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Summer children’s clothes are easy – it’s never a problem finding cheap t-shirts or shorts. It’s winter clothes – all those duffel coats, boots and wool knits – that are the real pain: who wants to spend £60 on a coat that’ll be worn for three months?
The trick isn’t to scrimp on quality, but to buy the good stuff second hand – all those parents who paid full price last year will be looking to recoup some of their money on eBay and this is where you can reap the benefit. But the trick with eBay is to know what you’re looking for – a search for ‘boy’s winter coat’ will show more results than you’ll want to trawl through. So here’s a guide to what to look for:
These are brilliant for those bleak winter months, but not something to buy full price. They will, after all, only get limited wear as it’s rarely that cold and, when it is, you’ll be indoors anyway. Incidentally, never take a baby shopping in one as you’ll spend the whole time in shop doorways pulling it on and off, while your baby alternately sweats and freezes. That said, they’re useful for walks and the like (and can save you buying a buggy footwarmer), and Columbia is a proper outdoor company with 70 years’ experience of making quality clothing.
Nappy-valley favourite JoJo Maman Bébé is particularly strong on fleeces, snowsuits and rainwear. New, you can expect to pay around £39 for a baby’s waterproof fleece all-in-one, but on eBay I saw them starting at £5.50.
…know how to do winter clothing. There’s always stacks of Polarn y. Pyret on eBay, and because the styles don’t vary much, the chances are that, if you like the brand, you’ll like what’s up there. The clothes are brilliantly practical as well as stylish, with plenty of thought to the detail (the baby rain caps have strings attached, helpful if your child is the kind who forever pulls off hats.)
Its sheer popularity means there will always be plenty of Boden on eBay, and with padded winter jackets costing £50-£55, there are substantial savings to be made by going second-hand. But look closely at the condition – daily wear means that coats can get surprisingly scruffy by the end of the winter.
I’m a big fan of kids’ rain jackets, which (certainly in the UK, anyway) get year-round wear. Polarn y. Pyret again does brilliant ones, as does Hatley. Similarly children’s wellies are worth buying second-hand – many kids don’t get much use out of theirs before growing out of the
