Second hand items for a newborn?

[MinesALatte]

Currently having quite a disagreement with my OH on what to buy as brand new for the baby. Despite the fact that he loves his labels and nice, new things, suddenly he wants to buy most things second hand, this includes a pram. We’re quite comfortable, certainly not rich by any stretch of the imagination but we’re not on the breadline either so I think we can afford most things brand new.

I feel a bit weird about getting a pram second hand, don’t know why, but think that and a car seat are a must for brand-new (I know car seats second hand are a big no-no due to safety concerns).

Just wondering what items you’ve bought as second hand vs brand new?

Logically a second hand pram makes sense as they’re so expensive and so many second hand ones are in such good condition but for me I just wanted a new one for my baby.
I got some clothes second hand and plastic toys that could be cleaned.

I had a second hand pram for a little while, wheels fell off so ended up getting a new one anyway..... my mum advised me not to go second hand as you cannot easily get it repaired etc if needed.

Other than a car seat and things (if you choose to use them) like bottles and dummies, everything else can be second hand.

You can also sell on whether or not you bought new or second hand. We bought almost everything new for DD1. Such a waste of money!

Weve been lucky and had a lot of lovely clothes which I'm so grateful for. Weve got cot, travel system and some clothes new.
My husband is saying the the opposite of yours, hes usually overly sensible (im being nice, hes just tight ha) and has been snobby about second hand, which is weird. So I just washed them all and told him they are all new....whatever

A few years ago, I bought this book for about £2 off ebay. There might be an updated version with newer price references, but the advice on what exactly you do and dont need to buy new seemed very good.

Babynomics- Money saving tips for smart parents by Madeline Thomas.

A pram I would buy second hand- and have done, there are some out there in fantastic condition, also nursery furniture I would buy second hand but not mattresses, just like the changing table, cot and wardrobe etc

Clothes I've brought second hand too but also brought new 🤷‍♀️ soft toys i wouldnt buy second hand, as well as play mats.

Oh and bottles, dummies and car seat dont buy second hand

We got everything second hand, apart from a sling, which we bought new. Bought new mattress for cot.

Everything I had was at least second hand and DD is 6 now. I probably saved hundreds if not thousands. If I went back I'd probably buy a few cute outfits new right at the start but wouldn't change much else.

Oh yes, mattress was new also

I got a new car seat but we have gone for a second hand pram. I wasn’t keen at first but OH found a bugaboo cam on local marketplace hardly used for about 1/6th of the price of a new one. Went to have a look (pre covid) and it was immaculate, had clearly been well looked after and it was the pram I was wanting anyway. They gave us their maxi-cost car seat but I have bought a new one for peace of mind. I have given it a clean and put the fabrics through the wash and it looks good as new and with what we saved from buying it instead of a new one have covered the cost of decorating the nursery and nursery furniture!

Having seen the stuff I am personally trying to flog on Facebook, eBay etc... I’d say get loads second hand.

Ive got two girls but I’m selling off designer stuff that’s only been worn a couple of times between them. The toys are plastic so generally stay in good nick. People buy (and get bought) so much stuff for babies and much of it is barely used.

I’d think about what you need new (eg car seat, or mattress etc) vs what you’d like (and from that category what you want to keep). Id also think maybe about getting stuff that will be more heavily used new, as that’s more likely to be harder to get second hand (eg I binned all my vests as they were worn each day and so cheap to replace).

I bought a new pushchair with integrated car seat. Most clothes I bought second hand.

Thanks ladies, this is all so useful! I’m only around 8 weeks so very early days but the conversation developed after discussing savings! 🙈

@Elouera thanks for the book tip!! Currently looking at it now, looks really good

We've tried to get as much second hand as possible, the only things we insisted on getting new were a cot mattress and car seat.

I have seen advertised brand new pram/travel systems where the buyers didn't check it would actually fit in the boot... it's worth looking for a bargain, but if you want to buy new then do - look after it and you might sell it afterwards.

