Maternity clothes - how long to hold on to them?

[Anonymous]

I have two huge tubs of maternity clothes (summer and winter). I am pregnant with baby 3 and sorting through my summer stuff and getting my fall/winter stuff out. How long did you hold on to your maternity clothes before donating/tossing them? I am 35 (turning 36 before I have this baby). There is a 5% chance we might have another kid. Should I save them all?

[Anonymous]

I would get rid of them all before they get too dated. Either give them away to friends or try to sell/consign them.

Last resort is throwing them into the clothes mountain at Goodwill.

If you do decide to have another baby, then you can probably borrow or get maternity clothes from your other mom friends or local mom groups.

[Anonymous]

I've held on to all of mine each time - just seemed easier to pack them back up and put them on the basement shelves, but I definitely have gotten rid o a few pieces each time that I thought were dated/not useful for my lifestyle anymore.

[Anonymous]

I don’t even know what dates maternity clothes means. They have been the same for decades and will continue to be

If you have space, keep them. If you don’t, wait until you are sure.

[Anonymous]

I’m tall (just under 6 feet), so I held on to mine until I was sure I was done - it was hard to find things that fit and were comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m tall (just under 6 feet), so I held on to mine until I was sure I was done - it was hard to find things that fit and were comfortable.

Almost the same here - took so much time and money to build a decent maternity career wardrobe so keeping it for two or three more years until I'm sure I'm done!

[Anonymous]

I would keep until you’re done. I am sure we just had our last and am ready to get mine out of the house.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely keep them until you know that you're done. You don't want to find yourself expecting a 4th baby and then having to buy all brand new maternity clothes because you gave all of your old maternity clothes away.

[Anonymous]

I gave mine to a friend who offered to return them and a pregnant sister in law (husband’s sister). There were some pieces I said I didn’t need back. About the time they were done I told them they could pass it on and stuff I did get back I gave to my brother’s wife (now pregnant) if she wanted it and donated the rest. I never passed off my favorite sweater and favorite dress and around the house still wear many of my super soft maternity t-shirts. My younger child is 2.

[Anonymous]

Before you donate them to Goodwill, where lots of items get thrown away into the landfill, I suggest posting your clothes as “free” on your neighborhood Nextdoor forum. Take some pictures, post your size, and hopefully they will help out an expectant Mom in your neighborhood!

[Anonymous]

No they get so dated so quickly and are usually cheap materials that get very stretched out. By my third kid I also didn't want to see those same 9 outfits ever again anyway! I figured if I had a 4th it would be such a rare occurrence that I would get new clothes to celebrate.