It’s that time of year again. Spring is around the corner and the site of the mine and my toddler’s over flowing closet needs to disappear. I tackled the sorting last night but now I’m staring at three huge bags full maternity and baby clothes that need to be dealt with properly. Several items still have tags on them. I’ve been saving all my old baby and maternity clothes to pass on to friends or family members but the problems is that there are too many clothes and not enough children I know.

I’m faced with a dilema. What to throw away (if anything)? What to keep in storage? What to give to the local charity shop? And a final question - what to sell?

What to throw out
There are couple items that my daughter wears on a daily basis (onesies and tights). Even though she has more than she needs, a couple items have been so wore I can practically see through them and the elastic waist band is non-existent in most of the tights. These I put in the trash. As a rule, I try not to give anything to charity that is practically unusable. A pair of tights with holes in the feet are just as uncomfortable for the baby whose parents bought it at the charity store.

What to keep in storage
For starters, I keep the items that still have tags on them. These tend to be gifts that people give to me at the wrong time or items that just disappeared into the depths of the baby’s room. I know alot of parents find this to be the case. If you are planning on saving baby clothes for friends and family, remember to store stuff that they will actually appreciate. They may not love the vomit-stained pyjamas even though your kid didn’t mind.

What to give away to charity
The majority of my used maternity and baby clothes are making their way to charity. I don’t have a Freepeats near me or else I would be using that. I tend to donate to my local used clothing store, although I know some people try to give to charities that specifically work with children or family in need.

What to sell?
eBay and the likes are a great resource for parents looking for cheap baby clothes. Alot of items are sold in bundles (by parents doing spring cleaning!) and you can grab some great deals. If you do plan on selling your old baby clothes, remember that need to take some time and care into cleaning and packing them. Just because you’re selling them for a few bucks on eBay, doesn’t mean you can get away with shoving dusty old clothes into a bag and popping down to the post office.

How do you decide what to do with your old baby clothes? Do you have a favourite charity that you give baby clothes and toys to? Let us know what works best for you.

Picture courtesy of flickr.