Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I usually get my kids a new backpack every year. My older 2 kids said they can use the same one they had last year. I wanted to get my daughter a new one but didn’t get one in time.

Not when younger. I bought 2 pottery barn for 2 kid early on. They wash well and they carried this til middle school. HS books are so heavy that they (not pottery barn) tear and have to be replaced. Must weigh 40 lbs.

What school are you at that has books?

Binder, optional lunch, maybe water bottle, maybe laptop with optional sleeve/cover

I still have the 20+ year old Jansport I got for Freshman year of high school. This thing survived carrying giant Orgo books. I had to repair a single seam once.

I have three high schoolers.

Two of them are only on their second backpack since Kindergarten. One is on her 4th backpack, but there were issues like paint spills, strap breaking that caused her to go through so many.

Good backpacks last for years.

No, oldest is in 4th and has had 2 backpacks. The firsr was small and cheap so the pockets fell apart a bit and I bought a new one in 2nd grade. I dont imagine he will need another one for a few more years.

Anonymous wrote:No. Finally got DS a new backpack in 6th because his ll bean backpack from K, while still in good shape, had dinosaurs on it. Now he uses the Dino bag for travel.

DS still takes his Lands End dinosaur backpack from kinder to high school. It doesn't get mixed up with anyone else's.

We get new backpacks when they’re in bad shape or we need a bigger size (ie going from toddler to kindergarten etc.) we get a new one.

My son’s backpack was destroyed at day camp this summer so he got a new one for school. That might end up being the case every year now. But until now we haven’t had a need to replace annually.

Anonymous wrote:No. I usually buy a new one every 2-3 years, but by year end he ALWAYS reverts back to a pottery barn kids backpack everyone here touted 8 years ago. Yep, he's in 8th grade and his favorite backpack is 8 years old.

I have a HSer and MSer and I have never seen an 8th grader with a PB backpack of any kind.

No. I usually buy a new one every 2-3 years, but by year end he ALWAYS reverts back to a pottery barn kids backpack everyone here touted 8 years ago. Yep, he's in 8th grade and his favorite backpack is 8 years old.

The over-consumption at back-to-school is horrifying. Same with each holiday, special school event, vacation, etc.

Everything doesn't have to be replaced just because a fixed amount of time has gone by.

No. My son used the same backpack for many, many years. I know it went from at least six grade to senior year of high school and I think he had the same backpack from kindergarten to fifth grade.

My daughter on the other hand did change backpacks, but not every year. I think she had two different backpacks in elementary school, one backpack for the three years of middle school and another backpack for the four years of high school.

No. Finally got DS a new backpack in 6th because his ll bean backpack from K, while still in good shape, had dinosaurs on it. Now he uses the Dino bag for travel.

Anonymous wrote:I usually get my kids a new backpack every year. My older 2 kids said they can use the same one they had last year. I wanted to get my daughter a new one but didn’t get one in time.

Not when younger. I bought 2 pottery barn for 2 kid early on. They wash well and they carried this til middle school. HS books are so heavy that they (not pottery barn) tear and have to be replaced. Must weigh 40 lbs.

Umm no.
My kid is going into 7th and is on her 3rd backpack in 8 years.

No-though I offer. My kids are way less materialistic (not sure how else to say it, I'm actually not that materialistic) than me, but I grew up poor and rarely had the opportunity for new things.

No, because it's still in good shape. It's so durable, that it would last decades. It also never had anything heavy like books in it.
The kid doesn't care for new stuff unless it's a new gadget or something for computer.