Old Baby Stuff

[eggs]

What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
on to it?

My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months later.
Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born
about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the baby
things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought I
was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand, this
stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it. On
the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year and
will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.

For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
stuff for the next baby?

eggs.

[Nan]

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 10:35:46 +1100, eggs >
scribbled:

>For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
>more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
>stuff for the next baby?

I got rid of everything after ds. I was single and couldn't imagine
needing it again.
16 years later.... I needed to buy new ;-)
There are 4 years between dd1 and dd2. We weren't sure we'd have
another, but I saved everything.
If dd2 hadn't come along I'd be giving it all away on freecycle.

Nan

[Melania]

eggs wrote:
> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you
hang
> on to it?
>
> My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months
later.
> Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born

> about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the
baby
> things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought
I
> was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand,
this
> stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it.
On
> the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year
and
> will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.
>
> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years
or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get
new
> stuff for the next baby?
>
> eggs.

Our place became something of a clearing house for second hand baby
stuff, which is funny considering that dh and I were the first of our
generation in both families (and extended families) to have a baby. But
some of our aunts and uncles were really late starters, and a few of
them had been hanging onto baby/kid clothes in boxes in the basement
for 5-10 years. One of my aunts gave me a highchair, and her youngest
is 14yo. Friends and even one of the moms from my mother's school gave
us loads of other stuff.

So, even my first has since day 1 been dressed almost exclusively in
second-hand clothes, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I just don't
see the need for new clothing, as long as it's clean and in good shape,
especially for babies/kids.

I weeded through everything and gave anything I didn't want to
self-help (except the hand-knitted hand-me-downs, which stay in the
family). There were some things that were in such bad shape I threw
them out. I'll hang onto my better stuff for a while, to hand on to my
siblings when they have kids, but I'll give anything really well-worn
and still useful (and not sentimentally valuable) to self-help.

My friend's daughter has some little shoes and a couple of dresses that
actually belonged to my friend and her sister when they were little! If
they're in good shape, and they mean something, they're worth keeping
around (they appreciate with age!).

Melania
Mom to Joffre (Jan 11, 2003)
and #2 (edd May 21, 2005)

[Tori M.]

I want to hang on to my stuff since I want more. I have a friend that gave
away all her baby stuff and now is having #5. I am gonna let her use
whatever she wants that I have since I know if I have more she will give all
of it back.

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/02
Xavier 10/04
"eggs" > wrote in message
...
> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
> on to it?
>
> My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months later.
> Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born
> about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the baby
> things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought I
> was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand, this
> stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it. On
> the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year and
> will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.
>
> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> stuff for the next baby?
>
> eggs.

[Ericka Kammerer]

eggs wrote:

> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> stuff for the next baby?

I had almost six years between #2 and #3. I'm a packrat.
I had most of the baby stuff saved, having loaned some out in
the interim. Some of it I used again, and others I didn't
(wrong gender clothes, things that didn't fit our lifestyle
anymore, etc.). I'm spoiled--I bought new for things when I
didn't much like the old stuff, it was fun to shop for, and
not prohibitively expensive. Now the dilemma is bigger. It's
very unlikely that we'll have another so I don't want to
cart around a lot of unnecessary stuff, but I'm sentimentally
attached to some of it. I've been terribly bad on the
clothes front this time around, and G. has way too many
pretty things. I've been passing on some stuff to neighbors,
but I guess I'm too sentimentally attached to the nicest
things.

Best wishes,
Ericka

[Sue]

I kept all my stuff until I was done having babies and then I sold most of
the stuff in a garage sale. I still have the crib and the bassinet, but I am
now ready to get rid of this spring when we have another garage sale.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"eggs" > wrote in message
...
> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
> on to it?
>
> My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months later.
> Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born
> about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the baby
> things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought I
> was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand, this
> stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it. On
> the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year and
> will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.
>
> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> stuff for the next baby?
>
> eggs.

[dragonlady]

In article >,
"Sue" > wrote:

> I kept all my stuff until I was done having babies and then I sold most of
> the stuff in a garage sale. I still have the crib and the bassinet, but I am
> now ready to get rid of this spring when we have another garage sale.
> --
> Sue (mom to three girls)

I honestly don't remember how old my kids were when I got rid of all the
baby stuff, but I gave much of it to Goodwill (except the stuff people
had made; I figure the kids may want that later.)

