I have learned a lot as a mom, especially in the first few years of mothering! I used to buy all brand new clothes and was super particular about having certain items for my kids so much so that I found myself spending thousands of dollars! However, over the years (praise God for his grace) I have learned a lot. Today, I want to walk you through a system that I have been using for my kids clothing the last several years. This is what I call the 5-5-5 rule! This has saved me not only time but money as well as the stress of thinking about clothing. This system has helped me do laundry more efficiently and has helped my kids not become too attached to their clothes.

What is the 5-5-5 Rule?

This is a system that helps you not only minimize your children’s clothing but most importantly, optimize their wardrobe so they can get the best use of them. The idea is that your child only has 5 of a specific clothing item and that it takes you no more than 5-10 minutes once a month at a time to keep up with it. This is what we try to stick to

5 shirts

5 bottoms

5 shoes – (depending on the season we have play snow boots, leather boots, rain boots & then a pair for sneaks & church shoes! Summer season rain boots, sneakers, candles and church shoes…usually the same ones from winter)

3 coats (everyday, winter, church)

This can be interchangeable and there is no hard set limit with how many specific clothing items you have. Their closet will likely look different each season. For example, I am more lenient on the 5-5-5 rule in the Winter because we do a lot of layering. Essentially, this rule keeps me from buying multiples of things! I do laundry every day so we do not run into an issue where my children run out of clothes to wear. This list also includes pajamas, we have around 5 sets of pajamas for each child!

This Winter our rotation looks like –

• 5 sweaters
• 5 shirts (some we will reuse from the Summer)
• 3 long sleeve shirts
• 6 bottoms (this is a mix of khakis, jeans, dress pants. In the winter I throw in an additional pair of fleece pants that are great for keeping them warm, especially when they play outside)

As I mentioned, this can be flexible! For my girls in the Summer, their wardrobe may look more like having 7 dresses and 3 shirts!

Shopping

As I mentioned, I used to buy my kids all brand new clothing but now they are all essentially second hand. I find that the best place to find these items are Once Upon a Child. However, when I am shopping, I keep an eye out for brands that I have found provide really high quality clothing. Zara and H+M I find are some of the best! I also keep an eye out for more neutral items to help with their longevity from kid to kid. Shoes are the only exception I make when it comes to buying something new because I really want them to last! Another way I make our shoes last is I often buy them a size up. Of course, this depends on how quick your child is growing but 2 years ago, I bought a leather pair of boots for my son. I bought them a size up and he is now just starting to grow out of them. We used wool socks in the Winter to help the shoes fit a bit better

This 5-5-5 Rule is broken up into three different places in our home. 

CLOSETS // DRESSERS // LONG-TERM STORAGE

CLOSETS

In their closet, each child has their own set of 4 drawers where their main items for that season are kept! I believe I originally got the bins from Ikea and I used my Cricut to label them. Whatever you use, I find it helpful to have the clothes in a spot that is easy for your child to access!

DRESSERS

Each of my children have a dresser in their room. In their dresser holds the previous seasons clothing as well as their pajamas. Currently, we are heading into the Winter. So, I am looking at my kids Summer clothes (that were in their closet in the white bins) and asking myself a few questions:

• Can we use this for the upcoming season? Did I buy this a size up? (for example, we can reuse some T-Shirts and dresses in the Winter). If yes, I will keep that in their closet.

• If it does not work for the upcoming season, can it . . .
  • 1) fit them next year? If yes, I will move it from their closet to their dresser
  • 2) go to another sibling?
  • 3) be put into long-term storage for when their siblings are older?
  • 4) or get donated?

You may be wondering why I keep the previous season in their dresser. Well, there are a few reasons. One, we live in Michigan. One day it could be snowing and the next day its sunny and feels like Spring. So, instead of running to the attic to grab shorts, they are just in their dresser and easy to grab. Secondly, this has come in handy when we travel to somewhere warm in the Winter. I don’t need to buy new clothes for them and these items are easily accessible, which makes for easier packing!

LONG TERM STORAGE

I stick pretty strictly to the 5-5-5 rule for these long term storage bins. I don’t use these bins to just store excess clothing as I really don’t want anything to go to waste. The bins I use are from Amazon! I have linked them here if you’d like to check them out. I did not purchase these all at once. So, if you are worried about the price, you can buy them in phases or use other bins you may have around your home. Below you can see exactly how I use these bins

Newborn must-haves

In this bin, I will have a wide range of items. This can look like blankets, sounds machines, Haka, nursing pads etc. Anything that I know that will come really handy in those first 2- 3months after baby has been born

Boy + Girl 0-12m 

Because a lot of the items I have in this clothing range are neutral, I just throw everything together!

For all of these bins, I keep boy stuff on one side and girl on the other. When I am pulling out clothes to put in their closets or looking for a specific item, sometimes I do look on the boys side for my daughter (and vice versa) because jeans are jeans and you cant really tell the difference. Even sweaters sometimes work for both my sons and daughters!

I am currently in need of buying some new bins as my eldest wears a range of 5T-8T clothing! So, I am in the midst of figuring out what to do next for long-term storage as my kids get older. Also, if I find that an item of clothing won’t work for one of my kids next year or one of my younger kids- we just donate it! 

If you are visual and you’d like to see just exactly what this system looks like as well as hear me talk a little more in depth about this topic I have linked my video below!

I pray this inspires you to find a system that works for YOU! This system has really blessed me. I have gained a lot of my time back. Switching clothes is no longer stressful and has helped us not have a bunch of clothes everywhere because trust me, with 4 kids, you accumulate a lot of clothes, very quickly!

I pray this blog has blessed you and I will be back next week!