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Original poster

Where to draw the line with babyhood mementoes?

13 replies

beetlejuice73 · 02/04/2006 20:58

Just moved house and am trying to clear out - determined not to move again with so much junk. The baby things are hard to get rid of, (quite apart from not having given up hope of having no. 2)
Obviously there are baby shoes, but that means the very first shoes and then also the first shoes that she really walked in.
Outfits that she looked particularly gorgeous in.
First snowsuit - because it was adorable
And then there's the Moses basket. The list could go on.
I can't cart this stuff around indefintely. What have you kept?

OP posts:
lunavix · 02/04/2006 21:02

so far have kept just about everything. Have culled clothes (basically got rid of anything that isn't next or gorgeous) have sold buggy as was falling apart.

Using swinging crib and then cot for new baby who's due august. Been told its 80% likely a girl so buying girls clothes and if its a boy it'll have to wear the good stuff of ds's.

Friend has huge round hatbox type thing from disney store for each child, put in good pictures shoes etc and said she'll draw the line when it's full. Having said that she's kept their cots prams everything all up in the loft. Bar one or two outfits she's sold all the clothes.

I have a box for ds mementoes but he's two in two weeks and it's nearly full...

busybusybee · 02/04/2006 21:05

I have a bag of stuff I cant bear to get rid of yet as well.
Re the moses basket - I have dicovered that if you take off and chuck the canopy part, the actual basket makes wonderful underbed storage :o

Nbg · 02/04/2006 21:13

I have a couple of memory boxes. One is as big as a shoe box and the other is a bit smaller. They are full.
I've kept first dummy, hospital notes, hand and foot casts, christening gown, the dress she wore when dh and I got married, umbilical stump and clip Blush and first shoes.

We've kept all her clothes too and other baby things which we'll use for this baby when it comes in august but as we're having a boy this time the clothes will have to be sorted out cos we can't keep them all.

aardwolf · 02/04/2006 21:31

almost nothing... but I'm not a very sentimental person, and I love the feeling of liberation when I get rid of things.

Piggiesmum · 02/04/2006 21:43

Nbg - don't be Blush about the umbilical stump and clip. I've kept ds's too.

Original poster
beetlejuice73 · 02/04/2006 22:03

I'm not normally sentimental either aardwolf. But the baby things affect me differently. Perhaps because I know that she may well be the only one. Also, I think that the current mementoes will have to be superceded by other, newer mementoes, before I can get rid of them.

OP posts:
nannyme · 02/04/2006 22:49

I have kept the lot and caused myself much grief carting it about from house to house as we have moved several times in the last 6 years since we had children.

I have umbilical cord and clamp, first birthday helium balloon - now deflated, all cards, hair cuttings, even wrapping paper from birthdays!

I HATE my need to keep this stuff - I wish I could be free from it!

Sherbert37 · 02/04/2006 23:02

One box each from Ikea, not quite full but they are now 13, 11 and 8. Also kept the umbilical clamp, much to my DCs amusement. It's schoolwork that I find difficult to throw away. We don't have a video camera and was suddenly quite sad the other day that I can barely remember them all when they were babies and have nothing to look back on except photos.

serenity · 02/04/2006 23:23

As part of their christenings DCs got a small suitcase (originally holding three complete changes of clothes, towel, olive oil, soap, cross and other things I've probably forgotten) I've used these to hold momentoes as they've grown. They can hold a fair amount , but I've tryed to be a bit picky,

Off the top of my head DS1 at least has
birth announcement card,
new baby cards we got from friends and family
christening invitation and cards, and a bonbonniere
christening outfit
birthday cards up to about 5 years
examples of school work/pictures etc
a few deflated balloons (new baby/christening/1st birthday)

Now he's 8 we don't bother keeping birthday cards (not sure why we kept the first 5 years tbh!) and I'll just add special things as we go.

I don't have anything of mine from when I was little. My Dad moved us as a 'surprise' for my Mum whilst she was in hospital for 7 weeks when she was pg with my sister. He left loads of family stuff behind (loads of sentimental stuff of my Mums too - she was not amused!) Even if my children have no interest in this stuff as adults I want to keep it for them anyway.

serenity · 02/04/2006 23:23

tried

rarrie · 03/04/2006 10:05

For my DD (now 2) I have kept:

Her coming out of hospital outfit and Naming day outfit.
Her first drawing and first painting
Her book with what she did at nursery. I kept it up to one year as it was a book, now it is pages I don't bother.
All her cards (birthday, christening, Christmas etc)
Postcards for places we've taken her. We write a memory about the day on the back too.
Her first teddy
Special gifts from her naming day
Her wrist band and notes from hospital
A special diary I kept whilst pregnant (I will give it to her when she is pregnant)
Special things she made at nursery
First shoes
At her naming day, we made a book and everyone wrote a message of good luck to her, so we've kept that

I think that's it, but my mum kept a lot of that stuff for me, and I'm very sentimental and love looking back at my old postcard collection, remembering my holidays and reading what I wrote about them!

yackertyyack · 03/04/2006 10:27

ahhh see I am attached to all sorts of momentoes and have ended up keeping all baby related stuff!!!! Even down to the beads from my c section stitches and sorry this is gross but my DS had his stump cut off when he was born so they could get glocouse into him but I kept the 'scab' when it fell off Blush. I am in the process of making a scrapbook for him and luckily most bits will go in there (including the shells we collected on the beach from his 1st holiday!) but just can't bear to throw it away!!!!

MadamePlatypus · 03/04/2006 11:00

When I was little my mum got lots of my clothes from a shop called Pollyanna. I don't think she has kept any of my clothes (I expect she passed them all onto friends), but it is great to look back at the 70's/80's pictures of children in dungarees, and culottes. I can remember which clothes I had, and which "Little House on the Prairy" dresses I aspired to have. I don't think I will keep any clothes beyond the vest that DS wore when he was born, however, I might keep the odd Boden catalogue. Moses baskets are practical storage, so I expect we will have ours until it falls apart.

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