Second hand baby stuff

[justsayso]

Hi all, it's definitely too soon for me to really be thinking about this (8 weeks with #1) and for some reason I feel like I'm going to be judged for asking...but I had a little look online at things that you are recommended to buy for a newborn earlier on and I was overwhelmed by all the things needed! Which was probably kind of short sighted of me as it's too late now.
Anyways, I wondered if anyone was considering buying some of their baby things second hand, if so, what, and are there any things you definitely wouldn't have second hand?
Eg, buying a second hand cot but buying a new mattress? What about travel systems and prams? It feels like there's no limit on how much you could spend.
I'm guessing for DC2 people likely reuse stuff from DC1?

Hi @justsayso , congratulations ❤️ We bought nearly everything second hand - there are just 2 things that you shouldn’t:

1. mattress
2. car seat

we got a lovely pram system, cot (minus mattress), clothes etc all from Facebook marketplace. Xx

Mattresses should be new, as should car seats (or second hand from family/friend who you trust - but do check under the cover, there will be an expiry date on them which they shouldn’t be used past).

First child had most things new just because she was the first child in a number of years in the family. We got some toys and books from the charity shop or Facebook as she got older.

Second child had clothes, bottles, pram, car seat, cot, high chair, toys and books, muslins, blankets and bedding handed down from his sister. Then quite a lot of the clothes have been handed on to my nephew. And the stuff that was too girly for my son and nephew went to a friends new baby girl.

Look for a local parents Facebook group (eg ours is placename Mums and Dads) as people use ours to pass on or sell things they’re no longer using. Things like baby walkers that you only use for 6m or so are ideal to get second hand. I bought ours for £5 and sold it again for £5 (I had cleaned it thoroughly and put batteries in).

With our 1st we bought almost everything new. I really regret that now, there are so many things such as the pram and cot that could have been bought second hand. Although it was during covid so it probably wasn't the best time to get things second hand. we did get a secondhand baby carrier, dock a tot and later a second car seat (but this was from a friend so I knew it hadn't been in an accident). I'm pregnant with our second and this time I'm getting a second hand cot and second hand nursery furniture.

One thing I did buy second hand was clothes and will continue to do that with my second (1st was a boy and second is a girl). The amount of money you can spend on baby clothes is ridiculous! I bought one a couple of weeks ago from Jojo Maman Bebe for £19. Scrolling on eBay I saw the same one for £2 and was in a perfect condition! I've learnt my lesson🙈

As the previous posters said I think it's just the mattress and car seat which need to be new. If it was me I would be buying most other things second hand and saving a small fortune!

Most of our 4 month olds stuff has been handed down from friends and family. The rest (except mattresses and car seat) have been bought on Facebook marketplace and vinted. As babies are so gross 😂 the majority of stuff can be put in the washing machine (soft toys/blankets/removable covers) or dishwasher (plastic toys/teethers etc). Everything is great condition because it’s barely used before it’s outgrown.

Loads of people do this because much of the equipment and clothes are barely used. Still lots of use for DC2.

Yup, same as everyone else most of our stuff was second hand, some people seem to replace stuff really often so there are some great deals out there if you can be bothered to look!
Do buy new: mattress, car seat, and bike helmets (obv later!)
Most things can go in either the washing machine or dishwasher

Due my first and nearly everything has been regifted from friends and family. We’ve brought a new cot mattress and car seat (even I couldn’t quite bring myself to ignore all the advice and buy a second hand car seat). I’d have been happy with a second hand Moses basket but have ended up ordering new.

We had everything second hand - very fortunate as we had our DS late in our life well after all our friends had finished the 'baby years' so we were given everything from friends and family. (Three travel systems/pushchairs ).

Definitely go for second hand. The NCT used to have second hand sales (might be a casualty of Covid there) and eBay, FB Marketplace etc can get you some amazing bargains. Clothes are great secondhand because kids grow out of them so fast you may get stuff which has had very little wear. Congratulations 🥳

Yes! Almost everything we had has been secondhand. We did get brand new pram and car seat but have since bought a second hand double pram and it's way better than the fancy expensive one we had to start with and only cost £100. If you have an idea of which pram you'd like then there will almost definitely be a Facebook buy/sell group for it so worth joining that.

