Spring Cleaning: How to keep twin baby clothes organized

Tiny baby clothes are so cute.  All the little onesies, tiny pants, itty bitty socks- adorable.  You know what isn't so adorable?  How frustrating it can be to keep all those tiny clothes organized as your baby grows!  Two babies means almost twice the number of clothes, and special sets that are meant to be worn together.   We were very fortunate to get a lot of hand me downs and gifts from friends and family that keep the girls in style.  But I need to stay on top of it!  I find the first year to two years the hardest to keep organized.  I hate when I find an outfit that is super cute but too small because I forgot we had it!  So here is how I keep our twins clothes organized.

First off, so general tips.  These work for all babies, not just twins.  I do utilize them with my girls.

Gone box, right in the closet.

1) The gone box.  Right from the start, put a giveaway box or bag in the bottom of the closet or somewhere in your kids room.  If you find something that no longer fits, put it right in that box.  Have something that you just honestly don't think you will dress your child in?  It goes in the box.  If you aren't 100% sure, put it in there anyway.  You can always go back in a get the item if you change your mind.  Chances are you will forget about it, which means you didn't need it anyway.  This can be useful as kids get older too.  My son had a pair of pajamas he adored, but they really didn't fit anymore.  He didn't want to give them up, but we have a bag in his closet to put in clothes to give to his little cousin.  Knowing that he was giving his favorite pajamas to his little cousin made him happy to part with them.  You can also just grab the bag when it is full and send it off to wherever you like to donate.  Easy.

Too big box, handy to check.

2) Keep the next size nearby.  By this I mean if you have space keep another bin with the next size up in the child's room.  If the next size is stored away in an attic or basement you are less likely to remember to look through it.  Anyone else go out and buy something only to find out you already had what you needed tucked away for later?  I have sadly done this several times.  Being able to take a quick peek has let me save a lot of money from buying something we already have, and it helps me from missing the window to wear things saved for later.



3) Review your inventory.  Go through your too big bin on a regular basis.  What regular means is up to you.  I used to go through every season change.  It let me pull out the items we would need as it got warmer or colder.  I would also get rid of anything in the current closet that would be outgrown before the weather changed back.  Now that we have basically one season- hot and hotter- I have to be a bit more on top of things.  I set aside an evening every couple of months and sort through clothes.  No, it isn't the most exciting way to spend a night.  But again, it is better than missing items my kids could have worn or wasting money on something we already have.

These tips have helped me stay on top of my son's clothes, and now my daughters.  Twin clothes can be a little more work though.  I like to coordinate the girls' clothes.  They don't usually match exactly, but they usually go together pretty well.  This is part personal preference part a crazy fear that one baby will be seen as the favorite because she has the 'cuter' outfit.  (I know, Pat says I'm crazy but I can't help it.)  We have gotten some outfits that are obviously meant to be worn together.  Others I put together out of what we have.  Double the little girl clothes can take over any storage space you have.  Fortunately I have a system in place that makes it pretty easy to keep it contained and still let me find what I am looking for.

1) Stick to basics.  This can be hard, because as I said baby clothes are so cute.  The easiest way to coordinate outfits is to focus on tops with neutral bottoms.  This leggings, jeggings, black pants, that sort of thing.  It is easy to grab two bottoms and they go with almost all the tops.  I do have some pants and top outfits for the girls, but that tends to just be more pieces to keep track of.  This way I can have fewer bottoms, which saves money.

Bins are awesome! This is about 90% of the girls clothes.

2) Utilize bins instead of hanging in the closet.  Hanging up tiny clothes can be very annoying.  Even with little hangers they fall a lot.  I keep most of the girls' clothing in bins, folded sideways so I can see what I am working with.  I find bins can store more, are easier to organize, and easier to sort through.  I can quickly grab all the girls clothes out of their room and organize them while they sleep.  I use two big bins and one little one.  The big bins have long sleeve and long pants in one, with short sleeve and shorts in the other.  The little bin is for pajamas.  It works really well.  And yes, these two bins hold almost 90% of my girls clothes.  (The other 10% is things like coats, hoodies, and specialty outfits.)  You really don't need that much for them!  I have found it is easier to dress them and really enjoy their cute clothes if I keep quantity down.  Less money, less mess, and more enjoyment of my favorite clothes?  Wins all around.

