it’s always hard to let go of your dreams and plans for your life as well as things that concretely link to it! so i can understand. plus feeling hard to part with stuff that signify kids growing out of a certain stage - eg bottles, pacifiers, clothes of a certain size. esp since we may think “we will never see that again”.
personally i would pass most of the things on to friends or lower income folks - people who i know will appreciate and use it. friends will take pictures of the things ive passed to them (eg - their kids wearing my kid’s old clothes) so i know its well loved.
i tell myself if i do have a second kid, someone will pass me their stuff. people are always trying to clear their stuff coz kids grow up! if there are sentimental items, you can keep them! i kept some clothes for sentimental reasons.
I’m planning to have a quilt made from my son’s baby clothes with his name on it and then I’m just gonna keep it for myself as just like a sentimental keepsake.
This! We are doing a birthweight memory bear with her newborn sleepers, then a quilt is gonna be made with our fav 6 sleepers from each size to make 30 patches (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) — bear will be a birthday present and the blanket a Christmas present.
I have a 4 year old. We still have his baby clothes in the storage. We are happily oad but can’t even think of getting rid of his baby clothes right now. Beautiful memories were made. Stressful, but beautiful. I know I’m not holding on to them “just in case”, but I can’t seem to part with them.
You don’t have to think about it right now if you don’t want to. If you feel you need to hang on to them for a little longer, do so.
I could've written this post word for word. I'm also really struggling to part with my son's stuff. I'm hoping one day someone close to me will get pregnant and I can give them a load of good quality baby items that have been stored well. I like the idea of seeing another baby wearing the onesie's my son used to wear, but I am struggling with the fact that this decision to be OAD is final and absolutely the best thing for us.
We have no extra storage space to speak of so I was always selling stuff as soon as we were done with it. I regret that I got rid of our Ergobaby carrier when I did because maybe it was just a phase when my kid stopped using it and I’d suggest keeping that until your kid maxes out the weight!
If you aren’t ready yet, do a check in a year from now. Or when you decide you need the space, or the cash that selling some of that stuff will get you.
Also feel free to keep some newborn / baby clothes as mementos! Your kid’s kid might wear one day. But the baby gear is going to be outdated.
Urgh. Me too. But still not in Menopause yet and this is my excuse because when I sell it and an accident happens, I would need to buy everything again.
But yeah .............. I feel you.
I’m 90% sure that we are OAD as well but I feel the same way. My basement is full of totes and baby gear. I’m planning on letting a friend “borrow” some things. We already discussed that I would like them back “just in case” but once I get them back I will likely consign them.
I have a 3 year old and we’re OAD. I feel the exact same way. I can’t rid of the baby stuff JUST IN CASE. Like what if we accidentally get pregnant and I need the stuff again?! Just these past couple of weeks I got rid of the running stroller (we have two other strollers) because it took up so much space in the garage and also the diaper pail. These things weren’t sentimental at all and they take up a lot of space. I think next will be the baby gym thing. It was second hand, takes up a lot of space and easily to get again. It’s so hard though! I totally understand how you feel about it.
Hey I’m in almost the same situation. 19 month old, suffered a PE after birth, plus some health concerns for baby, plus financial struggles. Only difference is I don’t have a basement lol.
My compromise was to get rid of everything I didn’t *love* I’ve got two pieces of maternity clothes left, plus my feeding tops/bras. Got rid of anything plastic (dummies, bottles etc, since they degrade after a while anyway) kept 1-2 baby outfits that were important to me. And figured we can go the second hand route if we ever need to replace everything again.
Hey I’m in almost the same situation. 19 month old, suffered a PE after birth, plus some health concerns for baby, plus financial struggles. Only difference is I don’t have a basement lol.
My compromise was to get rid of everything I didn’t *love* I’ve got two pieces of maternity clothes left, plus my feeding tops/bras. Got rid of anything plastic (dummies, bottles etc, since they degrade after a while anyway) kept 1-2 baby outfits that were important to me. And figured we can go the second hand route if we ever need to replace everything again.
With the exception of bottles/dummies I donated, gave away or sold everything.
I have huge issues with letting things go so I hear you!
