Deciding what to do with your old baby stuff

We have a lot of baby stuff.

An awful lot.

We were lucky to be gifted and inherit so many clothes, items of equipment and toys from friends and family, but we also purchased all manner of baby junk.  As O grew out of things, we packed them all up into storage bags and boxes in our attic. Consequently our attic is now jam packed full of baby bath seats, teeny tiny clothes, a jumparoo, spare buggy, car seat, newborn play mats etc. 

We are considering buying a house, and looking at the local property market suggests that will probably mean a place with less storage than our current rental. Viewing houses recently gave us the push we needed to start thinking about what to do with all the baby stuff.

At the moment, we are working on the basis that we will have a second baby at some stage, just not immediately. Making this decision is a crucial pre-work step before you can even think about what to do with all your baby stuff!

Simple 3 Step Method

1. Do a first pass through everything

2. Decide what to do with each item

3. Create a plan for each category

Step 1: Do a first pass

We kicked off the process with a first pass through all the stuff that we had in the attic. I spent a dusty few hours rooting around and doing an assessment of all the things that we had accumulated. This process was made so much easier by having put everything away clean, in original packaging where we had it. 

Tip: If you have the space to store original boxes/packaging while items are in use, do! It’s so worthwhile for either storage or selling items on. 

The purpose of this step was just to see what we had and to see if we were both on the same page about getting rid of things. We determined that we are not sentimental at all about baby equipment but some items of clothing make us feel all squishy inside. 

You can also make an inventory at this stage if you have the time and energy. This could be useful if you need to update the value of your insurance or if you are shipping your stuff internationally. We've previously moved from London to San Francisco and back from San Francisco to Dublin

Step 2: Decide what to do with each item 

When deciding what to do with items, there are a limited number of options.

To keep stuff, you either need to store it or loan it to somebody (they basically store it for you while using it). To get rid of items, you can either sell, donate, recycle or dispose of them.

I put together this nifty flowchart to help us work out what we should do with each item:

We determined that if we were to stay in our current house then there is no problem with storing everything in the attic until we are forced to make a decision. However, as we are planning to move, we should try to sell any items we definitely won’t need again whilst they are current models and have good resale value. 

As a general rule, if we were unsure about an item; we asked “would we want pay for storage for this item?” It turns out this question is made up of a few things; the cost of storage, the cost of replacement, the cost of disposal plus any sentimental value the item may have. 

To give an example, our Bugaboo Fox is great, but we don’t use it very often anymore and it’s only suitable for one child, so we would need to replace it for baby number 2 anyway. Selling it now while it's still the latest model makes sense.

Step 3: Create a plan for each category

Now that you have identified where each item is going, it's time to make a plan for each category. 

Store it

What you decide to store will differ depending on whether you plan to have another baby soon and how much storage space you have.

We have decided to only store either:

• high value items that we will definitely want to use again if we have another baby

• lower value items that do not take up much space e.g. bag of baby clothes

Things that are bulky and low value, e.g. snow suits will be loaned to friends or donated as there is no guarantee we will have another winter baby, so we may be keeping them for nothing!

Anything that we store, goes away clean and packaged in the original packaging or in clearly labelled storage boxes and vacuum bags. 

Loan it

Loaning is a great option for storing your baby stuff.

It gives the best of both worlds; you get to hang on to your items without needing the space to store them, and help out someone else at the same time.

Be prepared though, your things may not come back as pristine as you loaned them. To loan things, you need to be comfortable with wear and tear or even items getting lost or damaged. To avoid hard feelings, communicate in advance if and when you’ll want your stuff back.

We’ve loaned quite a few things now, our Graco swing is currently rocking its third little baby and the next resident has already reserved it!

Sell it

This is the best option for baby stuff that you know you are definitely finished with.

For us, that was our Bugaboo Fox and Maxi Cosi Pebble carseat. I just took a few photos of each item and listed them on our local online marketplace (I used adverts.ie but you could also try donedeal.ie or craigslist). After a little back and forth, they sold within 24hrs. 

Alternatively, you could pop up an ad wherever there are breastfeeding or baby massage classes locally. There is also a company that hosts regular markets for second hand (pre-loved) baby stuff in Ireland, check out babymarket.ie. I haven’t been to one, but it seems like a great idea!

Donate it  

If you know you are done with your items and can afford to give them away for free, then donation is a terrific option.

Most local charity shops are thrilled to get baby equipment in good working order. Also consider women’s refuges and homeless charities as they regularly rehouse people with small children. 

Dispose of it

Finally, if you are certain that you no longer want an item anymore and have exhausted your options for selling or donation, then try to recycle the relevant parts and dispose of as little as possible.

Many people look for spare parts for baby equipment, so considering selling these separately.

Final Thought

Now that you have taken the time to go through all your baby stuff, consider how you will store the items that you plan to keep.

If you've pulled everything out to do a stocktake, this is a great opportunity to make sure that items of clothing are all clean and packed away by size (e.g. newborn, 0-3 months etc.) so that they are ready to go the next time you need them!