With the expenses associated with raising kids, who blames parents for trying to pick up a few things secondhand? Thrifting is also a way to prevent waste—if your kid outgrows a pair of dress shoes after wearing them twice, you'd obviously rather hand them down than chuck them.
But not everything related to kids, and especially to babies, is safe to acquire secondhand. I know from my years reporting for American Baby and Parents magazine—and from just passing by my local Goodwill—that there's a long list of baby gear that reputable thrift shops won't sell.
In case you don't want to just take my word for it, I also asked Elizabeth Murray, D.O., M.B.A., a pediatric emergency medicine doctor at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. She's a mom of two and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and she sees plenty of child emergencies as part of her job.
Buy New Baby Gear—Especially These 3 Things
"Thrifting has become cool, touted by social media influencers," Dr. Murray says. "In general my rule and guidance is you should never get used baby items that have to do with safety." Dr. Murray says to avoid thrifting:
✔️ Cribs
✔️ Car seats
✔️ Bassinets
Car seats and baby sleep spaces degrade over time with use, so they are safest when they're purchased new, before there has been wear and tear, Dr. Murray explains. "Most people don't even know that car seats have expiration dates," she says. They're generally six to 10 years after the manufacturing date, which should be printed on each car seat.
Baby gear also has dynamic regulatory standards. Current side-impact protection laws for car seats just went into effect in 2025, as did new rules around mini cribs and play yards. That means that even the gear you used for your now-3-year-old could be out of date in 2026.
Not to freak out new parents, but new safety standards for crib mattresses only go into effect in May 2026. (They are largely about mattress-firmness tests.) This is just to drive home the point that baby products are always under review, and newest is always best when you're talking about a safety product.
It's possible to get a new, Greenguard Gold certified crib for a little over $100.
Joe Shamie, President of Delta Children, which manufacturers baby gear, puts it this way: If it's a product that is meant for you to be able to leave your baby unattended, like a crib or bassinet, you should absolutely buy new. Regulations are looser, he says, for products marked "never leave your baby unattended" because they assume a parent's presence and vigilance, such as with a bouncer seat or high chair. (I'd still buy those new anyway, just to be cautious.)
Some Things You Should Never Buy—New or Used
Dr. Murray suggests you don't buy:
✔️ Inclined sleepers and crib bumpers (both banned)
✔️ Sit-in baby walkers
✔️ Aqua Beads
Inclined sleepers and crib bumpers have both been banned, but some parents have read about them and go looking to buy them off-market, with potentially deadly consequences. “Parents are exhausted, they're scrolling, and they're seeing people making promises about products that help babies sleep through the night," Dr. Murray says. "Newborn babies are not designed to sleep through the night, for one. And if you’re thinking that other people are having success with a product, and you just need to buy something, it's likely a gimmick, which is an unfair burden to put on parents."
She also does not recommend sit-in baby walkers on wheels, though they're sold in the US. "Just because you buy something in a store doesn’t mean it’s safe," Dr. Murray says. "Walkers present a tremendous amount of danger to babies who can fall down stairs, or suddenly reach things that they can pull down." She suggests you look at products with a critical eye and, when in doubt, ask your pediatrician.
In the toy world, Dr. Murray cautions against Aqua Beads. They're still sold but the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says Aqua Beads can be deadly if swallowed, and that they lead to thousands of emergency room visits every year.
Many Items Are Safe to Thrift
You can likely safely get these secondhand:
✔️ Books
✔️ Toys (for your child's age)
✔️ Clothing (minus swaddles, sleep sacks, and baby pajamas)
"Obviously you can get books!" Dr. Murray says. "I love for babies to have as many books as they can. And toys can be safe, if they can be cleaned and aren't cracking."
Toys need to be age-appropriate. Without the box, you may not know if a toy contains choking-hazard-sized pieces; it's best to look the product up online to see the age grading.
"In general, clothing is fine," Dr. Murray says, especially for older kids. But if there's a safety aspect, such as baby sleepwear, that crosses back into the do-not-thrift bucket. (Some Halo Magic Sleepsuits were recently recalled, for instance.)
The bottom line is that parents have a lot of product information coming at them from "influential but not necessarily reputable sources," Dr. Murray says. When in doubt, talk to your doctor. If you pass gear around, Dr. Murray recommends consider keeping it among friends and family. At least that way you know the age of each product, and whether it's seen light or heavy use.