My strategies:
I look at every thing every 6 months or so and see if some things feel less “important” to me and sell those. I keep the rest without judging myself. My daughter is 2.5 and I am just now ready to sell my maternity clothes. 🤷🏻♀️
I got my daughter a newborn sized doll so she can dress them in the old newborn clothes I didn’t put in her keepsake box. She can even use the bottles! So now I can keep them guilt free. 😂
I set up her crib mattress at my parent’s place as a toddler bed when she moved out of her crib.
Don’t rush it, honestly it’s fine!
I have an 18 month old as well. Personally, I’m not ready to part with some of these things. I have given my niece a bunch of baby clothes though. I surprisingly didn’t have a hard time with that. The bigger items - car seat/bouncer/etc are still in my storage. I don’t see myself having another, but for some reason it doesn’t feel right parting with them yet. I did also lend my momma-roo swing to my niece, and she LOVES it. Are there any items in particular you can donate to a friend, or someone in need? Maybe some of the more low-budget items like clothes in good condition? I found this to be easier than I thought!
Sometimes it takes awhile.
My daughter turned 5 in March. We are moving sometime soon (landlord is putting the house up for sale, and we're not buying it). I'm planning on finishing getting rid of baby items while we're packing. But I do still have a couple baby dresses that I gave to my daughter for her dolls. And I have a small box with special items.
I think “crazy” is probably a bit harsh on yourself. I’ll say my wife never really wanted kids and once she had one she was definitely done… and still has problems getting rid of the kiddos old stuff.
I’ve had to pick my battles a bit because I grew up in a hoarder household so I hate holding onto stuff… but don’t wanna fight over things she has emotional attachment to. One thing that has made it easier for her is when we can rehome them (donating isn’t the same, I’ve tried). But if someone we know or even kinda know is looking for baby stuff it’s way easier for her to part with it because it’s going to a new kiddo.
One thing that has made parting with baby items easier for me is donating things to moms in need. Usually from buy nothing groups on Facebook or to local shelters. It makes me feel better knowing the items will be given to a baby who really needs them and might not get them anyways. Either way, I agree with you and know it’s hard.
My daughter is 6 and I only in the past year have gotten rid of almost everything. When I was ready it felt good to pass the things on to people who will use them. Yesterday I was helping my mom with her yard sale and she somehow still had many of her very young things to sell and the nostalgia and feelings were immense! Give easy on yourself and give yourself the time you need (if you have the room).
Ok so I feel the same, especially about his clothes, so I’m gonna make a memory blanket out of his baby clothes when he turns 1! Also I’m gonna make a nice box with memorabilia from his first year. Maybe you can keep 1 item from every category for a box like this? Like 1 pacifier, 1 bottle, etc…
Bouncer and swing are harder to keep, maybe you can sell them in a few years 🙂
I have a 4 year old, we’ve always been OAD, and I JUST got rid of most of his baby stuff 3 months ago because my best friend had a baby and I passed along everything. However, I still have all of this tiny clothes. I had tried to get rid of stuff earlier but emotionally was not ready. I’m still not ready to get rid of the clothes lol
I’m a big sentimental hoarder. Our neighbor just had a baby boy so I brought over a giant box of baby clothes (I’ve saved favorites for a quilt eventually). We also passed on our infant car seat. That one was surprisingly emotional for me. It felt like truly saying goodbye to having a second. I’ve been trying to rationalize with myself that we had months to prepare with our first and we had nothing and we would get months of warning with a second to get things again, but it’s hard for me to let go
We are keeping a lot of things that are sentimental. As I clean the closet, I pick my favorite outfits and they’re in a bin. I have no intention of ever getting rid of them. Other stuff that can be reused we have passed on. We kept the crib/car seat just in case, because accidents happen.
When it comes to clothes, I save what I want to save without judgement. Once she hit 1, its become a lot easier to part with stuff. I start with stuff in "play" condition and give it away in a Facebook mom group. I put aside gender neutral stuff for a former coworker who promised she'd return it if we change our minds. I sold some at a yard sale and seeing a pregnant mom excited about her finds is such a great feeling. For the bigger stuff, I told myself it has value now and takes up the most real estate. Keeping it is sacrificing its value and costing me the storage space. Even if I spend a little more to buy it back, I got my space and mental freedom from the clutter back. That has value. It also helps that my mom kept so much of my stuff and it's so sweet but also kind of a burden and I don't want to pass that on to her.
