Do you keep hand me downs between your children?

[heartbroken22]

Does it depend on the age gap? Do you keep everything?

I have same sex DC, 3 years apart and I keep everything that it is still in reasonable quality. Anything ripped or stained or battered I throw, I dont pass on underwear or socks. I also am lucky enough to have a Garage so can store boxes and boxes labelled with the sizes quite easily.

My sons are 4 years apart and I keep everything that’s in a reasonable condition.

I keep everything that's in a good condition but we're lucky to have a garage and a loft to store things in. I can't believe how many people I know spend fortunes on their baby's and children's clothes only to throw it away!

Just under two years apart, same sex but different builds (elder is tall and lanky, younger is shorter and broader). Kept everything in reasonable nick, but then only used stuff that suited younger DD (as bought extra length, narrow waist stuff for DD1!).

Now they are older (9&11), DD2 choses whether she accepts the hand downs... they have different tastes. DD1 gets some stuff from her cousin too, and stuff goes from DD2 to other friends and family.

I kept so much of DS's clothes. I am pregnant with a girl, but will reuse as much as possible and donate the rest.

Mine are 3 years apart, both girls, so I'm using all DD1's stuff that is in good condition for DD2. It will save a fortune!

Yep. Love a hand me down! We also give and receive hand me downs from friends and go to vinted before buying new. Why wouldn't you?

Yes of course

I was never rich enough to buy the same item twice or three times (though obviously if something was trashed it would need to be replaced)

My boys are 7 and 4 and I’m finding now we’re running out of hand me downs, trousers mainly, as DS1 was very tough on them indeed! But baby DD is mainly in their hand me downs at this point and will be for a while - I guess until age 4 ish!

We keep everything in reasonable condition and also my SIL and I pass clothes between us.

Yes, mine are different sexes, but jumpers, hoodies, joggers, T-shirts etc all get passed down. Most of the school uniform is the same too. 2 and a half years between them, which is an annoying amount of time... they get put away just long enough for me to forget what is there!

Of course, I keep everything.
Lucky to have 2 of same sex and born in same month so clothes are the right size for the right season.
I love seeing the younger one wear outfits the older one had. And for basics like vests etc it just makes sense to reuse.

My dds are 3.5 years apart. I used to keep everything when they were young. Now I barely keep anything except school uniform and basics (eg black leggings, plain hoodies, coats, seasonal wear like Christmas tops).

They are now 13 and 10 so have very different tastes in clothing. Dd1 mostly wears mens tshirts &leggings or gothic clothing. And dd2 loves everything bright, glittery, swishy and girly!

I do buy mostly from charity shops, vinted, shein or Facebook marketplace so they can choose their own clothes. Dd2 I got 2 bin liners of clothes for £5. We kept what she liked (about half) and sold on the rest for same price so was basically free!

Yes of course. I box everything up that Ds has outgrown and then when DD is the correct size, I offer it to her. Anything she doesn't want, I pass on to my godson. I try to sell a few of DD's more reasonably kept things and anything else I pass on to a friend's DD.

Yep we keep everything. 2 DSs only 2 years apart so it makes sense. Mine are still little so things are still generally getting outgrown before they are worn out.

With baby stuff, I purposefully got everything in neutral colours when DS1 was teeny as we didn't fin out the sex with either child in advance and then we could definitely reuse everything whatever sex DC2 turned out to be.

Did end up having to buy more than I thought second time round though as DS1 was a winter baby (and it was a really cold one that year as well) and DS2 a summer one!

I kept all DS's baby grows and vests as his newborn ones are unisex as we didn't find out his sex.

Having twins now and haven't found out their sex either so washed and prepped all DS's newborn clothes and will save a fortune!

Yes, hand down everything that isn’t stained and doesn’t have holes in it. Once DS2 has worn them they go on to their cousins. And uniform goes on to younger siblings of their friends. Even old (clean!) pants get taken by school (I did ask and the head was delighted as they’re forever sending children home in school pants).

Definitely. Bagged up and labelled, put in the eaves space until needed.

3 years apart, and I kept everything that was in good condition.

I found that after the first couple of years, most things could be passed straight on anyway, without needing to be stored for long - they’d just go from too small on dc1 to a bit big on dc2.

Aged from about 8 dc2 would be more selective and only choose certain things, and we just give the rest to charity.

Dc1 is wearing adult sizes now, so the hand me downs will dry up - once dc2 is into them too I expect they will borrow/swap clothes a bit instead.

Mine are 4.5 years apart and I keep as much as I can. Ds2 is very tall which is handy as he goes into the saved clothes quicker which means I don't have to store so many!

Yes, I kept and re-used everything from my DS who is almost two years older than my DD when they were babies/toddlers. They were all gender neutral.

Then, a colleague started, very kindly, giving me bags of clothes, shoes, coats, wellies, fancy dress outfits etc that had already been through three of her GDDs. I think I didn't buy anything new (apart from socks and pants) for my DD for about three years!

I also sell anything still in a good condition on eBay and use any money I make to buy items for my DC.

Friends and I pass things around too. It just makes so much sense not to keep buying new and then throwing it away after a few months of use.

I try, because I have 3DSs (and a DD, but I don't pass much to her except trainers sometimes), but my three are very different shapes/sizes and things don't pass very well. I also have a much bigger gap between DS2 and DS3 than DS1 and DS2. I do pass pyjamas down, but it means storing them for 2-3 years at times, which can be a bit of a faff. DS1 is much taller and stockier than DS2, who is catching up height wise but much slimmer. DS3 is built more like DS1, but there's a nearly 5 year age gap, and DS3 has sensory needs that mean he won't wear certain clothes such as jeans.

Basically, I would love to, and there are some things I try to. I have absolutely no issue with hand me downs and pass on all the things my children outgrow to others (I don't sell them because I don't need the money, and others need the help). We also happily buy second hand or are delighted to accept hand me downs from others.

Mine are 7 years apart and different sex but I kept the best quality clothes from DD and DS wears them. DD's clothes were almost entirely second hand to begin with so not all of them survived.

Yes, DC are opposite sex (small age gap) so can only pass on unisex bits and school PE kit but anything that can be used by both is.

Fortunately DB has opposite sex in other order so we pass on rest of things between us. Also pass a lot of things between friends

Anything that is in good condition gets used again, I am fortunate to have been given a lot over the years so I tend to pay it forward by giving rather than selling

Absolutely yes! 4 children here and some things have been worn by all of them.

I have a sort out in the summer holidays and things get boxes up and put in the loft with labels on. Then when one DC needs new clothes i go "loft shopping" it's lovely reminiscing over favourite outfits.