What to Do With Your Used Baby Items: Recycle, Donate, or Sell

Wondering what to do with all that old baby stuff?

Especially if you’re a new parent, you’ve got a house full of baby stuff. You may have gone on a nine-month-long shopping spree because you weren’t sure what would work for you. A lot of it probably came from a baby shower or two.

Now your baby is growing unbelievably fast and so is the mountain of baby items you have no use for. Part of you wants to keep it all but you just don’t have any room left or you’re thinking maybe you should give away baby stuff to your cousin who’s expecting.

So what’s the best way to get rid of old baby stuff? Let’s learn which used baby items are safe to sell or donate to charity and which used baby gear items need to be recycled.

If you’re wondering how to get rid of old baby gear that’s still in great condition or has never even been used, it’s a great idea to try selling it for a little extra cash.

If you’re thinking about having more children, you’ll want to hang on to larger, big-ticket items instead of spending time figuring out how to get rid of old strollers and cribs. If not, these can be sold as long as the items are in great shape.

🧽 More From the Trash Talk Blog: 10 Reasons We Love to Clean Our Home

You may want to sell your used baby items online. You’ll have more luck if you cross-post to different sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and LetGo. These are sites where new parents will be looking to buy some cheap baby items online.

Make sure you include good photos and descriptions of the items you’re listing. Think about what you would want to know if you were the one shopping. The idea here is that you shouldn’t have to answer any questions about the listing.

If online selling isn’t your thing, hold on to the car seat or stroller for a while and trade them in later. Stores like Toys R Us and Target hold trade-in events where you can exchange your used baby items and get a discount.

Consignment stores are good for selling your gently used baby clothes and maternity wear. If the clothes and accessories are still in good shape, take them to a nearby consignment shop to see if they will buy it from you.

Note: Donating clothes to charities that provide specific items will more effectively help the needy.

Some consignment stores focus just on baby, toddler, and maternity items. You can find one nearby with a quick Internet search. This will be the best bet for those old toys that never got played with but are now outgrown.

Before you haul it all there, call ahead and ask what they’re looking for. The season and what’s in stock will have a big impact on how much they’ll pay and whether or not they will take the items.

You can also try online consignment shops, like ThredUp. They’ll mail you a cleanout bag, which you fill with your items and send back. After a few days, they’ll make an offer on the items they want and donate the rest.

If you’re looking at donating baby items, there are organizations in every town that want your old baby gear. You can donate used baby items near you to women’s shelters, daycares, and day camps. They may be able to use items such as baby swings, cribs, mattress, playpens, toys, and anything else that can be cleaned up.

These charities rely on donated items, so this is a great way to get rid of those baby things you don’t need. Call around to the charities near you to make sure they accept the items you want to donate.

More From the Trash Talk Blog: How Do I Get Rid of All the Clutter In My Home?

Some organizations can’t take items that may have been recalled or have expiration dates, such as car seats and strollers, so call ahead and confirm before you waste your time hauling everything out there. Make sure to ask, “where to donate baby toys!?”

If you’re not sure which baby items are okay to donate, here are a few lists to help.

These baby items are typically accepted as long as they’re gently used:

The following baby items are typically not accepted for donation:

These baby items are typically only accepted if they’re brand new:

You’ll likely need to donate used baby blankets and stuffed animals to your local animal shelter or humane society, while books and audio are a great donation to churches, daycares, or your local library.

Recycling your old baby stuff is a great way to get rid of old baby items that may be broken, expired, or worn out. One way to recycle this stuff is through some companies that offer recycling programs.

Similar to the trade-in events mentioned earlier, many stores will give you a discount when you turn in your old baby stuff. Sometimes, they may also donate new products to needy families.

Another recycling option that you may have heard of is TerraCycle. You can buy a zero waste box online from TerraCycle, fill it with all the baby stuff you want to recycle, ship it back to them, and they handle the rest. This is a good choice if you don’t have a lot of time and don’t mind spending a bit of money for the convenience.

More From the Trash Talk Blog: What To Do With Kids’ Old Swing Set

Check out the website Recycle Your Carseat to find organizations and events near you where you can have your old or broken car seat recycled.

Baby Earth also has a program that allows you to mail them your unwanted car seat for recycling. Breastfeeding gear companies Hygeia and Medela both offer similar programs for recycling old breast pumps.

You’re more than likely going to have a ton of small items to get rid of as well. A lot of those things can be recycled through your municipal recycling service or dropped off at a local recycling facility. Here are a few of those odds and ends you can set out with your regular recycling:

Ideally, the only baby items that should go in the garbage are used pacifiers and bottle nipples. Out-of-date car seats and soiled or damaged crib mattresses can also be thrown away, but only when you aren’t able to find a recycler who will take them.

As the parent of small children, you may not have the time or energy to spend on baby crib disposal. If you want to keep all your used baby gear out of the landfill in the easiest way possible, you can have a licensed junk removal company like LoadUp do all the hard work.

When you book a pickup with LoadUp, they send a team of background-checked, fully insured professionals to remove any baby items you want to get rid of and haul them away to be donated or recycled so it doesn’t end up in the dump. They’ll even come in and do all the heavy lifting to get baby swings and more out of your home if that’s what you need.

Get Rid of Your Used Baby Stuff Today!

As a parent, you invested a whole lot of time, energy, and money into choosing the perfect baby gear and bringing home all those items for your child.

Now that you have all the information you need to get rid of it all responsibly, you can feel just as good about letting it go as you did when you brought it home.

You owe it to yourself to make getting rid of all your old baby gear easy as 1-2-3 with dedicated customer support and honest, upfront pricing.

Get baby gear removal as soon as next-day with LoadUp, your old baby gear and junk removal professionals near you.

Related Articles from the Trash Talk Blog:

• How to Babyproof Your Home
• Stay-at-Home Dad Survival Guide
• Kids’ Playroom Organization Ideas
• What To Do With Kids’ Old Swing Set