Maternity Clothes

If you're pregnant, and have gone into maternity clothing stores, you know that they are outrageously priced. I wore my maternity clothes for a little less than a year (before and after the babies were born). Knowing that I would only wear the clothes for a year, it's hard to pay those prices.

If you do need to buy maternity clothes new, I found a few places that were reasonable.

• Old Navy
• Target
• Kohl's

Second hand Maternity Clothes

If you don't have a lot of friends to pass along their maternity clothes, you can buy some second hand. The Mothers of Multiples sales that I've been to have maternity clothes. They are generally quite inexpensive. You have to guess your size because there's no way to try to them on, but generally cheap enough to roll the dice on whether or not it will look good on you. I went to the retail stores first and tried on clothes so I would generally know my size and then shopped at the multiples sales. It's generally been noted that maternity clothes don't sell well at these sales. I have a couple of theories on this - the first is the size and not being able to try it on, the second is that pregnant women don't know about or think about these sales as options for buying clothes. The good news is, if you do know about it, then you'll have lots of choices and not much competition for buying a particular item. The other good news is that sellers have to price low because no one is going to pay a lot for something they can't try on.

You can also look on Craigslist. I found a lot of people selling maternity clothes for a few dollars an item, or a bunch of items for one low price there.

Places to shop for New Items

Places to shop for new items:

Outlet Stores: Look for outlet stores in your area for great deals. Children's Place has great sales racks in their outlet stores. Carter's, which makes a lot of clothes bought in regular stores, has outlet stores.

If I do have to buy something new, these are the places I start with.

• Target (toys, clothes and gear)
• Kohl's (clothes)
• Ross (kid's toys)
• Old Navy (clothes)

When I have to: Babies 'R Us. Although this is an excellent place to register.

The internet is an obvious place as well.

• Amazon.com = some great sales especially at Christmas time.
• AlbeeBaby.com = car seats, strollers and lots of other stuff.

Tip for buying new and online: watch for when an item is being sold for a great price because the next year's model is about to come out or just came out.

I got a Maclaren Twin Techno stroller off Amazon for less than 1/2 the original price because it was last year's model. If I remember correctly, it was around February when this happened. I only noticed because I had it in my cart and Amazon told me that it had gone down in price since I had put it there. I put things in my wish list now before I need them and watch to see if the price drops. I also got a Burley bike trailer for less than 1/2 the original price at REI when they were having a big sale this winter. I guess my moral here is to watch for deals all the time and know what you're going to want in the next year.

2nd Hand Clothes and Gear

I'm a big fan of second-hand clothes and gear for my kids. They just go through it too quick, I can't justify paying full price. I also don't know how we would afford it when trying to outfit two kids!

Places to shop for second hand items:

The obvious ones: eBay and Craigslist
eBay has most things you can think of but Craigslist tends to have better deals.

Children's resellers and consignment shops. I never knew how many of these there were until I started looking for them. My favorite in Redmond, WA is "Treetop" in the same parking lot as Ben Franklin Crafts. They have tons and tons of clothes, some specialty clothes, and some gear. In general, I've found consignment shops to be good for general clothes but not so good for gear.

Mothers of Multiples groups' sales. This is the place to shop for gear. Anyone can shop at these sales. The sellers are all mothers of multiples. See my post about this specifically.

I also just heard about "Just Between Friends", a children's and maternity consignment sale. This is a franchise throughout the United States. This works a lot like the Mothers of Multiples groups' sales, but selling is open to anyone. They rent out a big space, parents with stuff to sell bring it to the sale, the company takes care of setting it up and selling it, and the parent gets money for their stuff. I have not been to this sale yet, but plan to go this year to check it out.

I'm sure there are other places, and I'll add them as I find them!

Sales by Mothers of Multiples Groups

Summary: Find your local mothers of multiples group and see when they have their sales.

This was a little known fact to me before I had twins. There are "Mothers of Multiples" groups all around the country. Around Seattle, I know of at least three. All of them have big sales where members sell their baby and kid clothes and gear. The group takes a small share of the profit to fund their activities throughout the year.

Now, what better place to get amazing deals on second-hand merchandise? Parents of multiples have tons of stuff. Most baby gear is only used for a short period of time, so most is in good shape. Things are generally priced to move because parents don't want to take the stuff back home. We're talking garage sale prices without having to go to 200 garages.

And the best part, these sales are open to the public. You don't have to be a mother of multiples to shop, although some groups do give their members an earlier time to start shopping. The local club I belong to works this way: members get in one hour before the general public.

Just to give you an example of how it works and what I've saved:
I belong to a local multiples club, where over 200 families sell their stuff at their twice a year sale. They rent out the gym to a local community college and the space is equivalent to two basketball courts. It is packed with clothes and gear. At 9 am, the club members are allowed in. at 10 am, the rest of the general public is allowed in. There's always a line at least an hour before the sale begins. I don't know when it first forms because I've only been there an hour early. There's a holding area for all the big stuff, so you don't have to carry it around. Otherwise, you pick what you want, go through the checkout and you've just saved a bundle of money.

What kind of deals are we talking? These are some of my best purchases from the last two sales: maternity pants for $2-$6, pack 'n plays for $40, Baby Bjorn carriers with lumbar support for $40, cribs for $100, exersaucer for $5, books for a buck a piece, 3 onesies for a $1, baby outfits for $2. I've bought clothes that are new with the tags still on and toys that are new in the box. Since members price their own things, there are a variety of prices and deals, so you have to look for the very best deals. You also can't be too picky about getting an exact brand or style, but if you're flexible, you'll find a lot of stuff that is great. All in all, you'll save a bunch. I know I've already saved well over a thousand dollars purchasing baby gear this way.

This is win-win-win : the group is funded, the parents can sell their stuff and the buyer gets amazing deals.