Do you appreciate hand-me-downs or shop second hand?

[beancounter]

I pretty much figured I would get it all 2nd hand, cus the pram and the crib will come from my sister, so I would get the mattress myself, and bedding, but all the major stuff will be second appart from the car seat.

I have mostly old furniture anyway, all renovated by me, it's so much better made than ikea, so I don't think it's any shock that I will be on the search for handme downs

and eeewww at the thought of second hand undies and socks

 

[Beltane]

I live for second-hand items and thrift store items. I've been on Craigslist everyday looking for things and have found tons! It just makes so much more sense unless you have tons to spend. Babies are messy little creatures so it seems pointless to spend hundreds on one item. I'm actually on my way out the door to pick up a barely used highchair that I scored for $10. Go me!

 

[sparkswillfly]

We have been given loads of things. Cot, moses basket tons of clothes. Im going to have a new pram because I have vouchers and just wanted one thing new. Ill also buy a new mattress and bedding. Ive also been looking on ebay at things like the fisher price jumperoo coz its £80 brand new

 

[Crobsonrobson]

Spoke to my sister - she went to one of these. See link. What a good idea if they are running one in your area.


www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/in-your-area/nearly-new-sales

Hope this link works..........

 

[Tiff]

I was adamant that our crib, stroller, carseat and high chair be new. Anything else doesn't matter.

I have an awesome friend who's lent me TONS of onesies, sleepers and outfits. She had her little boy last January, and has been a total godsend not only with the baby clothes, but with maternity clothes as well. Seriously, she's saved me a bundle!

Our nursery isn't new by any means either. We converted alot of stuff that we already had as a way to save money. My parents bought us our crib, which was awesome. We got new bedding of course, but the glider was P's sisters, and the dresser was in there already, and we're converting it to a change table.

The baby isn't going to care if stuff is brand new or not. However, your pocketbook will! Nothing wrong with being thrify and putting your money where it's more needed. Like diapers. The amount of diapers we're all going to need scares me!

 

[Shifter]

The baby isn't going to care if stuff is brand new or not. However, your pocketbook will! Nothing wrong with being thrify and putting your money where it's more needed. Like diapers. The amount of diapers we're all going to need scares me!

Yep, disposables are a complete and utter waste of money, and I do mean hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. You will literally buy them, use once and throw into the landfill. There are other options you know... ;-)

 

[mrs shine]

Most of the things I've got are second hand, mainly from ebay. I'd rather save money now, so that we've got more to spend when our family comes along so that we can do things together like days out etc

 

[Hevz]

I've always been given a lot of hand-me-downs from friends and family. Most are great, some are rubbish and a little "too" worn or damaged but I just put them in the recycling bag. It's saved me loads of money

 

[WelshGirl]

I'll happily have 2nd -hand stuff for the baby, but so long as I know where it's come from.

One friend has given us a moses basket & a baby bath, and I had all of her old maternity clothing. Another friend gave me 2 bin-liners full of barely worn baby girl clothes. She bought tons of newborn & 0-3 months stuff, but then her little girl was born wieghing almost 12 lbs....so like, 90% of it has never been worn - where's the harm in taking stuff like that?

Our cot is being bought for us by family, as is the steriliser - so all we have to buy is the buggy & car seat!!

Has saved us a fortune! We had the money saved to pay for everything, so what we haven't spent we are putting aside to make things easier when I am on mat pay.

xxx

 

[Tiff]

Yep, disposables are a complete and utter waste of money, and I do mean hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. You will literally buy them, use once and throw into the landfill. There are other options you know... ;-)

Indeed there are! We're going with gdiapers, a sort of hybrid between cloth and disposable. It's got the cloth outer layer and then a flushable insert. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who look at them and are like 'Uh. Yeah.... you'll go to disposables soon enough'.

Funny how that is. People talk about being "green" but when it comes to a little extra effort on their parts they revert right back to "ole' faithful". Argh. LOL!!!

 

[Frankie]

damn rights we have loads of stuff people have given to us, my sisters little one is due in 4 weeks and there will be 3 months between our little boys so shel be giving us what doesnt fit no more

 

[Shifter]

Indeed there are! We're going with gdiapers, a sort of hybrid between cloth and disposable. It's got the cloth outer layer and then a flushable insert. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who look at them and are like 'Uh. Yeah.... you'll go to disposables soon enough'.

Funny how that is. People talk about being "green" but when it comes to a little extra effort on their parts they revert right back to "ole' faithful". Argh. LOL!!!

