What to have on hand - fostering

[justbeth]

Hi ladies! I intro'd here quiet a while ago, but the licensing process drug on and I rarely got on here. However, now we are officially cleared, just awaiting the actual license in the mail.

My questions is, how much, if any, clothing items do you keep on hand? We have a daughter, and have wayyyyy to many girls clothes, but no boy items. We are fostering 0-18 months.

I'm asking, because next week there are a few big consignment sales in my area. I can often get items there for a dollar or less. I'm thinking about getting a few sleepers in each size to keep on hand so I'm not running to the store late at night if we get a call. Should I get more, since it's considerable cheaper than buying new once we have a child? Should I get nothing, because we may never have a child the right size to use it?

In your experience, what worked for you?

[pinkie]

It's going to be tough if you don't know the exact age to buy clothes. You could buy 18 month stuff and know that you most likely can use it.

I would look for more gear stuff than clothes personally. Plastic stuff cleans up really well. Up to 18 months would still play with an activity table (that's a great second hand buy) and our kids go crazy for the toy kitchen. Also outside stuff

We just went to a huge conseignment sale last week and we got a bunch of great deals.

[twocents6708]

We are only doing respite/emergency (short term) placements at this time and I struggled with the same question, except out age range is much larger. I ended up deciding that I was more concerned about having toys/books/ activities on hand and less about clothing. I do have a few clothing items, mostly DDs old stuff, on hand but I decided that if needed, a Target run for some pjs or diapers will just have to happen when we got those ER placements.

Not sure if it helps but that was what we have done.

[ceejay]

We had similar concerns about how much clothing to prepare. Our age range for fostering was 0-4, boys or girls (up to 2 at a time). I had some odds and ends, clothes that I found on clearance for a variety of ages, but I didn't actually make sure we had every age range covered.

When our foster sons were placed with us, they came with a bag of donated clothes and the clothes they were wearing. That was enough to last us 1-2 days until I could get to the store and friends of ours donated their old baby and kid clothes.

For us, it ended up being more important to have kid supplies on hand than clothes... You probably have most of the things you need from your daughter! But if you wanted to grab some boy clothes at the consignment sale, it wouldn't hurt to have a few extra outfits on hand, especially if you can get them for a good price!

[justbeth]

Thanks, ladies! I feel like we are pretty set in the 'stuff' area, like toys and baby gear, from our daughters stuff. I guess I'll just grab deals when I see them and collect hand me downs until we have our first placement. Thanks for all the input!

[shemarie82]

I know I am a little late, but we are licensed 0-4. We had pjs for the birth to 12 month in each size and a couple of outfits. We focused on that age because we thought that would be the kids that needed to be changed the most. We thought after that we would take a trip to the store if needed once we knew sizes. None of the stuff we bought fits the boys, but that is okay anyway Our friends and family have been dropping clothes off all the time now for them.

[delenire]

Once we got cleared I was planning on announcing on facebook our foster to adopt plans then send out a call for help in my area, I am sure I have a lot of friends who wouldn't mind donating a bag of hand me downs to me instead of goodwill.

Does this seem tacky?

I figured I just need to have a few options for the child(ern) to have ready until I can take them to the store...

[ceejay]

Sept 22, 2015 15:59:18 GMT -5 delenire said:

Once we got cleared I was planning on announcing on facebook our foster to adopt plans then send out a call for help in my area, I am sure I have a lot of friends who wouldn't mind donating a bag of hand me downs to me instead of goodwill.

Does this seem tacky?

I figured I just need to have a few options for the child(ern) to have ready until I can take them to the store...

We waited to ask for help until we had our placement (because we had a wider age range and didn't really know what we needed until we had the kids...).

When we got our placement, there were a lot of baby odds and ends, clothes, and toys we realized that we needed. A few of my friends told me, "Don't be afraid to ask for help." So at their suggestion, I made a post on facebook asking specifically for things we needed. We ended up getting every single one of those things from friends! (as hand me downs)  If you have friends that have kids, they probably have stuff laying around unused that they would be happy to donate/loan to you. It never hurts to ask. 

[shemarie82]

Sept 22, 2015 15:59:18 GMT -5 delenire said:

Once we got cleared I was planning on announcing on facebook our foster to adopt plans then send out a call for help in my area, I am sure I have a lot of friends who wouldn't mind donating a bag of hand me downs to me instead of goodwill.

Does this seem tacky?

I figured I just need to have a few options for the child(ern) to have ready until I can take them to the store...

For us, people have been so willing to help. I would not think that it is tacky, but I would want to give someone exactly what they need.  So, maybe let them know what you are looking for, rather than "we'll take your stuff".  You don't want to end up with a bunch of stuff that you then have to take to Goodwill because you don't want/need it.  You will be too busy with your baby

[delenire]

shemarie82, We aren't getting a baby. We are applying to foster a sibling group so we pretty much can get 2 or 3 kids both boys and girls or all of one or the other from ages 5 to 18. I figured we would wash and then divide it all into age/size appropriate totes. That way the children would have options depending on their age/size/gender identity.

[shemarie82]

Sept 23, 2015 8:57:29 GMT -5 delenire said:

shemarie82, We aren't getting a baby. We are applying to foster a sibling group so we pretty much can get 2 or 3 kids both boys and girls or all of one or the other from ages 5 to 18. I figured we would wash and then divide it all into age/size appropriate totes. That way the children would have options depending on their age/size/gender identity.

Sorry, must have had you confused with someone else!

[delenire]

shemarie82, its all good!