Childrens clothes .... WHY?

Does anyone know how many changes of clothes a child actually needs? I gave up buying clothes for my children last year ... they have so much that never even gets worn out ... is there no such thing as hand me downs anymore?? Still despite my resolve to not buy any more they still have grannies who insist on dressing them!
I think I will pack old clothes for our hols ... and leave them after us when we are coming home.
I read somewhere that 5 full sets of clothes should be enough for anyone (including socks and underwear). How does anyone else cope?

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

I'd say it depends on the age of the kids and what type of holiday you are going on. My general rule was 1 change for each day, hand washed each night so you have them clean if need be. Plus a jumper/cardigan in case needed.

My son lived almost entirely in hand me downs for the first few years of his life thanks to having 2 boy cousins roughly a year older than him but once he got to around 6 it sort of drifted off, mainly because their mothers were buying cheaper stuff not really made to last as it was pointless spending much on clothes that normally got destroyed from tree climbing, mud throwing, football and what ever else 6 year old boys do.

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Both my kids have way more clothes than they need thanks to very generous friends,family and my occasional bursts of compulsive shopping.
I suppose my kids COULD survive on five sets of clothes but so far this has never been put to the test

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

OOPS I thought you meant just for a holiday.

Realistically I don't think 5 changes is enough for day to day living unless you really like washing. I'd say my son has maybe 10/12 tops - mostly football jersey and around 10 pairs of jeans/jogging pants which seems about enough for him.

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

After reading this thread I went down the hallway into hot press where there are 2 rowes of shelves over 6 ft long and 6 high, one shelf is full of jeans, 20 in a stack and 5 stacks thats over 100 pairs of jeans and they are only the wife's, then theres a shelf of tops,another of jumpers,Dont know how many one needs but herself seems to be always shopping I know what u mean about kids and Mrs clothes, and first granchild on the way May build another hot press and get another morgage. How many outfits have you yourself ?.

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

Hi
Thanks for the replies. I would say I wash clothes every day ... so I suppose I do like washing. My children wear uniforms to school so surely that should cut down on the number of clothes they need.

I have bagged up a big black bag to go to the charity shop, of clothes that have hardly been worn ... I think I will make a rule only to buy something new to replace something old ... and thereby not accumulate too much stuff.

In reply to your post bskinti, as a stay at home mum I also have a 'uniform' of casual clothes with one or two outfits for special occassions ... nowhere near as much as my children though.

I sometimes worry that clothes are too cheap ... which is why we have so many, and what is the real cost of these clothes ... produced in thailand or india? Just having a little rant ...

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

I don't know where people get the time or money to have a lot of clothes. My kids have about 4 bottoms (trousers/skirts) each with a little more tops. It takes a lot of effort to buy clothes, esp when kids are bigger and like a say in what you buy. My largest daughter tells me that her friends have 20 or 30 tops and 6 or 7 pairs of shoes. Clothes for little children may be cheap but not for 5ft 7 13 year olds. Big kids can get more than one day out of jeans, because of the effort involved I tend to buy good quality stuff that wont wear out quickly, also feel a bit uncomfortable about really cheap clothes that don't last and that the charity shops don't want. Its also a lot of effort to manage a lot of clothes, and where do you store them. Less it best.

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My kids are 4 and 2 and I change their clothes every day so would never manage on so few tops/bottoms! I must admit to being a bit of a shopaholic though and love buying clothes even for the kids so I suppose I cannot justify the amount they do have!

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Pennys Dunnes Next and H&M are my downfall. I can't pass when I see shoes and clothes for little or nothing. My shopping problems in our house is inked to my upbringing. As a child of a large family in the 70 and 80's hand me downs from sisters brothers neighbours etc was the norm, my mother knit our jumpers and made our coats. How awful is this - we would put cardboard in our shoes if they leaked in the rain. We were not poor, my father had a civil service job and foreign holidays were plentiful. We got new clothes for christmas, easter and for some reason bank holidays like Patricks day, Whit weekend etc. It sounds like something from Angelas ashes, but from talking to friends I think most people were like this. As I type this I am in the middle of bagging up clothes for the 3rd time this week for the V de P shop.

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When i was a kid, I also wore some of my brothers' jumpers, and tracksuits..Also books were handed down to me if the same ones were used (which was the usual as my brothers are only 1 and 2 years older than me and in the same school!) Now, even my sister, which is 14 years younger than me have had some of my clothes hand down to her!! (I had a lovely pink cardigan that I wore only once for my first comunion, and some of my cousins used it too, so when i came to her time, she got it!) Even the cot she used, was my eldest brother one (16 years older than her!)....I come form a fairly big family, and even when money was never an issue, my mom and her sisters used to hand down clothes, which most of the time had been hardly used by their children!! (of course, only those in a good condition!)

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Have hijacked hubbys account to post.
I agree, it’s the “cheap and cheerful’’ that has changed everything. My mother taught me how to sew and I loved it. Everything we had was either hand made or hand me down. Now it wouldn’t pay me to make anything for our kids, stuff is so cheap. Both our kids are under 2 and its immoral the amount of stuff they have. We have a conveyer belt of bagged clothes going to VdeP. The good stuff gets recycled to cousins. Lasts longer, looks better. But try tell that to the grannies. I blame Tescos. Bread, butter, sugar, milk and 6 pairs of 2 euro jeans……
Mrs Fingalian.

Re: Childrens clothes .... aaagh!

Just jumping on the band wagon a bit, like a few of the posters I also grew up in the 70's/80's when hand me down were in a lot of cases the norm... With a heap of cousins and an older sister, it really was a case of Christmas / Easter / Birthday for new clothes. A favourite cousin had a part time job in a boutique and I loved her stuff!!!!
At the same time my older sister refused point blank to wear anything second hand, and even today she thinks buying anything 2nd hand is 'eeeek', even books! But if you need sense to pervail, all you need to do is let her have a 2nd baby, suddenly the 1st childs babygros and pram and car seat are all the rage!!!

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I think it is thae fact of growing up in the 70's/80's and never having the new clothes and only ownig one pair of shoes that makes us impulsive in buying for our kids and ourselves now that we can afford new stuff. Also clothes and shoes are much cheaper nowadays relative to peoples salaries and so are more affordable.