Montessori Dresser: 3 Years Old.

Here’s a little reminder that you don’t have to buy things marketed as “Montessori” to offer your child spaces in your home that are Montessori-inspired. Most times, you don’t even have to alter that much… just consider the space from the eyes of your child.

We recently swapped out my 3 year old’s infant dresser (it had 8 drawers) for this one (from IKEA) which we already owned. When she was an infant, her dresser worked as a wardrobe but also a changing table. So the multiple drawers served me (storage for diapers, wipes, burp cloths) but didn’t necessarily benefit her as she grew and became more independent. So a few months ago we did a dresser swap.

Independence and choice are always the main things I try to incorporate into spaces in our home. However too many choices can be overwhelming! Enter: children who dump out their dressers finding what they want OR children who change clothes 6 times a day because they can (that’s what we were dealing with.) Because of this, I put in place some very intentional limits around her dresser. 

Here’s what is working for us:

Only use the drawers she can reach: She can’t see into the top drawer so I keep things she barely needs in there like an extra bathing suit, extra dance tights, and new seasonal pajamas. She doesn’t need access to these things regularly, if ever. By keeping this drawer nearly empty, there’s no curiosity around what’s inside and she rarely opens it. This way she stays safe (the dresser is anchored to the wall.)

Less is more: I only offer clothing that is her size and is for the current season. I keep everything else she owns in one tote bin in her closet so that I can rotate clothes just like I rotate toys. Less options mean less laundry, less folding, less putting away, and less decisions to make (while still having plenty of choice.) It also means that there’s less to restore if she does take everything out looking for just the right outfit.

Give everything a place: I offer containers to store like-items. In the middle drawer, she has a bin for underwear, a bin for socks and a bin for shorts. In the bottom drawer, she has a bin for dresses, a short stack of t-shirts and sweatshirts, and a bin for pajamas. Pajamas are paired and sorted by tops and bottoms.

Other than adding in a few bins and keeping organized, I didn’t make any changes to this dresser. I didn’t buy something child-sized, or marketed as Montessori. Sometimes being Montessori-inspired is just about making a few tweaks to a space that already exists in your home.