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I love secondhand baby clothes. I have my first child and I absolutely don’t mind buying secondhand clothes for the little one. Before he was born I was pretty snob and skeptical about it. To let my little angel to wear hand-me-downs, no way.

But many things had been changed since he was born. My mother-in-law has a really good eye for secondhand children clothing.  She started to buy us secondhand baby clothes and Fisher price stuff too. She found amazing stuff and they were all of good quality. Little smart jeans and trousers, cool tees etc. I really love them. She changed my mind about secondhand clothing in general. Why to buy way to expensive baby clothes while you can spend your money on smarter and more useful things?

Everything costs a lot and you really don’t want to throw away your money. Now I visit thrift stores because they’re full of goodies. One of my friends who is much older than me also an expert thrift store shopper who taught me how to find quality clothing for my baby and for myself too. A completely new world has open to me and I love it.

Recently I came across an article written by Stacie Lewis: Is your baby too good for secondhand?  I really like her post and the comments as well. Here are a couple of example what moms think about secondhand children clothing:

No way, probably about half of my kids clothes are hand me downs. Kids grow so fast, I just can’t see spending that much on clothes. The other 1/4 is clothes bought for us as gifts from family members and the last 1/4 are clothes we have purchased. Even though my kids wear hand me downs I am still very picky about what they wear. I want them to look current and coordinated with no stains, etc.

Nope! I will admit that most of my older daughter’s clothing is bought new, but she is the first grand daughter in the family and I cannot stop the grandmas (and great aunts) from buying her clothing. I’ve tried! On the other hand, the younger daughter gets almost nothing but hand-me-downs. All of our baby furniture was either given to us second hand or bought off of Craigslist. Now that some of my friends are having little girls (all of their first born children are boys), I am happy to let them look through our baby stuff and take what they want. Better to share around than throw away so long as the clothing is not stained or torn.

I’m a kids consignment sale junkie, so most definitely not. It’s better for the environment and cheaper, so of course I’m all for used clothes. I also buy used clothes for myself, though I’m a bit pickier about what I wear. My kids stain up whatever they wear, so it really doesn’t matter if it comes pre-stained. Part of the reason I buy only used (or items on mega-sale) for my kids is so that I don’t worry about them being messy eaters or playing in the mud. I let my daughter play in the muddy sandbox in her 100% silk laura ashley party dress, because I got it on consignment for $8 and she loves it.

I’m all about consignment shops, outgrown sales and hand-me-downs. I’d rather save money to use on things like vacations or good quality food. But I am pretty picky about what I get or use from these places. If there are pills all over the item or it is faded beyond recognition, then I’m going to pass it up. But, like others have said, babies are in clothes for such a short time that they are sometimes barely worn second-hand! You can tell pretty easily just how worn clothing is AND sometimes at a consignment shop, you hit the jackpot and find something you like with the tags already on it! I just always make sure I wash everything before my family wears it. If it’s washed and looks to be in good condition, how is that different than using washed dishes at a restaurant that potentially thousands of other people have used before you?? I’m the same with previously used toys or books – if it still looks almost new, then I will take it home and wash it with no qualms about letting my family use it. Plus, it’s “green” to follow such practices.

I agree with these parents 100%, it’s really smart to use secondhand clothes, toys or books. It’s also good for the environment and this way we can also teach our kids that everything costs money and you don’t have to buy brand new stuff to feel good in them.