Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Do you keep hand me downs between your children?

99 replies

heartbroken22 · 08/09/2022 09:20

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

OP posts:
Caterina99 · 08/09/2022 15:34

2.5 year gap. Boy then girl. I was able to reuse a decent amount of the baby and toddler clothes. And things like coats, wellies, hats, snowsuits, pjs etc.

Its harder as they get older. DD is more fussy and doesn’t want “boy” things and DS is extremely hard on his clothes so a lot of stuff is destroyed anyway as he’s not growing out of it as fast. I try and buy neutral for items like coats, and school uniform is mostly gender neutral anyway, but I end up donating or passing on a lot as DD won’t wear it.

whiteorchids44 · 08/09/2022 15:43

My DD is 4 and my DS is 1. I saved the bits which are in good condition and in neutral tones. He's wearing a few things handed down to him like jumpers, cardigans, trousers and shoes. It makes me a bit nostalgic when I dress him up. I'm really glad that I saved a few things here and there.

fyn · 08/09/2022 15:48

Anything stained goes to nursery for their spares box, anything that never got worn or I didn’t really like is taken to our local childrens clothes exchange to swap for the next size up and everything else is kept as hand me downs! We have two girls two years apart so clothes are easily kept, it may change when they get older and vocal about their clothes!

Eileen101 · 08/09/2022 15:50

Yes, I have a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. I save all of the boy's clothes, that aren't ruined. However daughter now has strong opinions on what she wants to wear. The things he grows out of that are covered in diggers or tractors or generally boy-ish gets sold or donated, because there's no point keeping it for her to refuse it.
Fortunately we have lots of hand me downs from other girls in the family in various shades of pink which keeps daughter quite happy.

BoardingSchoolMater · 08/09/2022 15:53

Very much so. Same is true of school uniform. It's more difficult if you have children of both sex when they're older - but even then, coats, jumpers etc are fine for everyone. A Boden coat of the older variety (90s) could last for several children, as could their towelling hoody things, shorts, t shirts etc (think the quality has declined since then).

Strawberry0909 · 08/09/2022 16:03

Yes lucky two DS and born 3 years apart so all same season has been great not having buy new clothes, all though my mum thinks It's unfair on DS2 and will buy him few outfits each time he goes up a size

RandomMess · 08/09/2022 16:08

Yep some clothes were bought 2nd hand and did all 3 of my DC.

stormelf · 08/09/2022 16:14

I have a 2 year gap between each of my three. I have a girl, boy then girl. I kept all of dd's things and some were used by ds and those not were kept and are being used by my youngest. I have t really kept shoes as those I like to get new for them unless it's wellies or jelly type shoes. When ds grows out of things I donate them unless it's something my youngest daughter would wear

holidaynightmare · 08/09/2022 16:36

I have a girl and a boy but pass stuff down if it's unisex like uniform, navy joggers etc, plainish raincoats and for school wellies and stuff I get red or yellow rather than pink so these can be handed down easier.

I sell all my stuff worth selling when they've grown out of it and use the money towards more new clothes. I try to recycle where I can.

Wishyfishy · 08/09/2022 17:05

Yes, everything I am able. I am also happy to sew up small holes etc to keep favourite clothes wearable.

All school uniform will be worn again, which is a relief.

Only thing is with home clothes is that oldest tends to wear only a small section of his wardrobe and wear it to death - so that stuff will go straight into clothes recycling because it’s really not wearable by the time he had finished. I suppose the upside is that the other stuff that he rarely wears looks new (or sometimes is completely unworn!) when it gets passed down.

MsSquiz · 08/09/2022 17:33

I have 2 DDs (2 years, 4 months between them) but they were born at different times of year so I have kept certain items of clothing and some shoes that haven't been trashed for dd2.
Dd2's first sleepsuit in hospital was one that dd1 wore in her first week

I also have a niece who is 3 years older than dd1, so have had some gorgeous things passed down to dd1, particularly the 2 pairs of bright pink dr marten boots I bought for her!

Xiaoxiong · 08/09/2022 17:36

Always!! And I happily take bags of hand me downs from neighbours for DS1 too to hand down to DS2 (or now the reverse as DS2 is taller), and hand on to DNephews. I'd go broke otherwise!! Sometimes I see DNeph2 in something that has been through the neighbour's 2 boys, my 2, and DNeph1 which is good going I think!