3) Store specialty items in the closet.  The things that aren't used as much like holiday outfits, special pairs of dresses, jerseys if you are a sport family, are perfect for the closet.  These items can get lost or forgotten about.  Having them hanging in the closet gives you a visual reminder, and they aren't lost in the daily wear.  This is also a good place for gifts you don't love from people you do.  You can remember it is there, get a picture when it fits, and not have to make excuses.

Every shirt is paired up.
One set, two girls dressed.

4) Store clothes in outfit pairs.  When I get new clothes for the girls, I immediately pair them up how I want the girls to wear them.  They stay together from that point out.  This way when I have to get the girls dressed in the morning I only have to choose one set, not two outfits.  It sounds little, but it saves a lot of time and decision making.





So you have your kids clothes' stored.  What do you do when you want to sort through them without a lot of hassle?  Every couple of months I go through the girls' current and next size up clothes, along with Ben's next size up clothes.  (Now that he is three he isn't growing quite as fast, so it's easier to keep with as we dress him every day.)  They are all in bins, which makes it easy to pull them into the living room.  I love my kids, but it is so much easier to do this sort of thing without their help.  One thing to remember to do is grab something of each child that currently fits well. I use that as my size check if I am unsure about an item.  I just use whatever the child wore that day.



I make this process as fun as I can. I make sure we are watching a show I enjoy, and I have something tasty to drink or eat.  Start with the current clothes.  Look at each item and ask yourself if you want your baby to keep wearing it.  Maybe it doesn't work with the current weather.  Maybe you just don't like it as much as you thought you did.  Be ruthless.  If you haven't dressed your child in it since the last clean out, you probably don't need it.  If you aren't sure about a size you have your known fit item right there to compare it to.  If it is too small, get rid of it.
Once I have gone through the current clothes I go through the next size up bin.  For twins that means making sure I have outfits I want to go together matched.  Not every twin mom cares about this, but it matters to me.  This is another times to be ruthless.  If you can't picture your kids wearing something, get rid of it!  This can be hard, especially with hand me downs.  But if you honestly don't think you will dress your child in something don't keep it cluttering up your child's clothes.

If you are like me, you might have a hard time getting rid of these sweet baby clothes.  This is where the husband comes in.  His job is to remind me that I am not throwing away pieces of my babies' childhoods by getting rid of old clothes.  It sounds silly, but sometimes I need the back up to remember they are just clothes.  Sure, I save a couple of things.  I have all the outfits my babies have worn home from the hospital.  But there will always be another favorite outfit, and there will always be more cute clothes.  If you need help staying strong- that's okay!  It also helps to think of more sweet babies making memories in these tiny clothes.  Someone will be happy to get what you no longer need.

This seems like a lot.  Fortunately after the first year and a half keeping up with your kids clothes gets easier.  They stop growing as fast, and they start to develop preferences.  As annoying as it can be that they no longer just wear whatever I want, it is one less decision I have to make when they pick out their own clothes.  I like to pick my battles, and usually it isn't worth arguing over clothing.  I love using the bin system, and as your children age and stop going through an entire wardrobe every three months it gets easier to use the traditional hang up method.  Then the bins can be freed up for other storage!

This is all kind of a lot for clothing for tiny humans.  I just hate when I either spend money on something we already have, or forgetting to dress my babies in something because it is saved for later.  It is only for a short time though.  Once kids stop growing quite as fast it is much easier to keep up with their clothes.

What suggestions do you have for organizing baby clothes?  Comment and let me know what works for you!

-Kim

And if you need some cute twin outfits to pair up, check out my review of My Twins Are Cuter!  Super cute clothes for twins and twin moms, and a promo code for 20% off your first purchase!  You can also head to My Twins Are Cuter to see all the designs yourself!

