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?

[Courtney555]

@MinesALatte

We've got baby twins. And a DS12.

With DS, 99% of stuff was brand new. I actually shudder to think what we spent. We have tastes that are either "what a bargain, value buys" and "the absolute cream of the crop" and very little inbetween. We love value for money.

DS got everything. And whilst I was then able to resell it on and make a bit back, my god, it was not the way to do it.

The twins, have had 99% second hand. Bottles new. Enough mobiles, blankets, little cute bits, all new from relatives. I think I got them maybe 3 outfits each new. The rest has all been FB for sale. And I've saved thousands already. Designer matching nursery furniture. Found it, immaculate, for under 10% of the new cost. These fancy pants swing rocking things, £299 each new. £60 for both, from FB for sale. One still had the packaging on the bottom.

And more to the point, they're about to grow out of those swing things. I'll sell them for what I paid at least. And I love that. Essentially, they've cost us nil. I get so excited by this (it's my age dear )

Our bugaboo donkey twin was a bit more. We got that new. But they'll have that for 3 years. So that's fine. Try looking at items as cost of ownership over the length of ownership. DH taught me this and it's completely changed how I purchase things.

Say a car costs £70k. You own it two years, but it's desirable and you sell it on for £65k. That's not an expensive car.

Buying a car for £25k, that doesn't hold value, that you sell after 2 years for £10k. Now that's expensive.

For the first year, they will go through clothes sizes so fast, you want to spend as little as possible. Again, on FB, I got some gorgeous Cavalli baby wear. Some sets had the prices still on the box. £288 new. (What the holy fuck?) And I got 7 sets for a tenner a set. I also bought generic bundles, of about 20 babygrows, again about a tenner a bundle. And I'll resell it all for the same.

Any baby toy that can be washed, I'll get for about 50p and whack through the dishwasher. I got LaMaze pram dangly toys (£17.99 each new) for £1 the pair. They went through the wash. Look brand new.

It's so much fun, honestly, and you'll start getting a real kick out of hunting down real value. Don't confuse cheap with rubbish. Yes, a lot of the cheap stuff is crap, so you have to look for the hidden gems, but ohhhh it's the way to go. DH has high 6 figure salary. He's so into my bargainous ways that he can't believe how much money we used to waste, and now, will leave work and nip out to collect said bargains for me

And what you've saved from being smart, will take you, daddy and little one, on your first holiday!

Go forth and be bargainous

[Courtney555]

(sorry if I banged on a bit there, I'm very passionate about being smart/bargainous, especially with the DC)

[PAND0RA]

@Courtney555 are you me?

[annlee3817]

We got a new travel system and hated it, albeit it wasn't a in particularly expensive one. Ended up replacing with a second hand one, personally for us it was good as the carry cot only got used for around six weeks, and we probably only got around eighteen months out of it before we switched to something much lighter and better off road. I couldn't justify spending on a travel system what a second hand car could sell for, the car seat for me though is a different story, always new and always well researched.

[Chooklass]

We have got/ are getting everything second hand apart from buying new cot mattress (car seat is from a relative so we know it's history). Not so much to save money for us, but to reduce the environmental impact. I just couldn't bring myself to buy new things which will only be used for a few months in many cases.

[AliasGrape]

What are people’s thoughts on second hand baby monitors? We want the movement sensor type and I feel like it should be new but then that’s probably just being silly? Would second hand be fine?

[PuntoEBasta]

There's no evidence that movement sensors can prevent SIDS and false alarms can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety (the Lullaby Trust has a very balanced factsheet if you're interested) but if I were to get one I wouldn't want my baby sleeping on mats and wiring which weren't new (or with a known history) or under warranty.

[HarrietM87]

Yes of course @AliasGrape - as long as they’re still working (so make sure you can return them if they’re not).

The only things you need to buy new are mattresses and car seats. I didn’t use bottles or dummies but would also have got those new if we had.

We did get a new pram for our DS because we had lots of vouchers from our wedding and thought it would be nice to use them for that, but most other stuff we bought was second hand. I got his cot from eBay for £30 - was £600 new!

[Coffeeonadrip]

I think prams are tricky. My first one was a hand me down from friends. Was too big and bulky for our house and car. My second one was new, liked it at first but hated it later. You have to use a pram for a while to decide if it meets your requirements I find! But we did travel a lot so maybe I just got fed up with carrying it around at the airports/to and from planes!

Apart from that the only items we had from new were: bottles and dummies, mattress for the cot, breast pump and

[MinesALatte]

Thanks everyone, some really useful tips and definitely food for thought! I’m very anti-plastic so second-hand is looking more and more appealing

[surreygirl1987]

We've bought almost everything second hand for both my first child and also my imminently due second. I can't imagine not, even though we're on good salaries - the cost of new stuff is astronomical! Our icandy pram was only £150. Next to me crib £30. Cot was free. Tons of baby clothes, many jojo maman bebe or baby boden for as little as 10p apiece.Baby Bjorn bouncer £25. Mamaroo £85. You can see the savings we made!!

We did fork out for new carseats and mattresses for safety though. Would also never give my children second hand teddies etc and obviously bought dummies, bottles etc brand new. But everything else was second hand and we will sell the majority of stuff afterwards too so make back most of the money. Kids are expensive but for us the expense will be childcare costs, not 'stuff'!

