What baby clothes to keep-sentimental value?

[logan's mom]

Ds2has been able to reuse almost all of ds1 clothing and now that ds1 is turning one, I have quite a pile of clothes that we are done with....no more kiddos for us.

What clothing should I keep? Just the outfits they came home in?

I have all of DS1's first onesies....first Christmas, Easter, valentines etc but now it seems silly

Any insight?

[vonfirmath]

I kept outfits I loved seeing them in. In neither case did I end up caring much about the outfit they came home from the hospital in.

ETA: My mother kept the dresses my sister and I were baptized in (when we were 6-ish or so) and... I don't care. I don't want it back. I feel no sentiment when looking at the clothes. So figure you are keeping the clothes for yourself, no one else.

[BabbyO]

Let me preface this with I keep nothing. Period.

However, my MIL kept a few things from when DH was a baby and found them after we had DS2. The things I was willing to put my little guy in were a couple of sweaters (worked well over onesies during the spring when temps varied from the 40's in the AM to the 60's in the afternoon) and one pair of overalls. Everything else was SO dated it just didn't work.

I will keep these same items for our boys...but nothing else.

So I guess if you're going to keep anything and hope for it to be reused - try to make it a timeless piece. Otherwise I'd stick with coming home out fit, maybe christening/baptism outfit. I'd also consider keeping anything that a family member knit or handmade.

Ironically, after I gave all of our stuff to the neighbor, DH asked about the clothes we brought the kids home in. I told him we have pictures.

[fedoragirl]

Same as BabbyO. We will keep nothing except the dedication outfit worn by both my kids. I got it made out of my wedding dress. I have my mom's baptism outfit which I wore at my baptism. Unfortunately, it was not seasonally appropriate for my kids' ceremonies.
Other than that, we have pictures.

[mackmama]

I've kept a few outfits from each size. The outfits are either sentimental or ones that are in a lot of photos. I think it will be fun for DC to see the pics and then the actual outfit (and how small it is).

[sarahsthreads]

I've kept hand-knit items, baptism gowns, my favorite pair of little soft shoes for each. A couple of tiny newborn dresses that I just couldn't part with. And a couple of their absolute favorite little shirts (from when they were old enough to express a preference.)

I don't expect much, if any, to be used by grandchildren (maybe the hand-knit sweaters, they're made out of really nice yarn and not super trendy) but I wanted to keep a favorite outfit or two from when they were each tiny. Their absolute favorite little shirts I'm considering sewing into t-shirt pillows.

My cousin has twin girls who are 18 months younger than DD2, so I hand everything down to her. It makes it easier to see my favorites on her sweet little girls now and then than it would have been to just drop them all off at Goodwill. And I have lots of pictures, of course!

Sarah :)

[rin]

We're not sure we're done (and DD2 isn't even a month old yet, so we're still using most of it all) but I don't plan to keep anything. My mom gave me a bunch of baby clothes she'd saved from my childhood (and even a few pieces from HER childhood), and like a PP said, most everything was so dated (or hadn't been well stored) that I can't use any of it and am just giving it back to her or donating it.

I'm not a sentimental person, though, and don't like keeping lots of mementos, etc.

[twotimesblue]

I have kept DS1's going home outfit, and a few favorite items of clothing... my mom kept a handful of my baby dresses and I used to put them on my teddies and dolls... I thought that was a cute way to keep them in 'circulation', as it were, and my mom always said she loved seeing them around the house as us kids got older (and far less sweet than we once were!)

[elliput]

I kept the hats they were given at the hospital to put in a memory box for them. DD's is hand knit. DS's is not. That is about it. And their first pair of "real" shoes.

[belovedgandp]

I don't keep things, but did keep:

coming home outfit
baptism gown
first shoes
couple of hand-made/knitted items per child

[MamaMolly]

snip....We will keep nothing except the dedication outfit worn by both my kids. I got it made out of my wedding dress.

:heartbeat: That is so sweet and sentimental! I love it!

[MamaMolly]

I have one large ziploc packing bag for sentimental clothes. I allow myself to put any and everything I think I want to keep in it and periodically go through it. It is funny how feelings change even just 6 months down the road!

We used to live in a very poor country, and I found it much more satisfying to pass along clothes (etc.) than to keep them. Just thinking of the babies I'd be helping, how much their mamas would appreciate seeing their little ones in adorable clothes, well it did my heart good. I got rid of a LOT of things when we moved.

That said, I'm keeping the hand knit sweaters that Lula's 90yo great grandma made her. Dolly has worn them, too. She has been knitting the same pattern for her children and every child in the family since.

The Christening gown is over 100 years old and belongs in DH's family. It is back with them so technically it is saved but not in my home. Thanks goodness, because I was terrified something would happen to it!

I have a few sweet smocked dresses I'm keeping and a few regular day outfits that I just loved seeing my girls wear. I have one pair of zipper footie pajamas, they were a Mother's Day gift from my dad before Lula was born. It was the first gift he'd given me in about 20 years and I cried like a howler monkey when I opened the box.

My advice is to keep what you want and periodically cull.

[hellokitty]

I kept the baby hat they wore at the hospital and one favorite baby outfit for each child. That's it.

[TwoBees]

I plan to keep some of DD's preemie/micropreemie clothes to remember how small she was and how far she has come. And also the fact that some of the preemie clothes were still way to big on her! I also plan to keep anything handmade.

ETA: And also her first pair of shoes (mocasins) and first pair of REAL shoes.

[logan's mom]

Thanks for the input.

I think I will keep coming home outfits and a pair or two of shoes. I may keep a few pieces that I think could be timeless...first outfit I ever bought for DS1 (before we knew he was a boy) were overalls, so I will probably keep those.

MIL gave me some of DH's clothes but like others said they were too dated/not in good shape any more....and polyster...yuck!

Hopefully I can keep the less is more approach!!!