Babies are expensive. As parents, we spend so much money on things they only use for a year – or months – or days – or even hours and minutes (I’m looking at you, diapers). Diapers are expensive. Wipes are expensive. Formula is expensive. Baby food is expensive. Baby clothes are expensive too, but that’s one place where I try and cut costs as much as I can. Often I can get free baby clothes, or some that are close enough to free.
My baby has a very big closet, so it’s not like he doesn’t have clothes. It’s just that I try and get his clothes for as little money – or no money when I can.
Why? Because he wears it once or twice – maybe a handful of times if I am lucky – and then he grows out of it, never to be worn again. That’s a lot of money spent for such a short period of time, and on things that you can get for almost, or entirely, free.
The Options You Have To Get Free Baby Clothes
What’s my secret? I am about to share it with you all. If you are a new parent or an expecting parent, you are especially going to want to listen up. Here are some tricks that I have for getting clothes for as little to no money as possible.
1) Hand-Me-Downs
** Chef’s kiss **. I don’t know about you, but I hated getting hand me downs from my cousins when I was younger. Now, as a parent, I entirely get why my parents made me wear them.
Clothes are expensive and children – especially babies – grow so fast! I have a lot of friends who have had babies before me and when they offered me their hand me downs, I wasn’t shy at all. I said yes to everything I was offered, and if I didn’t use it, I passed it on to someone else I knew who was expecting.
Plus, parents have a lot of memories with these clothes. It’s reassuring that they will get to see that magic live on in another baby, one that they are close with.
2) Facebook Groups As A Way To Get Free Baby Clothes
I cannot stress this enough – join the mom Facebook groups. Join the parent Facebook group. Join your local neighborhood “sell nothing” or “trash to treasure” Facebook groups. People don’t want to just throw things out – they want to give it away.
This is especially true when it comes to parents. Moms and dads know that it takes a village. That village should include your local mom/dad/parent Facebook group.
There are so many parents in them whose kids have grown out of clothes. I have gotten so many great clothes thanks to moms in my local mom Facebook group. It’s a cute way to make new mom friends that live close to you, too!
3) Second-Hand Stores
One of the biggest pieces of advice I received when it came to shopping for my baby beforehand was to not buy any clothes new – they are just going to spit up on it or poop on it anyway, so why are you spending that much money?
This person told me they only shop second-hand, whether it’s in person at a store or online at Poshmark, Mercari, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, etc. I did some online second-hand shopping and I was happily surprised – I actually found brand new clothes, with tags, for much cheaper than retail.
As I said before, babies grow so fast, sometimes they don’t even get a chance to wear all the clothes they were gifted, and there are plenty of parents out there reselling these clothes to make some of the money back. I nabbed a pair of brand new Sperry’s for my baby for $5!
4) Discount Stores And The Unexpected Stores Too
Don’t laugh at what I am going to say… Walmart actually has some really cute and good quality baby clothes. I was surprised too! Carter’s also has some really great sales frequently, and some really cute clothes.
Other stores with good and inexpensive baby clothes are Gap Factory, Burlington, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and Ross. Go to those discounted stores if you want to get those baby clothes close to free.
You may have to dig a lot, but you may find some really good things. I found a Ralph Lauren bathing suit for my baby at TJ’s just the other day for $14! That’s more than I typically like to spend, but compared to $50, I’ll take it!
5) Shop Off Season
This can be risky as babies grow as their own rate and pace, but shopping off season is a great way to save money on brand new clothes. I was pregnant during Black Friday and Christmas, and you bet I bought my baby a ton of summer things!
I had to guess on the size, but I couldn’t say no to those prices for really good things. This guessing gets easier as the baby grows and you can see how fast he or she is growing.
6) Gifts (My Favorite Way To Get Free Baby Clothes)
When someone comes to visit your baby, more times than not they will bring a gift. A lot of those times it’s a really cute outfit or outfits.
First off, it’s so sweet of them to think of your baby, and don’t take that for granted. Secondly, those are all new additions to baby’s closet that you didn’t need to spend a dime on.
7) Influencers
There are so many mom influencers out there sharing great baby deals! This can get tricky because you may find yourself buying things you didn’t necessarily need so keep that in mind, but following influencers can be a great way to save money.
A couple that I follow are Face.First.Fashion, Hello Mrs. Hubbard, and Mini Musts. They also frequently share budget-friendly mom clothes, too.
Final Thoughts On Ways You Can Get Free Baby Clothes
One thing I do want to note is that when you are accepting hand me down baby clothes, take a look at them before putting them on your baby. Personally, I looked out to see if there were any stains, holes, pulls as I didn’t want my baby wearing someone else’s stains.
If there were stains, I would either try to get them out or if it was too much, (unfortunately) toss it. Be sure to wash everything before you put them on your baby, and you should be good to go!