Parenting Article: What do I do with all this baby stuff? A De-cluttering Guide

By: Cath Freemantle

Baby is your baby no-more, quickly moving towards kindy or school, with a brief peck on the cheek and barely a glance over the shoulder - oh, how did it go so quickly? But before you've had time to adjust to this new situation an awful thought hits - you haven't got space for the school clothes, the paintings, the works of art, the sports wear... in fact you haven't got room for ANYTHING!

Baby "stuff" takes up an enormous amount of room - from the cot that you can't find the time to disassemble to the copious amounts of teeny-tiny baby clothing, socks, shoes and hats we manage to collect.

Now before you pack it all off to a family or friend who you are "sure can use it", really ask yourself if they can, or have they in fact got most of what they need - will you just be transferring your lack of space to their place? Remember, friends often find it hard to knock back freebies, even if it is nothing like what they want! Review your motives!!

How about listing your items on eBay or other auction sites? This can be great fun, but make sure you read the fine print regarding fees..., there are listing fees, fees for more than one photo, bold type fees, and selling fees to mention just a few and be warned that if you accept payments via Paypal, there are fees then too. Do your sums on the small stuff - by the time you spend on all the fees, not to mention the time it may not be worth the effort. A neat trick that you will see a lot of on the auction sites is to bundle smaller, more generic baby wear items that may not attract a lot of attention alone into bulk lots, add a few stand alone pieces of well preserved clothing in great brands like Osh-Kosh or Fred Bare and you should see more interest. Larger items like cots, change tables, drawers can be sold as a "lot" too - do some research, take into account your location and how desirable the items may be separately.

You could always have a stall at a local market, providing it isn't a "crafts only" style affair. There are also specific baby stuff markets (see, you're not alone!) - check out www.babykidsmarket.com.au for more information. These options, along with the trusty garage sale, have the benefit of REAL people contact - nothing quite as nice as chatting to a loving grandma who is thrilled to have picked up a bargain for her new grand child! If you do choose the garage sale route, and advertise in the local paper word your ad carefully - you don't want 5am visitors thinking they might just pick up the ultimate collectible, when your main saleable items are a baby bath, car seat and jolly jumper!

Then there are ads in the "for sale" section of the local paper, on different web sites and in the Trading Post - also online now. With normally limited word space, you may find you get a lot of queries from people for whom the item just isn't what they are looking for - but advertising the items separately can be expensive... it may be worth checking with your local paper though, ours has a bargain section where ads for items under $50 are free.

Another option is the exchange sites like www.freecycle.org.au - you may also find people looking to exchange or purchase items on your favourite parenting site or forum - you'll be amazed!

If you would prefer to give your items away, check with your friends what they might GENUINELY like and give the rest to a local charity. One of our local groups, St Luke's, can use just about anything, from books to children's toys, baby clothing, furniture and things like maternity wear that some of their clients simply can't afford.

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