During my pregnancy, I received a lot of advice about everything under the sun from taking care of the baby to keeping my sanity. Some of the best tips I received were related to the latter, including how a little forethought with organization can go a long way.
One particularly organized friend gave me this tip, and I already know I’ll be eternally grateful.
To reduce clutter and keep your wits about you, buy storage containers for items baby will outgrow… now.
Knowing we plan to have a second baby, we planned to keep as much of baby’s stuff as reasonable, but it didn’t really occur to me to have bins ready to go before baby even arrived.
Here’s the dose of the reality my friend gave me.
I’m going to be so tired that there are going to be times it’s just easier to throw baby’s stuff in a pile and call it good. But it’s also incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff that baby requires. Why keep items around, taking up valuable visual space (and let’s be honest, mental space) when they can be easily stored away?
Additionally, save time and sanity by eliminating clothing items or toys from view that no longer fit baby so when family and friends come to lend a hand, there’s doesn’t need to be a discussion about if something still fits or is okay. If it’s available in the drawer, it fits.
So simple but so genius.
Even better, the overhead for this miraculous sanity-saving organizational tip is so low! Just get four bins and you’re off to the races.
I got my Sterilite Latching bins at Home Depot, but you can get similar bins from any department store, Amazon, or even your local dollar store.
Of course, I used my Cricut to cut out cute vinyl labels for each bin (using leftover vinyl from our wedding too!) I opted to create storage for the first year so the labels are:
- 0-3 Months
- 3-6 Months
- 6-9 Months
- 9-12 Months
All ready to go! The bins live in the nursery closet for easy access.
In addition to clothes, we plan to store toys and linens that baby outgrows in the same bins.
What happens if the bins get full? Then they get full and I’ll have to start making decisions about what to keep. Let’s be honest. The next time around, we’re going to buy new stuff anyway, so the idea is to keep the basics – not everything.
Here’s hoping this saves us even a little bit of sanity!
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