to think a child doesn't need EVERYTHING brand new

[milliec]

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My DD loves the clothes she gets from the postman and she loves it when we send her dresses on to another little girl in America or Australia or somewhere.
She had one truly gorgeous dress that went to a lady in Japan and she sent DD a picture of her DD wearing it to her birthday party.
I give stuff to charity shops, I buy stuffthere too. And anyone who doesn't is missing one ofthe pure pleasures in life - a total bargain. Many of my friends both loaded and skint enjoy the charity shops and we can be quite competetive about who gets the best buys.
Especially enjoy taking an item bought from a charity shop back as a second generation donation

Most of DD's clothes have come from Ebay and are fantastic. Same with moses basket, cot, beautiful blankets etc. I think its great, really good quality and stuff I couldn't afford (or justify!) new. My bf is having a baby next month and much of it is being passed on again on the basis that I get it back if/when we have another one. I still have all the fun of buying some bits new, but don't have to get any of the boring rubbish.. whats not to like?

Brangelina - don't know about in Italy, but in the UK the "mixed bundles" of used children's clothes on ebay always seem to sell for decent money, even the ones that IMO are hideous..

When I was pregnant with first DS, I insisted on everything being brand new. I was really ridiculous about it and kick myself now to think of all that wasted money and kit. I make sure I recycle everything on to friends now but wish I had been more sensible then ... Just one of those things that you are so clueless about pre-kids.

My DS2 has not had a single item bought new (by us anyway! and we try and tell friends and family not to get him clothes!), it's all hand-me-downs form DS1. Why would 'one' do anything else?

It truly astonishes me how many clothes there are as well! Every morning I open up the chest of drawers, with rapidly growing DS2 making light work of everything, and it's like having new clothes all over again anyway!

she is mad.

when i sort out the girls clothes i sort into 4 piles. one to keep for next one, one to lend/give to sisters for their daughters, one for charity shop and one for the rag bin.

oh and i reguraly scout car boot sales, charity shops etc for the girls clothes. and nearly new sales. i bought 2 grobag sleeping bags for bump for £5 each last week. thats a saving of £20 on each one!

I gave away a lot of my sons baby/toddler clothes to the local womens' refuge. Sometimes the women and children arrive there in the middle of the night with just the clothes they are wearing. The lady who collected the clothes from me was delighted with them, as they always need spares.

How unbelievably ignorant the woman is who bins her childs clothes and how mean-spirited if she can't at least donate them to a charity, even if she only ever buys them new.

I wonder how many friends she will have from the nursery mums when this story gets passed around?

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This came up in conversation at my work when I was pregnant. I said that I didn't intend to buy terribly much new because my baby wasn't going to care if it was new or not. Several of the girls laughed at me and said in a sort of "knowing" way that I wouldn't feel like that when the baby arrived.

They were wrong! The only new things ds has (apart from shoes) have been gifts, or when I have been unable to find something suitable second hand.

YAsooooNBU!

This really irritates me. There was a poll on another baby board I frequent recently about who would buy stuff second-hand and nearly everyone was planning to buy everything new - it astounded me. The only thing we are planning to get new is a car seat and a cot mattress (and gifts) - cheaper and more ethically sound!

The only person I've ever met who refuses to take things to a charity shop is my gran, who really can't bear the thought of strangers benefitting from her cast-offs but she does at least pass them on to her granddaughters.

FAQ my DH also always wore secondhand, but it seems to have had the opposite effect on him, as he can barely pass a charity shop without popping in to look for clothes and spends every night scouring Freecycle

Bizarre - ds3 lives almost entirely in his brothers' old clothes! Even down to his pants

I must admit - I don't buy in charity shops or jumble sales but it's cost effective for me to buy good quality, new stuff for ds1 (and ds2) because it all gets worn by at least one younger child.

And I am hoarding moses basket, bouncy chair, gro-bags, snow suits etc for a niece or nephew if my brothers ever get their act in gear! I could be making a blardy fortune on ebay!

Her attitude is unbelievable, am and at her throwing away good clothes!
My PFB has been given a Moses Basket, for which I bought bedding from eBay, a pushchair and car seat and some clothes by DH's DB and DSIL. I and MIL have bought ds some lovely clothes from charity shops - today I bought him the cutest pair of dungerees and a knitted lined zip cardi from a charity shop. I've kept some of his outgrown stuff for a theoretical dc2, the rest has gone to charity. And DH and I aren't exactly poor, we could afford to buy everything new but what's the point when people are giving us such lovely and well looked after stuff?

I have never knowingly turned down a hand-me-down anything!

dd is the fourth baby to have used the same cot and all the bedding [proud]

My DD is nearly always in blue as she inherited everything from her 2 cousins (boys!) The only thing we had new was car seat and pram cos my sister sold her pram...... Love the softness of the sleepsuits from my nephews. Can't believe the response of this woman!?

some of dd's clothes have been dd1+2's, and 3 neices before her as well.

the only thing that occurs to me now is that maybe the lady in question was like me. i came from an extrememely poor family and i had the misfortune to have three older sisters. As a consequence I was bought my first ever new dress when I was 12. And as I lived in a small village every party etc was filled with people saying 'oh you look sweet - isn't that sister a's dress' or 'oh I loved sister b in that'. Equally they were pretty tired looking by the time i got them.
TBH as I got older i resentedf the situation although I understood we were poor.Especially when biggest sister got her new clothes .
Anyway it has never stopped me buying from ebay etc but i can see how others might avoid in similar circs.
( it has however resulted in my daugther having the biggest wardrobe you have ever seen.
I know it isn't good but i do feel when i look at her clothes.

I have clothes for my dc from all over the place, MN, ebay, charity shops, neighbours.

The girls stuff gets worn by my dd's and then if it is any good it gets passed on again to another neighbour LOL.

I buy Dd1 alot of new stuff because I want it to last for her and Dd2, but poor dd2 rarely gets anything except handmedowns.......poor thing NOT.

I have found twice now that people who have turned their noses up at second hand clothes, are those that can actually not afford to be so stuck up about it.

What a terrible waste of money to throw the clothes away......... My sons clothes are 70/80% second hand either charity shop, ebay or hand me downs from kind friends. Luckily he isnt into "labels" but has by pure fluke currently got some quick silver, ben sherman and naff naff not that they mean anything to him. Perhaps someone could suggest the mum gave the clothes to a Homestart centre or somewhere similar which i know would really appreciate the clothes!!!

Forgot to add i pass all ds's clothes to friends for their ds's when he has outgrown them!

well, if i'd known about Freecycle before DS was born last spring...half of what we own I wouldn't have even bought, I would have just got it on Freecycle.
second hand goods are better for the environment. theres always going to be people with a narrow minded attitude out there...