Wonder Weeks Without the Stress

I remember discovering The Wonder Weeks (aff) when Ben was a baby.  I was of course googling everything I could on how to raise a baby- how to get them to sleep, how to form a schedule, what to do with them while they were awake.  Specifically I was curious how babies learn and perceive the world around them.  I, like most people with babies, found this sort of development fascinating and wanted to use this information to help my baby.  I was at first thrilled to find a reference that outlined specific leaps my baby would make and told me what they were experiencing.  I read a bit more and found graphics which visually showed me what to expect from my child. The thing is- there were a a lot of 'stormy periods' on these charts.  Like a whole lot.  Like my child's first year of life was going to be one long fuss fest. I was not excited about that.

Let's back up a moment.  What are the Wonder Weeks?  Simply stated these are times in your baby's life in which they are making huge strides in mental development.  Dr. Plooij developed the book.  He began his career studying chimpanzee mothers and babies.  After spending time cataloging behavior he found that the babies tended to follow a similar pattern of development, marked by sudden clingy behavior- regression- and then more independence- development.  Later Dr. Plooij started looking at these patterns in human mothers and babies.  He found a pattern of ten distinct times mental leaps were made.  He was able to use his data to find a timeline that many babies follow in this development, which became the wonder weeks. (reference)

Back to my experience with them.  I started following the weeks and saw when my son was supposed to be fussy.  Sure enough, if I saw that he was supposed to be cranky I saw all sorts of cranky behavior.  Then there were times when I looked at the chart and saw that he was supposed to be happy and he still had fussy times.  This was very depressing to me.  If he was crying during a 'sunny period' how bad would it get during the stormy periods?  At one point I stopped looking at the weeks as obsessively and noticed a drop in fussy behavior.  After a particularly sunny time I looked at the charts again and saw my son had supposedly just gone through a very rough period.  This was not what I observed.  I started to wonder if I was putting my own bias onto the wonder weeks- seeing behavior because I thought I was supposed to.

I found using the weeks added more stress to my life.  When I thought there would be fussy behaviors I saw fussy behaviors.  When I didn't focus on these behaviors I found them to be less noticeable and easier to handle.  So I stopped looking at the weeks.  If I was going through a particularly trying period with Ben I would glance at the leaps.  If they lined up it offered me the type of 'you're not crazy' reassurances I was needing. 

These discrepancies got me thinking.  Why do some babies follow the Wonder Weeks perfectly and others seem not to?  Why do some mothers notice it aligns better with the baby's birth date, not due date as the book suggests?  Does this mean the wonder weeks aren't legit?  Not necessarily.  I looked in to how this data was gathered.  Dr. Plooij used, at least at the start, self reported results from a group of mothers with young babies.  This is fine, but there are some inherit biases in self reported data.  People can over exaggerate what they see, or they can minimize effects.  This makes sense- we as humans report events tinged with what we feel about them.  So not every baby will got through the same experiences to the same degree.  As with any research of this sort, it is taking observations from a relatively small group, the ones Dr. Plooij observed, and applying it to a relatively large group, babies everywhere.  That means you are more likely to find outliers.  You can think about it this way.  If you were to observe a group of people you might find that they wake up and eat breakfast right away.  It can be safe to assume most people behave that way.  But as the group observed gets bigger, you might see people who work out before breakfast, or people who eat breakfast at work, or even people who skip breakfast all together.  Your original prediction for an unknown person that they will wake up and eat breakfast isn't wrong.  But as you look at more and more people, you will find more variations in the behavior.  Translated to the Wonder Weeks, this means it is a reasonable assumption that most babies will follow this pattern of behaviors, but it does not mean every baby will act the same way.  Some babies will hit leaps hard and display the typical behavior the book outlines.  Others will skate on through without you even knowing something changed.  Neither is a wrong way to grow or develop.  We have to remember that babies aren't robots.  They are all different.  Even identical twins might not exhibit the same reactions to their growing awareness of the world.

