When your Babies have Grown Up

You can never underestimate the amount of baby stuff a new baby brings into your home, all the normal stuff such as prams, cots, change mats etc but then you also add bouncy chairs, walkers, bouncers that hang from the door, baby carriers, car seats, high chairs, baby baths, blow up rings and feeding pillows, the list is just endless.  My house felt like it was half the size and it was hard to get around without walking into something or tripping over.

As the years go by and your babies grow up into toddlers and then go to school you can slowly get rid of that equipment.  The question is, what do you do with it all?  Of course if you are planning more children in the future, the likely hood is that you will store all the baby stuff ready for the next one comes along.

If you aren’t planning anymore children, you will probably want to get rid of a lot of this equipment, but the question is how do you go about it?

Baby equipment can be very expensive and you may feel that you want to recoup some of the money you spent, by selling it on.  You can do this by advertising in a local paper or magazine, taking it to a car boot sale or selling it online on an auction site.  You might find that you don’t make very much money, as I found that baby stuff, very new and in great condition didn’t actually sell for much.  Most people like to new for their first baby and then pass it down to other children that they have.  It seems that people who buy second hand baby equipment are on a very tight budget and don’t want to spend a lot.  However if you are selling several items is can add up to a reasonable amount.

If you are not worried about making any money back you could give or loan items to friends that are expecting babies.  I think most people are happier using second hand equipment if they know where it has come from.

If you want to donate it to a good cause charity shops quite often accept baby stuff if it is in good condition, so that could be another option.  We have a co operative recycling centre nearby us that sells on things; they have a lot more space for larger items of equipment.

It is worth considering when you first buy your baby equipment, how much use you are going to get out of it, whether you really need it and also if it’s more sensible to buy second hand instead of new.  You might also thing about what you will do with it when you have finished using it.  You might decide that it’s not actually sensible to spend huge amounts of money on baby stuff you might never use.