To buy my baby toys from charity shops and vinted for his first Christmas?

[bargainlove]

I love charity shops & vinted & bootsales, always have. I get most of my own clothes and household stuff from there - I love searching for a bargain! My sons first Christmas is coming up and he will be 11 months old, we have got him a couple of new things (miss rachel teddy, vtech tv) but I’m buying the majority of things second hand. I just got a bundle on vinted for a wooden stacking toy, a wooden toy train, 2 wooden puzzles, 2 books and 2 pram toys for … £5!! With delivery that’s a grand total of £8, I seen a stacker toy in a shop today for £10 and it was plastic! I got a vtech driving wheel in a charity shop yesterday for £3. I got a fisher price learning chair for £3 (£35 new!!) in a charity shop and a toy ice cream cart on fb marketplace for £15 (60 new!!!) I will obviously giving everything a wipe down and clean. Is it wrong to wrap these up and give to him for Christmas? A friend of mine thinks it’s terrible and will only buy new for her dc for Christmas/birthdays, but I’ve always done this but now she’s made me feel bad

Don’t feel bad at all, doesn’t matter a jot that they’re second hand, much more sustainable and your baby won’t know to have an opinion.

Don’t say any more to your friend and your baby will neither know nor care that the toys aren’t new. They are new to your baby.

No it’s not unreasonable, he’s a baby so will have more fun with the packaging anyway!

Ignore your friend xx

Your baby really won’t mind.

Neither does my 10 year old who goes into school everyday with my £5 coat bargain that would cost £120 in the shops.

Just give em a good clean.

Honestly we always wrapped up stuff we were buying for the coming year anyway when DC were small before they really knew what was going on- so clothes etc as well as some toys. Second hand toys are great.

My girl is 4 and she still gets second hand things for Christmas. Not only second hand but if she wants something expensive or I just spot something she’d like in a charity shop, then it is. Her favourite birthday present this year was being given away free on a local Facebook group.

Brilliant parenting! Sustainability, money saving and a charity benefits. My grandsons at 10 and 8 - they don't care where things have come from if it's what they want. I also think there is a rather lovely vibe about pre-loved toys....

Absolutely. Everyone should do this!

My 6yo doesn't know or care, I don't think it matters until one or the other :) Brio, switch games, octonauts, and some things are only available second hand anyway. I like stuffies to be new though, but we're an allergy house. Save the money for later!

My kids always have second hand from vinted. At that age they don't know any different, but my oldest now knows all about eBay/vinted and asks to look for secondhand Lego on there as he knows his pocket money will go further! It actually pains me how much "stuff" there is already in circulation and yet people are still obsessed with new.

Your friend needs to mind their own business.

Lots of people do what you are doing, myself included. Baby will love the presents and you have not gone into debt for them. That’s all that matters

I have gravitrax for this Christmas for ds6 from our excellent kids only charity shop 2 minutes away, he's going to love it! It means our money goes further :) im also a vinted lover, ive sourced some special sylvanian items or nerf collectibles there 😅

I gifted both of my children age appropriate toys handed down from their older cousins for at least their first and second birthdays and Christmas’. We get a lot of ‘I had one of those when I was little’ in my house. What’s the point in buying new versions of the same toy.

DC1 is shortly turning 5. I will be looking at charity shops but also i am wrapping something he got for his 4th birthday that we never got round to playing with.

From.when my son was a baby and all while he was growing up we bought most of his toys and a lot of his clothes from the local Barnardos Charity shop.
It was a brilliant shop with really good quality childrens clothes and interesting , varied and unusual toys.
He was frequently admired for how nice he looked and he, and his pals, got a lot of pleasure from the toys.
So of course you aren't doing anything wrong buying his Christmas presents from the charity shop. You are doing your bit for the environment, supporting a worthwhile cause and your wee baby won't know the difference between new and second hand and will just enjoy them.

Tell your friend to shut her trap. We buy a lot second hand for DS, in fact his absolute favourite toy of the moment was £2.50 from a charity shop (was apparently about £50 new according to the internet) and isn’t for sale any more so he’d never have had the joy if it hadn’t been second hand! Our local zoo that we’re members of has a charity shop on site so when he’s a little older I hope to be able to get through the expensive exit gift shop with the promise that he can choose something / anything from the other shop!

YANBU. Your baby won’t care about the prices or where you bought them.

I’m heading to a Jack & Jill market tomorrow hoping to find some goodies for birthdays & Christmas.

Absolutely not. I bought second hand everything for my second and locked myself for not doing it either my first until he was older.

The best toy I ever bought was 50p in a table top sale. DC loved it. New batteries cost more than the toy! When he outgrew it I passed it on to someone at work - her dds loved it too - am pretty sure it got passed on again after that. Just do it! I only know one person who bought a brand new jumperoo too - dcs don’t know and it makes sense for your purse and the environment

just watch out once they’re older - at 4/5 I bought a second hand imaginext set that had one tiny accessory missing & ds was gutted…

Almost all my kids’ toys and most of their clothes came from charity shops for much of their childhood. They had fun and looked respectable. Of course YANBU.

This too! Whenever DS grows out of something, either clothes or toys, I donate or sell it and soothe my own sentimental regret with the thought of it bringing joy to another little one.

It's absolutely fine. I do similar. Why would you spend more for the same item when you don't need to.
However that is rather a long list of Christmas presents for a first Christmas. Don't forget baby will get things from relatives too. I made the same mistake in the early years and our house quickly became overwhelmed with toys and I found it just so much trying to keep things organised.

Very sensible! At that age they prefer the box anyway.

My DC are teens and I can’t remember what I got them for their first Christmases, and they certainly can’t!

My baby had almost everything from Vinted for 1st birthday. I think wooden toys especially look extra charming when they have been passed down a few times :) Some of my favourite memories when I was an older child were buying books from the second-hand store that had the "old book smell" from libraries!