I think a big part of how children learn and grow is also how we as parents handle the behaviors displayed.  I know some mothers swear by the weeks.  They line up perfectly and their babies react in a textbook manner to them.  The weeks give them a sense of understanding and control enabling them to show patience and grace when dealing with their children.  That is great.  If these weeks work for you, I think that is wonderful.  But if you are like me and find them to add more stress to your life, I think you can safely put the information aside. Don't get me wrong, knowing the why behind how our children act can be so important.   Anything that helps us get through the tough early years of motherhood is beneficial.  But if you are like me and it created a sense of dread, then it isn't helpful.  I don't like that implication that I get from reading some websites that ignoring these weeks will somehow harm your child's development.  This book first came out in 1992.  Babies have been making mental developments long before then and before this book became mainstream.  You aren't going to limit your child's mental growth if you do not do specific exercises with them at just the right times.  You also aren't being a bad mom if you either aren't aware of the weeks or opt to not follow them closely.

The key takeaway I got is that these developments can understandably rock our children's worlds.  It makes sense that babies might get clingy, confused, or upset as they learn new things.  I find being told my baby will be fussy and clingy for long periods of time unhelpful.  But, as I said, if I am at a loss I will double check to see if a leap is going on.  This lets me know it isn't anything I am doing wrong as a parent, it is the developments my children are making.  Babies will make the leaps regardless of whether we know about them or not.  We should aim to be understanding and patient with our babies needs regardless of whether they are making a leap or not.  If this information is helpful for you- use it.  If, like me, it causes you more stress- ignore it.  You aren't hurting your kids by not stressing the leaps yourself.

You can check out the Wonder Weeks site for yourself to best decide if and how you want to use this information.

I have also put together a little no-stress cheat sheet.  It has the approximate timing of the leaps and the general development that is taking place.  What it doesn't have is if your child should be fussy or for how long cranky behaviors might last.  This is just meant as a quick guide to tuck into your notes to pull out when your child is acting out of sorts and you have gone through all your other reasoning for the behavior.  You can pull it out, see if it is a wonder week, and know that everything is developing as normal.  Or you can just keep an eye on what your child is experiencing without the details on potential fussy times.





-Kim

Hydration in babies, toddlers, and kids

The weather reports for a lot of the country are still, well, confusing.  It is still very winter in most places.  (Sigh, I almost miss that.  Almost.) Around here it is already hot.  Seriously, it is getting up to ninety degrees.  We aren't even in summer yet.  Most areas of the country will have some level of summer eventually.  Either you are experiencing warm weather already or dreaming of summer fun.  That means we need to worry about our our little ones getting enough water.  But how much water do babies and kids need?  How do I get them to drink it?  What should I do to keep us hydrated in hot weather?  Here are some guidelines to help out.

Hydration Guidelines for Babies
Let's start with the babies.  Newborns really shouldn't be offered water.  They are getting all the hydration they need from nursing or formula feedings.  If it is very hot and you can tell you need to drink more water you should offer up more nursing sessions to your babies.  Yes, this can be frustrating if you are scheduling feedings.  But really that young you are probably feeding them frequently anyway.  Formula fed babies might need additional feedings as well.  Up until two months of age babies really shouldn't have water.  They can fill up on that and miss important nutrients from feedings.  Water intoxication is very serious in babies.  Most babies this young have a lot of risks from being out in extreme heat, so if you are in this situation you are probably keeping to air conditioned environments as much as possible.  If you are stranded somewhere and nursing, offer up some breast milk to your baby.  If you are formula feeding try to keep some water and formula in the car.  Offer it to your baby even if it is off schedule.  Formula and breast milk are the safest options.

Starting at about four months babies can have some sips of water, but try to keep it to a minimum.  Really they only need about 2-4 ounces a day.  After six months of age they can have a bit more.  It is a good idea to introduce water at this young age though.  It helps them get used to it and enjoy it as the healthiest beverage.  If you are doing baby led weaning with your baby they will need to have a little extra water to avoid constipation.  A general rule of thumb is about as many ounces per day as months old the child is.  That means a seven month old should have about seven ounces of water, an eight month old eight ounces, etc.

