What to buy second hand?

[TTCVickster]

We are expecting our first baby but as a teacher the maternity pay is awful so we will need to save a fair bit to cover maternity. It’s early on but we will need to save throughout. My question is what is ok to buy second hand and where do you buy second hand things from? My friends haven’t had children yet so there aren’t really any hand me downs coming our way. A Pram is a particular worry as I have a Toyota Aygo (in finance so can’t be changed) and the only one google tells me will fit is the Bugaboo Bee which looks super expensive.

You can get much cheaper Bugaboo Bee’s on Facebook selling groups. A second hand cot with a new mattress is fine. In fact most things are fine second hand. I know with first babies it feels like everything should be new but it really doesn’t have to be.

A lot of things; I bought bundles of vests and babygros and plastic toys as all could be washed/cleaned with anti bacterial spray.

Everything apart from a cot mattress and bottles. Your baby won’t know any different :) most of my DDs stuff was second hand from family.

Congratulations, remember you don't actually need that much so your budget can stretch further than you think :)

You can buy second hand baby equipment in charity shops and online selling sites, local FB pages. I prefer to only buy what I can view in person first of it could be a safety concern.

Mattresses and car seats should be bought new but everything else could be second hand.

Thanks guys, you’ve made me feel a lot better ❤️

Everything.

You’ll need a new mattress, bottles if you’re formula feeding, but everything else is fine.

Say yes to any offers! Nothing better than a bag of hand-me-downs!
I’m having my 4th baby in May and some of the baby clothes I’ve got have been passed around the whole family. I got a bag of clothes from my cousin and found a little lilac dress in it that was my oldest daughters, still in brilliant condition, and she was born in 2003!

Anything but mattresses and car seats. Rest is down to budget and preference. I regret spending hundreds on a new pram when I realised how well they last, a second hand one would have been fine.

Online - eBay, Facebook selling, shpock

Google local baby sales, particularly independent ones (I found NCT sales more expensive for some reason)

I was given a cot, cot bed, two high chairs, loads of toys, a baby bouncer and only the cot bed had been recently outgrown. I think if you say you’re looking to buy/freecycle second hand things they will offer if they’ve got something.

Jumble sales are great I got all my Moses basket/pram/cot bedding. Freecycle and freeagle can be good. I got my pram from eBay and the pushchair and travel cot from charity shops.

Lots of the people at work have had babies so I’ll put it out there that we are looking for second hand bits to buy. We’ve worked out we need about 5 grand just to cover the difference in wages for 10 months off so every little will count!

I wouldn’t buy a car seat or mattress second hand but anything else really! I’ve bought most of my LO toys 2nd hand! Much cheaper and saves stuff going to landfill! Got some clothes too

Now that my LO is here I wish I bought more 2nd hand but 1st born and all 🤷🏻‍♀️ Got carried away

Bottles, pump, cot mattress, car seat and pram were the only things we bought new.

The only things you shouldn't buy second hand for safety reasons AFAIK are the car seat, in case there is internal damage you can't see meaning it would not work as well in an accident and the cot mattress because any hidden mould inside could be a SIDS risk.

For the cot I decided what I wanted early on and monitored FB marketplace, because I knew I wanted a co sleeper crib.

I was less picky about the pram but knew I wanted a reliable brand/model rather than a cheap first hand pram, so again I knew this early on and found one I was really happy with second hand.

Buying second hand for big things is great as long as you start early to have time to shop around.

I bought about half the clothes but also got a great second hand bundle to top up the essentials. Also got a nice second hand bouncer and a really pricey Mamas and Papas changing table for next to nothing! You get great bargains second hand on those types of things because people pay a lot buying them and then they're useless after a little while.

As pp said car seat and mattress new anything else second hand. Plus don't buy too much, you can always get more if needed.

Oh I forgot feeding stuff. With my first it felt like I had seen so much gunk splatted around on the high chair that I think I will get a first hand one this time again. Obviously bottles and breastfeeding equipment I also got new.

When looking on 2nd hand sites always look in the background - if someones house looks clean and tidy in the background then hopefully they've looked after whatever you're buying. Not always necessarily true but something to bare in mind. I once caught someone selling something from a 'pet free home' with a cat in the background 🤦🏽‍♀️

Congratulations! I am a teacher on maternity leave so know what you mean. Look at facebook marketplace- we picked up lots of stuff there. My village also has a free site on facebook and I've got loads of stuff through there. Maybe where you live will have something similar? You will be surprised how much will be given to you. Are you primary? If so your class will probably get you bits too. I was spoilt rotten by my children's parents and they gave me lots of clothes and vouchers. Parents also donated bits to me- including a baby Bjorn Boucher that her child had barely used. So put it out there that you're looking for things. People are so kind with babies and often people who have babies want to.donate bits. I'm now giving all my stuff to charity and free sites as I want it to be used again. Huge congratulations and good luck xxx

As PP have said, everything except cot mattress and car seat.
My Bugaboo Bee was £45. With Bugaboos, it’s easy to get and fit the spare parts; we bought a broken one and fixed it.

@dreamyflower I have no idea how the maternity pay works I find the burgundy book scheme really confusing. Are there 12 weeks at the end with no money or is it that you get SMP for those 12 weeks?

Charity shops usually have decent baby stuff

If it’s the same as mine 39 weeks is paid (gradually reducing payments) then 12 weeks unpaid.
Depending on when you are due, lots of people go back for a week/few days before the summer and return to normal pay over the holidays.

Due October but thinking I’ll leave 3rd week in September and I’ll have to go back for the start of July as the money will we have saved will run out then.

Obviously unless baby decides to come early but my school will just let me potter around luckily.

If you are taking 9 months mat leave then the last 3 months are SMP only no OMP.

You can take another 3 months off after this if you are going for a year but these are completely unpaid.

I think we will cross over into the unpaid part but only a little as I will be going back the start of July. We’ve just gone through our savings plan so I’m feeling better now, especially given that it seems you can buy most things second hand.

Don’t buy car seat and mattress second hand.

Join local parents Facebook selling sites. Check it’s from a smoke free home.

You can return from maternity leave on the first day of the summer holidays and get full pay over the holidays.