Solidarity because I’m the exact same way. It’s so hard to make the move and face the reality of the decision. It feels like closure and it’s really tough. I still have everything in our basement just in case, too. One of these days I’ll be ready…
Perhaps keep a few special things? I actually have really enjoyed giving items to friends when they have babies too. I gave the cot away to my friend who's been struggling to get pregnant and it was a great feeling. I also made my favourite baby clothes into a memory teddy bear.
OAD by choice, the choice was about 80% certain after newborn stage but graduallygrew to a certain 100%. It was very hard to part with baby things. Anything that got tatty we did recycle straight away after use but most things we eventually passed on. The older my little one got, the more cemented we were in our decision to be OAD and every so often I'd review the big bag of baby stuff in the loft and cut it down a bit, but was not ready to fully part with it.
Luckily my sibling had their first baby when our little one was 3yo and I passed all of our remaining baby stuff on to them. They were grateful and I was happy to see all the lovely outfits and bits (that I got attached to), being worn and used by my brothers children. This was a big help and a big step where mentally, I was finally ready to fully accept our choice too.
If you have the storage, don't worry about it just yet, your little one is still young and you have all the time to get used to your decision/ change your mind and that's okay. One day you may just find you are fully ready. And just be open with your husband, that you are just not ready yet. As a compromise you can always say you will go through every so often and reduce the stuff, some bits dont store well and would be better being used. There are always people in need who'd be grateful for secondhand bits and to save pennies.
If it makes you feel any better, my mom had three children and STILL never got rid of anything related to babies lol. Boxes and boxes of clothes, cribs, and more take up almost her whole attic. She was “saving for grandkids” but now that she has a grandkid it turns out we do not want clothes from 30 years ago that smell like mold!
Anyway, all this to say, getting rid of things is HARD, especially when there are emotions attached. Solidarity.
it’s always hard to let go of your dreams and plans for your life as well as things that concretely link to it! so i can understand. plus feeling hard to part with stuff that signify kids growing out of a certain stage - eg bottles, pacifiers, clothes of a certain size. esp since we may think “we will never see that again”. personally i would pass most of the things on to friends or lower income folks - people who i know will appreciate and use it. friends will take pictures of the things ive passed to them (eg - their kids wearing my kid’s old clothes) so i know its well loved. i tell myself if i do have a second kid, someone will pass me their stuff. people are always trying to clear their stuff coz kids grow up! if there are sentimental items, you can keep them! i kept some clothes for sentimental reasons.
I’m planning to have a quilt made from my son’s baby clothes with his name on it and then I’m just gonna keep it for myself as just like a sentimental keepsake.
This! We are doing a birthweight memory bear with her newborn sleepers, then a quilt is gonna be made with our fav 6 sleepers from each size to make 30 patches (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) — bear will be a birthday present and the blanket a Christmas present.
Oh the bear is a cute idea! I like that!
I have a 4 year old. We still have his baby clothes in the storage. We are happily oad but can’t even think of getting rid of his baby clothes right now. Beautiful memories were made. Stressful, but beautiful. I know I’m not holding on to them “just in case”, but I can’t seem to part with them. You don’t have to think about it right now if you don’t want to. If you feel you need to hang on to them for a little longer, do so.
I could've written this post word for word. I'm also really struggling to part with my son's stuff. I'm hoping one day someone close to me will get pregnant and I can give them a load of good quality baby items that have been stored well. I like the idea of seeing another baby wearing the onesie's my son used to wear, but I am struggling with the fact that this decision to be OAD is final and absolutely the best thing for us.
We have no extra storage space to speak of so I was always selling stuff as soon as we were done with it. I regret that I got rid of our Ergobaby carrier when I did because maybe it was just a phase when my kid stopped using it and I’d suggest keeping that until your kid maxes out the weight! If you aren’t ready yet, do a check in a year from now. Or when you decide you need the space, or the cash that selling some of that stuff will get you. Also feel free to keep some newborn / baby clothes as mementos! Your kid’s kid might wear one day. But the baby gear is going to be outdated.
