Since this is our first child, the list of things we need to purchase seems endless, despite my efforts to be minimalist. There’s no getting around it, babies need a lot of stuff! And – as my own mother gently pointed out while visiting this weekend – I am also a picky person. Sometimes my eco-friendly, health-conscious choices translate into saving money, as hopefully will be the case with our effort to use cloth diapers, but more often than not, they mean shelling out a bit more money, at least to start. I’m of the opinion that quality purchases like glass baby bottles (can’t wait to post about this one!) and a latex crib mattress will last, ultimately saving us money, but the immediate cost is often undeniably higher.
Re-using is always an eco- and budget-friendly choice, but unfortunately there are safety issues attached with choosing used cribs, car seats, carriers, and other baby gear. Used baby clothes, on the other hand, can be washed and should be perfectly safe.
I’ve bought some maternity clothes for myself at local consignment shops and noticed that they have a ton of really sweet and adorable looking baby clothes, many of which still have tags and, presumably, have never been worn. I had been planning to hunt down a baby wardrobe this way, but then my sister-in-law generously gave us this HUGE box of my niece’s clothes, with sizes from newborn all the way up to 24 months:
(My cat, who is coincidentally also a hand-me-down from my sister in-law, insisted on being in the picture!)
I feel like I hit the jackpot!
I put the smallest sizes in the drawer under our new crib and breathed a sigh of organized satisfaction:
The remainder of the clothes will go in one of those under-bed storage boxes. Plastic, I know, but sometimes you have to be realistic…
I love hand me downs! What a great gift from your sister in law.