Clothes - you can get bundles on marketplace for very little, sometimes even free. If you have a friend with a baby 6-12 months older than yours then you're set up for life 😅 people love giving stuff away cos you go through so much of it as they grow so quickly and it takes up so much space. You'll get loads of clothes as presents, almost all of ours was in 3-6 months. If people ask what you need you can be quite specific rather than just saying clothes you can say "oh I don't have any short sleeved vests in 0-3" or whatever. Saves getting lots of frilly dresses that people think are cute but are just a pain in the arse.

I gave away lots of DD's stuff, kept only my favourite/more neutral bits and DS has worn all of it. Happily now passing those things on to friends. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy knowing that I can pass on these loved items to someone I love 😊

Hi op congrats we spent 200 pound on a new travel system that once baby was here and in it we realised it wasn't good (brakes were shocking) so was in my local town centre and saw a pram in charity shop window a cossato giggle pram and I always loved cossato. It was only 50 pound and came with everything plus helped charity so win win DS loves it more than the "new" pram.

Work out if any of the charity shops near you has a dedicated baby department, and lurk/pop in whenever you’re passing. I got a lovely cot bed for £20 just as it was being donated.
Bought a new mattress (and sent the old one to local animal shelter)

Hi, you really don't need as much as you think you do.

Mum of 2 and you learn a lot on the way.

I'd say the only things I would buy new is:

Mattress
Car seat
Baby bottles

Vinted is great for 2nd hand items and fb market place for bigger items.

Don't even worry about all the bouncers, fancy play mats etc especially in the early days.

Hi OP,

You really don't need much stuff at all. I've got 3dc and I'm always amazed at the lists of stuff people say you need - most of it I've never bothered with.

Essentials in my experience
Car seat -get one you can carry with baby in
Buggy can probably wait. Loads of babies hate being out of contact with their mum for the first 3months. Try a sling or just carrying them.
Clothes, baby grows and sleep suits, about 7 of each. Get ones with feet cos then no need for socks. Avoid ones with diagonal poppers as they're a pain to change nappies in
Cloths to mop up puke (can be muslins, flannels, tea towels, your sleeve- they all work)
Nappies and wipes (reusable can be bought 2nd hand if it's your thing though I'd get a pack of disposable for the first week or so)

A cot if you don't want to cosleep - if you plan to bf you may find this is what you do regardless of plans now - I'm not saying don't buy one just that I've never used one.

If planning to bf: lanolin nipple cream
If planning to FF: the associated gubbins

Don't worry OP. Firstly, you don't need as much stuff as you think, and secondly YES it can all be second hand! You can save so much money. Look out for hand me downs from friends / family / colleagues, or buy at charity shop / FB marketplace or equivalent.

Some items might not suit your lifestyle or baby could decide they don't like whatever it is. Much better to have bought stuff like that for a tenner second hand rather than money going down the drain.

Remember your baby won't use its bedroom until 6 months so a cot and the whole decorating the nursery thing isn't essential before they are born.

You can get all these lovely changing units etc but in reality 99% of nappy changes are done on the floor in your living room where you will mostly be camped out with a newborn for months 🤣

Don't be afraid to leave some things for after the baby arrives.

You'll probably also find people will start trying to offload their old baby stuff onto you when you announce your news so just sit back and relax for now!

We bought almost everything second hand for DD and saved an absolute fortune I'd 100% recommend.
Things like mattresses etc should be new but cots don't have to be.
We had looked at a new silver cross travel system which would have been £1100 brand new, someone was selling one on marketplace for £250 and it was immaculate. We decided we would keep it for when DC number 2 comes along and discovered that Silver cross do a pram servicing where you can send it off to them and they fix any broken parts etc ( I think it was around £100) so our pram will be like new again ready for our second.

What do you need to buy?? I had very little for my daughter - literally a buggy, car seat and a cot that she still sleeps in now (I didn’t get a Moses basket or anything)

bought the buggy new but bought the newborn bassinet bit second hand on eBay!

i didn’t get anything else except clothes (a lot of those were off eBay too) got some second hand reusable nappies too.

and I didn’t need anything else for ages after she arrived.

after a few months I found a bouncer useful - but by that stage id been given some John Lewis vouchers as a gift and bought the bouncer then

honestly don’t get much and wait and see what you need

I would have a look and see if you can find a second hand baby shop near you, there's a couple near me and they're wonderful.

