When we realized, after two children, that our family was complete, I have to admit I grew a little bit anxious and excited about cleaning up and clearing out the baby gear once our youngest outgrew it. BUT, she’s a GIRL. And girls (most girls) love baby dolls, or so I supposed….I did as a child, so maybe she would, too.
I was spot on. Our daughter loves baby dolls of all kinds. She totes them around, changes their “diapers,” feeds them, rocks them, loves on them.
It can be expensive to outfit a young girl’s doll collection. And then all the accessories! And who knows nowadays what’s safe and what’s not on the toy shelves.
That’s why I’m extremely glad I held back many of her baby things for future play. Her Moses basket is now a cherished doll bassinet in her room.
I even kept bottles, feeding spoons, pacifiers. They’re safe, because they’re intended for real babies, not plastic toy ones. Plus, any kid prefers the “real thing” over a smaller, toy-like version.
I’ve been able to keep many of these little things around that are so sentimental to my heart. And what’s even better….most of her dolls are dolls I played with and loved on growing up, taken care of and preserved (OR outfitted with new parts) so that my future daughter could love them as much as I did. It’s so special!
So, WMFW….keep that little baby girl stuff around! Find a place to store it, just for a while. It’ll be so worth it.
Check out other WFMW ideas today at Rocks in My Dryer.
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julie (3 years ago)
if you have boy stuff, you can keep that too because they love dressing up boy babies just as much!
Martie (3 years ago)
brilliant!
Kookaburra (3 years ago)
Such a great idea! And you know what makes it even better? It saves you money and it’s so much better for the environment to repurpose something old instead of buying something new!
My mom did this for my sister and I and I hadn’t even thought about it until now when I read this post. Thanks for the reminder! I will definitely have to do this for my daughter.
theOrganizedMom (3 years ago)
I am so jealous. My little girl wants nothing to do with dolls! I even saved all my old original Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and gave them to her. She’s 2 by the way. I have just learned to accept the fact that she will be a vet, because she can’t get enough of animals!
Classic Mama (3 years ago)
Last year, we went to the American Girl store in NY. My Scarlett had dressed her Molly doll up in Scarlett’s christening gown. I can not tell you how many moms asked Scarlett what page of the catalogue that dress came from. I’m glad, even though our second and final was a boy, that I saved a few of Scarlett’s baby clothes. :)
Ginny (3 years ago)
I did this as well on a lot of the girls little clothes. Both were preemies as well. When I was little, Cabbage Patch Kids were huge. My mom found it cheaper to buy clearance little girls dresses vs CPK clothes. That is what gave me the idea, thanks for posting this! If people didn’t, you can find clothes super cheap at garage sales & thrift stores. They are more affordable then doll clothes.
Jenna (3 years ago)
My girls LOVE using the baby gear we’ve saved. Somehow it holds much more value to them when they know they had it when they were babies. And I love recycling the precious things I saved from their baby years ’cause I get to reminisce about all those sweet baby days…
Colleen (3 years ago)
That is a great idea! & thanks for all the ideas in the comments too!