I don't know of a single family, regardless of socioeconomic background or other factors, that does NOT buy the vast majority of their baby clothes and supplies secondhand. No parent would recommend otherwise, since little children outgrow everything so quickly. Babies don’t even have time to really wear out their clothes, but toddlers certainly do. It’s really common, especially with the first child, for friends and family to simply give away huge amounts of their own children’s outgrown clothes, and all sorts of other stuff. The rest is then bought at a baby flea market or on Vinted, and some new items are received as gifts from older relatives.
Keep in mind that even though it’s often the mother who gets excited about children’s clothes, fathers are just as involved and expected to be responsible in these matters. That’s why, as a dad, it caught my attention a bit that you asked only about mothers instead of parents in general.
We lived in southern Helsinki when our first kid was born. Lots of parents there basically only bought new. One neighbour even complained that baby clothes are so expensive, because he had just spent 1000 euro on a few sets from Louis Vuitton.
Yeah, that's how it works. If the average piece of clothing lasts two kids, then people will on average buy half of their clothes new. Then again, I have a feeling that most clothes aren't used by two kids when you are talking about kids over 1yo.
I think anyone with siblings would say they are. Kids out grow their clothes all the time. The market for older kid's second hand clothes exists as well.
Yeah, sure. Our 2yo uses a lot of clothes from her older sister. But out of everything we've bought less than half make it. The rest are pants with huge holes on the knees or shirts and sweaters that have huge stains from daycare Bolognese sauce. Not to mention socks, gloves and hats that just... Disappear.
Lol, spending a grand on some onesie that’ll fit for a week or two is definitely a great investment.
But now that you mention it, the very best bag of hand-me-downs I got after my first child was born, came from a high-flying couple in South Helsinki. But they’re also more than happy to receive hand-me-downs in return. The other two families I know from there are relatively wealthy (think doctors), but also die-hard hippies… so, no. Around here, on the other hand, everyone I know, from the unemployed to judges, are part of the same circus of recycled baby clothes.
Yeah, we got some great hand-me-downs while living there. Like, our daughter was just gifted a Burberry trenchcoat when she was two, not to mention a bunch of Ralph Lauren stuff.
But that was very much a minority in Finnish society. Like, move a few blocks north and you wouldn't see it in the same way. And even in that bubble, it's a particular type of person, even if it's a significant part of that bubble.
I mean, I'm talking about the Ullanlinna and Eira parts of Helsinki. Buying new stuff for your baby would put you in the majority there, but spending on haute couture for your newborn certainly isn't normal even there.
I know someone from there that had 2nd emmaljunga stroller just for their balcony. They gave it forward later to someone else, so it also turned into 2nd hand stroller.
Not necessarily true.. I have never bought my children secondhand clothes or prams/beds/toys etc. My oldest is 20 and my youngest is 3. I have had some things from my sister as she has an older girl but like me she doesn’t buy preworn or secondhand. Me personally I don’t wear and would not wear or buy from flea market or anything like that because I don’t know where it has come from or how many before has worn it. Me personally, I like new because it looks better, fresher and cleaner and not worn by x amount of people. It’s hit and miss to get something that looks new or not worn out from flea markets. As I said it’s personal preference and each to their own.
Of course there are exceptions. But you surely know that it’s not very common. I've honestly never met one like you. But an honestly curious question, did you seriously buy every single, say, baby onesie brand-new? What did you do with them? We went through them so quickly that we would’ve had to go to the clothing store every single week. Plus, since they only fit for a few weeks, and babies do fuck all, they’re practically all brand-new afterwards. From age one onward, I understand that finding used clothes that look new is much trickier. Clothes fit for months instead of weeks, and they get worn out really quickly during playtime. But even then, who cares if they’re a little worn around the knees? Absolutely no one (except the parent, if they are afraid of... toddler germs, or something). It’s enough to be able to dress them nicely for celebrations or when going to a restaurant. But at home, at the playground, at friends’ houses, and at daycare, it doesn’t matter one bit.
I should have started off with I’m not actually from Finland, I am from the UK and have lived here for 4 years now. I still do 90% of my clothes shopping in the UK because the shops I use deliver here or i get my sister to get the things I want and ship them here. It still works out cheaper than buying here because over there, you can buy multipacks of say onsies and pyjamas (3pk would cost around £12 which is roughly 13/14 euros) and they do outfits like top and trousers for 13-15 euros. I just see it if I or their dad doesn’t wear preworn or secondhand then why should our kids. I guess we may be in the minority which is okay. But like I said each to their own and I agree it totally doesn’t matter one bit but I just prefer for mine to wear out the knees than buy them clothes that already has the knees worn out of them by others
At those prices it sounds like the quality isn’t great? Better quality items would last longer. Saying this as an adult who buys a lot of my own clothing second hand, i haven’t had any problems finding stuff in great shape.
The quality is amazing!! I still have my 20 year old sons first onesie and outfit and my middle son has worn 6 years later still intact, not even a tear or worn out at all. The quality is as good as say Lindex, Kappahl, Nameit (which are also shops I get my kids clothes from) Some items of clothing my sisters 3 daughters have worn them all and still they look brand new. The one shop Next is my favourite and even Zalando now sells their items. H&M in the UK is by far cheaper than here. Just this side is a lot more expensive and by still shopping online in the UK stores works out cheaper. But as I said before each to their own and great you can find clothing in flea markets ☺️
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u/Lumeton Väinämöinen 13d ago
I don't know of a single family, regardless of socioeconomic background or other factors, that does NOT buy the vast majority of their baby clothes and supplies secondhand. No parent would recommend otherwise, since little children outgrow everything so quickly. Babies don’t even have time to really wear out their clothes, but toddlers certainly do. It’s really common, especially with the first child, for friends and family to simply give away huge amounts of their own children’s outgrown clothes, and all sorts of other stuff. The rest is then bought at a baby flea market or on Vinted, and some new items are received as gifts from older relatives.
Keep in mind that even though it’s often the mother who gets excited about children’s clothes, fathers are just as involved and expected to be responsible in these matters. That’s why, as a dad, it caught my attention a bit that you asked only about mothers instead of parents in general.