I know my Mom waited until her youngest was 11, then got rid of it all.
She got pregnant about a month and a half later . . .
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[Rosalie B.]

dragonlady > wrote:

>In article >,
> "Sue" > wrote:
>
>> I kept all my stuff until I was done having babies and then I sold most of
>> the stuff in a garage sale. I still have the crib and the bassinet, but I am
>> now ready to get rid of this spring when we have another garage sale.
>> --
>> Sue (mom to three girls)
>
>I honestly don't remember how old my kids were when I got rid of all the
>baby stuff, but I gave much of it to Goodwill (except the stuff people
>had made; I figure the kids may want that later.)
>
>I know my Mom waited until her youngest was 11, then got rid of it all.
>She got pregnant about a month and a half later . . .

My mom kept a bunch of stuff which I used for my kids. She smocked
some dresses which one of my granddaughters is now wearing - 3rd
generation. She also had a crib and a carriage that she used for us,
and I used the carriage for the baby's naps - not much use for a
carriage where I was living with no sidewalks.

I got most of my baby furniture second hand, and it would be outdated
now, and I don't think I have much of it anymore except an old high
chair. My mom still has a youth bed I think.

As for clothes - I kept most of the baby clothes, and passed them down
to the first three who were girls. The special things - like
something my great aunt bought in Israel on a visit, and a coat dh
bought in Scotland when he was on a North Atlantic cruise, I kept.
Generally if someone has made it (me, mom, or my children made things
for themselves), I've kept it.

I tried to keep the good (but not special- just mass produced things)
clothes that my oldest two had as children, but by the time the third
one was born it was 5 years later and styles had changed.

My children pass things along among themselves. For instance dd#2 has
a large son (wearing some adult clothes at age 10) and she will hand
the stuff down to ds's son who is a year older but much smaller.
They've also handed around baby stuff like jumper chairs and extra car
seats (which we had for my mom and me when someone came to visit via
plane and didn't want to bring a seat with them). I also used to keep
a playpen for baby grandchildren to nap in.



grandma Rosalie

[eggs]

In article >,
Ericka Kammerer > wrote:

> eggs wrote:
>
> > For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> > more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> > stuff for the next baby?
>
> I had almost six years between #2 and #3. I'm a packrat.
> I had most of the baby stuff saved, having loaned some out in
> the interim. Some of it I used again, and others I didn't
> (wrong gender clothes, things that didn't fit our lifestyle
> anymore, etc.). I'm spoiled--I bought new for things when I
> didn't much like the old stuff, it was fun to shop for, and
> not prohibitively expensive. Now the dilemma is bigger. It's
> very unlikely that we'll have another so I don't want to
> cart around a lot of unnecessary stuff, but I'm sentimentally
> attached to some of it. I've been terribly bad on the
> clothes front this time around, and G. has way too many
> pretty things. I've been passing on some stuff to neighbors,
> but I guess I'm too sentimentally attached to the nicest
> things.
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka

My MIL still has all of DH's stuff in the basement and DH is 35! She's
not only kept all of his clothes and toys, but his homework and
textbooks and everything - all the way from birth through college! She
could open up a DH museum in about a week flat, covering every moment of
his life. This is what I don't want to become!

eggs.

[Sue]

"dragonlady" > wrote in message
> I know my Mom waited until her youngest was 11, then got rid of it all.
> She got pregnant about a month and a half later . . .

LOL, that's what happened to my SIL. She didn't want anymore kids after her
son was born and got rid of everything. She was on the pill and gave birth a
year ago to their daughter. :o)

I thought about hanging onto the crib and bassinet for sentimental reasons,
but realistically by the time my girls have kids, the stuff will be
severely outdated. I did keep some of the special clothes that they wore.
The other equipment, I gave to my friend who was going to be babysitting two
babies. I'm glad that most of my stuff got used by people who needed it.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

[Sue]

> My MIL still has all of DH's stuff in the basement and DH is 35! She's
> not only kept all of his clothes and toys, but his homework and
> textbooks and everything - all the way from birth through college! She
> could open up a DH museum in about a week flat, covering every moment of
> his life. This is what I don't want to become!
>
> eggs.