If you FF, a Tommy Tippee perfect prep machine - secondhand is fine (you'll need to buy the filters new), and set it up in your bedroom ready for night feeds. Hands down THE most useful bit of kit for the first few months as it makes a perfect temp bottle in a minute or two so no faffing with hot water in the dark and waiting for bottles to cool whilst your baby is screaming.

Also look for a free nightlight app to put on your phone, then you don't need a separate nightlight. You can usually set the light colour and brightness too.

Congtatulations on your pregnancy - I hope all goes well for you, your partner and of course the little one.

When my daughter - now an adult and almost 31 - was born, I bought most of the baby stuff for her second-hand via the small ads in the local paper, as it was so expensive to buy new and my ex was out of work at the time. The cot was second-hand but I think we did buy a new matress for it; Mum offered to buy a big coach-built pram which wouldn't have fitted in our car for family outings and was too wide to get down the narrow passageway from the front door to the living room so we bought a second-hand pram/pushcair/carrycot combination instead. Baby clothes were mostly second-hand from charity shops; don't necessarily knock this idea because babies grow so quickly that their clothes are often grown out of before they wear out, so you can pick up some virtually brand-new items if you're lucky.

My ex's married nieces had children about a year older than my daughter so I did think they'd pass on some of their outgrown baby items to me; unfortunately both girls were expecting their second babies so nothing was passed on to me from family members. Our income was so low when I was pregnant that I couldn't afford proper maternity clothes for myself; had to make do with a couple of pairs of second-hand elasticated waist maternity jeans worn with a baggy teeshirt - hardly appropriate for an office enironment but I couldn't afford anything better! By the time Mum eventually offered to take me on a shopping trip 'to buy something for the baby' I'm afraid I lost it with her and said I'd have liked one nice maternity outfit to wear to work but as I was now on maternity leave therre was now no need for this, and as for baby items did she want to see my list of baby items? Mum was insistent on dragging me round the shops like a prize pig at a country fair, on the hottest day so far and when I've neer been able to tolerate hot weather at the best of times and certainly not when eight months pregnant!

If you're planning on having more than one child it might be worth your while to buy more baby items brand new but as my ex and I didn't plan on a second baby it wasn't worth it to splash out on everything expensive and brand new when we only had a limited income. When family members asked me what I wanted for the baby I did give out a list of what I wanted, but older relatives ignored this completely and bought what they thought I 'ought' to have instead.

So as I had only one, and intended on only one. I bought almost everything second hand except mattresses and bedding (although close friends actually gave me a load of Moses basket sheets too!) and the car seat. I was given masses of stuff too, from friends gifting it on.

I would say though that if you plan on having many, sometimes investing in a really good quality pram / cot bed etc pays off as obviously the life of a second hand item will be shorter.

Almost everyone I know did as I did - and none of us were judged! I think in fact it's viewed as more environmentally friendly now.

Congrats btw!!

Ditto this! People do give you so much stuff!

If I had the patience for online marketplaces I would definitely by secondhand! The stuff we did buy for our first, we bought new, but we had a huge amount of hand-me-downs which was amazing. Helped us out so much financially.

Now expecting our second and virtually all her stuff will be reused from her big sister. Daft to spend money when you have perfectly good stuff, imo!

Congratulations.
You will be so excited you will just want to go out shopping and get everything!
Don't.
They need almost nothing to start with. Think: minimal clothes, feeding, nappies, transport, and sleeping - babies can sleep in a box or drawer in extremis, or not even that if you co-sleep.
Wait to see what you are given.
Then when baby is a few weeks old and you are bored on maternity leave, THAT is the time to go browsing the baby shops. You will know your baby's size then, and have a better idea of how baby has fitted into your life, e.g. what changing bag or mat you might like, whether you will want a sling for older babies, what sleeping and feeding arrangements are in place, if you need seasonal or outdoor clothes, etc. etc.