Second hand essentials

[Ednos]

Hey lovlies. I was just wondering what is your opinion on second hand stuff for babies. It's my first baby due in September and as lockdown is easing I am starting to think what I might need. My partner is very very very against me buying second hand stuff but I just cant justify (and afford) to buy everything new.
So my question is what is ok to buy second hand? Crib, clothes, buggy, swing etc
Also, I have read that if I buy second hand travel system I need to buy a new car seat because of safety issues? Is that really necessary?
The same with next to me crib, do I have to buy a new mattress separately?
If so, tbh the difference in price is not much
I am a bit confused and in two minds what to do.
I would love to save money and re-use things but on the other hand, is my partner right and we are not really saving much?

Would love to hear about what you bought second hand and your opinions

Much love xxx

Buying a new mattress is because babies vomit, wet themselves etc etc and there may be mould spores in the mattress that you can't detect. It is highly recommended by the Lullaby Trust (who advise on preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) that you get a new mattress.

New car seat - for the same reasons you shouldn't buy a used bike helmet. They're made very similarly, and you can't see underneath the cover/outside to see if the polystyrene (which is what protects your baby) is damaged or degraded at all. If you think about how easily damaged polystyrene packaging can be, you can imagine how easy it is for a car seat to be damaged on the inside without being able to tell.

You can definitely save some money in some areas, but I don't think these are the areas to do it.

Solid part of the crib, yep that should be safe. Clothes - yep, just give them a wash (non-bio). You can often find bundles of clothes for very cheap on second hand selling sites.

It's mostly mattresses they say to buy new and also car seats.
I'm pregnant with my first. I've got a few secondhand things such as cotbed and chest of drawers with changing table on top. Also got an icandy travel system. Its like new.

We got everything except the crib mattress second hand. We did get a second hand car seat but it was a gift from someone we knew so we could feel confident it hadn't been in an accident. I definitely wouldn't feel safe buying a second hand car seat from a stranger.

But for everything else second hand really is so much cheaper it seems like a no brainer! You can get bundles of baby clothes on Facebook marketplace for just a few pounds and buggies are a fraction of the cost of new. Plus you can feel smug about helping to save the planet

We've got a second hand seat, travel system (unused as the person didn't like the colour), next 2 me crib, most clothes I've bought are second hand, hand me down muslins and bottles. I dread to think what I would have spent if it was all new...

I’m planning second hand for as much as I can. New mattress is definitely needed, and car seat should only be from someone you trust.
Kids stuff lasts 5 minutes and I hate the idea of more landfill, so second hand it is! Also save us so much money so we can have holidays instead!

We have picked up a second hand pram, I was probably checking ebay every day for 2 weeks casually looking a week or so before that. It has the odd scuff on the frame but I otherwise it is in very good condition. Make sure to check out the state of tyres in photos it gives you an idea of how heavily it has been used. Another tip I found was to search for misspellings too e.g. Pushcair
When we picked up the pram the seller had a list of other bits and pieces they were selling too so we got a sling and 0-3 months sleeping bag too.
We found that most adverts were specifying that they will be following social distancing we prioritise those adverts.

We have ordered clothes bundles too, I think there is a balance in size of bundles too few items and once you factor in delivery there isn't much of a saving compared to supermarkets etc and too large and there were quite a few items that I wouldn't have liked. For me the optimal seems to be 9-15 items. I have been looking at boy bundles as well as girl bundles as the boy bundles are often quite gender neutral. Friends have also offered to pass on clothes too.

We have deliberately not gone for a travel system mostly as I won't have a car due to my oh needing ours for commuting and not wanting to have to replace the car seat after 15 months. The car seat and mattress are the only things definitely getting new. Everything else we are looking at what we can get second hand. For us, trying to reduce the environmental impact and reducing the amount of things that will end up in landfill by not adding to new things to be produced rather than the cost but saving money helps too, we paid £100 for the pram, we are using the money saved on not buying new by getting a slightly more expensive car seat - I wanted one that rotates and rear faces till 4 and on the initial outlay of cloth nappies (although these will save us money in the long run). Actually the nappy wraps are something else I have brought new, the price wasn't that different and I don't fancy having to deal with no-longer-waterproof nappies and a newborn!!

We got soooo much second hand stuff. Only things I deliberately bought new were car seat and mattress. Lots of stuff family/friends passed on. Baby stuff doesn't last that long and often you find things you have baby doesn't like. Saves a lot of money and landfill to get 2nd hand. Baby gym, next to me, bouncer seat, tummy time roller, lots of clothes, moses basket, high chair - all second hand or donated. I mainly did it to save money but definitely felt better to be reusing stuff.

Oh and cot, changing table and rocking chair.

