If you are in the stage of life where you have babies or toddlers in your home, then you know firsthand just how difficult it can be to keep clutter at bay with all of the additional stuff that early parenthood has brought into your home.
I’m writing this post because I got tired of reading other blog posts and books about simplifying with kids, and realizing that none of it applied to me because we have a 19-month-old and plan to have at least one more baby. I am in what I would call the hoarding stage of parenting, where you’re constantly bringing new stuff into your home for your growing child, yet keeping everything they have already grown out of so that your next baby can use it too.
So Mamas, you are not alone if you feel like all of those other decluttering tips and tricks out there just plain old don’t apply to you in this current season of your life.
Between the baby gear, clothing in various sizes, bottles, and toys galore just to mention a few…..it is overwhelming trying to figure out what the heck to do with all of these newly acquired possessions.
I’m not about to tell you to forgo purchasing a baby swing entirely, or that your toddler only needs 5 toys to stay entertained. Oh no friends, because then I would be a serious hypocrite.
I tried to go the minimalist route with baby gear when I was pregnant with Little Miss two years ago. I told myself that a baby swing wasn’t necessary and asked, do we really need a bouncer too? What about that expensive stroller with the attachments for the infant car seat?
And you know what….I would now say that for me personally, it was all necessary. Yes, you read that right.
Me, the blogger who talks about simplifying and downsizing and striving to be as minimalist as possible is telling you that the ridiculous amount of baby gear we had was a god send. Life with babies and toddlers can be tough, really tough. And if having a swing and a bouncer and a sweet stroller that you love to use to get some fresh air with your little cherub makes life easier for you, then by all means allow yourself to purchase it guilt free!
While my little back story has nothing to do with how to keep your home clutter-free with young kids, I just wanted you to know the place I come from when I share these tips. I am not a perfect minimalist parent that forgoes modern conveniences just so I can say I simplified. Oh heck no! If I know that a certain product is going to get used a lot and make my life easier as a parent, I’m all about it.
That being said, there are plenty of other ways to still keep your home clutter-free with young kids running around. And you don’t have to go to crazy lengths to make it happen! I find that beyond items that make my life a whole lot easier, I really do enjoy keeping our possessions as simplified as possible for the sole reason that having too much stuff completely overwhelms me.
And if I can personally implement these rules into my own home, then it’s truly possible for you to do it too!
How to keep your home clutter-free with kids:
1. Don’t be afraid to return or exchange gifts
Yes, I said it 😉 . While gifts from well-meaning friends and family are always greatly appreciated, I refuse to keep items in my home that are either A. things that closely resemble toys or items we already own or B. things that I know Little Miss isn’t going to play with or get use out of.
For instance, we’ve received a few gifts for her that are things she won’t be able to use until she’s probably 5 or 6. We likely won’t even be in our current home at that point, and I refuse to store, pack, move, and unpack an item that she’s not even going to be able to use for another 4+ years. Not to mention, there’s a good possibility I would just forget about it entirely until 10 years from now and then we wouldn’t get any use out of it. What a waste that would be! I do receive some great gifts like my home security camera easy install, I use it all the time and I definitely won’t be returning it or throwing it in the garbage!
We so appreciate the thought that went into these gifts and the gesture of love behind them, but that doesn’t mean that I need to keep items in my house that I know won’t get used. Some people might say the best etiquette is to keep gifts like this and then just pull them out when the gift giver comes to visit, but I honestly don’t have the time or patience for that. It’s doing such a disservice to those items, and clutters up our house in the process too. Instead, I try to return or exchange certain gifts for store credit that we can later us to purchase clothing or other items as she needs them.
Related: Decluttering Tips to Simplify Your Home
2. Show your children that experiences in life are more valuable than things
Even at 19-months-old, I know that Little Miss values fun experiences more than toys or any other gifts she receives. While certain toys capture her attention for a few minutes, she especially loves to get out of the house and be out and about doing new things!