MrsTimRiggins · 08/09/2022 17:38

I don’t even have a second child and I’m keeping clothes for a second child 😂 my in laws loft is the storage place for several boxes full. I only keep v good condition clothes and only the ones I can clearly picture DC in and loved, otherwise they’re binned, charity shopped or sold as appropriate.

YouSoundLovely · 08/09/2022 17:45

My dd has worn stuff of her brothers', who are 10 and 8 years older than her.

Ds2 has obviously worn a lot of ds1's stuff - why on earth wouldn't you? - although now they're teens with different builds and tastes in clothes it's less frequent.

TurquoiseDress · 08/09/2022 17:50

Yes definitely keep everything that's in good condition

My DC are not the same sex (boy then girl) but it's fine, I'm not a big fan of pink anyway & don't feel compelled to dress my daughter head to toe in it....she's more than happy to wear the hand me down spider man stuff!

Win win all round Grin

randomsabreuse · 08/09/2022 17:55

Anything that's not trashed, which is way more limited than that sounds...

DD has fairly neutral tastes and anything pastel is highly unlikely to survive in a fit state to pass on - or beyond wear number 2 - but is slight enough that tops pass straight from her to 3 year younger brother so I don't have to store much at all! Dresses get passed on to friends, leggings last until they're rags...

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 08/09/2022 17:57

Goodness yes. My 10 year old does most clothes "shopping" from a couple of boxes in a cupboard. Mine are boy, girl 3 years later and boy 3 years after that. Youngest doesn't give a flying fart whether something comes from his brother or sister and plenty has been shown by all 3 of them.

HairyFeline · 08/09/2022 18:00

There are four families in my hand me down circle. Ranging from ages 10 to 3, there are still some of the 10 year old clothes on the 3 year old. Clothes and good shoes are always handed down.

Poppins2016 · 08/09/2022 18:03

We keep everything. If you have the space, why on earth wouldn't you?! It saves so much money (plus the environment, etc). We were given hand me downs from family when we had our first child, which we added to.... we're now using the same clothes with our second child. We're on the fence about having a third child, but if we do we'll reuse (some things may be seasonally inappropriate, but I think vests, tops and dungarees/trousers etc are pretty universal). We hope to pass everything on to my sibling (who plans to try for a baby soonish) if/when they need them.

I've thrown things out only a handful of items (a few things that really weren't my taste went to the charity shop and a couple of things that were worn out were used as rags).

I've also had some fantastic secondhand items or bundles off FB Marketplace, most small children grow out of their clothes before they wear them out and it seems silly to pay full price when you can get them secondhand! I admit I also have Boden/Jojomamanbebe tastes but a Sainsbury's budget, so I get to 'indulge' without breaking the bank. 😁

carefullycourageous · 08/09/2022 18:06

Yes, we had big gaps and kept everything that was still in good nick.

ArialAnna · 08/09/2022 18:06

Yes, my DCs are both boys and only 21 months apart. Plus DC1 is quite short for his age, and they aren't that different in size, so I don't even box things up - it usually goes straight from DC1's drawers to DC2's!

Ihaveaskedyouthrice · 08/09/2022 18:07

5 year gap between DS1 and DS2. Keep everything thatsbin good condition, don't pass down underwear or socks. Don't typically buy much for DS1. Get some hand me downs from SIL and he gets loads at Xmas and birthdays. When DS2 is finished with clothes I pass them to a friend.

DD gets hand me downs from my SIL who has got them from her sisters. We then pass them on to another family member afterwards.

I love clothes being passed on and reused. It would seem incredibly wasteful for all of us to be buying brand new clothes for each child.

perenniallymessy · 08/09/2022 18:11

I used to but DS2 is now the same height as DS1 (three year age gap) and they are completely different body shapes.

We do hand some stuff from DS2 to DS1 now (DS2 takes a larger size in pants, shoes and tops).

Quizzed · 08/09/2022 18:13

I only have one child and probably won't have another but you never know what will happen in the future. I gave most of ds clothes to his cousin or donated to charity. I have however kept toys such as duplo and playmobil 123, also some of the books I used to love reading to ds. If I don't have a another child one day ds can have the toys and books if he has children off his own. I certainly would have reused his clothes for other children if I had them.

perenniallymessy · 08/09/2022 18:13

We are also really lucky to get decent hand me downs from cousins and friends.

DS1 is really small for his age so a few of the mums of his friends with no younger siblings pass stuff onto us.