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

Is your 4 year old your oldest child? If so then YABU. Come back when your child is 10 and let us know how many clothes you can pass down. My eldest is now 10 and often wears out clothes before he outgrows them these days. I often have to buy new joggers for his younger brother because the knees in them get worn out beyond repair.

I don’t think either of my children have outgrown something within 6 months since they were about 3, although I’m sure that’ll change with the teenage growth spurts. I usually size up when buying clothes so they have growing room.

I think a better target, would be better recycling of fabrics which are unusable in their current form, for example into Rayon. I live in a large city and can't find anywhere where you can do this.

And that is your privilege right there. Some people don’t HAVE an extra £1.10 per item. Some people don’t have family and friends to gift their child things.

Some people have multiple children and will buy new for the biggest one and then use the same clothes on their subsequent children.

Some people have children who have SEN or physical disabilities meaning only certain brands might suit their needs so the supply of second hand goods aren’t so readily available.

Some people have children who are very hard on their clothes meaning that second hand clothes won’t last them as long as they came with some wear already.

Some people were brought up in extreme poverty or neglect and didn’t have new things of their own growing up, so it matters deeply to them to provide that for their children.

If you want to buy secondhand for your children then you crack on. Personally I buy a mix of new and secondhand. But it is absolutely none of your business what others choose to do for their children.

My baby girl will be my only child and I’ll buy her whatever I want. Took me years to conceive and for years I wanted nothing more than to do “normal” parent things like going clothes shopping for a child I thought I could never have. I won’t be shamed for buying new clothes. I’ve given away all of her clothes for free that she’s already grown out of

I thought about this as I can often find nice stuff on vinted for my eldest but she loves to dress up and it is a nice day out for us to go to the shops and her pick out an outfit herself in person. Also, I often feel bad buying nice stuff for myself if she only has second hand as she probably gets more wear per item than I ever do! Lastly, we didn’t have much growing up so I want my kids to enjoy the luxury a bit too if it is something they enjoy.

Don’t self righteous, completely certain posts like this make you want to buy everything in Primark for a few seasons? Honestly, why does OP get off being so ignorant and controlling?

Nope. Not a chance. No judgement from me about where you get your bits from, but I’ve got massive issues over second hand stuff. I don’t want it in my house. I’d rather go without.

The quality of the clothing at our school second hand sale is utterly shit. Stained. Ripped. Really not fit for wearing again.

DS gets a mix of new stuff and second hand stuff from charity shops and Vinted.

Generally the stuff he wears is cheap, by the time he's done with some of it it's not really worth having. The rest ends up passed to family members or, particularly with football boots, goes up on Vinted.

He has a lot of school uniform, he'd get a new batch at the start of the year and typically it's replaced as he grows. 4/5x shirts, jumpers, trousers so they're only worn once or twice a week. It's usually the trousers that come off worse if they last the year. DS was packed off to school with big bags of jumpers and shirts not long ago. Anything not worth having had already gone in the bin. The school said they're used for spares and for parents who might need help with them. We're just glad they get used.

I buy loads for my youngest on Vinted, but usually brands I know retain their quality well - Frugi, Little Green Radicals, Maxomorra, etc. The trick is to search a brand you like, find a decent priced item and look at what else the seller is selling and buy a bundle. I rarely order for anything fewer than 4-5 items at a time to save on postage and fees. It’s unusual for me to pay more than £10-£15 all in for 5 items (often cheaper than a single T-shirt from one of the brands above new).

But I do also think there’s a place for new too and a balance can be struck.

Probably enough in circulation for now though. People can just buy new when it’s needed I.e when they start struggling to find second hand…

If no one buys new clothes, where do the pre owned come from?
I had 3 sons and always handed down what I could, but my eldest often trashed his before he grew out of them
its a ridiculous idea to Ban anything let alone new clothes for kids
i buy almost exclusively pre owned clothes and footwear for myself but I stopped growing as a teen.