One of our favorite gifts ever has been a family membership to our local children’s museum that my brother gifted us for Christmas last year. We have been able to create so many great memories together by going there, and know that even if it hadn’t been gifted to us, investing in family memberships and other activities to do together is so important to us.
Already from a young age, we are trying to instill in our daughter that experiences are always more valuable than things. We may never spoil her rotten with new toys and designer clothes every week, but by not doing that, we are creating an opportunity to be able to more easily afford taking family vacations and doing other fun activities together.
My parents had this same approach to raising my brother and I, and is something that I will always appreciate. While we were fortunate to have a beautiful home and nice things growing up, my parents taught us that happiness was not to be found in those possessions. The real joy in life is creating memories together and experiencing new places and having fun! 🙂
Related: 11 Reasons to Own Less Stuff
3. Limit toy buying to only the holidays
Although this may sound cruel or not very fun to some, this is another lesson that I learned from my parents, and is something we are implementing with our own kids too.
Growing up, I very rarely received toys from my parents unless it was Christmas. While there were definitely occasions that they did purchase items for us for no particular reason, it certainly wasn’t something that we expected. And by not expecting these things, I feel like I appreciated it so much more when I did receive them.
Something that my parents often did to make us feel special instead of just buying toys for us was to take us on special “dates” where it would be just me and my Mom or me and my Dad, and we’d have an afternoon of doing whatever I wanted to do. I can’t tell you more than 5 or so toys I had growing up, but that quality time with my parents is something I’ll never forget!
Just remember that although kids may have fun with a toy given to them today, that’s likely not going to be something they cherish and remember long after their childhood is over. But quality time with you is something that will create an everlasting impression.
4. Regularly donate or store clothes and toys
As soon as your youngest outgrows certain toys or they stop challenging them, don’t be afraid to store them for the next baby or donate them to someone else. The same goes for clothes that no longer fit.
Even if these outgrown toys and clothes still remain in your house waiting for the next baby that’s going to use them, it can really help to get them out of your main living areas and into a basement or storage room instead. I’ve found these large clear storage bins to be awesome when it comes to storing clothes and toys that Little Miss has outgrown. They stack nicely and are sealed pretty tightly so I don’t have to worry about spiders or other bugs crawling inside, but are also pretty lightweight so I can easily carry them even when full without the help of my hubby.
Another little tip for when your babe outgrows clothes – keep one of these small fabric bins in the top of their closet so you can just throw each item of clothing in as they outgrow it, and then either donate or add it all to storage once the bin gets full. This way you don’t have crazy amounts of outgrown clothes still hanging around their room and forgetting what fits and what doesn’t.
Related: Keep or Toss? 12 Questions to Help You Declutter
5. Don’t allow closets to become a dumping ground
Let’s face it, our bedroom closets typically aren’t seen by anyone but us, so it can be really easy to let the crap pile up in them until it reaches an unmanageable level.
The problem with that is that clutter usually attracts more clutter. So if we already have a closet filled to the brink with stuff, we are more likely to just keep piling it in. I’d found that trying to keep Little Miss’s closet “show ready” as if guests are going to see it, actually really helps me keep clutter to a minimum. She doesn’t have the largest closet in the world, but we are still able to store most of her toys in fabric bins in this shelving unit that lives in her closet, as well as all of her clothes and other items that aren’t stored in her small dresser.
Minimizing the amount of space that we have for her clothes has already really helped me to only buy what she actually needs for each season, instead of overspending and buying clothes that she’ll never even get to wear. By respecting her closet space and wanting to keep it as clean as possible, it’s been an easy way for me to limit the amount of toys and clothes that come into our home. Simply because if they don’t fit, they don’t stay!
Related: 5 Reasons to Downsize Before Having Kids
6. Keep toys on rotation
This is my new favorite strategy that I’ve been doing for a few months now. I put toys on rotation in our house so that every 2-3 days, Little Miss gets a whole “new” batch of toys to play with.
