To keep stained/heavily worn clothes for next child?

I agree. No wonder 2 million tonnes of clothing ends up in landfill every year!
I'd be far more likely to notice things like overgrown fingernails, or seasonally inappropriate clothing than a slightly grubby toddler, whom I would assume had had a fun day!

My “system” is I go through and say okay
how many leggings, joggers, shorts, t shirts, long sleeved t shirts etc do I actually need?

Then I pick out the best 7/10/14 and the rest go…

I def kept high quality stained stuff… I have a stained but amazingly high quality hot pink snowsuit that my son will wear next winter 😅

my DS has a mix of hand me down and new. I think it’s fine and his self esteem won’t suffer as a result… under 3 I don’t think they care

Like a pp, i dont like subsequent children being treated as less worth new items than the precious first born. It contributes to a lesser sense of self worth. Their sibling is always nicely turned out in new items, chosen to their taste, their favourite colours or style that suit their colouring, while the second born 'gets what they are given'.

Im not saying id buy every item new but no i wouldnt dress my next in all heavily stained stuff, id ensure there was a mix of newer items in there that weren't all stained!

Absolutely not, recycle anything stained and only keep the good condition clothes (no stains!). Start as you mean to go on, will you carry this on in to the school years??

Remember - you know stains are washed in & the item is "clean".

The person across from you in the cafe or library doesn't. They just see an apparently scruffy child in rather dirty clothes.

Not the impression I want anyone to have of my child.

My children must have gone to a very bad nursery because they never came home with the amount of destroyed clothes other mumsnetters have. They wore bibs/painting aprons and puddle suits. Yes the clothes would have been thrown in the wash but in 11 years cumulatively I can't think of any clothes that were destroyed.

And no I would never keep stained or damaged clothes. And never second hand shoes.

Once or twice a year I throw all the stained things in the washing machine with a strong coloured dye (usually navy or red).

Let me know how that works out with a white school shirt.

But honestly - unless all you ever buy are very plain basics, how does this even work? Any prints or pictures on the clothing will look crap if you do this.

True, but I find lots of people don't know how to, or don't even try and deal with stains. I also wouldn't throw clothing out because of a stain - it is still functional.

I buy my daughter's main shoes new from Clarks, but she has second hand wellies, sandals etc.

If its got a sole, it will have moulded to the previous owners foot. There's something really horrible feeling about putting your feet into a shoe moulded to someone else's foot, it feels so weird. I'd only ever put a child in a second hand shoe if it was something like a party shoe only once or twice.

Ah, well, if it's got fruit on it too, then of course it screams girl 😅

When they're older, I suppose there's the potential social consequences to consider — and I suppose maybe the practical issue of giving someone who's only just learning to get dressed an item of clothing that does up the opposite way to normal — but I agree it makes no sense to ditch a perfectly good baby coat because society and/marketers have apparently now decided that every possible colour and motif must have a specific gender allocation 🙄

Yes, I keep everything. Even stuff with holes in. It's so wasteful to replace functional clothes. Treat/sun the stains

If the stains can be got out with treatment/sun, the item isn't stained any more is it

I don't waste things. I'll sew a small hole etc if it can be done so it doesn't show. But i feel sorry for kids in heavily patched, stained, threadbare clothing.

No, as a child who was fourth down in the family and hated being shabbily dressed, i didnt keep heavily stained/worn/faded clothing. An odd light mark no problem but not very noticeably stained things.

I'm pretty good at getting stains out though.

Yes, I keep everything. Even stuff with holes in. It's so wasteful to replace functional clothes. Treat/sun the stains, whites get bleached, debobble the bobbles, learn to sew. They get new shoes, hand me downs as spares. We have 3 boys, and most things have survived to be passed on further as we look after them.
I wear almost exclusively second hand myself. My oldest (who incidentally has the most new clothes of all of us) understands well why we pass things down, buy used and repair our things.

Yes - my DD and DS point out paint/food stains on clothes if they're still visible after a wash and call them dirty. So they do notice.

And teachers also notice the kids who turn up in dirty worn clothes while their parents are pristine.

And shoes matter because their feet are still growing and they need shoes for the own needs. Not their feet to be molded to suit shoes worn by someone else.

I get all my clothes from the baby bank, so they are all second hand and well worn. I don't care what baby looks like on a day to day basis, so long as they are washed and clean. IMO stains are no different to dye once they are set in. Obviously in a not-purposeful way, but principally the same.
I have bought odd outfits for a couple of special occasions but that's all.
He also wears incredibly girly clothes to sleep as I got loads of hand me downs from a friend who had a girl.

My boy wore his sisters pink baby grows. He quite suited them actually!

Meh. I don't see a problem with some marks on the clothes etc. They are kids. They should be dirty!

Definitely not. I’ve got 4 and I’d never hand anything down that wasn’t pretty much pristine. I’m terrible for stains though, if they stain something and I can’t get it out it goes in the bin. I just can’t stand them in stained stuff it makes me feel like they look scruffy and I find the stains too noticeable even if they’re tiny and it drives me crazy 😂 for nursery I’ve always just dressed mine in black or dark clothes and the clothes never seem to get ruined.

Second hand shoes no but everything else I don't see the issue. Currently keeping all polo school shirts for my second when he starts school. Also have second hand trousers etc. Good for the environment. Plus I don't have money for everything new.

Sorry "Clean tramps" then

Considering how mucky two year olds get. I don't see why not?

Once or twice a year I throw all the stained things in the washing machine with a strong coloured dye (usually navy or red). It seems wasteful otherwise when there’s nothing wrong with them.