Taking Inventory of Your Child's Clothes

I scrambled through the closets trying to find the right box. As I grabbed for the 3T box two others came crashing down. I was heading out the door to the second hand sale (as previously mentioned) and just wanted to double check what clothes my 2 year old was going to need in the Fall. Glad I checked. Not sure why, but there were only 2 long sleeve shirts in the box. Long sleeve shirts went on the list, I rummaged through a few more boxes and then left for the store.

While I was waiting in line to purchase my sale items I realized there had to be a better way to keep track of my children's clothing. I had them sorted out in sizes and in labeled boxes, but I didn't really know what was inside. A mental picture of the previous wearer at that age just wasn't cutting it, nor was digging for boxes. I wanted to know what was in the box without having to open it.

After I got home from the sale my husband headed to the library to study, I put the baby to bed and let my other kids watch a movie so I could get to work.

I pulled all the boxes of my children's clothes out of the closets and into the living room. I wanted to inventory all of my children's clothing, coats, and shoes to know exactly what and how many of each item we had.

For each gender and size (3-6 Month Girl, 3T Boy, 6 Girl etc . . .) I wrote down categories and how many items I had for each. These are the categories I used:

Onesies
Pajamas
Short Sleeve
Long Sleeve
Shorts
Jeans
Pants
Dresses
Sweaters
Coats
and other misc. items

You may also want to add underwear, socks, belts, swimsuits etc. . . to your list. Be sure to take inventory of what your kids are wearing that day, clothes that are in their room, clothes in the laundry hamper, coats hanging in the closet and shoes in the basket to get an accurate record.


I chose not to write down details like color or style. It would take more time and those details weren't important to me. I just wanted the item count.

Now for the shoes. Having 3 daughters who vary in size and girth I've come to realize that keeping shoes in the clothing boxes wasn't working. My girls haven't had the same size feet when they've worn a certain size of clothes. I've been muddling through multiple boxes to find what shoes fit. To solve that problem I've made a separate box for shoes, boy and girl, and written down a quick description.

Once I took note of all the kids clothes we own I typed up the inventory, printed it out, and taped it to the boxes. Now my boxes are clearly labeled, looking nice and neat. I have the document saved on my computer for quick reference and have also printed out a mini version to keep in my purse - perfect for taking along to the store.

It took some time and work but now I have a record of all the kids clothes and shoes we have.  No more excuses for over buying or getting the wrong size. The best part is no more shuffling through closets or boxes to find out what's inside! Time saved is time well spent.