Or "new" faithful in this case! Whenever anyone gives me a funny look or derisive comment about reuseable nappies I say "Well what do you think people did until fifty years ago?"

 

[pennysbored]

I'm lucky to have friends that are all having babies right now, so I've got alot of clothes coming to me. But really, I'm cool with second hand stuff, but yeah, there is something about a crib that I don't think I could buy one from a thrift store. Why'd they just give it away, you know? But really, just about anything else...

 

[Amanda]

I bought 4 binliners of clothes from a friends brother. Cost us £70 if I remember right, and there's 2 years of clothing in there, and the majority of it looks brand new! 90% is from Next!

I'm always on the look-out from Freecycle as well. In fact, I've just emailed someone who's getting rid of a racing car bed!!! That's be great if we get that as the new baby will need the cotbed that Charlie is in.

 

[Momma2Violet]

Actually, this is one of the main reasons I looked for another pregnancy forum to join! and, I have to tell you all how good and welcoming you have all been.

I was chastised on other forum for choosing to cloth diaper when I mentioned that we were going to do so for a variety of reasons, mainly being a bit greener (we already organic garden, preserve our foods, compost, buy local meats/eggs/dairy etc...) and make our own cleaning products, so with a child, this makes the most sense for us--an initial investment, sure, but when I did a dollar cost averaging of just the basic store brand disposable vs. cloth diapers at $12.00 per dipe, we'd be nuts NOT to cloth dipe. And, it fits in with our lifestyle...

I was told that until I was harnessing solar energy (she didn't do any of the above or the latter), that I wasn't "green" and that she would rather spend the 10 minutes spent in the laundry room with her child--that I would be sorry for missing that time. I think I'd be sorrier if our earth wasn't here for my daughter, that I don't leave it in a better place for her....

But, I digress
I'm so happy to see that we are all supportive of second hand (even with limitations). It's really important to me to attempt to save money for things that matter--and having this year's top colored buggy, or name brand duds just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather save money to take our little one to hike the Appalachian Trail or to Cornwall to visit my oldest friend at her farm.

 

[Tiff]

So unless you're harnessing solar energy all of the other green efforts are for naught? Wow. People definitely have their own ideas on stuff eh? To me, (and I'm not a model standard by ANY means) every little bit counts.

I've had people argue with me on the cost of the diapers. They say that once I see just how expensive they are, I'll crack. Or the convience of disposables. Then there's the people who say that I'm subsituting one sin for another. As in, okay I'm not contributing to the landfill problem, but the amount of water I'll be using to flush the inserts will cancel it out.

Personally I think the water is the lesser of the two evils. You can always retreat the water, but those diapers are in the landfills for at least 500 years, if not more. Besides, the inserts are compostable as well.

 

[Shifter]

Too right Tyff.

 

[sam's mum]

Most of our stuff is second hand - I got most of Sam's furniture on ebay (obviously bought new mattress etc) and friends of ours who have 2 boys gave us loads of their clothes, toys etc and they are perfect! I still buy him new outfits sometimes if I see something cute, and friends and family have bought us some lovely clothes but we haven't bought that much...it's not as if he's in it for long anyway!

at the harnessing solar energy comment. Sorry, but some people just have no idea how much of a difference the smallest things can make if everyone puts in a bit of effort x

 

[xXDonnaXx]

I have bought clothes for her off ebay.And my mum has picked her some things up from the 2nd hand shop. I wouldnt have everything second hand,but a few peices of clothing is alright.

 

[mummy to be]

I am a strong believer in getting 2md hand things.
My dad's new girl friend has a 27 month old boy.. she has kindly offered us EVERYTHING of his! From cots, to prams, to change tables, to clothes, toys, baby monitors, Nappy buckets, bottles, EVERYTHING you name it i am pretty sure we already have it. Even got a Cradel We couldnt be happier with this.
As Joel (dad's new son) is only 27 Months he is still in the cot so OH and i have been talking about "spoilling" ourselves and bubs and buy a new cot Not that there is anything wrong with anything that MIL is going to get us but i wouldnt wanns rush Joel outta his cot... Everything that we are getting is in great condition (brand new pretty much) so we are very very lucky here. Plus we have plenty of family and friends that are asking us what they wanna us to buy for them... so i dont think we are going to have to buy much at all.. which we are very very thankful and feel very lucky!!

So my answer is No i dont find anything wrong with 2nd hand things. As long as they are clean and healthy for bubs and family then why not...