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Ok, so I have about 20 boxes (diaper boxes) of baby clothes stored in my son's closet (his is the biggest. I wouldn't mind giving some away to pregnant friends or relatives but I cried the last time I went through them. Gave a huge box to charity and a small garbage bag tossed (stained or holes). It was so painful! I want more kids but dh doesn't he says. That's a whole other subject. Point is I feel lilke I'm giving away the option to have another baby if I give away the clothes. I will keep a few outfits for sentimental reasons. Has anyone else gone through this and if so, what did you do? I'm an emotional person and the baby thing just brings out the worst of it. Help!
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FYI Told dh that if I have to give them away, he'd be getting rid of some of his crap. hee hee
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Well I dont know how much of a help this will be but, I had the same problem and when my hubby and I came to the conclusion that two kids was enough we gave everything away in September and I mean everything! I was so sad and emotional about the whole thing and kept crying, well in October I went in for an regular doctor appoinment and found out that I was preggers! Yup God has a wierd way of doing things!
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After my second daughter was born I gave away a signifigent amount of clothing, or sold it on ebay. I just thought we would be done for A LONG TIME. A month later, when she was 10 months old, I found out I was pregnant...... SO, I am just buying more.
I would probably do what you are doing... keep what is really special and donate or give away the rest.
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Keep what is special to you by all menas. I had a hard time going through my kids things too. I have so many memories still of who gave what, where it was worn to, how cute it all is. But, also noticed that for each child the clothes didn't look as great after sitting boxes in the attic (at least the baby baby ones- breastmilk stains just re-appeared even though they were not there when I stored them!) Everything that I could, I gave to friends/family that could use them. I figure it helps them out and if by chance we need them again, I'm sure we'll be given back more than we gave them. There is no guarante you'll have another boy, no telling how long it will be until/if you have another baby. ANd, you can get nice clothes relatively inexpensively if you need to in the future. If you need the money, then try taking them to a consignment shop. I know its hard- I cried, too, but its the memories that are important not all the boxes of clothes!
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We have a place in a nearby town that is for crisis pregnancies.They give doctor referrals, free pregnancy tests and counseling to those (married or single) who find themselves pregnant at the wrong time in life. They also loan out baby furniture, infant car seats, maternity clothing and baby clothing. You give it back to the center when you are finished with them so they can pass them onto other pregnant moms. They even give you diapers or formula in emergency situations, It's a wonderful program. I donated all my Maternity clothing to them and whatever baby clothing i no longer needed. Though i was not as emotionally attached to them as you seem to be, atleast i knew they were getting good use.
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You guys must think I'm a basket case. I guess part of the heartache of the clothes is cause before my dd was born, we went through 3 miscarriages. We were devastated, so when we had our dd and ds, I was planning to have my tubes tied, but doc advised against it, now I know why. I love babies, being pregnant, and everyhting (ok not the morning sickness) that goes w/ it. I don't feel I'm ready to close the book on it is what I'm saying (I'm only 26). I got at least 15 years of procreation left in me I figure.
I guess if we have another baby down the road, I got free reign to buy more baby clothes. Thanks girls for your help!
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i know exactly where you are coming from--only (stupid me) i bought SPACEBAGS to store my girls' stuff!! i guess i was a dedicated baby clothes collector. my drill sergeant sister (who is very organized) convinced me that i'd appreciate the space more than all the stuff i was storing in it and that any kid i have in the future deserved his/her own clothes and didn't want his/her sisters' out of style hand-me-downs anyway. so, i took pictures of many loved outfits and put them in a "brag book", packed away some really special outfits in ONE spacebag, and donated the rest to a nice girl who was young, single, and very pregnant with a girl!
good luck!
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Since you are not 100% convinced you are done I would save the essentials and get rid of most of it. 20 boxes is a lot! I know I bought too much the first time and only kept some of the clothes for the second baby. We are finished but I kept a few outfits and a blanket for each child and put them in a space bag for storage.
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I am stil having kids, but gave away my boys baby clothes recently. I kept a few that I couldn't part with, but went from 6 boxes to half a box. If/when I have another boy, I'll have a few old outfits, and will be able to shop for a few new ones too. There is someone out there who will benefit from the clothes you pass on, and you, in turn will benefit fom that.