Wow, that's a little overboard. I do have stuff that the girls have made and
I would like to come up with something a little nicer to keep it other than
in a box. But, I am not sure what to do with it. I have kept all their cards
that they have gotten for birthdays. My mom did that for me and it's nice
every once in a while to go through the cards. My mom even kept my third
grade valentines. Wow, how valentine cards have changed since the 70's ;o)
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

[[email protected]]

Fortunately, a close friend and her sister in law were having kids at
the same time as me. Between the three of us, we had eight kids, and
the baby clothes rotated between us - it just happened to time out
about perfectly. Old stuff got taken out of the rotation, and new items
were added, so some of what I sent out after baby #1 came back, but a
whole lot of interesting nice newer stuff came back when I had #2 2
years 9 months later, and then again #3 4 years after that.

It was great! Like Christmas - great big bags of baby clothing etc.
would show up, and I could dump them out and sort them. A lot of baby
gear went into the circle as well, so many things I probably wouldn't
have bought myself I ended up getting to try out and use. It was
extremely cost effective for the three of us, and certainly gave us
access to a wider range of items. It helped that all three of us were
similar in that we were pretty careful with stuff, kept it clean, and
tactfully "retired" anything in poor shape (i.e. the bags didn't show
up full of tatty stained rags).

When we were done with kids, my friend (2 kids) and her SIL (3 kids)
were as well. We donated everything including our crib to a local
women's shelter, who were extremely happy and grateful to get what we
had.

Mary G.

[Nikki]

eggs wrote:
> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
> on to it?

I saved it between #1 and #2 (24 mo gap) and then got rid of it all even
though I'll have a #3 eventually - I hope :-) I'm not sentimental about
most stuff and I don't like lugging it or storing it. I sold the crib
through the paper and the lady that bought it needed so much stuff and had
so little resources that I gave her all the rest of the equipment I had
around as well. I gave dh's niece the newborn things but her baby was a
girl so beyond newborn I gave the stuff to the Civic Council (which is like
a local Goodwill).

I bought all my things second hand so there wasn't that much money invested.
I imagine I could get it all second hand again!

Besides it was so much *fun* getting all that stuff. I was glad not to have
to do it for #2 because they were so close but they will be so much older
when/if #3 comes along that I'll have fun finding the stuff again....plus
I'll know what I actually like/need so it will be double the fun, lol.

--
Nikki

[Rosalie B.]

"Nikki" > wrote:

>eggs wrote:
>> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
>> on to it?
>
>I saved it between #1 and #2 (24 mo gap) and then got rid of it all even

I had my first two with a 25 month gap, and after the infant stage
there were quite a few things that I could not pass down because #2
was a much stockier body type than #1. Also when they were about 2nd
and 4th grade, they wore the same size shoes, and pretty much the same
size clothes, although #1 was a little taller.

# 2 had two first cousins that were born within a month of her, and we
couldn't exchange clothes because they were so close in age. My mom
however (who used to make our clothes) would make us three dresses.
One bigger than I needed, one my size and one my sister's size (31
months younger), and then when I grew out of the larger one, she'd
send them to our cousins in Colorado - three girls, one my sister's
age, one about 1.5 years younger and a much younger one. We had
cousins in NJ which were my age, my sister's age, and younger, but her
BIL (my dad's sister's husband) was a banker and really had more money
than we did.

>though I'll have a #3 eventually - I hope :-) I'm not sentimental about
>most stuff and I don't like lugging it or storing it. I sold the crib

I kept everything - I knew I'd have more and we moved quite a lot.
The movers packed everything. If I'd had to do it myself, I might
have been more discriminating. I kept all my old curtains etc as
well, and sometimes they could be recycled and sometimes not.

