To reuse girls clothes on a boy

[BubsMaw]

Hi all, I'm new around here and this is my first post, here goes...

I have a DD (4yo) and a baby DS. I have all of DD's clothes in great condition, available for reuse, but in varying degrees of girlish colours/styles. Where should I draw the line in reusing them? If I had only my own opinion to consider I'd reuse the whole dang lot, as I hate waste and don't like to reinforce gender stereotypes (a lot of her baby stuff is fairly neutral, but as she's got older she's preferred very girly pinks, dresses etc). My main concern is that I don't want DS to look back with embarrasment or resentment, but I'd be gutted to buy the whole lot over again.

To be specific, what do you think of a boy using the following... pink vests/bedding/PJs - nobody will see them? Jeans with little flower detail, or brown clothes with pink trim, lilac wellies, pink bike/scooter - cost a fortune! etc. Thanks!

After my 3rd daughter we gave nearly all the clothes away. We weren't going to have any more kids. Then i changed my mind and Ds came along. We had to buy new clothes. His first clothes were neutral bright because those were what i liked. Then i got some more boyish things. Now he's a toddler i'm getting bored of sludge coloured clothes. I am thinking of getting some pink t shirts and polo shirts etc that I've seen.
I would reuse what you can. Really wouldn't use frilly dresses though. Bit uncomfortable!

Having said that swapping clothes between genders is fine, I did used to feel a bit sorry for my colleague's daughter (born after her son). She was always dressed in her brother's clothes(unfortunately tatty-looking). And they looked very 'boyish' with logos and so on, not these lovely gender-neutral browns, reds and greens everyone goes on about (but mysteriously I can't find in any of the cheap shops I go in!) She always looked grubby too, and I always felt a bit sorry for her, it was as if they couldn't/didn't want to be bothered adapting to her being a girl and the overall effect wasn't great.

There's a big difference between picking out the more neutral stuff, dyeing other stuff and mixing it all in with a pair of jeans, and simply putting your girl in your clearly gender stereotyped boy's clothes, IMO.

The worst place for gender stereotyped colours has to be Clarks shoes. Last year, there were no sandals that weren't pink, white, silver or lilac in the (admittedly small) local shop. Don't even get me started on why white is not appropriate for everyday shoes for little girls who like to run about in the park, climb things and generally participate normally in life. Perhaps my over-loud complaining (I went in several times to huff) was heeded, as I noticed this year they had some cute navy and red sandals. Then I saw the price and settled for pink Doodles...

I so agree, SeasideLil. I can't stand Clarks! They're outrageously expensive, the shoes are dull and horribly gendered, and they only give you the size your child is at that time so they grow out of them almost instantly. That's fair enough, I understand the point of having shoes properly fitted, but then why make them so expensive??

DS looks so cute in his sisters purple cords. and her purple fleece (lined in pink) though these things aren't obviously irls things (unless you look closely)

i think with tinies too small to be attacked by unkind comments, it really doesn't matter.

though in terms of large items we haev kept it pretty unisex (but this is as much my dislike of intense pinkery as a wish to re-use everything on DS)

DS has worn some of his sisters stuff though i did deliberatley buy neutral babygrows as i was planning on reusing them.

I have 22 months between my dd and ds and i buy boys t shirts for dd (so the are proper t shirt shape not skimpy necks and sleeves) in bright colours with characters on they like (sesame street/mr men etc) and then pass them down to ds. Works well for me.

I also bought plain jeans some boys and vertbaudet girls ones and they have both worn them. And plan ahead when buying expensive things like all in one waterproofs (we go for red) and trikes/rollerskates then they can be passed down

I would just use it again. I really cannot think that the odd pair of jeans with some flowers on is going to scar a boy for life. Prob wouldn't use the frilly dresses but hey, if nothing else was clean...

And if the pink thing really bothers you, just buy some Dylon machine dye in bright blue and green and dye the lot of it. Do a third of the stuff in the blue wash, a third in the green wash and the rest in both for a nice turquoisey colour. This will cost approx £15 plus a large packet of salt and the cost of running the washing machine.

