Secondhand baby clothes

[Daisies123]

Why don't people want secondhand baby clothes? DD is 16mo and has always been dressed mostly in clothes passed on from others or bought on EBay. I buy her new shoes and she has an occasional new outfit as a present (a lot when she was younger). But everything else secondhand.

But I'm struggling to pass it on to anyone once she's in the next size. People turn their noses up at secondhand. I don't want to sell on eBay/Facebook as a lot of it I got free plus it's a lot of effort for hardly anything. I have passed on to baby bank, jumble sale, charity etc but no one else seems to want it!

Any tips for finding a new home for secondhand clothing and any insights into why people don't want it?!

[Heirhelp]

Give it to a charity shop or me.

It might be the style of clothing. I only like comfy practical clothes for my DD.

[Enidblyton1]

Some people are adamant they only want new clothes - their choice, but I agree with you they are missing a trick!

Second hand clothes are great, but what condition are your clothes in if they have already been worn by at least 2 children? I buy most of my DD's clothes from charity shops or given by friends, but they are mostly worn out by the time my girls have worn them.

If your clothes are in genuinely good condition I would pass them on to a specialised kids charity shop (Fara, cancer research etc). I give worn out clothes to our clothing bank to be recycled.

[glitterglitters]

Clothes I don't mind at all. Toys I'm a tad over tbh. Mil gets loads and they're all missing bits, unsure of age recommendations and a bit weathered etc.

[Daisies123]

All the ones I've had have been in good condition - and have been through at least three children by now. The cheaper brands don't wear as well but they're still fine for nursery or really messy days outside etc. I tend to only go for comfy practical stuff (I only use about 1/4 of what's passed on to me as DD doesn't need more than about 15(!!) of anything) mostly vests, leggings, short/long sleeve tops as they are all practical, plus a few dresses, hats, jumpers, cardis. I tend to buy decent quality waterproofs and shoes new.

We get a lot of toys and books too, which is great as haven't had to buy very many of those. Only keep about half the toys just because of space. They've all been good condition and just needed a bit of a clean. The books are more battered than would sell in a charity shop but that makes them fine for a toddler to use!

I didn't know there were charity shops that specialised in children's stuff. I'll have to look out for those - thank you

[passingthrough1]

You're doing something better than me then. Most of my son's clothes are trashed - either baby sick, baby poo or food now he's weaning have been absolute death of most of his wardrobe. I'll keep some of his stuff for future children but the white vests now almost entirely brown (poo) and green (avocado) vests will have to go.
I bought new everything because he's my first and I will re-use in subsequent children. I bought a lot of second hand maternity clothes though.

[Wolfiefan]

Local foodbank may have links to someone who would take them.
I'm lucky. We have a secondhand baby clothes shop in town. Cheap clothes and somewhere to pass on your outgrown stuff!

[Dildals123]

My 20m is predominantly in second hand clothes too. I've hardly bought him anything. A lot of the things I got passed on were never worn! So yes, agree that certain things like vests are likely to get thrashed but equally a lot people simply seem to have too many clothes and the child ends up never wearing certain items.

My older child was a messy eater and as a result things got more mucky but this one manages to transport most straight in to the mouth so he's actually pretty clean afterwards! (I know!)

I have passed on my baby / children's clothes to other parents as well, who all seem happy with it!

[StrawberryJelly00]

Op I took a free bag of baby clothes from a lady living locally on Gumtree.
They were good condition and I was expecting this baby so any freebies were definately welcome.

You could try posting on there, it's free to post and you can just put free to a good home

[StrawberryJelly00]

Failing that maybe local children's centres?

[Cineraria]

I didn't want second hand stuff for DS as I didn't like most baby boy's clothes in regular shops, which is what we tended to be offered and we had saved up a bit of money for baby stuff so could afford to buy new. I probably have quite old fashioned taste but until he started walking, I typically dressed him in smart rompers (he had this one for example: www.bestdressedchild.com/dabysalobabo.html, though not at that price!) with tights and then a knitted bonnet and matinee jacket for outdoors, as I didn't like the babygrows/jogging bottoms/jeans type outfits that seemed most popular for boys. I was thinking I'd make the most of him being happy to be dressed how I wanted while that lasted!