I simply sorted various types of her toys into each of the fabric bins that we store in her closet organizer, and pull out one bin every few days that then stays out so she can play with just those toys. Not only is she more engaged with the toys that are out because she’s not as overwhelmed by too many choices, but it’s like Christmas morning for her whenever we switch the bins out and she gets to play with toys that she hasn’t seen in a week or so.
It keeps her playing independently longer, and also really helps to keep the toy chaos in our house under control. Even if all of the toys in the bin are strewn around the house, it really only takes me a few minutes to pick them up at the end of the day. Much more manageable than before when there were dozens of toys everywhere and I’d have to spend way too long figuring out which pieces went with each toy. Now it’s so much easier!
7. Set physical parameters for what toys they actually get to keep
Another one of my new favorite strategies for keeping the toy clutter at bay in our house! For some reason, I’ve found that stuffed animals in particular seem to be a go-to choice that others have gifted Little Miss. While they are cute and she loves cuddling with them, we really don’t need 40-50 stuffed critters taking up residence in our home. Maybe I just have a personal vendetta against stuffed animals, but it drives me crazy to see them everywhere!
My solution for allowing her to keep some of her stuffed animal friends while still maintaining my sanity has been to have one designated fabric bin (I’m seriously obsessed with these) that her stuffed animals can live in. If she gets a new stuffed animal and it won’t fit into the bin, then an older stuffed animal needs to get donated.
Having this set physical limitation of how many stuffed animals we are allowed to have has worked so well for us, and is something that I’ll likely continue to use with other toys too as she grows and is old enough to decide for herself what stays and what goes. I like to think that allocating a set amount of storage space for toys will help both her and I compromise on what’s a fair limit to keep in the future.
Keeping the clutter in your home at bay with young kids is certainly no easy feat, but I hope that some of these tips help you to simplify the process a bit and allow you to figure out a strategy that works for you and your family 🙂
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AMEN to this post!!! Loved all of your tips!! Keeping toys in rotation is something I accidentally stumbled upon but recommend to everyone with little ones. I basically was “cleaning” and put a bunch of random toys in bags and put those bags high up in the closet to help control the mess. This was months ago, and over the weekend the girls wanted the bags down so of course I obliged. Kept them busy for over an hour!!!
And we are on the same page with baby gear – some stuff (or, um, all of it) is just necessary!!! As far as toys, we try to only buy for birthdays and Christmas. They get smaller things throughout the year but nothing major.
Seriously loved this post. Fantastic ideas all around!! Thanks girl!
That is awesome Sarah!! Haha agreed, I don’t think everyone necessarily needs everything when it comes to baby gear, but it was all so necessary for us!!
I love this, Christina. I feel kind of conflicted whenever I enter a home where there are kids, and there are toys absolutely everywhere. I really appreciate the idea that kids can still thrive on fewer things– just as we’re choosing to as adults. And it’s a great habit to instill!
Thanks Daisy! Haha I would still say there are toys absolutely everywhere during the day in our home, which took me awhile to get used to. (Toddlers are destruction city!! lol) But definitely not to the same extent as they would be if I wasn’t intentional about trying to keep the sheer amount minimized. We have definitely noticed that Little Miss seems to be happier and more engaged with her toys when there is less for her to choose from, so it seems to benefit us all by keeping a limit on the amount out at one time for sure! 🙂
I loved this! Especially the part where you said you are in the “hoarding stage of parenting.” Oh, how I can relate! We have a 4 year old and 9 month old, both boys. Therefore, we are keeping everything to pass down to our second. We also plan to have at least one more, so we we are continuing to store baby stuff as our younger son grow out of it! It can very quickly turn into a mad house!
I think that minimalism looks different to each person. There is no “one-size fits all” guide. You just have to make it work for you.
Thanks for sharing! I loved it as always!
Oh absolutely Kaitlin! I completely agree that there are various definitions of minimalism, and you don’t necessarily have to live in a 200 square foot tiny home by yourself to still be able to simplify your life a bit 🙂 Thanks so much!
