Baby clothes is expensive and you need to buy more clothes every few months. I was lucky with Juliana because family on both sides of the ocean gave us enough clothes so we didn’t have to buy any until she was a year old. Most of the clothes came from my older sister since her daughter was born only 2 years earlier, and borrowed from my husband’s cousin, who by chance still had all the baby clothes of her 7 year-old daughter.
We don’t know yet if we’re having a boy or girl. If we’re having a girl, we’re all set. Most of Juliana’s clothes from birth until 3 months old were borrowed, so no matter what, we’ll need more of those sizes. However, if we’re having a boy… looks like we’ll need to go shopping!
When I was pregnant with Juliana, I was obsessed with having new baby clothes. After being bombarded with used baby clothes, I realize the logic of it. Babies grow out of their clothes so fast, most outfits never made their debut! I found that most days I dressed her in the same outfit, and then for trips out of the house I dressed her in really cute dresses. Those really cute dresses look hardly worn.
As she grew out of her 6 month outfits and it came time for us to buy clothes, I found an unimaginable deal on leboncoin.fr (similar to craigslist). A woman was selling a box of baby clothes (size: 12 months) for only 50 euros. In this box, we received 2 jackets and a ton of shirts, pants, dresses, tights, and cardigans. In fact, we didn’t have to buy her anything else until she needed clothes for 18 month olds. And then, again, I scoured leboncoin.fr for a deal… this time for 70 euros we received 2 jackets, 1 snowsuit, shirts, pants, dresses, tights, cardigans, AND 6 pairs of shoes! She even included a shawl of fake fur and gold ballerina slippers for those fancy occasions. Most of the items in both boxes were in “like new” condition – a few items looked gently worn. All-in-all, I’m extremely satisfied with those deals!
Of course, we received outfits as gifts from family and friends. I also bought another heavier jacket for Juliana from leboncoin for 15 euros so she’d have a jacket when the other one is in the wash (we don’t have a dryer, so it takes time to air dry).
There are other ways of saving money when you need to buy baby clothes in France besides leboncoin…
- Stock up in January. This month you may have noticed SOLDES are everywhere! Before January comes around, visit the websites of your favorite stores and signup for their newsletters. When the sales hit, you’ll be the first to know. I’ve even received coupons to take an additional 10% off the listed sales price.
- Visit your local vide grenier. You can find bargains on baby clothes, toys, and equipment! We recently purchased a “like new” bassinet for only 40 euros – it was only used for 6 months (when the baby grew out of it). It even came with a mattress and sheets. Most of the items are used, however, we found unused toys in their original packaging and clothes with tags still on. You never know what you’ll find… I’m addicted!
- Sign-up for online newsletters. I know this is part of my tip for #1, however, I also receive discounts throughout the year which are only offered to those who receive the newsletter, or email announcements at the start of a sale.
- Buy only what you need. Since we use washable diapers, I do laundry every other day. This means I don’t need 20 bodies or pajamas to get me through the week. Instead, I found we need only about 5 bodies and 3 pajamas. And while I’d love to have about 20 dresses, I found even when I have many dresses, I tend to use the same 3 to 5 over and over again. Be realistic in your needs and resist the temptation to splurge on a ton of clothes you’ll most likely never get a chance to use. If you buy less clothes, you can spend more on the clothes you want.
- Buy in bulk. You can often find deals to buy bodies and pajamas in packs of 3 or 5. Even if it’s the same design, it doesn’t matter because the body is hidden under her clothes (so no one will know) and rarely will anyone see your baby in her pajamas.
Do you have any more tips?
Carole says
Hello,
Indeed, one of the best way to save money when buying baby clothes, is to buy second hand clothes. Leboncoin is nice if you have time to do the research, this website is not really ergonomic, i think. And you take a risk, sometimes, the clothes doesn’t correspond to the description ! Hopefully, you seem to have a good experience with your purchase on leboncoin. I have a shop in Concarneau, Brittany, where i sell second hand clothes for babys and children, and i have just opened an online shop. I hope it will be useful for mothers and mothers to be that doesn’t have the time to do research on ebay or leboncoin, and that want to save time and money. I ‘ve just opened it, there is currently about 700 products on line, almost 500 more to come.
I would appreciate if you can give me your opinion on it, as a mother and as a digital mum, and if you appreciate it, doesn’t hesitate to share it!
Carole