To think no one should be buying new clothes for young kids?

[Roxietrees]

With apps like vinted etc there really is no reason for parents to be buying new clothes for, say, under 8s. They wear them for about 5 minutes before they outgrow them, and there is SO much choice on vinted, even if you care about specific brands and style, you can get anything you want super cheap and in great condition. New clothes for kids is SO wasteful, and fast fashion, especially is massively contributing to the destruction of the planet. Not to mention forced child labour. AIBU to think new clothes for children under a certain age should be banned? (as if that’ll ever happen though). If more specifically children’s second-hand clothing shops started popping up I think it’d really help

Clothes are often more expensive on Vinted.

Yes I did, but what does that have to do with Primark not using child slaves?

That's the post you've quoted 😳

I have a child who is fed by a G tube, I just went to Vinted, searched adaptive clothing in my child's age and a whole 22 items came up and not a single one of them was the bodysuits we need. Same with adapted tee shirts/tops, there were a couple of things and neither of them looked in the best of shape.

Apart from some new "popper" vests and sleepsuits my kids wore 2nd hand clothes almost all the time until they were about five or six. I wouldnt stop at just kids clothes though - the planet would be helped massively if more people quit buying the latest "essential" new stuff. Or at least buy less new, resuse/recycle more.

Second hand is only worth it for really good quality lightly used stuff. Loads of kids are going around in supermarket clothes and once they are nursery age they really get worn out before outgrown. I kept loads of stuff to hand down to the next dc and when I fetched it down from the loft every time about half of it wanted chucking out. A pretty summer dress or occasion wear or sports/outdoor clothing is one thing but it’s not worth buying F&F joggers that a 5yo has been skidding in his knees in for 8 months.

You do you OP, but I would never have put my DC in second hand clothes when they were young. Maybe if they were new with tags, but unlikely.

You know what, as much as I don’t do second hand, I was willing to pass on. I was top of the chain for a LONG time…I used to pass on all the lovely clothes to my cousins for their dc…literally everything. And then one day I noticed I was barely getting a thanks, and I was saving them an absolute fucking fortune, no one ever once thought to pay me back in some way shape or form. Like any little token gift would have been lovely. ( and I know not everything should be transactional) but this went on for years!! It’s like it was a given for them every time we met up I would pass on this lovely bundle of washed, pressed clothes…So I stopped and started putting the clothes into the clothes bank. Couldn’t be arsed with that.

Never been on Vinted, but most of my son’s clothes are hand-me-downs from his cousin / friends kids. I also pick up things in the charity shop. We buy pants, vests, shoes new.

I’ll sometimes pick up bits on sale, but we’re mostly pre-loved.

When mine were little, I could afford to buy quality new clothes (frugli, John Lewis, wheat, etc) and I did. Then kept them for the second child and later passed them on to friends. I’ve never bought from vinted or similar and never plan to - can’t be bothered with the faff of searching for cheap stuff. I’d rather pay more for things that last. Is there something wrong with that?

You're right. MY DAD has had second hand cloth nappies and underwear. After all, of your washing machine can clean poo off a dirty pair of pants of your own child enough for them to wear again, it can do the same for others.
99% of her clothes are donated back again/passed in (unless tatty etc)
However, I'll never donate DDs underwear, it is always cut up into strips and recycled... I don't want any dirty pervert getting hold of it.

It's just lazy consumerism that's all.

I don't think I've ever bought second hand clothes for my kids, but they do get all the hand-me-downs. Very occasionally they get some old clothes from their cousins, but on the whole I prefer to shop for clothes.

I also buy things that are big so they get a couple of years' wear out of them.

DD has a mix of new and vinted purchases in her wardrobe (I’m very picky with vinted though and always go very good / BNWT or BNWOT). I sell on things she outgrows to offset her next size up. Never buy shoes / underwear / socks pre loved.

By the time DS outgrows his clothes they are totally unwearable, stained, darned in multiple places and with holes over the holes. If nobody bought new clothes eventually the hand me downs would all wear out
and meanwhile all the companies that make children's clothes would have gone bust or stopped making them.

Yes, as the youngest of 5 kids, I had all the cloth nappies hand me downs.

AIBU to think new clothes for children under a certain age should be banned?

Banned?? This is so mental. 🤣

I went to Next yesterday and stocked up on shorts and t-shirts for my 3 children. Then got a few more bits in TU / Sainsburys. All brand new obviously.

Buying things from Vinted which comes scrunched up through the letter Box in a tatty old taped up carrier bag just isn’t the same.

so how would this actually work in practice?, have you thought any of this through?

Yes but... Presumably you wash all the clothes (new or otherwise) before wearing anyway, so they all come out the same anyway?

The quality isn't there anymore I had a babygrow that's 25 years old and been through three children I could put it on a baby tomorrow and it would look used but not dramatically so I have a couple that still look brand new (they are on bears in case anyone is wondering) but the clothes bought for ds3 (12) and ds2 (17) did not last as long as clothing bought for dd (25) infant the boys clothes often didn't get handed down they wore out but dd had some "boy" clothes they were good enough for all three and then the charity shop because they were still in good condition

Same Well, I used to when ds was small. Clothes around 6 years up for boys are rubbish, so boring!

At least half of the cloth nappies I used were second hand, and I sold them on after we’d finished. That was a great second hand experience.

With children’s clothes in the past 15 years, it was very much different than around 25 years ago. The fabrics used are so much thinner and more flimsy. They don’t retain their shape and colour nearly so well. They get holes where they meat the buttons and studs of jeans.
This means they are poor quality hand me downs or second hand purchases.

I have a nightdress made from T shirt material from the early 90s that is in better nick than the T shirt I bought last spring.

So, what's the difference between your brother's bum and another child's bum?

Lol how can I “take a strop” with a stranger on an anonymous internet forum?! If I was that prone to getting stroppy I wouldn’t last a second on MN 🤣 i really don’t care.

Just pants - direct contact with (very likely) shitty bums - other clothes no direct contact. It’s probably psychological. I dunno. Point is, I do my best for the world I live in. No one is perfect. Also it’s pretty hard to find second hand pants…probably for all the reasons I’ve just described. Ever seen a pair of Y fronts hanging up in your local oxfam?! No, didn’t think so. I imagine you’re searching Vinted as we speak to try and “prove me wrong” 🤣🤣
I reeeally can’t be bothered debating what kind of pants I buy my kid, especially with you. I’ve seen you before trying to deliberately wind people up on other threads and arguing about the most pathetically trivial things. It’s kinda sad. Night night 👋

That's exactly what I'm saying.

It doesn't make sense that the OP is happy to buy her DS secondhand jumpers that would've had snot washed off the sleeves and secondhand trousers that a kid may well have had an accident in, but she's refuses to buy him secondhand underwear because 'sweaty arse crack' 😳