The toys on rotation is something I had never heard of before you mentioned it but it makes so much sense! And I’m already obsessed with those fabric bins in my house and I don’t have piles of toys yet haha
Haha Alex, they really are the best! Sturdy as heck too!
If you buy the fabric bins in different colors you can assign one type of toy to each color. Little Miss will quickly learn which toys go to which bins so will be able to select then store things on her own early on. Especially if you turn that storage shelf on its side so she can reach all the cubbies.
That’s a great idea with the different colors Linda! And too funny you mention it, but we are eventually planning on turning the storage self on it’s side in 6 months to a year when she’s old enough to clean up after herself a bit more. Then she’ll always have access to all of the cubbies and we’ll teach her how to clean up after she uses everything. Right now she’s still in total toddler destruction mode and it would leave us with every single toy we own strewn across our house, hah!! I like your thinking though! 🙂
In the meantime you can start now teaching her that picking up toys is fun. Pick up a toy and put it in the bin and smile at her. Pick up another toy and put it in the bin and smile. Pickup a toy and hand it to her; if she puts it in the bin smile and clap your hands. Repeat, alternating you and her, until she puts most of the toys you hand her in the bin. Eventually, she will pick up a toy and put it in the bin without your help. Get really excited when she does that.
Absolutely Linda! We do encourage her to pick up her own toys that way, but then she thinks it’s fun to immediately dump them all out afterwards. Hah! And I will be so excited when she’s picking up toys without our help!
Keeping toys on rotation (and only buying them for holidays) has been key in helping us keep the kid clutter down.
Great tips, Christina!
Glad you agree with those strategies Kara! They really do make life a little bit easier around here!
I LOOVE this post! Many of these tips can apply to big kids too… I mean husbands. Haha!
It’s funny that you mentioned a lot of those items ended up being necessary. As I prepare for the arrival of my first child I’ve been in minimalist mode convincing myself that I don’t need many of the items at Babies R Us, etc. Meanwhile my husband has been team “lets get everything cause it could help us”. I must admit I’m a little bummed that your post proves him right.
It doesn’t have to be necessary for you just because it was for Christina. If you want to try to go without go for it and then if you find you need something send your husband off to the store to pick it up when that time comes.
Aw Terri! I didn’t mean to discourage anyone who is planning to go the minimalist route with baby gear. That is seriously awesome that you are trying to keep things simple! I actually know quite a few parents who never ended up needing things like swings or bouncer seats, but those are just what worked for me because I had a very high maintenance baby. I completely agree with what Amy said above, stick with your plan to keep the gear simple for now and then you can always have your hubby go to the store to pick up anything you might want later. Or do what I did and order anything extra you need in those first few weeks via Amazon Prime and have it shipped to your door within 2 days, hah! 🙂 Definitely just buy things as you need them after baby arrives!
Ah the stuffed toys drive me bonkers too. Great tips, thank you!
Haha glad I’m not alone Carla! They are cute, but we don’t need 50 of them. lol!
Great tips for those with little ones! Toys were crazy with my oldest when he was little. Friends and family bought him toys a lot randomly. At one point he had 87 stuffed animals. I felt so guilty giving presents away, I eventually got over that!
Once my oldest was 4 I started reminding him to do a solo nightly clean up. Any toys that he left out would be put into a box that he couldn’t find. He got the toys back as Christmas and his Birthday with a note from the toy saying how much it missed him and they hoped he’d take better care of them next time. Sometimes I’d give him one back as a reward for good behavior. He started taking much better care of his toys when I started the nightly clean up.
Over the years it has evolved. Now there’s a rule once it’s been in the box 3 times it’s gone forever. Our 4 and 6 year old are great at picking up their toys. I think it helps that they only have a banker’s box full between the two of them. Our oldest is almost 16 now and no longer has toys to pick up.
