What can you donate?

There are many ways that you can make a donation to St Kilda Mums. Four of the most common are:

  • Donate your pre-loved nursery gear, toys and clothing
  • Donate money and buy a new mattress for a cot or a pram snuggler to keep a child warm this winter
  • Donate goods-in-kind - sample stock, excess inventory, shop soiled - we can make sure it gets to Melbourne's most needy families and will acknowledge your support

Donate pre-loved nursery gear, toys and clothing

​St Kilda Mums is entirely run by volunteers from our own homes, and we accept donations on Friday or Saturday, but if this does not suit then an alternate day can be arranged. The donation drop off address changes from week to week, and depending on the number of items you have to offer, so please email us know what you have and we can advise the donation drop off address and days/times. We have staging posts in Mentone & Frankston also.

What do we most need? 


We focus on the essentials for birth to 5 years. We don't have many requests for nappy wrapper bins or padded shopping trolley liners, but we always have a wait list for cots and prams. The following items have mandatory safety standards - prams, strollers, change tables, cots, portacots, highchairs, car restraints, and bouncers. If you would like to re-home any of these items with St Kilda Mums we ask that you check against our product safety checklist. 

All clothing should be freshly laundered please. If clothing or linen has been in storage then its really important that it is washed again before donating to us. St Kilda Mums prides itself on passing on items in great condition. Its a really small thing but it makes all the difference to the mum on the receiving end. If you are not sure whether your clothing donation is suitable or not, just ask yourself if you would give it to a good friend? If the answer is no - then its not what we want for the mums we are helping.

Please do not drop off any soft toys, other than the small Lamaze type baby toys, as we have about a five year supply of teddy bears. We also do not re-home any maternity or adult clothing, nor electrical items such as monitors.

We sometimes get asked if we want to be alerted to nursery gear found in the hard rubbish. If you find a great piece of nursery equipment in the hard rubbish, you are welcome to pick it up and take it home with you if you have a car. We would then ask that you check it carefully using our product safety checklist to be sure it meets mandatory standards before contacting us. Often there is a very good reason why an item is discarded but it may not be easy to spot. 
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The importance of Safety

Every year in Victoria 33 children are killed and a further 75,500 are treated in hospital for injuries. Most of these deaths and injuries that cause great hurt and hardship to children and their families are preventable. Kid Safe Website

Safety is of primary importance to us. We carefully check each and every item to access their suitability for re-homing. You can help us by ensuring the the items you donate are clean, safe and that they meet current mandatory standards. Please click here for our safety checklists.

Spread the word

Besides telling your friends about us, you could also print out this A4 poster and put it up at your local school, daycare, kinder, child health centre, doctor's surgery etc. We are always on the look-out for cots and prams as demand always exceeds supply. 

St Kilda Mums Inc. 2009 
What we can and cannot re-home

We no longer accept the following items:

  • Anything electrical – that plugs into mains power. This includes electric breast pumps, bottle warmers, monitors and sterilizers. This does not include battery operated toys. Please remove old batteries before donating these.
  • Maternity Clothing – we used to stock this but no longer do to lack of demand and space so please take to the Salvos.
  • Swings, walkers, exosaucers, bumbo seats, slings, bath aids, cot bumpers and Jolly Jumpers (all on the recommendation of the Maternal Child Health Nurses we work with as they are all considered to be unsafe.)
  • Booster cushions (with no seat back). These are not recommended by Vic Roads as they provide no protection in a side impact crash. 
  • Large stuffed animal toys. Please take them to your local animal shelter. We will accept small soft toys if they are new with tags.

Here is a list of the items that we most often get asked for and any safety information that pertains to it. Items with mandatory standards are in bold - please check your donation of any items in bold against our safety checklist.

  • Activity Mats or Baby Gyms
  • Art and craft materials - paper, scissors, pencils, crayons, felt tips, paint etc. 
  • Bassinettes or Moses baskets
  • Baths and bath stands (no bath aids please - these are not recommended by MCH nurses)
  • Beds – we don’t usually keep toddler or single beds in stock but will call out for these if we get requests
  • Bed rails
  • Bikes – toddler, children’s and adults - and helmets if they are in near new condition
  • Baby bike seats (please don’t forget the bracket to the seat stem)
  • Books - story, colouring, craft, childcare, but please no pregnancy or baby name books
  • Bottles and other feeding equipment - in near new condition
  • Bouncers or rockers - must have a three point safety harness
  • Bunny rugs or baby wraps
  • Carriers – we accept Baby Bjorn or similar front carriers, but no longer accept other types of slings or backpack carrier due safety concerns with slings and to lack of demand for backpacks.
  • Clothing 00000 to 5 years. All clothing should be freshly laundered please
  • Breast pumps – manual but not electric 
  • Breastfeeding pillows
  • Carry Cots
  • Car restraints – capsules, reversible, booster seats with backs only please. Should meet standard AS/NZS 1754. Should not be more than 10 years old and never in an accident. 
  • Change Table – folding preferred with safety belt
  • Cots – should comply to Standard AS/NZS 2172-200. Must have internal rail slide mechanism. For all cots we ask that you email us a photo plus the make, model, date and country of manufacture - all this info should be on a bottom slat. Please tell us if you have the original manual or not. With this information we can firstly be sure it meets current safety standards and also download the manual from the manufacturer's website to give to the new mum. 
  • Formula – unopened and within 3 months of expiry date
  • Highchairs - must have minimum three point harness. Please clean thoroughly before donating.
  • Kids chairs and tables
  • Linen - Flat and fitted sheets, blankets, quilts, mattress protectors, mosquito nets for single beds, cots and basinettes. All linen should be freshly laundered please.
  • ​Mattresses – for cots, bassinettes (we stock) and single beds (call out)
  • ​Nappies - disposable and reusable cloth (disposables can be from opened bags)
  • Nappy change bags
  • Nappy change mats (no rips or tears in plastic please)
  • Newborn head supports
  • Nursing Pads – disposable (unopened) and reusable
  • Playpens
  • Portacots – Standard AS/NZS 2195:1999. Must have no faults at all.
  • Prams/stollers – Standard AS/NZS 2088: 2000. Must have working 5 point harness and brakes. Please vacuum and clean before donating, and please include the original manuals if you have them.
  • Pram accessories like foot muffs, snugglers, newborn headrests, sunshades and raincovers for prams and strollers (both single and double).
  • Spare pram wheels and pumps if you have them
  • Safety gates – please don’t forget to find all the spindles and put them in a bag and tape to gate so they don’t get lost.
  • Safety Items – like cupboard locks
  • Shoes – baby to about 6 years. Must be near new condition please.
  • Steps and stools - for toddlers
  • Sterilizers – microwave not electric
  • Stuffed animals and other soft toys – small and new with tag only please
  • Sunshades – for strollers, prams and car windows
  • Talcum powder, creams, bath wash etc - unopened
  • Towels – new or near new only please
  • Toys, CDs, DVDs, games and puzzles but no large stuffed animals please. The families we help don't have a lot of room so good quality toys provide a great learning opportunity
  • Wipes - unopened

When you make a donation to St Kilda Mums you understand that we will dispose of your donations as we see fit. If the item is not suitable for re-homing but has residual commercial 
value we may decide to sell​ your donation in preference to paying to dispose of it at the tip. If you have any questions about this please email us.
Donate Money

If you would like to make a financial contribution to our work please email us for our bank account details for an EFT transfer or send a cheque made out to St Kilda Mums to our PO Box 356, Balaclava VIC 3183.