You need and new mattress and a new car seat after than second hand makes more sense. I often buy second hand things for my kids even though I can afford not to. Some baby equipment is so expensive and they use it for such a short time. It’s also better for the environment.

Definitely a new mattress, and carseat unless it's coming from someone you know and trust. We've passed a snuzpod crib and mattress between the cousins in the this family, but I wouldn't use a mattress of a random secondhand bed.

You can pretty much look for everything else secondhand though, have you looked up any secondhand/preloved baby shops? We have a few local to us and I love them as I like to go in and feel like I'm shopping not just browsing online. (you can only see so much from pictures)

FB market is good for clothes bundles and buggies - and I think there are a few dedicated pages for preloved baby items.

Secondhand is great, and once baby is here your DP will see why - babies can eat money, and he done with items in weeks. Makes no sense to spend crazy money if you don't want to.

I'm a FTM and have gone second hand as much as we can except car seat. So many new unused baby clothes on ebay! And maternity clothes too...except bow I'm a bit addicted to bidding 😂

Yep, as everyone else said, literally the only things you need new are car seat and mattress (and breast pump if you want one, unless it's a closed system pump). Everything else second hand :)

I love the idea of second hand but my experience so far has been very bad. Admittedly it's been during lockdown so maybe people are usually less crazy?

I've never come across so many bad e-bay sellers before. You win an item, they cancel the order and relist for more money. Or you pay but it never arrives. It turns up poop stained and unravelling.

I've actually been called a bad mother because someone didn't bother to use a reserve and the item went for less money than they hoped.

People seem over invested in the value of items. The RRP was £69.99 and they paid £40 for it so they take it as a personal affront if the item makes £1.70.

I will try second hand shops when they reopen but eBay is not worth the agro.

I've had better luck with Facebook marketplace rather than eBay especially with bulky things where postage would be expensive.

Yes, there are some ropey looking items on ebay. We were only looking at prams we could collect in person and scrutinised the photos as much as possible. Some people only put the stock photos of the pram or a single bad photo I would steer clear of them. The state of the raincover is something else to look out for.

Another thing we found when looking was if you pay by credit card through PayPal you may lose the protection that paying through credit cards offer you.

We don’t have a car so the car seat we had for our son was rarely used. He’ll be 2.5 when DC2 is born so car seat will have been in the loft for about 18 months. Will it still be ok to use?

The issue with second hand car seats is not knowing the age and not knowing if it has been in an accident.

A car seat must not be used if it has previously been in an accident as the it can appear cosmetically fine but fundamentally damaged from a safety perspective. They can deteriorate with age, I can't remember exactly and it might vary with the seat so your safest bet is to search your seat. I recall it being about the same as a bike helmet which is ~7 years but don't quote me on that!

I spent about £1,300 on DS1. We're now stuck on the other side of the world from all our baby stuff and expecting DS2, so everything has been bought second hand for about £500 (apart from a cot mattress.. although we'll only need the carseat once so that'll be borrowed from a friend).

Gumtree has been fantastic, but we are in Australia. Facebook Marketplace was great when we were in London. I never had any luck with Ebay and I always seemed to be too slow to get anything from Freecycle, although good stuff seemed to come up a lot. Second hand stuff is great!

You can get everything apart from mattresses and car seats second hand. We've got a second hand buggy and second hand snuzood, plus a load of clothes given to us by friends.

Have a look on Shpock.

The only things i bought brand new were the carseat, moses basket, new mattress for second had crib and pram! Everything else second hand... even most of her clothes!

We got a lot of second hand things. We got a lovely set of nursery furniture for £50. Mum wanted to get us our pram so she did but I found it half price. As far as a car seat I bought a multi-stage car seat so the same one that he had when he was born should still fit him in hen he's about 4. It also keeps him rear-facing for as long as possible. Baby clothes were either second hand, gifts or supermarket which saved a lot. Aldi and Lidl were good for wee things that I wasn't sure I needed. I got a nappy bin for £5 and my Moses basket and stand was £10.
We also bought the best mattress we could afford because the cot was so cheap.

Aw thanks you guys! So much useful information.
I uderstand now the reason for a new car seat, I just thought if it looked ok i.e not scratched etc it must be good but I will be buying a new one.
Can anyone reccomend a cheap-ish/ good quality one? Or should I wait to buy the pram first?
Thank you so much everyone

I got a cosatto travel system ( car seat plus a pram that adapts from lie flat right to end of toddlers) for £284 off eBay. It was brand new and through an actual shop, I'll see if I can find the shop name.

That and the Moses basket and cot bed mattress were really the only things I got new. So many friends lent or passed on things like bumbo seats, high chairs etc

Also the thing that seemed really expensive, even second hand, was the isofix base for the car. But I'm sooo glad we got it, worth every penny.