When & what baby items to get rid of, any advice?

sylphraven

My 2nd son is now 1, I've been storing everything thats still descent in the roof, but my MIL & OH thinks I should put EVERYTHING on ebay. Anyone got any opinion &/or advice on that.

I'm very much in 2 minds about it, with my first son I was very lucky that my mom was a hoarder & had stored all mine & my siblings baby things so I only had to really buy mattresses, a few clothes, bottles etc this was VERY hand as I was young & didnt have much money. I sorted his items out a bit each year but when my 2nd son was born I wished I had kept a lot of his outfits. Should I keep some of the items incase I have another happy accident (we dont plan to have anymore but the other 2 werent planned either) or to help out when I have grandkids. My MIL also admits that after 8 grandkids she'd wished she'd saved a walker, gates & cot for when babies/toddlers visit & how lucky my mom is to have done it.

Or do I put anything desent on ebay & the rest to a charity with the mind of if another baby is born we'll buy new stuff, our children will probably think our stuff is out of fashion & they'd prefer to get their kids new things (when they get to that age, lol). The money is not "necesary" as such, we have a small amount of debt that I have a 2 year debt-free plan for, & as always theres things we'd like but dont necessarily need.

What do you think?

DaisyFlower

I'm not a hoarder so probably no use to you lol - I got rid of everything once it was no longer needed. I either donated it to charity or asked around to see if anybody could use it - I know some people dont like second hand goods but some do.

We only planned the one child so I saw no point in keeping it all. Hopefully I wont be a granny for a long time yet and I know I personally wouldnt have wanted the things saving for me so hope DS is the same.

Ishtar

We're in the middle of a house move and have finally sorted through all the baby things we hoarded. We've kept some of the clothes - mostly the 'unisex' clothes, like babygros, vests, etc, and some the first size clothes DD wore - and all equipment like the breast pump, steriliser, bottle warmer, sheets and blankets, and reusable nappies. Also, we've held on to the obvious things - pushchair, car seats, cot, etc, as we're planning to have another.

The rest has been put on eBay, sent to charity, or binned - weirdly, there was little interest on freecycle . Was hard to do, but we had the incentive that the removal company will charge us for everything they move, so it was worth our while to get rid of what we no longer need! (It would probably cost us less to buy things again, than it would to move them 40 miles east!!).

Hope that helps
D.

Jo_F

I held onto all my baby stuff incase it was needed by family and then my sister got pregnant, and before I could say anything my mother told me not to offer her anything second hand as she wanted everything new.

So I phoned Social Services and asked if they knew of anyone that needed stuff and they were very happy with my offer as they had lots of expectant/new mums on their books that needed help, so they came and collected my cot and pram and loads of other stuff.

I was happier that it went to someone that obviously needed it and was grateful for it.

ChasingButterflies

My husband would say that I am the worst hoarder ever :rolleyes:

However - things were really tight money-wise back then so I kept everything... After dd2 was born I really struggled to let go of the things she was growing out of (because I wanted another)

Now we are in the position where we have loads of boxes storing stuff everywhere and I am trying to be ruthless with them. Special clothes/toys all go in the kids memory boxes i.e. with artwork from school/tickets to shows etc... we have 3 kids and thankfully a big loft :rotfl:

DH is trying to bring me round to the way of thinking that -If we are lucky enough to have another (long story) then we are in a postition to be able get what they may need...

I have passed on loads of clothes/toys/baby equipment to one of the local womens aid centres (although they don't all have room to store things so had to ring round a few)

So I guess what I am saying is that I found it easier to keep things with special memories... but it is really hard to keep everything without it invading the whole house and I started to have issues with the mess/hassle of storing everything...

lol I hope that makes sense and is of some help!

Paparika

I like the social services idea, so many expectant mums that can't afford brand new

RustyFlange

You could offer it on freecycle, the problem with ebay is unless it is named (next etc) then people will pay a pittance no matter how much it is worth, so you could end up paying more in fees etc ... Freecycle always has people who need baby items, I put a lot of my things on freecycle and had lots of people who *needed* them, I chose these people other than the people who just wanted to resell them!

sylphraven

Thanks for answering everyone, I love the idea of giving the items to charity . At the moment we are in the position that if I got pregnant now we could buy all new things, but you never know what things will be like in the future.

I'll definately be keeping the 1st outfit he wore & a couple of cute things I cant bare to get rid of yet, but is there anything you'd definately keep, put a couple of named goodies on ebay or give it all to charity?

ChasingButterflies

Have a look at what you have to get rid of, check completed listings on ebay - weigh up if it is worth the time it takes to list etc, then take it from there... anything that won't or doesn't sell can be passed on. Writing a listing brings back loads of memories - a few things I almost didn't list and then found the quick and painless method of giving it away easier.

If you are going to ebay and since you have loads of "similar stuff" what I normally do is write listings in turbo lister and then when I have everything ready - like 10+ similar items I have found that almost everything goes this way... as in people check out your other listings and as long as combined P&P is fair they bid on more than one thing.

Good Luck!

moneypooh

I've looked at it from the view of future use. I have saved the cot and some bedding and a safety gate. Their favourite toys and clothes. Of course special items like 1st tooth etc...
The decision was made easier because we asked the children what should be kept. We cleared out the loft last year and we chose items together. They love the idea that their children can play with things they had, and read the same books.

I did give away/sell most of the items like pram/buggies/sterilisers/clothes/toys/books/car seats etc...
And fashions change, boy the buggies nowadays certainly don't look like theirs did!

You could do it in stages if it's easier. 1st give away/sell the things you really don't want to keep, and then do a re-think every couple of years. After about 12 years things either do or don't mean anything - then it's easier to part with them.
I have done the same with artwork etc... At first I kept everything they ever did and then every few years I reduce it by 25%. I now have lovely collections for school years and I know I've kept the 'best'. A box file for every 2-3 school years.

Merlot

I would E-Bay/carboot anything that is in good condition. I would charity the rest of the stuff.

I have only have four memory boxes with artwork/first toy/train set for my two children.

No point keeping any of the baby stuff in my opinion, if you can sell it, it makes sense, if not donate it.

I'm not a hoarder, I totally dislike the loft being filled with anything other than the xmas tree and the empty boxes from the past gifts/household items we have bought, so we can E-Bay them as and when (you'll get more if you have a box).


Merlot.x.