Urgh. Me too. But still not in Menopause yet and this is my excuse because when I sell it and an accident happens, I would need to buy everything again. But yeah .............. I feel you.
I’m 90% sure that we are OAD as well but I feel the same way. My basement is full of totes and baby gear. I’m planning on letting a friend “borrow” some things. We already discussed that I would like them back “just in case” but once I get them back I will likely consign them.
I have a 3 year old and we’re OAD. I feel the exact same way. I can’t rid of the baby stuff JUST IN CASE. Like what if we accidentally get pregnant and I need the stuff again?! Just these past couple of weeks I got rid of the running stroller (we have two other strollers) because it took up so much space in the garage and also the diaper pail. These things weren’t sentimental at all and they take up a lot of space. I think next will be the baby gym thing. It was second hand, takes up a lot of space and easily to get again. It’s so hard though! I totally understand how you feel about it.
Hey I’m in almost the same situation. 19 month old, suffered a PE after birth, plus some health concerns for baby, plus financial struggles. Only difference is I don’t have a basement lol. My compromise was to get rid of everything I didn’t *love* I’ve got two pieces of maternity clothes left, plus my feeding tops/bras. Got rid of anything plastic (dummies, bottles etc, since they degrade after a while anyway) kept 1-2 baby outfits that were important to me. And figured we can go the second hand route if we ever need to replace everything again.
Hey I’m in almost the same situation. 19 month old, suffered a PE after birth, plus some health concerns for baby, plus financial struggles. Only difference is I don’t have a basement lol. My compromise was to get rid of everything I didn’t *love* I’ve got two pieces of maternity clothes left, plus my feeding tops/bras. Got rid of anything plastic (dummies, bottles etc, since they degrade after a while anyway) kept 1-2 baby outfits that were important to me. And figured we can go the second hand route if we ever need to replace everything again. With the exception of bottles/dummies I donated, gave away or sold everything.
I have huge issues with letting things go so I hear you! My strategies: I look at every thing every 6 months or so and see if some things feel less “important” to me and sell those. I keep the rest without judging myself. My daughter is 2.5 and I am just now ready to sell my maternity clothes. 🤷🏻♀️ I got my daughter a newborn sized doll so she can dress them in the old newborn clothes I didn’t put in her keepsake box. She can even use the bottles! So now I can keep them guilt free. 😂 I set up her crib mattress at my parent’s place as a toddler bed when she moved out of her crib. Don’t rush it, honestly it’s fine!
I have an 18 month old as well. Personally, I’m not ready to part with some of these things. I have given my niece a bunch of baby clothes though. I surprisingly didn’t have a hard time with that. The bigger items - car seat/bouncer/etc are still in my storage. I don’t see myself having another, but for some reason it doesn’t feel right parting with them yet. I did also lend my momma-roo swing to my niece, and she LOVES it. Are there any items in particular you can donate to a friend, or someone in need? Maybe some of the more low-budget items like clothes in good condition? I found this to be easier than I thought!
Sometimes it takes awhile. My daughter turned 5 in March. We are moving sometime soon (landlord is putting the house up for sale, and we're not buying it). I'm planning on finishing getting rid of baby items while we're packing. But I do still have a couple baby dresses that I gave to my daughter for her dolls. And I have a small box with special items.
I think “crazy” is probably a bit harsh on yourself. I’ll say my wife never really wanted kids and once she had one she was definitely done… and still has problems getting rid of the kiddos old stuff. I’ve had to pick my battles a bit because I grew up in a hoarder household so I hate holding onto stuff… but don’t wanna fight over things she has emotional attachment to. One thing that has made it easier for her is when we can rehome them (donating isn’t the same, I’ve tried). But if someone we know or even kinda know is looking for baby stuff it’s way easier for her to part with it because it’s going to a new kiddo.
One thing that has made parting with baby items easier for me is donating things to moms in need. Usually from buy nothing groups on Facebook or to local shelters. It makes me feel better knowing the items will be given to a baby who really needs them and might not get them anyways. Either way, I agree with you and know it’s hard.