@Roxietrees I used to buy some second hand clothes when my son was a baby up to the age of 2 because you could find plenty of stuff in great condition. Now he's older the majority of clothes I buy are new because it's more convenient - i do 1 shop online per season, then I sell alot of his old clothes second hand. I find now he's 4, most of his clothes end up with holes, stains as he's very active and always on the go. I buy ski clothes and waterproofs secondhand because so many people buy ski outfits for a 1 week holiday and they never get worn again. I do buy the majority of toys and all books second hand. I think for alot of parents unless you can find a second hand bundle of clothes it's not very practical to trawl through vinted and eBay trying to find multiple items. And personally I like to feel the fabrics and check the quality these days not to mention of some stores are completely inconsistent with sizing like Zara or Jojo maman bebe so I'd be put off buying something I couldn't return.

I have bought second hand ever since I saw Stacey Dooleys Fast Fashion documentary. It had a big impact on me. My children love a charity shop. I buy most of my clothes on Vinted.

I assume the OP is a vegetarian who doesn’t use single use plastic and walks everywhere, otherwise it’s a bit hypocritical talking about the destruction of the planet.

Just another post to shame parents. Because life isn’t hard enough, we must be shamed for buying sleepsuits from Asda!

I buy the vast majority of our clothes second hand. The exceptions being underwear, socks, and when school send reminders about the “wear this random thing tomorrow” and then it’s a quick dash to Asda to try and find something. My kids seem to have sharp knees as they always get holes in them. But I’ve never struggled to find them stuff on Vinted in good as new condition

When ours were small and MNet was all fields, there was no vinted, etc. Friends and family used to pass stuff down. We had super hand me downs and gave super hand me downs too. It was nice to know the provenance of stuff.

I didn't have to buy dd uniform until she was about 8 and the friend who gave me the girl stuff took my boy stuff

I have to be honest, I wouldn't buy from vinted or charity shops. I don't want a frock or top that's been around somebody else's armpits. Trousers would be worse.

Unlikely that the factories will still be in existence though, if everyone stops buying from them.

I dont have kids but all my clothes are new i dont like vintage and charity shops well in my town buying new is cheaper.
All my old clothes go to the charity bin anyway.

If i had kids sorry to say it but it would be all new because i got fed up with hand me downs as a kid.

I'm leaning towards YABU.

Nearly everything my 5yo owns is second hand and I spend a lot of time (and money) on Vinted, and pass on or sell her old clothes, unless they are in poor condition, in which case they are recycled at the nearest clothes bank.

However, sometimes I see something nice new and buy it for her because she likes it. I'm also not going to pay an extra £3 postage for something that's worth £1-2 if I bought it new in a shop. I bought her school blouses on Vinted but they were new with tags, but if I hadn't found the ones I wanted new on Vinted I'd have bought new because she deserves to go to school, at least in September, in pristine uniform like everyone else. Her summer dresses were new because I couldn't find ones I liked in the colour she needed (pink) on Vinted.

I think you're being a bit judgey and also forgetting that shipping small packages around the UK isn't great for the environment either.

YABU. I had few new items of clothing as a child. It's not what I wanted for my children. It hasn't ruined them or made them snobby about second hand clothing, they will happily buy from vinted.

I

For every £1 you do not spend I'll gladly spend £10 on new clothes ;)

I literally can't give away my child's clothes away, I've asked so many people who were having babies, they were all practically brand new. Nothing fancy, but all good clothes. Many people don't want second hand clothes. It probably doesn't help that things are so cheap to buy new, but also things are such poor quality that they'd probably only go through two different cycles of children. Personally I'd after not waste money on clothes when it can be spent on something more important.

Tended to buy new for my DC, with some outgrown clothes from older cousins. Passed on the clothes to friends who had younger children, but only if they were hardly worn and still in good condition.

When my kids were little (a long time ago😀) I did a mix of new and car boot/charity shops for them. Mil worked for a well off family whose daughter was a little older than my dd so she was given some lovely items to pass on to me.
I always bought new shoes for them.
I wouldn’t buy second hand knickers for myself (does anyone?) so always new for my kids.