After you’ve had a baby, and they’ve started growing up, you soon realise that you’re left with things that only really serve a purpose for a baby. Old baby swings, baby gates, cribs, baby clothes, toys – the list goes on and on. Now, your initial thought is that you keep absolutely everything. Sure, that’s fine, if you have a big enough house. If you’re lucky enough to have an attic and garage, you’ll have enough space to store all of this stuff.
Why keep it? Well, there’s the sentimental attachment you have to the items and they serve as a constant reminder of when your baby was a little baby. Also, there’s a possibility you might get pregnant again. Who knows? You’re still young, it might not be in your thoughts right now, but a few years down the line you may think about having another child. In which case, keeping all the stuff is handy as you don’t have to go out and buy it again.
Of course, you have no idea what the future might hold, meaning you could have no other kids. So, you’ll end up keeping lots of stuff that clutters up your home and takes up space. It brings us to the main question: should you keep old baby stuff, or should you get rid of it?
What’s the answer? Well…you should do a bit of both…
Baby stuff that’s worth keeping
There are certain baby things that are worth keeping even if you don’t plan on having a kid again. For instance, the very first onesie or babygrow that your child ever wore. This has loads of sentimental value, so you should never ever get rid of it. Similarly, their favourite baby toy is worth keeping as you can get it out when they’re older and be like look, you used to love playing with this all the time in your crib!
The things that have genuine sentimental value are worth holding on to. Also, they tend to take up minimal space, so you can have a box full of the stuff. If you have multiple kids, keep all of their old sentimental baby items together.
What else is worth keeping? Well, practical things like a baby gate are probably worth hanging on to. Mainly, this is because it can be easily stored away. Plus, you might use it again if you get a pet. Effectively, if you have anything that’s pretty easy for you to store away without it taking up loads of room – and there’s a chance it will be used again – you should keep it.
Baby stuff that’s not worth keeping
Old clothes. Don’t bother keeping any of your baby’s old clothes, other than the very first thing they wore. For starters, they grow out of their clothes very quickly, so you’ll probably have loads of different outfits just gathering dust in the attic. You might think it’s beneficial to keep them in case you have another child, and it could be worth hanging onto a couple. However, as you will remember from your baby shower, people will gift you clothes all the time. So, you’re going to end up getting loads for free if you have another baby anyway.
Baby toys are also not worth keeping. Again, the favourite toy or cuddly is worth hanging onto, but everything else can be got rid of. Your baby is likely going to chew and suck on their toys, so it’s not really that nice to hand them down to a future baby. Plus, a lot of the toys can take up a lot of space, so it is worth getting them out of your house so you don’t end up with too much clutter.
Lastly, some of the larger baby items might be worth getting rid of as well. Some cribs and buggies should maybe be thrown away, especially if you have no intention of having another baby. They take up loads of space, and they will just get dirty if you keep them. Even if you do have another baby, you might find the old buggy or crib is dirty, rotten or covered in rust. You’ll probably end up buying another one anyway.
How to get rid of old baby stuff
If you are 100% certain that this baby was your last, you can start getting rid of the majority of their old stuff. Hold onto the sentimental items, but remove everything else. There are a couple of things you can do in this situation. For starters, think about hiring a skip to deal with large items – like buggies, cribs, baby gates and all other big bulky things. Be warned, skip hire could require a permit, so check with your provider to ensure you have all the right documents. Then, it’s a case of throwing these things in the skip and they’re taken away for you. Don’t worry, most skip hire companies are very good at recycling as much of your waste as possible, so it won’t all be dumped in a landfill.
The second idea is to donate a lot of your old baby stuff to charity shops. Old baby clothes and some toys are perfect for this. If they’re in a good condition, there’s no reason to throw them out. You may as well help them find a new home, so check with local charity shops to see if they accept them as donations. It’s an easy way to get rid of a lot of old stuff without throwing it all away.
So, to sum everything up, there are certain things you should keep from when your kids were babies, but a lot of it should be thrown away. I know, many of you will attach sentimental value to everything that your baby had or used. However, you can’t keep it all in your house forever or you are bordering on being a hoarder. You need your storage space for other things, so get rid of most of the baby stuff if it isn’t a special item and you don’t envisage a time where you’ll need it again.
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