We buy a lot of stuff for a new baby and it tends to pile up as the year goes on. Most of the items you got at your baby showers are sitting in a closet by the time your baby has their first birthday. What is the best way to get rid of old baby stuff that you just don’t need anymore?
Some things can be sold, donated, recycled, or just plain thrown in the garbage. I personally like to dispose of things in a way that won’t be harmful to the environment and can potentially put money back in my pocket.
I know that your child is growing and you need to get rid of old baby items to make room for the new toddler things that they will need.
If you are planning on having another child, I highly suggest storing the larger items like the crib, stroller, bouncer, bathtub, etc. to be used later.
If you are done having children or you just need some extra space for now, I put together a list of the best way to get rid of each baby item so that you can get a little bit of money back in your pocket and keep as much out of the landfill as possible.
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Baby Items to Sell/Donate
I love being able to get some money back on baby items because a lot of things don’t even get used very often, they are practically brand new.
Use this as a guide for items that can be sold to consignment stores, in Facebook groups, Craigslist, or at a yard sale. Make sure that items like cribs and strollers meet current safety standards.
You can also hang on to strollers or car seats and save them for a trade in event. Babies R’ Us and Target usually have a trade in event every year where you can exchange your old items in for a discount on new ones.
If you don’t want to deal with selling them, you can donate them to a charity. I like donating to local women’s shelters because they are always in need of baby and children’s items.
- Clothing and shoes that are still in good condition, without stains
- strollers and cribs that meet current safety standards
- diaper pails
- baby bathtubs
- toys in good condition
- stuffed animals and old blankets can be donated to a local animal shelter
- changing table
- pack n’ play
- bouncers
- bassinet
- baby monitor
- diaper bag
- bedding set
- books can be sold or donated to libraries, schools, and churches.
What to Recycle
It’s great to recycle as much as possible but make sure that your town or recycling provider can accommodate certain items like hard plastics.
I will put an asterisk by the items that you might want to check with your recycling center about before you put them in the bin. Some areas are better equipped for those items than others.
- Broken baby bathtub*
- breast-milk baggies
- broken diaper pail*
- juice and milk jugs
- wipe dispensers
- plastic sippy cups and dishware
- baby food jars
- food pouches: collect and send them in to TerraCycle with a free downloadable label on their site. Most cities won’t recycle the pouches or their caps.
- Medela breast pump: Send the motor and cord back to the Medela Recycles program.
- manual breast pump, shields, and tubing can go in the recycling
- baby bottles*
- crib mattress*
- car seats: You can pay for shipping to send it in to babyearth.com/renew and the usable parts will be recycled for developing countries to use in construction projects.
What to Throw Away
Some items just can’t be sold, donated, or recycled. Here are some things you might just want to throw away.
- pacifiers
- dirty crib mattress if your city doesn’t recycle them
- breast pump parts that can’t be recycled
- car seat: all have an expiration date so if you can’t pay to have it recycled, just throw it away.
- bottle nipples
I always encourage people to sell or donate as much as they can. Local children consignment stores and Facebook groups are a great place to start selling your items.
What do you think is the best way to get rid of old baby stuff? Do you give it to friends that are expecting, have a yard sale, or just take everything to Goodwill?
Diane Simpson says
What about the cloth baby cribs Goodwill and Dianeand ARC won’t take them
Nelly says
We have old car seats, a crib, crib mattresses, strollers, high chairs, pack n play, toys. No one will take them, the dump will not take them, not goodwill, not salvation army. I am not sure what to do because we are done having children and the stuff takes up so much space in our home.
Kristi Hartman says
I feel your pain nelly! I actually feel pissed about it and feel like manufacturers should be responsible for taking them back if they can’t be reused or rejuvenated. Some charities refuse to take any baby items at all, even newer gently used because they claim their clients’ self-esteem will suffer from using second hand goods for their child!! That is insane!
Suzanne L. says
Target will take old car seats once a year. Look on their website for details. Usually for “Earth Day” in early April.
I don’t have answers for the other items. I agree about manufacturers needing to provide disposal services or at least suggestions!