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Original poster

DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY RE USE CLOTHES FOR THEIR NEXT CHILD?

127 replies

hifi · 10/07/2008 19:43

just wondering as i have saved everything worth saving since dd was 18 months. i have booked her into nursery for extra days next week to sort out the boxes the clothes are stored in.possibly having another girl early new year. will i really use it?

OP posts:
sweetkitty · 10/07/2008 21:02

I'm the same if DD3 ever decides to appear she has third hand clothes from her sisters. The little baby clothes hardly get worn and it's lovely to get them back out and see them on another baby. I did get her new vests and sleepsuits though, DD2 was queen of the exploding BF poo and I though DD3 deserved some new things.

misdee · 10/07/2008 21:03

i know. dd1 is the eldest girl out of all the girls and a bigger build than her cousins, so nothing gets passed to her.

dd2 has a huge collectionj of clothes though. she loves getting dd1 cast-offs, she gets all excited, though they are the same height so she doesnt get much.

fillybuster · 10/07/2008 21:09

Absolutely! In fact, dd is now wearing a lot of ds' baby clothes as it turns out that not every pair of jeans (for example) a 5 month old baby wears needs to have pink stitching.

In fact it was great to realise quite how much of his old stuff was fairly unisex - denim dungarees, jeans, tee-shirts, socks etc. And of course grobags, sheets etc - why on earth would you replace those? I did replace the vests and sleepsuits, but only because the vests were pretty minging (more exploding poos) and the sleepsuits were missing feet cos ds' were so big I had to cut them open...

Sadly, I have had to accept (unwillingly) that when if I dress dd in head-to-toe baby blue (or jumpers with trucks on) everyone assumes she's a boy, so I try to mix the blue stuff with pink items and sparkly hair grips!

misdee · 10/07/2008 21:10

actually am upset as i cant find the blue dungerees that dd1 had. they looks lovely with a long sleeved white vest on underneath them and a white cardigan over the top.

expatinscotland · 10/07/2008 21:11

I had a lot of fun doing the sort out of Dd1's clothes for Dd2 - hanging them out to dry, ironing, tarting some plain old sweatshirts up with ribbons and bagdes and such, putting some stuff in boxes by season for Dd2.

PeachyBAHons · 10/07/2008 21:11

i have clothes on their 4th child now! equally i like to buy some new

shame towaste nice things though- my sisters have boys so stuff gets passed about

quaranta · 10/07/2008 21:12

yes! i love seeing ds2 in ds1 stuff, brings back such sweet memories.. given away lots of stuff too to best friend for baby and then to nanny's son and some to oxfam.. must be said i couldn't resist buying er.. a few bits for ds2. keeping it all again...

andiem · 10/07/2008 21:13

I do a mixture of new and old
also feel very sentimental when I see ds2 in things ds1 wore

WeeBesom · 10/07/2008 21:21

Oh I agree using it again brings back lovely memories. Even if you still buy new things it will come in handy.

BronzeNemesis · 10/07/2008 21:24

My boys have worn passed on stuff and some has also been passed onto dd. I have bought about 5 things for dd we have been given so much. Shes now almost two and has way more choice in clothes than any of the rest of us (at least 3 childrens worth to choose from)

talilac · 10/07/2008 21:34

Sweetkitty - my DDs are 16m apart, and we've already had a few tantrums from DD1 when she recognises something DD2 is wearing.. "Thats miiinnnnee" etc

lizziemun · 10/07/2008 21:49

Yes

I have only thrown out clothes which are stained.

Once dd2 (not having anymore)has finished with them they have been passed onto someone else whose dd is 3mths younger.

I also clothes from sil as her 2 dd's are a few years older then mine.

Flum · 10/07/2008 21:51

Oh I want more more more daughters so I can see the gorgeous smock dresses, again, they just never get enough wear. Can't bear to give anything away. I keep everything, even grotty paint splattered t-shirts

Oblomov · 10/07/2008 21:53

Sorry is this a serious question ?
Or is it in jest ?
Of course you use them again.
Am I missing something here ?

ilovemydog · 10/07/2008 21:58

DS wears most of DD's old stuff.