I'd probably be happy to accept second hand stuff for a girl if we have one and are offered any, just because friends have girls' clothes that appeal to my taste.

[clarabellski]

Daisies have you tried putting stuff up on freecycle?

[lockie1983]

I wish someone would offer me second hand stuff! Don't think we were given a thing.

I can't be doing with trawling eBay and stuff but quite like a rummage in the charity shop so if it's in good condition there or a bank is probably the best place for it.

[Daisies123]

Thank you for the suggestions people, sounds like we've been lucky with not too much mess from the baby?! A few things have got stained in the process - poo or tomato-based sauces are the worst but only 2 or 3 things in each size. Or maybe our washing machine has got super powers?! I know it's got stains out from stuff that had been passed on for 'messy play' which friends' machines hadn't shifted.

The local food bank doesn't take clothes or toys, just nappies, baby food and wipes. The baby bank would only take sizes up to six months (don't think they had much storage space?). Haven't tried Freecycle recently after clearing things out of the house when I was pregnant so I will do that - it appears to have turned into a different site with an app now, which actually looks easier to use. Have never tried Gumtree so will give that a go too. Have also never tried the various local Facebook buy/sell groups so might give it a try with a bag of free stuff. And I've just remembered there is a buy/sell board on my work intranet so worth a try there too to give away.

Thank you for all the suggestions and I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling to give away clothes. Loved the more traditional clothes @Cineraria linked to - very sweet but where on earth did you find them, as I've never seen anything like that in the shops?

[BearFoxBear]

Ds had loads of second hand stuff, and I've given loads of his stuff away too. I give to a couple of local charities that give packs to families in need (they are referred by social work department) and to Re:Act which sends clothes etc to refugee camps or to families settling locally. I now buy bulk lots of baby clothes specifically for this purpose! It's worth having a look to see if there's anything like this round your way.

[Cineraria]

You're right, not many shops stock that kind of thing. We had a nice little baby shop in a nearby high street that we got our car seat and travel system from and we spotted that they held quite traditional stuff like that so I used to visit them, mostly at sale time, for his clothes. Emil & Rose from John Lewis also had one or two like that. I also had a couple of sewing patterns to make my own.

Just had a few ideas about passing them on too. DS's nursery is always after spare clothes for when children make more clothes dirty than they have brought replacements for, so if you have a local nursery they might welcome them. Also, if you are signed up to the Nextdoor website you could advertise them there and might get a response from someone local.

[clumsymummy]

Our DD is the only child we'll have. She is special to us and we don't want to put her in second hand clothes. I want to be the one who buys her clothes and picks what she wears.

Oh, and my SIL keeps dumping a load of second/third hand clothes on us as if she's doing us a favour. It means we have to go out of our way to take a whole car load of bin bags to charity every couple of months (although I suspect she might be getting the message as the quantity has decreased recently )

[MothButterfly]

a slight tangent here but a lot of food based stains can be bleached by sunlight. I've successfully removed most orange stains this way. either a couple of hours on washing line in bright sun or left out a few days if cloudy.

my children have so far worn 90 percent second hand clothes, with some bought new for presents. I give all the ok ones to charity shops, and the nicer ones to a friend.

[Daisies123]

I didn't think of nursery - DD goes to one so I could offer them there!

@clumsymummy why not tell your SIL you just don't want the stuff? That would save you having to get rid of it and she's probably wondering why she never sees your DD in any of those outfits. We get a lot of secondhand but my friends do say in advance and they know I don't keep all of it to reuse. I've always checked whether they want stuff back or ok to pass on. My friends love seeing DD in their clothes - apparently it brings back happy memories of when their children were that size.

[NerrSnerr]

I am lucky that I have good friends who have all had kids over the last few ŷears and we pass everything between ourselves. Some stuff is old but it's all decent quality. I got a few specific things on EBay for my newborn and we have received some lovely gifts. I have a 2 year old and I love trawling charity shops, I manage to find some lovely good quality stuff- she loves wearing dresses so I pick them up cheap and it doesn't matter if they get ruined.

