Gently Used Baby Clothes - 5 Great Places To Get Them
Babies get bigger quicker than you can put clothes on them. They grow so fast that it’s hard to get good wear out of their clothes. They are wearing their pieces a few times before they grow out of it. This gets incredibly expensive for parents. However, there are ways to save money and even have your child be one of the best dressed kids on the block.
There are different stores and places you can look. Here are some great ideas to look for the gently-used baby clothing at great prices:
1. Yards sales are great. Many parents selling the clothes are doing it for the same reason, you are looking. Their children grow out of the clothes quickly and they are looking to get rid of them. Check out newspapers during nice weather seasons. Most ads will state if baby clothes are for sale because this is a popular item. There are dozens of yard sales on weekends.
2. Thrift shops have clothing for all types of people. The other great thing about finding clothing at a thrift shop is that all the money is going to charity. They have loads of gently-used baby clothing for a great price.
3. Talk to relatives or friends who have had young children and see if they need their old baby clothing. You can get cute hand-me-downs this way. You also know where the clothing is coming from, which is a plus.
4. Consignment shops are good places to look. People are always looking to get rid of items and consignment shops have all types of articles, including baby clothes. If you are a regular to the shops, build a good relationship with the employees. They may hold items for you at a killer price. So it’s worth showing your face in these shops as often as you can. The other thing you might consider for consignment shops is trading the clothing back when you need a new size. Some shops have this type of policy.
5. Freecycle.org is a website dedicated to recycling all types of items. This includes children’s clothing. Normally, you don’t even have to pay a fee for these clothes. You go to a neutral pick up location and all you have to do is pay for gas. There are new listings everyday of people offering all types of items and baby clothes are usually high on the list.
When you get used clothing, wash the clothing thoroughly to ensure the clothing is clean. Pre-treat any stains and wash the clothing in gentle soap that is specially made for babies. You probably want to put the clothing through two cycles to ensure the clothing is safe and germ-free. Besides former owners, the clothing might sit in a store for a long time and collect dust.
Your baby can be one of the best dressed kids around. You don’t have to go broke doing it either. Check out these different places and see what kind of great bargains you can come across.
2009 Newborn Baby Clothing Trends
Trends were not something you easily associated with Newborn baby clothing. In fact, for they were thought to be little more than comfortable cotton bundles that were easy to wrap around the unsuspecting baby. However, those days are gone and you cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the changing trends in newborn baby clothes anymore.
Every season comes with a new twist on traditional newborn clothes, or introduces something absolutely new to the stores. 2009 Newborn Baby clothing trends also have lots of new items to offer. Some of the latest trends in newborn baby clothing can already be identified. Bold prints are all the rage this year, and the children dresses could also not escape that influence. Similarly, organic dresses are also enjoying great popularity among children.
Newborn Dresses and Baby Swimsuits
Some things never change, and the good old fashioned ‘dress’ still remains the favorite for newborns – the easy to maneuver single piece outfit held together by an easy to maneuver ribbon. Babies hate it when their clothes cling too close to their bodies, and do not give enough space for their skin to breathe. Dresses are the best clothes to suit that need. However, there are great color variations that have been introduced in the dresses for newborn babies. Some of the most popular prints of 2009 are:
Floral Printed Dress
Watercolor Floral Dress
Dancing Shell Bubble Dress
Polka Dots
Equally popular are the baby swimsuit dress sets, particularly for little girls. Some of the most popular swimsuits are:
Pink Puppy Swimsuit and Coverup set
Ducklings Baby Swimsuit
Tulips Apron Back Swimsuit
Clothing Trends for Newborn Girls
Every occasion needs an appropriate cloth, and it is as true for your baby as for you. Therefore, if you want to prepare your newborn for a social occasion, you may have to think beyond the dresses, beautiful though they are. The babydoll dresses and the Princess sets were always popular for girls. The latest addition is the peasant dress. One of the most popular clothing trends for baby girls is the tunic and leggings set. Some of the popular tunic and legging combinations for the season are are:
Little Sprout Tunic and Legging
Chiffon Tunic and Legging
Bunny Swing
Similarly, Capri sets with both dresses and tunics are extremely popular too.
Clothing Trends for Newborn Boys
Fashion for your newborn boys is also not what it used to be, miniature sets of adult dresses. They are designed, produced and tailor made particularly with children in mind. Little boys, you will find, can be extremely fastidious about their dresses. Onezies have always been extremely popular with young boys. Some of the most popular onezies are:
Black Kiss Onezie
Grey Police Onezie
Grey Pink Floyd Onezies
Latest Fashion Ideas in Newborn Baby Clothes
Apart from the fact that your baby girl looks hip in these clothes, she can also spend a lot of time simply gazing at the psychedelic and colorful sleeves of her dresses. Bold caftans are extremely popular this season.
Outgrown Baby Clothes - Great Money Saving Tips On Maintaining Baby Wardrobe
It has been just a couple of months since you had a baby, and there are 2 wardrobes full of baby clothes. This sure will be an expensive affair. More than this, there is another issue. It is the problem of dealing with the baby clothes that have been used already.
There are several ways in which this problem can be dealt. These clothes can be donated to underprivileged kids. In case one of your friends has a similar aged baby, it will be useful, or it might be useful in case you have another kid. The other clothes can be donated to Salvation Army. These places are a great find for giving out the gently used clothes.
Other clothes that are used to mark the special occasions like baptism, first Christmas etc, can be saved up in a place to cherish the memories. It is always good to store these dresses in a trunk from the craft store, with all sorts of decorations on them. This trunk can be filled with mementos like the bracelet from the hospital, the first blanket etc. As the baby grows, there will be a lot more things that can be added to it. These are the best ways to preserve memories of your child. This might not get the immediate appreciation, but someday, the kid sure will appreciate this act.
Using the old material from the baby clothing to make a new set of baby clothing is a very good way to save money and use the materials more than what they were expected to. Making a patchwork tee shirt, and converting a pant into a shorts are all good ways to cut down the pennies.
Another useful thing that can be done using the baby clothes is using them for stuffing cute toys. In case your baby cannot wear one of your favorite clothes due to size constraints, it would be a great idea to use these clothes to make a stuffed toy. These are best ways to preserve the memories. The same thing is done with socks and jeans.
In case you are a very creative person, there is another way to save up your kid's small sized clothing. This can be done by stitching up a quilt. The small pieces of the baby's clothing can be used to make a full sized quilt with a lot of patchwork on it. It can be used on their bed when they grow up. These kinds of gifts will receive a great appreciation from your kid and his sentimental value towards these objects will be way higher. These are great gifts during a graduation day, or a wedding day.
In case you have plans of settling for another kid, then that itself acts as a way to get rid of the old clothes. The old used clothes can be thrown in the storage area, and can be used as clothing for the next kid. But, it must be ensured that the clothes must be as good as new and must be completely laundered.