Baby and toddler clothes are super expensive!

[MooseBreath]

DS is nearly a year old and is growing like a weed. Obviously I want to clothe my child. We don't have friends with children and family with children live overseas, so hand-me-downs is not an option.

Everywhere I look for clothes is so expensive! Surely children's clothing should be cheaper, given that it will only fit for a few months? I've tried supermarkets, but a a pair of trousers is like £10! The only affordable things I have found are the likes of PatPat, and I don't like the thought of using what I can only assume is fast fashion and child labour. It's horrible for the environment and human rights.

DS loves messy play and will typically wear 2 outfits per day (there is mud, paint, and food on everything...I don't mind stains, but draw the line if he's wet and sticky!), and we haven't got a tumble dryer, so need to line dry everything.

Where do you buy clothing for your kids?

I buy 90% of my kids clothing on ebay, Facebook selling sites or from local selling groups.

DS has gone to nursery today in a Tu t-shirt (5 for £12) and Asda joggers (£13 for 3). His coat was £12 on Amazon (a Hatley reduced from £40). My main tip is to buy things in the sales for the next year from places like Frugi and Jojo, then you can sell them on. I never sell supermarket stuff as it's so cheap brand new.

Multipacks from Asda are my base. I got vests, 2x3 packs of joggers, 2x2 packs of leggings, a pair of jeans, a load of long sleeved tops and a few jumpers/hoodies and this has seen DS through the winter. I do buy bits and pieces from elsewhere but I found Asda the cheapest and the quality is absolutely fine.

Supermarkets are cheap. Sainsbury's probably the most expensive and Asda the cheapest. Primark and pound shop for pep & co clothes are very cheap.

H&M can be quite reasonable and Next in the sales are great value.

Yanbu op in the sense that the cheapest multipacks people are referring to here can be really really plain and boring or heavily gendered. Not to mention it's annoying when you feel you should buy the cheap pack but two of the 5 tops are horrid sludgy brown or drab grey or a white you know will get filthy in minutes.

Unfortunately I think we were spoiled for a few short years with unsustainably cheap clothing driven by badly treated labour etc. The reality is for much of history clothes have cost relatively more.

Try local buy sell groups, preschool fair second hand stalls etc. Ebay & fbook marketplace no good imho & charity shops exist to make money from donations not provide inexpensive goods.

It’s a pain in the arse (sometimes it seems like all my “me time” is spent browsing for baby stuff) but you just need to regularly check Asda, Sainsburys/Argos and Next websites. I got a pack of 2 joggers for my 18 month old son from Sainsburys for £3 recently. I’ve bought better than half price Clark’s shoes from Next’s website.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Yanbu op in the sense that the cheapest multipacks people are referring to here can be really really plain and boring or heavily gendered. Not to mention it's annoying when you feel you should buy the cheap pack but two of the 5 tops are horrid sludgy brown or drab grey or a white you know will get filthy in minutes.

Unfortunately I think we were spoiled for a few short years with unsustainably cheap clothing driven by badly treated labour etc. The reality is for much of history clothes have cost relatively more.

Try local buy sell groups, preschool fair second hand stalls etc. Ebay & fbook marketplace no good imho & charity shops exist to make money from donations not provide inexpensive goods.

George isn’t plain well I can only speak for the boys section.

Sainsburys Tu does mid-season and end of season half price sales (actual 50% off not 'up to 50%') across all clothing ranges including baby+child 🙂

They also do 25% off events throughout the year although I don't know if they've been happening in Covid times.
The selection is often better instore as stock moves quickly online during their sales.
Size up one or more sizes for next year and consider the future season vs age 🙂

Maybe sign up to the Tu online newsletter to get a heads up, the sale can't be too far off (end of June/July?)

Oh I forgot Sainsburys sell clothes through Argos too! If you order via Argos click and collect is free for those smaller purchases.

Vinted!

Matalan!

M&S have dropped their prices recently and their children’s range is really good, with a lot of 3 for 2, which I get for my youngest 2DC (10 and 5 - 5YO is TALL and seems to grow an inch every few months!) along with H&M multipacks.

Eldest DC is 13 and spends most of her time wearing my clothes

What everyone else said - it gets harder as they get older because of knees wearing through etc. Though for mud, paint I’d be putting mine in a waterproof puddlesuit or rain resistant trousers and wellies - £7 from Aldi - rather than doing multiple outfit changes.

I tend to buy, say, multipack navy leggings from Tu or George, then especially come winter time tops can be anything because they’ll be covered by a jumper (which I’ll spend a bit more on and we’ll have 2-3), and a coat (bought in previous year’s sale).

It’s not a finance thing for me - we’re well off - I just like planning ahead and resent spending more on DD than on myself and DH combined.

Sweet pea preloved clothing bundles are amazing, and you can sell them your old stuff too

George Asda for new clothes
And I love the NCT baby sales for second hand bits that are in lovely condition (helpfully I don’t think they’re running at the moment but worth looking if your local area runs them- they sell clothes up to age 6 I believe!)

Primark asda matalan etc all cheap. I always shop in the sales for my dc aswell got loads from the Debenhams sale stuff for 6 pound each its knowing where to look.

Bundles from Facebook marketplace and eBay.

Why in the fuck anyone would buy new clothes that are only gonna fit for a couple of months is beyond me.

Supermarkets & primark sell cheap kids clothes, but better value still are charity shops, Facebook market place, eBay..,

Facebook marketplace, Sainsbury's (TU), Morrisons (Nutmeg) and lots of sales! I often buy the next age up in seasonal sales and save for my son to grow into and wear a year on.

Charity shop in a local less affluent town?

The one by my local post office sells ladies jeans for £2! They had a half price sale the other day and got topshop maternity jeans for £1!

Other local towns charity shops are more expensive but do tend to have a higher quality of donations generally.

Facebook marketplace or jumble sales?

Little pickles and NCT nearly new sales are your friend. The Little Pickles is starting up again, but you have to book.

Knee socks with bloomers are much more economical thank thighs for little girls. Knees heal; tights don’t. If you wear a petticoat or bloomers, you won’t feel the cold.

Ebay bundles are probably the cheapest way to get a range of practical clothes. Strangely charity shops don’t always have much for children but you can sometimes pick up something nice. If buying new, more expensive brands aren’t necessarily any more ethical. Except maybe for some ethical brands but they’re usually not cheap.

Look at Sainsbury multi packs. A pack of 3 leggings is £8

tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/c/kids/girls-multipacks?INITD=GNav-CWGirls-Multipacks&page=1

They used to regularly 25% off but they haven’t done them recently.

Had you never heard of Asda and Primark before OP?