To buy baby clothes from Ebay?

[memoo]

Long story short, I'm pregnant with my 3rd, baby isn't due til sept but we are absolutly broke, struggling to pay the rent let alone buy new baby things.

So I decided to start buying a few little things each week from ebay. I've bid on some babygrows and a pramsuit, both used but look lovely and clean.

I was casually telling a work colleague about it today and she turn her nose up when I told her I was getting stuff from ebay. She said she "would never put her baby in second hand clothes" and "you don't know where they've come from" she went on to go on about how baby clothes aren't really expensive anyway etc etc

Maybe I'm being over sensitive but she made me feel really bad, as though I was getting second best for my baby but the way I look at it is that the baby won't know or care and newborns are only in stuff for 5 minutes so even second hand stuff will have lots of wear left in them.

Like I said, maybe I am being over sensitive (pregnancy hormones are raging) but she has made me feel like I'm not doing the best for my baby.

Is it really so bad to get second hand clothes for a new baby?

christiana I cant do the link but if you google it the figures were published last sept.

Honestly I am really interested in this. Am I the only person ( apart from Dicksbird ) to have considered finances and how many children we could afford ?

no1andno2 - are you deliberately missing the point? memoo had an unplanned pg that went wrong and then felt that another baby would help heal the wound of that loss. I hardly think finances are that relevant in her situation, especially as she is not "sponging off the state", as you seemed to imply she would be.

This report from 2007 says about $7500 (US Dollars) per student in the UK (across primary, secondary and tertiary education)

its on page 170

I would be VERY interested to read any evidence of any children having contracted diseases from second hand clothes. Anyone got any?

the most likely transfer would be lice as they lay eggs in seams - not very common these days, thankfully!

Memoo - don't bite mate.

Of course, YANBU. Ebay, Charity shops and hand-me-downs are a great way to save money and help the environment And my offer still stands too (and I MEAN it young lady!!).

Ignore those veering away from your OP ...it's not worth wasting your energy on

No1and2 - it's pretty irrelevant whether or not anyone's taxes pay for their child's education, because said education is a state investment in the future taxable potential of that child, no? Not to mention their contribution to the economic and social welfare of the country in the future - if only the rich had kids, we'd all be completely screwed within a generation. And even if you do calculate it on parental income, kids only need state education for 14 years tops, whereas a working lifetime is 45 years - cumulatively, taxes are likely to cover it. Besides, isn't there a moral argument in educating and providing healthcare - isn't it right that everyone should be educated and healthy, regardless of parental income?

And then of course there's the argument that nobody deserves a 6 figure salary no matter what they do, and are benefiting from pay/class inequalities structured into our society, and then being pious about the hard choices faced by those disadvantaged by said rigging of system. And then the other argument that most people earning 6 figure salaries are contracting out the majority of their childcare, so are in glass houses when critiquing the parenting choices of others - just as someone benefiting from the right to choose an abortion is being pretty obnoxious in tutting about the opposite choice.

Of course, there is the option of accepting that someone who loves their kids and does the best for them has the right to have them, be that cared for almost exclusively by a nanny, or dressed in Ebay finds and with a struggle to pay for the roof over their head. That's the option I would tend to go with.

good post Qally!

no1 and 2 - What has finances got to do with buying clothes off ebay? As I 'said' before I could probably afford new clothes for my baby but i would rather buy from ebay - clever are'nt I?

No 1 and 2 - i have just read your early posts. It is easy to judge when you earn a 6 figure salary isn't it?

So basically if you are not affluent you should not have more children but if you are in a highly paid job (no doubt you don't see much of your LOs) it is ok because you can afford it?

Money rich and time poor spring to mind. Rant over.

Babies are in clothes for such a short time that it makes sense to buy 2nd hand. I have spent about £50 on baby clothes on ebay and saved myself about £200.

Of course if your colleague is made of money then she is free to spend on new clothes but she shouldn't look down on you.

as for thinking they are dirty, 2nd hand clothes are washed on average 3-4 times before the new owner wears them.

Excellent post qually and everyone else too.

Plonker you are right! and TBH if somebody is really stupid enough to think that only welthy people should have children then their opinion doesn't really matter anyway

what utter poppy cock memoo and happybeing me.

I never suggested that only wealthy people should have children. I was absolutely broke when I had my two. But then I stopped.

What I do advocate is a sense of social and economic responsibilty.

Being absolutely broke and hardly able to afford the rent to me is not an environment that is condusive to more children. The OP and DP have 4 between them already.

As women we all have a burning desire / need to continue to procreate me included. Its human nature.

OP. You felt you were being judged at work by your colleague. You came here for support and by and large you got it. Don't expect everyone to agree with you rich or poor. Thats not real life.

Yes, but memoo didn't ask whether you thought she was displaying a good sense of social and economic responsibility no1andno2 - she asked if she was being unreasonable to buy her baby's clothes from Ebay.

Who are you to question whether or not she should bring another life into the world??
Memoo and her DP work hard and provide for their children and whether she has 1 dc, 5 dc's or 10 dc's has nothing to do with you! ...Or have I missed the line where she asked you to buy her baby's clothes off ebay for her ...??

I had nearly all second hand clothes when mine were babies. They were lovely and hardly worn and babies don't care what they wear! I don't see any point in wasting money.
Save it for when they are teenagers and are very fussy!

I'm expecting DC1 (8+3) and have already bought some maternity items on Ebay. I'll probably supplement with some new items if needed but why bother for work clothes etc when I'll be wearing them for 9 months or so. Plus I can buy way more for the same money!

On the baby clothes front, once the first scan is out the way, I'll probably be bidding against you . I don't see any point spending lots of money on tiny babygros that our baby might not even fit in. I'd rather save our money and buy a few new things once they're bigger and will get more wear out of it. I'm even planning on buying second hand reuseable nappies

In fact, we're not even painting the spare room (it's white with one green wall)!! Baby won't care.

Hah, feel free to tell your colleague I put my son in nothing BUT second hand clothes! They grow so fast there's really no point in anything else unless you have a very generous family.