DP though is fine with him wearing pink. But no pink flowers. I think this is reasonable.

procrastinatingparent · 10/07/2008 22:40

I love the fact that I hardly have to buy anything for DS2 and DS3 - the seasons don't quite fit so I sometimes have to replenish the wardrobe.

And although I only have 1 DD, friends have been so generous that this summer she has too many clothes and will never be able to wear them all. I have given literally half of them away to someone else rather than sitting unworn in the wardrobe.

And then I love passing them on to someone else when DS3 has finished with them.

Hand-me-downs are thrifty and ecologically sound - why wouldn't you?

KerryMum · 10/07/2008 22:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

unknownrebelbang · 10/07/2008 22:48

Yes.

Some even stretched to DS3.

ravenAK · 10/07/2008 22:56

Of course!

But agree with fillybuster that it's frustrating when a child not in head to toe frilly pink is assumed to be a boy. Dd2 was wearing red jumper & cream leggings today, handed down from ds via dd1 - a little girl at toddler group could not get her head around it being a girl baby!

zazen · 10/07/2008 23:12

Yes, I get a lot of clothes from my sister who lives abroad has 5 kids - 4 DDs and 1 DS. the clothes she sends in parcels are all different to clothes available here - so even if they do look a little scruffy - very rarely - they look different enough IYSWIM.

Jeans, tops and jumpers are unisex - I like to buy DD party dresses and I pass them on to friends also.

It's nice to see old photos of people in clothes you now wear O think and it gives Dd a thrill to feel included in her larger family.

I wear clothes I was given and loaned also!

I think I saved myself 4 years of clothes buying - hassle and money! Excellent!

Clary · 16/07/2008 00:30

Oh gosh yes.

DS2 has big brother and big cousin, not to mention DD's many male pals. Consequently he has 35 (count 'em) T-shirts in his drawer this summer and I very rarely buy anything new for him apart from occasionally socks, which do seem to wear out.

DD has pass-ons from a female pal of DS1's and also wears some of DS1's stuff. Sadly I have to buy new for DS1 (9) so he has a very small wardrobe

Have just this summer transferred a very favourite Boden T straight from DD to DS1 (it's a 5-6 - she is a skinny 7 and he's 5).

It has been worn every year in this house since DS1 was 4 - he's 9 now so good going I reckon. Agree with others, I love to see old faves reappearing.

Still looks like new btw.

DS2 had a coat that came from cousin and before that two brothers who are pals of his. It still looked fine.

RusselBrussel · 16/07/2008 23:11

Oh most definately! I have a ds and a dd, I save anything not-too-boyish from ds for dd. His jeans for instance, cargo trousers, plain coloured tops (dd looks lovely in navy blue ) and one particularly lovely sweatshirt depicting a dog on a skateboard.
Ds gets lots of clothes from his cousin and from my friend's ds.
Dd get lots of clothes from a friend's dd.
I love re-using clothes. It makes me feel 'right' if that makes sense.

Likewise, I pass the dc's clothes on to friends with dc at the right gender/age.

RusselBrussel · 16/07/2008 23:11

Oh most definately! I have a ds and a dd, I save anything not-too-boyish from ds for dd. His jeans for instance, cargo trousers, plain coloured tops (dd looks lovely in navy blue ) and one particularly lovely sweatshirt depicting a dog on a skateboard.
Ds gets lots of clothes from his cousin and from my friend's ds.
Dd get lots of clothes from a friend's dd.
I love re-using clothes. It makes me feel 'right' if that makes sense.

Likewise, I pass the dc's clothes on to friends with dc at the right gender/age.

RusselBrussel · 16/07/2008 23:13

oops sorry
And why is Clary 45 minutes later than it currently is??

RusselBrussel · 16/07/2008 23:14

oh gawd, sorry, Clary posted this morning, sorry, am not with it, pls ignore me...