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Turn In Your Used Baby Items For Some Cash
Call it cash for baby clunkers. Like the federal government's program designed to remove gas guzzlers from the road, Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us are launching a program to draw attention to the number of baby products that should not be handed down or resold to a new generation of lil ones.
Beginning Friday, the stores will launch the Great Trade-In, allowing parents to bring in used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, play yards and high chairs in exchange for a 20% savings on the purchase of any new baby item by certain manufacturers – including Britax, Chicco, Evenflo and Graco.
Website lil Loves: Googooswap.com
A baby changes everything — even your bank balance! While some mamas have family and friends to hand down used baby items, others are looking for a place to unload their goods and possibly pick up a few bucks while they are at it.
Like other online classified sites, Googooswap allows mothers to post ads for the stuff their babes have outgrown or never really took to in the first place.
What Do You Do With Your Old Goodies?
There's no denying that a wee one brings a lot of baggage to a parent's life. And by baggage, I mean boxes of clothes that children outgrow at record pace. Moms hoping for large families usually pack the stuff up and store them for future use.
Tell Mommy: What Will You Keep Forever?
Children grow quickly and you are inevitably faced with the decision of incorporating hand-me-downs from friends and family (or second hand stores) into their wardrobe, or strictly buying off the rack. In fact, 70 percent of lilsugar readers say they mix new and used duds.
One of my biggest challenges is knowing when to say no (as in, those clothes you are trying to give me are beautiful, but my children have plenty, believe me!), when to let go and what items I want to stow away as keepsakes.
Would You Take a Hand–Me–Down Crib?
A friend of mine graciously offered to give me the crib that she used for all four of her children. Mostly due to safety issues, I declined her generous proposal and bought a new one. Consider these points before you pick up a secondhand crib:- Many older cribs have not been built to current safety standards; the width between the slats may be too wide, posing a choking hazard.
- If you didn't assemble it, you can't be sure it was put together properly.
- Check for splinters, peeling paint, and worn out bed railings or broken slats.
- Be wary of dislodged mattress supports.
What to Stow and What to Throw
It's so hard to part with your baby's first blanket, the bonnet they wore home from the hospital or their first pair of shoes, but it's even tougher to live with bags of their keepsakes stored in every nook and cranny of your place. As the mother of two, I don't have trouble tossing things into a giveaway bag. It keeps me sane and allows the goods to keep on giving.
Off the Rack or Out of Someone's Closet?
Sarah Jessica Parker's son James Wilkie may have a hand-me-down wardrobe, but it didn't seem to bother most lilsugar readers. Seventy-six percent of you said it didn't matter that the cutie pie wears second hand threads while mommy wears designer duds. So that left us wondering, how you outfit your child.
Sporting Couture While Your Kid Wears Hand-Me-Downs?
Rags to riches to rags? Sex and the City's haute mama Sarah Jessica Parker grew up poor. And though the actress and her husband Matthew Broderick are well off, they don't want their son James Wilkie to take his lifestyle for granted.
Star Parents Are Selling Their Kids' Hand-Me-Downs
One haute new mama or pop will cruise around with Matt Damon's old diaper bag because the Sugardaddy is donating it to charity.
A piece in Us Weekly reports: The stars are teaming up for the Johnson's Celebrity Hand Me Down Auction, which benefits the March of Dimes, Save the Children, Zero to Three and Baby Buggy, among other charities.
Other items up for bidding are Julianne Moore's daughter's highchair and Mariska Hargitay's son's tracksuit.
Mommy Dearest: Hand-Me-Downs
Mommy Dearest,
A friend of mine is pregnant and asked me for my son's hand-me-downs. I only have one child and plan on having more.
I am willing to lend her some of his outfits, toys and blankets, but I want them returned in the same condition to use again in the future.
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