[LizzyAnna99]

Me and my partner have had arguments because he wants everything brand new for the baby and I think it’s ridiculous to be honest. I got everything second hand. the only thing you need new is a mattress and a car seat. Anything else can be washed and you’d never know the difference! They’re in stuff for such a short amount of time that id rather buy used and save the difference

[LizzyAnna99]

@Chooklass that was my thinking too! Babies already have a big enough footprint without buying loads of new clothes they’re only going to wear twice then grow out of

[Zhampagne]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3957184-pram-selling-dramas

A cautionary tale in AIBU at the moment for anyone unfamiliar with the dramatic depreciation on brand new prams. There are lots of reasons why you might want a new one (I did) but don't expect to recoup your outlay when you sell it on.

[ChampooPapi]

@EllieJai44 you can buy bottles second hand! They are made of plastic that can obviously be sterilised!

There is so much plastic in the world oh my goodness of course you can eBay your bottles and just boil them or sterilise them. They do the same in hospital when they use plastic equipment, including babies bottles and feeding seringes.

Obviously teats can just be purchased new and dummies too of course.

I keep seeing this bottle thing, they absolutely can be second or third hand even, they are plastic, nothing more or less

[ChampooPapi]

@MinesALatte anything that can be boiled/washed in washing machine or out in a seriliser can be second hand. Litrally the only thing that should be new unless it's from a friend who you trust to be honest about it ever being in a car crash, is the car seat. The teats for bottles and dummies too should be new.

If you hate plastic a new buggy is certainly not the way forward! You can wash every component of the ones now a days, I just got a mountain buggy duet which is 6 months old and pristine for 200 pounds instead of over 700 pounds off Gumtree. I could probably sell it myself for the same amount after I use it, or just donate it to someone else who needs it without missing that kind of money.

New things are lovely, but the plastic element of it's your concern then the buggy especially and bottles, even breast pump, all these things can be easily sterilised.

You could buy a lovely new Moses basket instead? Without any plastic on it at all so not only will it recycle but you'll get to have a lovely new thing for your new baby to sleep in ☺️

[ChampooPapi]

Even with items like cots and buggy's, Moses baskets and basinets, next to me's, cribs, you can buy the components of them new but get the main event second hand. So get the mattresses new absolutely, and sheets if you are wanting new sheets, matress protectors ect, but the next to me or whatever second hand.

Most buggy's you can replace every part through the manufacturers website. You can get the buggy second hand and replace the seat part for example for a new one. Or get one with a missing wheel like we did for 15 pounds (mountain buggy swift 2015) and we brought the wheel for thirty quid from their website. That buggy was 600 pounds new!

I'm glad there are people who walk into shops and buy the travel systems for over a grand because it means for everyone else there is all these fantastic buggies floating around on gumtree and Facebook or eBay.

And if you want to spend a good few hundred still oh my god the buggies you can get! Recently saw a silvercross that was about 3 months old, retail nearly 2 grand, they wanted 500 for it. Rich couple who got another buggy as a gift from one of their in laws.

[EllieJai44]

@ChampooPapi I'm sorry but personally I wouldnt buy bottles second hand and I wouldnt advise anyone else to- I had bottles for my daughter from about 6 months old and by the time she finished with them they were starting to discolour and smelt horrendous! Even though we washed them daily and sterilised them each time!

[ChampooPapi]

@EllieJai44 of course I understand that. If you sold them toe and I boiled them and they had been compromised by lots of microwaving or had hot manky I'd also not be using them. But it's very unlikely you'd sell them isn't it. Most people selling bottles on eBay ect are selling them in very good condition, or even new in the box unused. You can be discerning obviously about these things, but in the end , well treated plastic should last, depends on factors like how the plastic has been treated and how long it's been used as well.

[Carouselfish]

Had a second hand travel system first time round and a lot of second hand clothes as they get through them so fast. This time I've got a new pram but sticking with mainly second hand clothes. They honestly wear them once or twice and theyre out of them. Not worth twenty pounds a time.

[BertieBotts]

We defo bought a pram second hand, they are crazy prices new. DH was glad because it had a few scratches on it so he said he felt less bad about scratching it in normal use.

Clothes another definite for second hand. They need loads but barely wear any of them because they grow so fast. Plus all the things you use for a very short time like swings/bouncers, bath seats, etc.

We got the car seat new. I wouldn't want second hand drinking items (dummies, bottles, cups).

[ThanksItHasPockets]

Please be very careful with second hand breast pumps. Some can be entirely sterilised and have multiple users perfectly safely but some electrical pumps, such as the medela swing, have ‘open’ systems which cannot be fully sterilised and are therefore sold for single user only. You need an electric pump with a ’closed’ system.

[Nellylou]

We bought most things second hand..all was good quality and clean..the cost of prams are ridiculous and you really can drop on good things..only thing we bought that was new was a sterilising machine and bottles and the odd outfit.

[ChampooPapi]

I certainly understand people wanting new things, and completely see the desire for new baby bottles.

But they can absolutely be reused as well. It's an each to their own situation with all these things.

I do however just think the buggy market is such a rip off, they churn them out every year and they loose their value as soon as you get the thing home. And the middle range price ones are the worst in some ways because they are not even good buggies a lot of the time but still cost a fair amount. So many with impractical wheels for any kind of off road situation when your out of the newborn phase in a blink of an eye and the toddler stage seems to last for years! And for those years you are needing one that can go on grass or beach or up hills ect, rather then just strolling around a perfect flat tarmac park with your immobile tiny baby.

That's the best advise I've got really, choose a buggy that will see you through!

[ChampooPapi]

@ThanksItHasPockets yes the swing I had to buy new for this reason. Just the manual ones that can be completely taken apart and sterilised