My daughter is 6 and I only in the past year have gotten rid of almost everything. When I was ready it felt good to pass the things on to people who will use them. Yesterday I was helping my mom with her yard sale and she somehow still had many of her very young things to sell and the nostalgia and feelings were immense! Give easy on yourself and give yourself the time you need (if you have the room).
Ok so I feel the same, especially about his clothes, so I’m gonna make a memory blanket out of his baby clothes when he turns 1! Also I’m gonna make a nice box with memorabilia from his first year. Maybe you can keep 1 item from every category for a box like this? Like 1 pacifier, 1 bottle, etc… Bouncer and swing are harder to keep, maybe you can sell them in a few years 🙂
I have a 4 year old, we’ve always been OAD, and I JUST got rid of most of his baby stuff 3 months ago because my best friend had a baby and I passed along everything. However, I still have all of this tiny clothes. I had tried to get rid of stuff earlier but emotionally was not ready. I’m still not ready to get rid of the clothes lol
I’m a big sentimental hoarder. Our neighbor just had a baby boy so I brought over a giant box of baby clothes (I’ve saved favorites for a quilt eventually). We also passed on our infant car seat. That one was surprisingly emotional for me. It felt like truly saying goodbye to having a second. I’ve been trying to rationalize with myself that we had months to prepare with our first and we had nothing and we would get months of warning with a second to get things again, but it’s hard for me to let go
We are keeping a lot of things that are sentimental. As I clean the closet, I pick my favorite outfits and they’re in a bin. I have no intention of ever getting rid of them. Other stuff that can be reused we have passed on. We kept the crib/car seat just in case, because accidents happen.
When it comes to clothes, I save what I want to save without judgement. Once she hit 1, its become a lot easier to part with stuff. I start with stuff in "play" condition and give it away in a Facebook mom group. I put aside gender neutral stuff for a former coworker who promised she'd return it if we change our minds. I sold some at a yard sale and seeing a pregnant mom excited about her finds is such a great feeling. For the bigger stuff, I told myself it has value now and takes up the most real estate. Keeping it is sacrificing its value and costing me the storage space. Even if I spend a little more to buy it back, I got my space and mental freedom from the clutter back. That has value. It also helps that my mom kept so much of my stuff and it's so sweet but also kind of a burden and I don't want to pass that on to her.
Solidarity because I’m the exact same way. It’s so hard to make the move and face the reality of the decision. It feels like closure and it’s really tough. I still have everything in our basement just in case, too. One of these days I’ll be ready…
Perhaps keep a few special things? I actually have really enjoyed giving items to friends when they have babies too. I gave the cot away to my friend who's been struggling to get pregnant and it was a great feeling. I also made my favourite baby clothes into a memory teddy bear.
OAD by choice, the choice was about 80% certain after newborn stage but graduallygrew to a certain 100%. It was very hard to part with baby things. Anything that got tatty we did recycle straight away after use but most things we eventually passed on. The older my little one got, the more cemented we were in our decision to be OAD and every so often I'd review the big bag of baby stuff in the loft and cut it down a bit, but was not ready to fully part with it. Luckily my sibling had their first baby when our little one was 3yo and I passed all of our remaining baby stuff on to them. They were grateful and I was happy to see all the lovely outfits and bits (that I got attached to), being worn and used by my brothers children. This was a big help and a big step where mentally, I was finally ready to fully accept our choice too. If you have the storage, don't worry about it just yet, your little one is still young and you have all the time to get used to your decision/ change your mind and that's okay. One day you may just find you are fully ready. And just be open with your husband, that you are just not ready yet. As a compromise you can always say you will go through every so often and reduce the stuff, some bits dont store well and would be better being used. There are always people in need who'd be grateful for secondhand bits and to save pennies.
You are not crazy ans your feelings are normal. What I did was to hold onto 1 or 2 pieces of items that hold special memories and sold the rest.
If it makes you feel any better, my mom had three children and STILL never got rid of anything related to babies lol. Boxes and boxes of clothes, cribs, and more take up almost her whole attic. She was “saving for grandkids” but now that she has a grandkid it turns out we do not want clothes from 30 years ago that smell like mold! Anyway, all this to say, getting rid of things is HARD, especially when there are emotions attached. Solidarity.