@yukka that’s exactly what I said to him and he said ‘well, no one would buy it if they adopted the same attitude as you’ 🙄

Our grandaughter came along as a suprise (long story) so we had to source items quickly, we didn't have time to wait several weeks for a pram from John Lewis. Plus our daughter and son in law had just bought their 1st house which needed updating and now they had a brand new suprise baby. As someone who had all brand new I was very surprised at how much choice there was second hand and the prices. Most were nearly used or a second pram for grandparents or being sold because mum had an addiction for buying new prams/pushchairs. We bought them a stunning bugaboo set, complete with all the extras In immaculate condition for a quarter of the price, an absolute steel. Personally wasn't a fan of the bugaboo, looked amazing but bloody cumbersome. A few months later daughter and son in law realised the same and sold it on and bought a stokke, selling it on immaculate for the same price it was bought for. We also found an immaculate mama's and papas bedroom set second hand at a fraction of the cost which was being sold because the mum didn't like it. Grandaughter had that for a couple of years before it was outgrown. The bedroom furniture she has now is all brand new because she will have that a lot longer than the nursery items. It's hard when its your first, you do want things to be new, but you can look back and realise they are in them 5 minutes and you could have spent the money elsewhere. As for the things that we thought must be brand new were mattresses and car seats

Hey, just wanted to ask where is the best place to buy second hand prams? There’s one I have in mind but I’m not having much luck on Facebook market

Ive bought literally everything second hand, the pram/car seat from a friend of a friend so i knew hadnt been in any accidents and could trust, the crib was from someone who had used it twice as their baby didnt take to it so didnt see the point in a new mattress, i think the only thing we bought new was a couple of outfits like her outfit to bring her home in. Even bottles and breast pump ive bough second hand and sterilised the hell out of them! We are not financially struggling but i come from a large family where everyone had hand me downs and i just couldnt bring myself to spend so much on ‘new’ when second hand in good condition works just as well! All in all we’ve got all the items i had on my wish list including sleepyhead, mamaroo, egg pram, next2me and spent much less than 1k for everything - the pram set alone would have been nearly 1.5k if bought new! That said i wouldnt judge anyone for buying new i dont think theres a right or wrong, the baby wont know the difference anyway! Only your bank balance ha!

Everything second hand except mattress, car seat and bottles. We did buy (and were given) some clothes new, but the majority were second hand.

We could have bought it all new had we wanted to, but it seemed a massive unnecessary waste of money.

I wasn't intending to get a second hand pram but saw a bargain in immaculate condition so just went for it! It was less than a year old and barely used with loads of extras.
I saved a fortune.

We got a new pram but bought it as a travel system which included car seat, isofix base, carry cot and they had a really good deal that came with a load of extras such as bouncy chair thing, high chair, travel cot, changing bag and some other bits. It was such a good deal we decided to go new, the pram met all the specifications we had and the car seat was well reviewed too plus very light! In the end in laws very generously offered to pay for that anyway.

I looked at buying a next to me crib second hand on marketplace but by the time we’d bought a new mattress for it we found we could buy a brand new similar one just not the top brand. Again the one we’ve gone for is well reviewed and we’re happy with it.

We’ve been given piles of second hand clothes, some are actually totally unworn still with tags, some look good as new, some are a bit more faded but will be fine when everything else has been sicked or weed on! We also have been given another vibrating bouncy chair thing and a baby gym/ playmat. All scrubbed up like new.

We’ve bought a chest of drawers/ changing unit and a cot for when baby is bigger second hand from a friend of DH’s (will get new mattress).

We’ve been offered a Moses basket and stand too. I’m just trying to work out if we need it in addition to what we already have and if we have space for it.

DH is a bit more ‘we might as well buy a new one’ about everything whereas I’m ‘let’s take whatever we can get!’.

If you plan on having more than one child I think it’s nice to buy new for the bigger items. I personally would rather buy a cheaper brand new buggy than a second hand expensive brand.
I think toys/ books etc are great second hand -
Oh and highchairs too. Anything they sleep in, I’d buy new.

You’re all speaking such sense that OH might win this one 😂