>through the paper and the lady that bought it needed so much stuff and had
>so little resources that I gave her all the rest of the equipment I had
>around as well. I gave dh's niece the newborn things but her baby was a
>girl so beyond newborn I gave the stuff to the Civic Council (which is like
>a local Goodwill).
<snip>
grandma Rosalie

[karlisa]

When our first son was born, we decided to save everything "just in case,"
because we had some frozen embryos and knew we would be transfering them.
But since the boys were born in different seasons, it's not likely that Noah
will wear all of Mick's old clothes. What I plan on doing with a great deal
of this stuff is selling it at the local "tot trade" that happens twice a
year. I also plan on giving some to the loca battered women's shelter, as
the families who stay there often come with only the clothes on their backs.
I know these two are the only children I'll have, so I'm planning on getting
rid of it as soon as Noah outgrows his clothes and toys.
--
lisa
micksmom
mick: 7-12-02
noah: 1-24-05


"eggs" > wrote in message
...
> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
> on to it?
>
> My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months later.
> Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born
> about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the baby
> things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought I
> was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand, this
> stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it. On
> the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year and
> will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.
>
> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> stuff for the next baby?
>
> eggs.

[Penny Gaines]

eggs wrote:

> What does everyone do with their old baby stuff? How long do you hang
> on to it?
>
> My baby stuff has been through DS, then DD who was born 18 months later.
> Then I gave it to a nephew and a friend's daughter who were both born
> about a year after DD. Now these babies are toddlers and all the baby
> things are coming back to me. There are so many of them! I thought I
> was rid of this stuff, but here it all is again! On the one hand, this
> stuff has seen plenty of use, so I feel OK about getting rid of it. On
> the other hand, I will be looking to try for another baby next year and
> will (hopefully) be needing baby stuff again then.

After we had #2, I had masses of stuff which I wanted to keep for
sentimental reasons: funnily enough after #3 was born, I found there
was very little I actually wanted to hang onto.

Like other people, I swopped stuff with relations as our kids grew
into or out of stuff. If I was planning on having more children,
and had storage space, I would be nclined to go through the clothes
that were coming back, and just get rid of the things that were now
unusable. I might sift out clothes I didn't like much, and if I knew
someone who could use it give it to them.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

[Chookie]

In article >,
eggs > wrote:

> For those of you who have had a large gap between babies (say 3 years or
> more), did you hang on to your baby stuff, or get rid of it and get new
> stuff for the next baby?

I have hung on to it all because I knew I wanted another child. Quite a
percentage of it was already at least second-hand.

I am not planning a third child. If I don't know anyone who will use it, the
wearable stuff post-No. 2 will go to my church stall. (My church is close to
Villawood Detention Centre and a lot of new migrants settle locally until they
are on their feet -- and they all need basic household goods, which we sell at
modest prices). The unwearable stuff goes to The Smith Family, who sell it
for industrial wipers.

There is always someone to pass things on to.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

[Chookie]

In article >,
eggs > wrote:

> My MIL still has all of DH's stuff in the basement and DH is 35! She's
> not only kept all of his clothes and toys, but his homework and
> textbooks and everything - all the way from birth through college! She
> could open up a DH museum in about a week flat, covering every moment of
> his life. This is what I don't want to become!

Don't Do That Then ;-)

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

[Irene]

Sue wrote:
> "dragonlady" > wrote in message
> > I know my Mom waited until her youngest was 11, then got rid of it
all.
> > She got pregnant about a month and a half later . . .
>
> LOL, that's what happened to my SIL. She didn't want anymore kids
after her
> son was born and got rid of everything. She was on the pill and gave
birth a
> year ago to their daughter. :o)
>
That reminds me of what a woman who works at Once Upon a Child told me
- she made sure to hang onto at least a few things, because she was
sure that if she got rid of *everything* she'd be sure to get pregnant
again!

Right now we have 2, and we are probably done, so I have the dilemma of
what to hang onto. I have a SIL due in April and a friend due in
August, so between the 2 of them, they'll be getting most of the
clothes and 1st year stuff. Tho of course ther are lots of things we
are still using, like the crib & strollers. I'll probably hang onto a
few clothes, but not very many (unless they both have boys, lol!). The
one due in April wants to be surprised, and if I'm lucky, the friend
due in August will know by then, so I can divvy up the gender specific
stuff then!

I got a ton of handmedowns from my 2 SIL's and a friend, so it's only
fair that I hand down my stuff. There are at least a few things that
have gone through 5 or 6 kids! Hopefully, by the time I'm done with
some of the longer term stuff, there will be other friends (or possibly
SIL's, since ds has 2 single step-brothers) to give it to.

Irene