Baby gifts you don't like or need...

[Lostinspace1]

Just curious, what do you do/how do you deal tactfully with all those items people give you that you actually don't like e.g. hideous baby clothes?

I really don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we have specifically told people NOT to give us anything (I like to choose everything, plus its my 1st baby so am being extra precious I guess). They tend to be 2nd hand items so it's not like they are costing the 'givers' a lot anyway. I probably sound terrible...

"Thank you very much - how kind"

Then put them at the bottom of the drawer until the baby has outgrown them and then pass them on.

IME, many people buy baby gifts for the "aww" factor, rather than with the recipient family in mind. Sometimes it is their own very personal "aww" factor, representing an idealised fantasy of parenting a newborn. It's so easy to forget the practicalities, even if you've been there yourself. I have 2 DC, but when a friend has a baby I so enjoy a rare visit to the newborn department, and spend a while aw-ing at the ridiculous little outfits that will never be worn, even though I KNOW that a practical present would be more appreciated. I imagine this stuff is manufactured & marketed with present-buyers very much in mind.

It is hard to see people waste their money (especially when you yourself are budgeting for your new baby) but just be gracious and sell it on eBay next year

...also, I do think it bad form to instruct people on the kinds of presents you would like... I know where you're coming from as I tried it myself with DC1 many years ago but a) it wasn't well received and b) no-one listened anyway!

...hang on, I might have misunderstood you OP. Are you saying that people are passing on pre loved stuff to you without your request? That's different, and difficult in a different way.

with my youngest I would say "oh that's so kind of you, but I am trying not to give myself too many things to look after this time..."

of course this was tricky with people who turned up with the entire contents of their loft as a surprise! "This pushchair was great in 1988, it just needs one wheel replacing, I bet you could write to Mothercare and get one..." mmmmmm

I'd just say to everyone that you want to buy new as its your first baby. Make it light hearted by acknowledging the fact that you are being a bit precious but hope they understand blah blah blah.
Two relatives are having their first babies soon and they are turning down all the second hand bargains but everyone understands and that means I get them all! (Third baby)

Eurgh no matter how many times I protested to any baby clothes with cringy slogans/anything with ears/cartoon characters/ leopard print onesies people still insisted on buying them.

Don't get me wrong i don't dress my ds in head to toe beige but the above mentioned frankly make me want to vomit are not to my taste. At first I didn't wanna seem ungrateful but then people really started taking the piss with it. Ds got given a babygrow with CLAWS what.the.actual.fuck

I can't remember what happened to it , think I accidentally set fire to it threw it away. Oops

I take a photo of the baby dressed in it, send it to them, then never put it on them again.

Noble - I did the same. I kept the tags on too when I put baby in it and then went back to shop and swapped it for something I liked! Luckily it was distant relatives of mine that brought the horrid things and I hardly saw then! So a photo in a thank you card was enough :)

Thanks for the responses and suggestions! I like the photo idea, unfortunately everyone lives too close to me to get away with just a pic.

I've been given 2nd hand items from 2nd hand shops, rather than pre-loved. I know it sounds terrible but its not really my thing as I want to buy new. I'm hoping to have another child so everything will get used again. Trouble is, the 'people' who are giving me this stuff are firm believers in 2nd hand...which is sensible, but not me. But I am hardly extravagant.

Thingy - I wish I had stated this upfront, but the gifts have been an unwanted surprise.

Whats annoyed me the most is that I've spent a lot of time researching particular items and then 'people' have gone and got the wrong things 2nd hand without telling me. I feel like my right to decide has been taken away from me...gah! I'm not an assertive person.

Buy the things you want for your little one.
Any stuff you get given that you don't like just accept, say thankful and pass on to someone that may like it or give to charity shop.
If you are pressed by the giver (which is very rude) about an item say that it had to be thrown away after a poo explosion, was ruined in the wash or some similar white lie.

What a privilege to have such a problem

With clothes you'll soon be glad for some spare outfits, maybe to take along "just in case" in the changing bag, for thosethose occasional inevitable full outfit changes! You can always accept with grace and then give it to a good charity shop.

Most people leave the tags on- just take them back and exchange them for something you like.

When I buy people baby gifts I always give a gift receipt anyway ... I don't really feel strongly whether they want to keep it or exchange it and I certainly wouldn't feel in the least but insulted if they didn't like it. Hell I'd prefer they or I got something they did want

I think that once you have a baby you know how kind people are and it makes you want to do the same for others, and people genuinely like giving gifts when people have babies. I do!

Sorry just read the 2nd hand bit! Pick what you like and keep it and take the rest to the charity shop that's what I do. :-)

Second hand stuff from a second hand shop is still 'preloved', surely?

You're being precious. Say thank you. Put baby in Auntie Vi's leopard-print-onesie-with-pink-bow when you're visiting Auntie Vi, never put baby in it again. Problem solved.

Sell it, burn it, bin it, pass it on, use it to clean the hubcaps on your car etc.