Toddler
Baby clothes get outgrown. Toddler clothes get used. This is the size where knees go through, where cuffs get chewed, where a shirt meets spaghetti and doesn't recover. Anyone who has bought secondhand at this age has opened a package and found wear that wasn't in the photos.
Which is exactly why it matters who is looking at them. Every item here is inspected by hand before it goes in the closet, and at this size that means checking the places that fail first rather than glancing at the front.
Knees and elbows, seams and cuffs, the inside of the neckline, the seat of every pair of pants. Snaps and zips that still work. Prints that haven't cracked. Elastic that still holds.
Nothing with a set stain, nothing with a hole, nothing pilled or stretched out. If it wouldn't pass in our own house, it doesn't go in the closet.
Some things survive this age almost untouched. Outer layers, dresses, anything worn over something else, and anything bought for one occasion and outgrown before the next one. Those come back in near perfect condition and they're the backbone of what's here.
The everyday stuff is harder to find in good shape, which is why it gets looked at hardest.
Pick a plan and a bag comes to you, prepaid in both directions. Fill it with what your kid has outgrown, send it back with the label already on it, and what's accepted becomes credits.
Credits are what you spend on anything in the closet. Nothing is priced in dollars once you're in, and shipping is included both ways.
You can send a bag first and earn your way in, or add credits when you sign up and shop straight away. Either works, and you can do both.
At this size the wear shows in specific places, so that's where we look: knees, seat, cuffs, elbows, the inside of the neck. No stains, no holes, no pilling, no stretched necklines, snaps and zips that still work
Some things we don't take at all. Socks and underwear, anything with a stain that's set, anything where the elastic has gone.
Clothes are the easy end of secondhand. The real hazards are mechanical and visible: buttons and appliques that have worked loose, snaps and zips that no longer close, and drawstrings at the neck or hood. The CPSC has recorded 26 deaths from drawstring entanglement, and since 2011 a neck or hood drawstring on children's outerwear has been a federal safety violation. We check all three on every item.
What doesn't belong in a swap at all is gear that ages out of safety: car seats, cribs, crib mattresses. Those get recalled and they degrade, and there's no way to know a car seat's history. Clothes aren't like that.
Toddler runs 2T, 3T and 4. Either side of that we go down to 6 months and up to size 7, so you're not starting over every year.
Sizes aren't consistent between brands, so go by weight and height rather than the number on the tag. A 3T from one label can be a 2T from another.
Height and weight tell you more than age does. Brands size differently enough that the same kid can be two different numbers depending on the label, and toddler is where that gap is widest.
Every item here lists its size as the maker labelled it, so if you know what fits in a given brand you know what to look for.
Shoes mould to the kid who wore them, and at this age that's the whole point of a shoe. We don't accept them and we don't list them.
There are plenty of options: resale sites, local consignment stores, marketplace apps, Buy Nothing groups. Most of them are shops. You browse, you buy, you're done.
KidSwaps is a swap. What you send in earns credits, and credits are what you spend. The bag comes prepaid in both directions and it keeps going round.
If they meet the same standard we hold everything else to, send them. Fill the bag, use the label that's already on it, and what's accepted becomes credits you can spend.
What we can't take is donated rather than returned, so send what you'd be glad to see go. We always tell you which items didn't make it and why.
There are four plans depending on whether you want clothes, toys, or both, and round trip shipping is included in all of them.
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