I was recently asked by a fellow parent how old my DD was. 3mo, I answered, and he's a boy. Oh, she said, I thought he was a girl because he was wearing white.

Eh? Since when has white been a girls only colour?

OP, YANBU, my DS has some 'girls' clothes with pink trim or pink motifs. He's a baby. It doesn't matter.

Ive got a loft full of dd's old clothes, so we are ttc a girl at the mo! Failing that the first 0-9 months worth are creams/whites/lemons anyway then its pink pink pink up till 18 months, then its red red red. Ive looked at some of the jeans and green and blue things and wondered if they would be ok and why do they give them a frilly trim! I think i would put a boy in them on days we wouldnt be seeing anyone and would def go for the vests and pjs. When we opted for bedding we went for gender neutral anyway and a lot of the toys are too, tho tbh dd loves playing with cars and dinosaurs so we give her a variety and try not to gender stereotype and altho her scooter is pink her trike is blue - chosen in that colour for the reason that girls do get away with blue more than boys get away with pink and thats just the way it seems to be in society. The only reason i try and avoid putting dd in blue is because her hair is taking ages to grow and she can look like a boy sometimes in blue. I have to admit that with a lot of the purchases ive made for toys i have considered the colour and have often opted for something that would easily suit a boy as well as a girl.

My ds spent much of his first year in white and pink thanks to lots of hand-me-downs. He's only 19 months but it seems that red and white are deemed 'girly' colours nowadays - people assume he's a girl a lot.

I did wince a bit yesterday when I realised I'd got out with his pink sippy cup (I got 3 in different colours so I know which one is clean), pink dummy (god knows where all the others went) and he was waving a pink spoon (from Baskin-Robbins, I think) - I think some people on the train thought I was making him some experiment. And he's currently in his pink grobag as his nice one is in the wash.

Why is it that cheap clothes are hugely gender-stereotyped and only posh ones come in a range of bright colours? Will the green and orange and purple clothes filter down to Primark and Adams and QS soon? Oh well, back to Ebay...

I'd go for whatever you are comfortable with - DS goes to bed in a pink Grobag and loves his lilac Dora wellies. He was wearing his pink sun hat today too.

I always think people who have a problem with this are overcompensating - or ignorant!

ignorant yes if you think you can 'turn' a child gay by putting a boy in pink - that was a ridiculous comment further up. I agree with a lot of people that there is a lot of stuff you can get away with but as they get a bit older not so much, toys - yes but clothes - no. I think to be a fair if i had a boy he would deserve some nice new clothes like what his sister had and I would want to buy new clothes for him. The older children get the more choosy they get, my dd who is 3 took off her green top that she had under her dress the other day, just did not like it at all. Was looking in dd drawer this morning and pulled out some red cords that could easily be used on a boy but the red minnie mouse top, no i wouldnt put a boy in that. Tho if you like to get arts and craftsy, hand and foot prints in paint and all that and you need some old clothes to dress ds in then some of the clothes could be handy for that. It made me laugh when a neighbour went to surestart to play with gloop with her baby, he was only 3 months old and they said to put him in old clothes. Old clothes??? he was 3 months old! Tell you what i did with some of dd old clothes, I cut squares out and made a patchwork quilt. I did one in pinks and one in whites and yellows for dd to give to a new sibling as a gift. Nice keepsakes. Tho once im finished with all the baby clothes I will check out ebay or pop them in charity bags.

Bossy, I'm fairly sure that 'gay' comment was a joke!

My DS is my PFB and has pink boots because there were no blue ones left when we went to the shop (wonder why - because half the girls are dressed in blue as it is a more hand-me down-acceptable colour??)

He likes them, no problem! I have had one comment (from an 8 yr old boy) which I think I dealt with successfully

Personally I'd use the neutral stuff but not anything obviously decorated or coloured in a 'girly' style.