[Sewingbeatshousework]

I didn't like my babies in 2nd hand clothes, was called a snob about it (by DM) but me & DH just didn't like the idea, it would of course have been different if money was extremely tight. Once they were over 3ish I'd buy the odd bundle off eBay if they were immaculate but DH was never keen. I do buy myself 2nd hand sometimes though without a thought.

Sorry doesn't really help explain why some people don't want them, just preference I guess! When I've been offered worn baby clothes I've always said I'm very grateful but we already have loads (which isn't a lie, I tend to buy several months worth in advance), I don't think I'd outright tell someone I don't want their 2nd hand items as I'd hate to seem rude & ungrateful.

[Daisies123]

Each to their own, but I don't really get people not liking secondhand stuff. DD will probably be our only child and is very 'special' - it took us a long time to conceive. We are also reasonably well off. But I'd rather save the money for her in the future than spend it on clothes now. But I've had so much trouble finding people to pass clothes onto that it seems to be unusual to think this way?

[Thatextrainch]

Some people want new, there's nothing in herently wrong with it. I grew up poor. My siblings are very much of the view that they want to buy brand new for their dcs as we rarely had much new whereas I'm happy with second hand as it means I have money for other things.

However, I'm another who gets given a lot of unwanted hand me downs from dps family. I don't want them for the following reasons :-

1. The huge volumes of stuff. I don't need 30 vests for a 6 month old etc.
   

1. The stains. I'm not precious, I don't care of pjs are stained but why would I want a white top with paint and tomato sauce on it? The same goes for damaged clothes. Just throw them or use them as cleaning cloths.
   

1. You've said you mostly use second hand. So the clothes you are passing on are already third hand? Clothes get worn out eventually. A lot of what I'm being given are 5/6th hand. Vests are baggy, knees on leggings are threadbare. I don't want them as I won't use them.
   

1. Style issues. I get given a lot of tights and pinafores. Dd doesn't really like them. I don't like toddler jeans.
   

1. Season issues. When dd was younger we were often given clothes that didn't fit in the correct season so just took up valuable storage space (we are expected to pass them on to dps other siblings in the future)
   

1. I like to dress dd in clothes that I like. I buy most of her stuff second hand but it's stuff I like.

[Oysterbabe]

I really enjoy choosing and buying clothes for DD, it's as simple as that really.

[NerrSnerr]

It's horses for courses isn't it? We get as much secondhand as possible and have managed to sell quite a bit recently on EBay so that's paid for everything we've needed for the new baby so barely spent anything. We are attempting to save to pay for a year's maternity leave and to put money away for the future (driving lessons, school trips, university etc).

[Daisies123]

Interesting. I suppose I get annoyed when I ask people at toddler groups with younger children if they'd like any handmedowns and get the look of horror from them! Whereas I was v eager to accept when I was in that position a year ago!

I've not noticed many quality issues so far, despite these being at least the third child in the clothes. The more expensive stuff (John Lewis, Jojo) seems to wear well and that's what I look out for on eBay - couldn't afford those prices new. Next stuff tends to look a bit more worn, as does Gap and H&M so tend to get worn at nursery.

Going to be interesting seeing how it wears later on - I'm expecting there to be fewer trousers/leggings passed on as knees get worn thru etc.

I did get overwhelmed at first with it all (especially maternity clothes when I was given more stuff than I had in my total existing wardrobe!) but have learnt how to deal with it. I now do a very quick initial sort and anything I don't like or I know won't fit DD's shape goes in a bag to go out (somewhere!). Then I divide the rest up into size piles and compare against a list I've got in each size of clothes needed and what I've already got. Anything extra beyond that then goes on for rehoming and the stuff I'm keeping goes in the wash so it all smells of my detergent(!). Then, I use the list to identify any gaps and either look for them secondhand or keep a eye out for sales. Once she's grown out of a size I keep basics (vests, socks and anything I particularly liked) just in case we have another one, then rehome everything else.