WWYD: Outgrown Baby Things

thepretzelchick

I was taking inventory of baby paraphernalia last night and am at a loss as to what to do with things he's outgrown, such as his swing and RocknPlay. He's getting close to outgrowing his carseat in the next month or two, so that'll add to the pile in the corner of his room. I'm letting a friend with a 4 week old boy go through E's clothes and pick what she wants/needs, but since the boys are essentially two seasons apart, I'm sure I'll still have quite a stack of clothes left. As time goes on, more things will no longer be used, like bottles, activity center, crib, etc.

If I was positive one way or the other about having LO#2, I'd know what to do, but since we're still on the fence about having any more kids, I'm at a loss. I'd hate to have to buy everything all over again if we have another, especially since so much was given to us, but I'd hate to have all this stuff just sit in the garage (where it'll probably end up) and never get used again if we decide not to have another. I don't have any other friends with babies (besides the aforementioned) or who are expecting, so it's not like I have someone who could use these things, nor can I even give things out "on loan," so to speak, and hope to get them back if we decide to have #2.

WWYD? Should I keep or sell? STMs, what did you do with baby stuff in between babies? 

Andreabks

we're keeping gently used, adorable pieces for siblings (as we're the first to have kids).  the rest is going to be sold at a "Just Between Friends" event this spring.

we don't have any friends with kids our age/younger yet so no point holding on at this point outside of family pieces.  we only have one couple of our friends who are still working on kids.

Jillwithani

We aren't sure about a #2 (or when) yet but feel as if we have so much investing in gear to lose it. I'm a firm believer in only 1 baby shower so we will store it until we make the executive decision. I have so many friends who ended up having to buy things all over again after selling thier stuff to a second hand store which you could always do with your stuff in a few years if you decide you're done. Better to be safe than sorry!

danielle2583

We're keeping everything. As much as I don't want #2 anytime soon, I'm 99% sure that there will be one.

We made sure our PnP, Swing, Playmat were all fairly gender neutral.

Everything else is girl, so if we end up with a boy we'll probably have a yard sale andor made a quilt of all our favorite girl onesies since this gal is FINITO after having 2 babies.

Ladiebug710

I'd definitely hang onto them.  If they sit in the garage for a few years you can always get rid of them later.

CrazyDaisy8

I was going through all of Jayce's clothes last night and trying to seperate stuff into keep/get rid of piles. I have found at this point I am still way too attached to most of his clothes to give it away. Most of the items I put in the get rid of pile were clothes that were given to us that we never even used.

All of the gear we are planning on storing it until needed again. We picked neutral items on purpose so we didn't have to repurchase everything in a few years.

xxbabycakesxx

My kids are only 20 months apart so the baby stuff wasn't stores away for long. We just had it in the basement. Ds2 was a suprise baby but we were certain we wanted more kids eventually.

Between kids I did give our vibrating bouncer to my cousin. Then when B was born I kinda wanted it back lol. I didn't ask for it back though and we survived without it.

I know we'll have at least one more kid but not for another 4 or 5 years. I'm just going to store the baby stuff in the basement. If another family member has a baby I may loan stuff to them but be upfront that I'll probably need it back when I have another LO.

lady_tytah

Scout2005:

Keep them until you know. There is no reason to rebuy everything if you do decide to have another.nbsp;I washed clothes and stored in airtight bins. Gear was wrapped in garbage bags and stored in our crawl space. Now that we are done for sure, I am donating or reselling clothes, and donating gear to friends or Goodwill/local shelter as they outgrow them.nbsp; Carseats expire, so you might as well plan on not storing that. Otherwise, why not hang on to it for now?nbsp;

This. I hauled all my daughter's stuff for 5 yrs. I knew I wanted another but uncertain of when it was going to happen. I hadn't had to buy allot.

Mrs. Rohde

We saved everything. All the clothes were put into air tight bags and then into bins into the garage. We got lucky and didn't have to store the crib/changing table/dresser for long since friends of ours had a baby and we offered it to them as a loaner. So when their LO was done it was time to set it up for DSs room. It worked out perfectly. We did have a "sprinkle" and got mostly clothes and diapers which worked out great.

We sold most of DDs clothes to a consignment store and got money back and store credit too which we used to buy a gently used handheld video monitor (works great!) and an exersaucer. Since were done now with the two we didn't want to buy all new things.

If you're unsure, I'd store it if you have the space. It would be such a pain to re buy everything!

halvorsonl00

I would keep big items and clothes/outfits you really like. We got rid of pretty much everything after dd1 and found ourselves buying everything again 4 years later. Also, I live in a region where you don't have baby showers after the first baby really, so we didn't have anything gifted to us. If you have the space, I would keep some stuff for a few years or until you know for sure one way or another. 

thepretzelchick

Thanks, ladies!

With the exception of his clothes, everything is gender-neutral, so it's definitely usable for #2. Storage is at a premium right now since we moved into the new house a few months ago and we're just now unpacking boxes we packed in Oregon a year ago. I think once we have a big garage sale this spring/summer, there'll be more room.

ccam

I'll be keeping everything that is still in good shape until we're definitely done with kids.  It will all go in the attic until then.  It would be really wasteful to get rid of it and have to rebuy everything again.  Plus being team green, it's all neutral, so we're set with big stuff and all the small clothes.

bigbootyjudi

I'm keeping everything. We're planning on a #2, but it took me quite awhile to get KU with S and we had a few m/cs, so we're not quite sure what's in the cards. I won't be giving or selling anything though because neither one of us are "fixed," so anything can happen! No preventative method is 100% effective and I'm not buying all of this crap again. Our basement is a mess of boxes, but eh...that's what a basement is for.

AprilAngie

This. I would sell car seat and use money towards a new one. I have been selling things after dd as she is our last.

Scout2005:

Keep them until you know. There is no reason to rebuy everything if you do decide to have another.nbsp;I washed clothes and stored in airtight bins. Gear was wrapped in garbage bags and stored in our crawl space. Now that we are done for sure, I am donating or reselling clothes, and donating gear to friends or Goodwill/local shelter as they outgrow them.nbsp; Carseats expire, so you might as well plan on not storing that. Otherwise, why not hang on to it for now?nbsp;