We had the smallest baby shower in the world so we did not get a lot of clothes. Also, most things I asked for were prem and newborn clothes.
So we were sorted for the first few months.
I then started buying their clothes and I buy just enough for each baby. Like 2 - 3 pairs of leggings, 4 vests, 3 babygrows, 4 short-sleeved printed bodyvests, etc. in each size. It's great because less clothes = less laundry!
I know, I know, my poor kids are deprived. That's why you see them in the same things over and over again in the photos.
So our babies don’t have a lot of clothes by most people’s standards.
Still.
Those clothes pile up. Plus the hand-me-downs and "late baby presents" we received from people.
Since we are not going to have more kids (unless a miracle happens and somehow our bits start functioning!), there's no point in hanging onto the clothes.
Also, I hate untidy drawers and I must say, there is NOTHING nicer than opening a nice, neat drawer with tiny baby clothes.
- I gave some of their nicer 0 – 3 months clothes to a friend
- I turned some really grotty stuff (prem vests - they wore those out so we really got value out of them) into dusting rags.
- I kept about 6 items of their TEENY, TINY stuff for a memory box - OH, I wish I could sew so that I could make them a quilt each. Maybe I should look for somebody?
- and then there was "the rest"
(I definitely kept this little babygrow and beanie - he LIVED in these clothes in the beginning - this was size PREM and we used to roll up the sleeves so it could fit all 1.93 kg of him)
I had a "moment" when going through the stuff because I remembered when Connor used to be so small (look at his thin little legs here).
So, I had a whole bag of prem things and no idea what to do with them.
All my friends had normal-sized babies and in Joburg, you also don't know if people want hand-me-downs. Joburg is all about money and status and hardly anyone has an old car, let alone second-hand stuff :) I am not like that at all - we gratefully receive anything, as long as it's clean, right?
I had offered to keep some of our clothes for someone I know who's pregnant with twins. I heard nothing back after months of waiting so I just figured that she's not into hand-me-downs. To each his own :)
BUT then the best thing happened.
A friend from work who reads this blog (hi Michelle) told me that one of the cleaners at work is pregnant with boy/ girl twins and.............. DO I HAVE ANY CLOTHES?Oh YES I do.
I was so excited (it's small things people!) that I brought in that bag the very next day and am already filling another bag with clothes for them (those twins have since been born and are home with their mum). Kendra decided to grow those legs even longer and has outgrown her babygrows again and is FINALLY in 3 - 6 months (up to 7.5/ 8kg clothes)
But this got me thinking.
What do YOU do with all your old baby clothes?
P.S. This is my 30-minute post for Steadymom's challenge
I'm keeping ours - 'just in case' ;) I bought some of those vacuum storage bags and have bagged them up by size. Thank goodness for an attic!
ReplyDeleteI gave all our prem sized stuff to the NICU that looked after Minx. That seemed a nice thing to do after their good efforts. Is that an option for you?
If 'just in case' doesn't eventuate (or we had a boy!) I'd do what you're doing - keep an ear out for someone who's happy to received preloved but good condition clothes. It'll save them a fortune ;)
I'm saving mine to make a quilt, but figure I should wait to see if we have another box next before destroying them. So, for now, they sit in a gift bag in the closet.
ReplyDeleteOh Mandy, you are SOOO clever to make a quilt.
ReplyDeleteSaffy, I considered the NICU but seriously there were a lot of clothes. The tiny stuff is gone now and the next bag is filling up fast (up to 6kg, I think it's called 0 - 3 months)
I didn't even think of a quilt either and I do quilt! We will not be saving the boys' clothes either as we are finished having children as well.
ReplyDeleteWe have a group around here called Mothers of Multiples and they have two big sales they organize kind of like a flea market that you can have a table and sell your old stuff - equipment and clothes. I'll be participating in my first one this year. I have a lot of clothes to sell as the boys are now wearing 9 or 12 month clothes.
We've been donating a lot of them. Some are going to friends (the ones that aren't too ruined). The rest? I don't know!!! They're going in the basement to take the place of the recently donated maternity clothes (couldn't be happier to see it go)! It's so hard to get rid of it, but even harder to keep it. I'm only keeping really sentimental pieces.
ReplyDeleteHeather, that's a great idea.
ReplyDeletesomething I'm curious about - do you guys work on the same sizes as we do? Because Connor has only just gone into 6 - 12 months (up to 10kg) and he's the same size as your kids.
I have a storage tote, and two boxes. In the storage tote go things for our quilts and my cousin's baby. The boxes are for donation and a fellow blogger with g/g twins.
ReplyDeleteMy problem? I never mail the boxes out as our stroller won't fit into the post office! However when I go to visit my cousin to drop off her clothes she mails my packages with the automated shipper for me. I REALLY need to visit my cousin!
Itn the case of my little boy-we give them to other people, who have told me they want them & the girls-by the time it's gone through two of them-I give them to a second-hand store.
ReplyDeletean old school friend of my sister's sent me her sons' clothes to size 2, such a blessing. some of the clothes were 4 years old...who cares, kids grow so fast and are out of things so fast - they were mostly perfect - I gave them to another person after that but people were a bit weird about taking them. so I just started giving them to charity. my son was a preemie too - I only kept two of his outfits...I have a little bear I got with a floral arrangement when I was the hospital for a week trying to keep him in and I would take pictures of him with that as he grew to show the growth. now that I'm out of work I'm going to take them to a consignment shop cause any little bit of extra money helps.
ReplyDeleteI take all of our nicest things (most of which we have two of) and split them into two boxes. As soon the girls grow into a new size, I mail the boxes to four of Lucas' high school friends, each couple of whom has a daughter smaller than mine. The less nice, but still serviceable, things, I offer on Freecycle. I've always had takers on Freecycle for kids' clothes, but if I didn't, I'd take them to our local maternity home for teenage mothers.
ReplyDeletei've given a few choice pieces away- but most of them i'm hoarding just in case the next kiddo is a girl :)
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem. People are not keen on taking second hand baby stuff and some of the clothes she wore maybe once before it was too tiny...I'm sending all mine along to children's homes now. They are very grateful and at least it's not just being thrown away.
ReplyDeleteI saved the sentimental items and donated the rest to the local shelters. They always have a need for baby items.
ReplyDeleteWe love hand-me-downs in our house. I rarely buy clothes for any of our kids. I have a friend with girls older than my daughter who gives me stuff her girls have grown out of. She also has a boy older than my son and passes his stuff along, too. When my kids are done with them I toss icky stuff (or make it into rags), keep only the most precious sentimental things. Everything else I bag up and find someone to give them to, usually a friend, but not always the same person. If I can't think of someone right away, my most recent strategy is to get on facebook and ask if anybody wants them. It's worked like a charm so far. I only had a couple of premie outfits (my twins were born at 4.33 and 5.33 lbs, pretty big for premies) and I took them to my OB/GYN and asked him to find someone who would need them.
ReplyDelete