Amy, that is a GENIUS idea with the toy box to encourage kids to take care of their toys and clean up after themselves. I love that idea and am totally using it in the future for my kids. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Fabric bins! Lol! They are all over my house. 1 – they store things 2 – they look pretty doing it!
Definitely always good to be reminded that experiences are more important than things! Hubby and I were talking about taking Sue to Walt Disney World before she turns two in June! (Kids under 2 are free).
She may not be able to go on the rides, but she will love the princesses and the characters. And John and I will be in Heaven (we met and fell in love when we worked at Disney).
Heck yes Suzi!! Our next big family vacation we are planning is Disney in hopefully 1.5-2 years from now. My husband and I are so excited!! That is so sweet that you and John met working there, what a love story!! 🙂
The key to staying organized at my house is getting rid of stuff regularly. When my kids are done playing with something, it’s gone! No need to keep a bunch of stuff around.
Agreed Holly! I’m looking forward to getting to that point when we know we are done having kids and can start to donate/toss things as the youngest goes through each stage. How refreshing that will be! 🙂
Great advice! Funny story – just this weekend, the kids found some toys in a box in my car that were headed for Goodwill (the box has been there for quite a while). They had so much fun with those stupid toys. Goes to show just how right you are about rotating the toys.
One of my issues is with hand-me-down clothing. I have a neighbor who gives me tons of stuff. The problem is that there is a lot of it that we won’t use. I feel guilty getting rid of it right away, but she told me to “do whatever I like with it.”
Oh gosh, that is really funny Harmony!!
I actually am lucky in that we get a ton of hand-me-downs from a neighbor too! Most of it we do end up using because my neighbor has similar taste as me and our daughters were born around the same season. But if there’s anything that is off by seasons, wont fit, or just isn’t something that I like, I donate it with zero guilt. This way someone else can get some use of it if you can’t 🙂
Great post! We’re out of the baby stuff hoarding phase but even with slightly older kids, it’s shocking how quickly the “stuff” takes over. One trick we’ve put into practice is that each year when our Christmas elf arrives, he brings an empty box with instructions from Santa for the kids to fill the box with toys/books that they no longer use. It’s a great way to move some old stuff out before Christmas gifts need to be stored away. We’ve also started really enforcing the rule that a toy or game has to be put away before more can be taken out. It takes vigilance to enforce this, but it’s easier than standing guard like a prison matron while they clean up a giant mess that has accumulated over time!
Decluttering made me felt happy, though it’s a bit tiresome. I get to give away the things that I know other people could still use like clothes and toys. I let her gave the toys personally to other children too. This way, she already helped cleaning and at the same time, as a good samaritan. It is absolutely a great article!
Love this article! I agree with Aimee above who says she doesn’t buy something because its a great deal. She spoke my heart out. We are building a home and we are planning to decorate it on a limited budget and this would be super useful.
My favourite thing about Easter is all the baking and of course, the chocolate. That wreath is divine! I am so tempted to do an Easter tree but seeing as I put the Christmas tree up twice a year, I think I might be pushing my luck in the tree department!
Great advice! Funny story – just this weekend, the kids found some toys in a box in my car that were headed for Goodwill (the box has been there for quite a while). They had so much fun with those stupid toys. Goes to show just how right you are about rotating the toys.click here
I randomly came across this website and I really liked your content. Will show it to my wife. I’m sure she will love your post. Keep sharing something similar more!
Love this!! We are renovating/decorating on a limited budget. One thing I’ve learned is DO NOT buy something simply because it is a great deal. If I don’t love it, I leave it. I don’t want s home full of things that were good deals but that I dislike.
So all of these lose money. Sounds like home renovation with the intent to increase resale value is a bad investment. I’d only pursue a project if 1) the home would not sale otherwise 2) there is a risk of damage to the home without performing the work or 3) personal enjoyment.Garage
We’ve been thinking recently about finishing our basement. We could add several additional rooms of living space there along with perhaps a bathroom. We know it would add value to our home life (giving us more personal space) and add value to the home itself. But how much money to put into it is the real question.Jack
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