Once babies are a year they can have water when thirsty.  Babies don't always let us know they are thirsty, so I follow the rule if I am thirsty, they probably are too.  I offer them drinks when I get one.

Hydration in young children
Children aged one through three need about 44 ounces of water, or about five and half cups.  Keep in mind they can also be getting some of the water from foods (about 20% of it).  After age four they need more.  There are of course variables to this.  Height, weight, activity level, etc. all come into play.  Basically that means this isn't a hard and fast number you have to stick by.  If you are out in the heat and sweating a lot you probably need more.

After age one a good idea is to keep water out for kids to grab when they feel thirsty.  Offer it up at meals.  And again, if you are hot and thirsty grab your little ones a drink too.

Getting kids to drink
Some kids are really into drinking water, while others need to be encouraged a bit.  There are few ways you can help your kids to drink water.
1) Have it handy.  If it is available kids are more likely to grab for it.  This means have some sippy cups of water in reach for your kids.  Water doesn't stain, so we allow water in any room of our house.  If that is too messy or just not what you want to do, try offering it up every hour or so.
2) Introduce the sippy cup at a young age. Once you are starting solids give your kid a sippy cup of water.  At first they will just play with it.  They will get the hang of it making it easier to get them to drink later.
3) Give them a cold one.  Ever since we moved my son asks for the cold water.  We invested (invested like twenty dollars, not that much) in a filtered pitcher.  It has been so worth any money spent.  We have good tasting, cold water that my kids love.
4) Try a splash of juice.  I use this trick to get my kids to start to drink from a sippy cup.  Water is good, but doesn't have a flavor.  A little juice gives a touch of flavor that entices your child to drink more.  Once they are drinking consistently I lower the amount of juice until it is just water.
5) Make flavored water yourself.  I sometimes add a couple lemon slices and cucumber slices to a pitcher of water to keep in the fridge.  There is a reason spas do this- it is so good! There are lots of combinations you can try, or just use whatever is in your fridge.  Check out my Pinterest board for some inspiration!
6) Freeze fruit in ice cubes.  It's fun for kids to look at and fun to drink.  As a fun activity your child could help you make the cubes too!

What to do when it is HOT
Sometimes you just have to get out when it is hot out.  It is important to make sure you keep your kids hydrated on the go.
1) Grab water when you walk out the door.  If you get into the habit of grabbing a bottle every time you go it will really help.  Like most things with kids, plan ahead on this one.  When you get home, wash out and refill your bottle so it is ready to grab next time you go out.
2) Keep water in the car.  We live in a HOT climate now.  We keep a small case of water in the trunk at all times. Yes, it might be warm and not taste super awesome, but it is better than nothing if we get stranded somewhere.
3) 'When your water is halfway gone, your hike is halfway done.'  I laugh when I read this at our local hiking trail.  It seems silly to have to say this, but it is so true!  If you are running out of water it is time to go.  It is not worth toughing anything out with your little ones.
4) Offer water when you get home.  Anytime we get home from being out I give my kids a drink of water.  We might have just been at the library, but it is still hot out.  Even if we took water with us when we were out- we get home, everyone gets a drink.
5) Offer your kids a drink whenever you take one when you are out.  Kids don't always know they are thirsty.  They might not have the words to tell you, or they might just be too busy playing to realize it.  A good rule is to always offer up drinks to the whole family when you take a sip.
6) Get a squirt top sport bottle for babies.  This might sound silly, but it really works for me.  I have a squirt top bottle that is pretty big.  My kids can all suck the water out of it.  The bonus is when you squeeze it water comes out of course.  With my girls I can basically squirt some water into them. (Not hard or meanly, just enough to get it going.) This entices them to drink more.
7) Let your kids pick their water bottle.  If bringing water or drinking when you are out is an issue you can try to let your kid pick out the bottle they want to use.  I don't like having to spend extra money, but chances are this will pay for itself in time.
8) Try popsicles.  They cool you off and have a good water content.  They are a fun way to cool off after outside activities.  You can get molds at most dollar stores to make your own if you would like.

