Your Options for Unwanted Baby Clothes Given as Presents

This Christmas I was lucky enough to get some gorgeous presents, and of course that included quite a few for Ethan! He really liked all his toys, and he got some lovely clothes, but unfortunately, he was already too big for some of them. It’s really hard to guess the size of children sometimes isn’t it? You don’t want to get something so big it’s put away until next year and promptly forgotten about, but then nor do you want to pick out something that either won’t last or will only fit them for five minutes. 

So anyway, I now have a few brand new, and very nice clothes, and what with the ones he’s also hardly worn and already grown out of, I was wondering what the best thing to do with them all would be. (I have to admit, I’m not getting rid of everything… we got the most beautiful pyjama set with paisley bird which I’m hanging on to for baby no 2! )

Original graphic: here

Refund

If you know where the gift came from, you can always get a gift voucher or swap your item for one a couple of sizes up. While most stores won’t do an actual cash refund without a receipt, many are happy to make an exchange or give you a token for future purchases. 

Re-selling

You can sell the clothes online once you’ve finished with them, it’s pretty easy on an auction site like eBay. Unless you have something really special, a good tip to save you time and auction fees is to group them in bundles, for example “Boy’s clothes 3-6 months”. You won’t get a vast amount of money for them, but what you do get you could always donate to charity, if you like. 

Re-gifting

Of course, if you know a mum who has a child a bit younger than yours of the same gender (if that’s important to her) and you know she’d appreciate the clothes, then that’s a very quick solution. If the clothes are brand new than you could always be a bit naughty and wrap them up for a birthday!

Charity shops

Almost any charity shop will be glad of clean baby clothes in good condition, but I really like the idea of giving them to a children’s charity. Many baby charities don’t want actual clothes because they don’t have shops or enough storage to keep them and would actually prefer cash, but Save the Children has shops all over the UK and they do great work in many countries (including the UK), for so many vulnerable children.  

Hospitals and Sure Start Centres

If you would prefer that your clothes go directly to the babies in need of them, Children’s units at the hospital and the Special Care Baby Unit are also happy to take clothes. Babies sometimes need spare things when they’re being cared for, especially if they were admitted as an emergency. If you had a premature baby and still have any of the teeny tiny clothes they may be especially grateful, since they are harder to get hold of. Talk to your health visitor too, because often will pick up unwanted baby clothes, which they pass on to women’s refuges or other women in dire need.

You can also drop off clothes and toys when you go to the Sure Start Centre to get your little one weighed, and that way, mums who need them can just pick up a couple of things without any fuss. 

Personally, having weighed all the options I think I will drop mine off at Save the Children. What did you do with your outgrown baby items?

*Post in association with Snugg Nightwear - who stock a wide variety of nightwear from some of the UK’s top designers. 

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