While there is obviously nothing life-threatening about dressing a boy in girls clothes I would find it boring and tiresome having to continually correct people on my baby's gender. I'd find it odd to see an adult dressed in clothes designed for the opposite gender (unless they're making an obvious social/gender statement, e.g. transvestism)

Plus, I quite enjoy shopping for baby clothes and will find any excuse to buy more . Plenty of great quality stuff can be found on ebay or at FARA Kids if you don't want to buy new.

A joke? Not necessarily as I know people in RL who DO say the same thing - tho admittedly they are mainly people of an older generation who believe HIV can be caught from toilet seats and kissing and they do genuinely believe that and they also believe you can 'turn' children gay and would be disgusted at seeing a boy playing with a doll. Tho my friends dh who is in his 30s - altho not homophobic necessarily, doesnt like his ds playing with his sisters typically girly toys and tells him off for dressing up in girls pink dress up outfits and is always telling him he should be playing football and playing with the boys and not the girls at school. So altho the person who posted that may be joking there ARE people who think that being gay is a lifestyle choice and I find that offensive as although dressing boys up in girls clothes or dressing girls in boys clothes wont turn them gay you can influence their attitudes. Children arent born with prejudices they learn them from their parents.

DD is wearing some boy clothes and often gets mistaken for a boy (8 months but limited hair!). Some hand-me-downs and some sale stuff (boys jeans when girls not in the sale). Plan to reuse vests etc if we have another but prob not things mostly pink. Will try a few items and gauge reactions!

You could paint the scooter/bike or buy stickers for it to make it more boy coloured if it becomes an issue.

In my opinion only, I would personally stick to only reusing the sleep suits and pyjamas.

My daughter has a couple of boys tops which I bought because I liked them but I always make sure that they are teamed with something girly, like pink or lilac trousers. This is also due to limited hair- she is only 6 months

I would only reuse things in a neutral colour tbh.

I would never dress my son im a dress or something very girly because I just don't think it's necessary. You can always find someone to swap clothes with or sell on ebay and buy boys instead.

YANBU. I would re-use most things (though would probably draw the line at dresses ) and would certainly hand down pink toys / bikes etc to a boy.

And another vote for getting out the Dylon! I dyed a lot of DS's babygros and t-shirts because I was fed up with pale blue, and he ended up with some nice bright green and purple stuff instead! They're usually cotton, so the dye takes really well, and you could get some lovely bright red, purple or brown clothes by dying pink...

If you're feeling crafty (and if you could be bothered!) you could also applique something over the hearts and flowers motifs on trousers - patches of gingham, or felt shapes, maybe? (Because of course with a 4yo and a baby you'll have loads of spare time )

Bubsmaw,I'm with you on this one and agree with wuglet and nelly, I have both a DD and a younger DS and I have reused quite alot her clothing. DS wears tights too which were just girls tights in plain colours such as blue and white etc, supermarket bought!
He went through a sort of "pink phase" around age 4 which was quite funny, fairy wings etc but has grown out of it.
The most amusing memory I have was of DDs birthday party which had an Alice in Wonderland theme. DD dressed as alice and she persuaded DS, then 4.5 to be the "white rabbit" but she did not mention it until the day before the party. This left me with no time to get a costume for him so DD and I put our heads together and made up his costume which consisted of DDs white leotard with the addition of a crudely attached fluffy tail, white tights and a borrowed pair of floppy rabbit ears on a headband. DS did not, to my surprise, make a fuss as I had expected, I know, very cruel but he did look so cute!

Personally I would bin it all up take it to your next NCT NNS and then buy a whole load of new stuff from there for your son..

NO I would not put a boy in jeans with flowers or pink you say you hate stereo typing yet you are not describing unisex clothing here so please ask yourself is it stereo typing you mind or what you see to be a waste? if the latter do my first suggetion

Get all the girly pink clothes and die them with Dylon black dye. I did this with my dd1's clothes and most turned out ok with varying degrees of blues and purples.