Signs of dehydration
Alright, you have your plans in place to get enough water into your family.  But kids don't know when they are dehydrated.  What signs should you look for?
In Babies
1) Sleepiness
2) Irritability
3) Dry mouth, no tears
4) Soft spot appears sunken
5) Decrease in wet diapers (think less than six wet diapers in a 24 hour period, or going two to three hours without a wet diaper consistently)
In Children
1) Sleepiness
2) Irritability
3) Dry mouth, no tears
4) Lethargic
5) Dark yellow urine and going more than six hours without urinating
6) Complaints of headaches or dizziness

These are just some of the signs.  If you are worried your child is dehydrated offer them some water and call your doctor.  They will tell you what to do.  If you think it is serious, or if it is a young baby you might want to head to the ER.  It sounds like a trivial thing.  Oh, I'm just a bit dehydrated. But when it comes to kids and babies dehydration can be very serious.  Never feel bad for staying on the safe side and getting checked out.

Dehydration is no joke.  At worst it can have some serious health implications.  At best it can still be a real downer when your little ones are fussy.  Either way, I don't like to mess with it.  If you plan ahead and have good water drinking practices you will be in great shape to keep active and having fun, even in warmer weather.

-Kim

Want to learn more?  Here are some resources to check out!
Kelly Mom- Offering Water to Breastfed Babies
CNN.com- How much water do babies need to drink?
EatRight.org- Water: How much do kids needs?
EasyBabyLife.com- Spending time with baby in hot weather
Babycenter.com- Dehydration in children
Babycenter.com- How much water should my toddler drink?
EMedicineHealth.com- Dehydration in children
Mayoclinic.org- Dehydration
HealthyChildren.org- Signs of Dehydration in Infants and Children

These aren't the only resources or tips.  Have something to add?  Please let me know!  Knowledge is power after all. :)

Boxes. The answer is always boxes

Alright, up north the weather is going crazy.  First it's warm, then it's snowy again.  Around March you start to get a little antsy with all the indoor time.  I am used to that battle.  I can't really complain about the weather, but we haven't been getting out of the house as much here either.  The girls are super into crawling and cruising, but not yet walking.  They also still like to put most things in their mouth.  When we are out they need to stay in the stroller and that is starting to drive these busy ladies crazy.  Ben needs to move move move, so we needed to find a way to make all three kids happy.

How do you keep kids of all ages happy and busy while inside with minimal effort?  Boxes.  The answer is always boxes.  We happened to get a couple of big ones recently.  They live in our room for now, and every time we bring them out it is a bit hit.  

Right away Ali and Sammy were giggling and crawling up to see the fort Pat set up.  They were seriously beaming they were so excited to crawl on in.  

No invitation needed- these two crawling right in!

Ben loves boxes of all sizes.

So happy!!

It's a fort, it's a spaceship, it's a boat.  Seriously, a great toy for imaginative play. 

Days later, still loving the boxes.

One happy lady. 

Ben made all sorts of arrangements with the boxes.  We had towers, forts, and castles.  One box was a spaceship then later a boat.  The girls got exiled to jail while Ben was a cowboy.  Fortunately Ali and Sammy were so happy to be in a box they didn't mind serving their time.

When Daddy was home you can bet he got recruited to play box too.

Pat had to hold the girls back to let Ben build.  He had plans!

Peek a boo!

Escape!  Ben found a place to get away from it all.  Well, mainly away from little sisters. ;)

These girls felt like big kids playing like big brother.

So much love in one box!

 And yes, the boxes got some use even after the kids went to bed.

Happy kitty in her box.

It is crazy that the simplest things can make kids the happiest.  We will keep pulling these boxes out every few weeks until they are destroyed.  It is the best way to spend an afternoon or evening. I love seeing Ben use his imagination, and it warms my heart to see him include his little sisters in the fun.  They of course adore that big brother is playing with them.

Seriously, when you get into a rut, when you can't get outside, when you just want an easy fun thing to do.  Boxes.  Always boxes.


-Kim