuff gets used the least? (I'm trying to figure out what to put in the bottom drawer)

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Usually I'm very good at organizing but I'm currently hampered by the fact that I don't know what I'll be using, how often, etc.

Thanks!

Jodi
EDD 2/3/03

[C99]

Hey, I'm in exactly the same boat (just had a shower, washed everything and now need to put it away!). We have a dresser for the baby's things. The top level has two drawers and the one below that runs the full width of the dresser. I plan to use the top-level drawers for socks and mittens and caps and the next one for onesies/t-shirt and gowns/sleepers, just because I think I will use those things the most often at first. I don't think it matters if bibs are separated out from everything else, although I plan to put all the baby's sheets and towels in a separate drawer and blankets/receiving blankets in a separate drawer again.

I guess we'll re-arrange as we go and I get a rhythm down. HTH although I'm not really any more knowledgable than you are at this point. :)

Caroline

[MartiesMom2B]

I feel like I'm in the same boat. We are setting up the nursery this weekend. I don't know what to do with all of the baby's things.

I did get the One Step Ahead catalog and it features dividers to split up clothes in sizes. You can probably make up your own though.

Sonia
EDD 4/14/03

[bnme]

Sounds like you have plenty of room. Do you have a closet? I Keep lots of stuff there....We got a Mills Pride closet organizer from Lowes. It has a shelf tower on one side and a rod with two shelves above it on the other. I put bath stuff on one shelf (wash cloths and towels), bibs and burp cloths on another, and soaps/loations/nailclipper type stuff on another. Plus other misc stuff on the bottom and higher shelves (toys and other stuff I am not using yet or frequently).

I seperated all the clothes into sizes prior to birth and have the "dess-up" type outfits hanging by size.

His changing table is a 6 drawer desser with pad on top. In one of the top drawers I have all 0-3 onsies and t-shirts as well as socks and booties. I meant to get something to organize them in but have never gotten around to it. In the other top drawer I keep diapers and Destin and extra wipes. I keep wipes and vaseline on top since I use them all the time. I put I waterproof pad on the dresser top to protect it. In the lower drawers I have sleeper outfits 0-3 in one and bigger sizes in another. I m only using 4 drawers. We also have an amoire were right now I only have his blankets and sweaters. You can keep yours on the shelves for easy access or in the closet (I needed to chnge the blanket frequently at first since he kept wetting through!)

So far we have much more drawer space than needed, but I am sure that will change as time goes on.

I have not moved or reorganized anything since he was born (1/3/03), partly because there is no time and partly becuae I was two weeks overdue and spent a lot of time setting up and re-setting up everything so I probably got it worked out the best way possible!

As long as your onsies, t-shirts, sleepers, and diaper changing supplies are located near the changing area, you should be fine. I also keep extra burp cloth and washcloth in that area in case I need them while changing him.

Organizing the room is a great activity to keep you busy in the final days, assuming you are home from work a week or two before the birth!

[Melanie]

You'll probably reorganize many times, but here's how we have things:
-Dresser w/ 4 small drawers containing hats, bibs, socks/booties & shoes and 6 large drawers containing tops/onesies, bottoms & coveralls, baby information packets and other stuff, PJs, things I don't use yet, clothes that don't fit yet.
-Closet with nicer outfits and hanging clothes which don't fit yet.
-Changing table with open bottom USED to have all my diapering supplies on the top shelf in neat baskets, and diaper bags on the bottom shelf. Since Ds became mobile the only things on the shelves are diapers & wipes. The diapering supplies have moved to a shelf in the closet right next to the table.

I found organizing the dresser drawers in some sort of logic (top down as Dh call is) helps with the hubby knowing where things are.



Mommy to Jonah

[sweetbasil]

I like to keep things as orderly as possible, too, and really found these to come in handy...if you're using a closet. http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/bbi/bbi00185.html

They probably wouldn't work so well in an armoir to hang clothes, though. Best wishes!

[himom]

Thanks to all of you! That does help a lot.

I got a flat basket and filled it with booties, mittens, and hats and stuck it in the top drawer along with onesies, t-shirts, gowns, and sleepers. I put lap pads, bath stuff, etc in the second drawer, and the last drawer is stuff that won't fit him yet. Hopefully that will work, although I do foresee some serious re-organizing once we establish a routine.

I do have a closet and currently it's holding all the extra bags of diapers, the swing, toys, and hanging clothes that won't fit him yet. Today I'm washing all the quilts, blankets, sheets, etc and then I'll be done!

My current worry is the doctor guessed his weight at 8 lbs yesterday, so it's entirely possible those adorable little newborn t-shirts and diapers that I just put away might not even fit him! (Not to mention I need to worry about giving birth to a baby that is currently 8 pounds with two weeks more to grow.....)

Jodi
EDD 2/03/03

[bnme]

My DS was 7.14 when born. He came home at 7.1, but then shot up to 8.9 in 2 weeks. He is still swimming in most of his 0-3's, so you should be fine! Just check out which stuff is smallest since all brands are different and use those first. We had him in hospital snap front ts the first week becuase that was all that fit reasonably. Good thing we "borrowed" a few extra -they are A LOT smaller than the Carters, Gerber, or BuyBuyBaby 0-3s.

[newbelly2002]

I must say that in addition to the 0-3's, I wish I had bought a few premie pieces. DS was only born a week early, but he was 6 lb, 4 oz and didn't fit into the 0-3 until his first month birthday. UNless you know for sure that your little one is going to be on the bigger side of things (and it was predicted that our peanut would be well over 8 pounds!) I would suggest having one or two of the premie onesies on hand with the tags left on, of course.

Good luck with the organizing. I'm lucky if I get his clothes into the closest these days, never mind the right shelf!

Paula
Mom to Dante 8/1/02