Other people's junk

[keely027]

Am getting cheesed off with people dumping all their old baby stuff of me ( usually dirty and damaged) and saying...thought you would have this for your baby, but if I get pregnant again I'd like it back....my attic is full of other peoples junk I wouldn't give my kid.

Why don't you say no then, that you have enough nice stuff and you don't want any of their tat?

Direct them down the road to the big yellow storage company who, for a fee, will be happy to store their old tat until it's needed.

Just say no, and smile politely!

Don't accept it in the first place. Just thank them but say you don't need whatever the item is that you are offered.

In the words of the immortal Grange Hill Song - Just say No!

Say oh how kind but we already have one of those
Thanks anyway

Just say no (thankyou)!

I'd be mortified if my friends with new babies thought I was trying to palm old tat off on them.

"Oh its kind of you but I dont have any space for more stuff, I'm already passing everything on as soon as he/she outgrows it"

Tell them you have no space and no thank you.

I think I know what you are talking about OP...

I know this will sound very ungrateful but I have also been unpleasantly surprised by the state of some baby items that people want to give me or lend me.

So for example, I might be offered the use of a highchair and I think oh yes, how lovely, now I don't need to buy one! However when the highchair is delivered it is bashed and faded, encrusted in food and with broken safety straps, etc. I then feel obliged to take item as the person has either specially dug it out of their attic or delivered it to me [and I usually offer to pay something for it as well although no-one has charged me yet!].

If it were a hand-me-down or gift I could then use it a couple of times and offer it back, if the original owner doesn't want it anymore I then say I will pass it on to a friend give to charity shop or tip dependent on condition

But if the person lends it to me and wants it back later I am stuck! I don't want to offend and say I don't like or want the item. I feel I need to hold on to it for a reasonable time to be polite. But if it's really not my style or manky I probably won't use it and will end up storing it instead and I have little storage space as it is

It is a dilemma.

I'd refuse to take things that people want back - you can't guarantee that something isn't going to get damaged / worn if it's for a baby.
If someone wanted to give me stuff that I didn't want, I'd just say "no thanks, I've got enough... {insert whatever it is}". If they brought something that was not safe (as in the safety strap above) then I'd say "Oh, sorry, but I can't put my dc in something where the safety features don't work, thanks for the thought though".
If they give you a bag full of clothes and you deem them not good enough, then pass them on to a charity shop. If they don't sell, they can still earn money from the rag man.
You must have odd friends though if they give you stuff that is dirty and damaged all the time.

i always refused loans of things, saying that I knew I'd either trash it, lose it or accidentally charity shop it. it helps that I am a complete fiasco, so this was all very believeable.
being given stuff to keep is different though - you can do what you want with it then.