New baby clothes do you wash before using?

bee_dix

Who here would wash everything before baby wears them? my soon to be mother inlaw washes everything before she lets me put on baby, its driving me nuts as when friends buy baby clothes as presents into the machine it goes, is she right??

nice1franko

Yeah, I think you should. We did.

This seems to back it up: http://babyclothes.about.com/od/newbornbabyclothes/a/NewbornBabyClothesWashAndWear.htm

cynder

I didnt, and i have 3 kids. I've never heard heard of it.

newmammy2011

I asked this question in the pregnancy thread last week but hadnt gotten a huge response.
Also asked a few friends with babies, some had washed all, some none and some had washed a few things but for different reasons!
Have pretty much decided myself to wash everything but am gonna check with midwives for their opinion on my next hospital visit.
In the little booklet i got from eumom with a hospital bag checklist...it does have prewashed towels, babygros etc listed!

nice1franko

The thing is, the stuff has come from a factory, or a storage room in the back of a shop. You have no guarantee about the hygiene. Maybe a mouse or rat ran across it?

I suppose it's similar to drinking straight from a beer bottle without wiping it... you shouldn't do it -but you'll probably be alright if you do!

That said, when I buy new clothes for myself I don't wash them first. Washing them isn't an ordeal though so why take the risk (however small) with a baby?

newmammy2011

nice1franko wrote: »

Washing them isn't an ordeal though so why take the risk (however small) with a baby?

This was my thinking on it! To wash all the clothes/bedding I have bought so far wold prob only take 2 or 3 runs of the machine. Will wash as I pack hospital bag/put them away in chest of drawers!

Das Kitty

I washed all the clothes beforehand up until he was 3 months. The way I was looking at it was that a lot of the clothes were out in shops and people with colds and flu were handling them. To be honest I don't think it makes a vast amount of difference. I have personally never heard of a baby getting sick from their clothes. I have heard of babies developing rashes and people said it was from the unwashed clothes but I've never seen any proof that this was the cause.

seanmc1980

its a bit OTT if you ask me, children need to build up a good resistance to germs and the like so in the long run its prob more beneificial not to wash clothes taht are brand new.

ah remember the good old day when over-protective parents didn't exist!

minotour

Its standard practise in all maternity ICU's so id take that to the bank.

newmammy2011

seanmc1980 wrote: »

its a bit OTT if you ask me, children need to build up a good resistance to germs and the like so in the long run its prob more beneificial not to wash clothes taht are brand new.

ah remember the good old day when over-protective parents didn't exist!

My concern wouldnt be so much with someone sneezing near the clothes before being worn by the baby as with the chemicals that are used to dye the clothes being left on them and right next to their skin.

Also the OP said it was her mother in law that is insisting on her washing all the clothes and from what I can tell it doesnt seem to be done as much nowadays.

Das Kitty

seanmc1980 wrote: »

its a bit OTT if you ask me, children need to build up a good resistance to germs and the like so in the long run its prob more beneificial not to wash clothes taht are brand new.

ah remember the good old day when over-protective parents didn't exist!

Yes children need to come into contact with germs but we're talking about newborns. A newborn catching flu is very dangerous.

Butterflylove

My mother had to prewash all my clothes I had extremely sensitive skin and had algeries against frangrances and chemicals I broke out in a very bad rash, within the first week I was hospitalised.

So il be prewashing but I think even if I didnt suffer I would, god knows who would be handling the clothes and some of the stuff would have been bought months in advance, also some of the chemicals are really harsh Id prefer using a non bio on them to make sure its not going to irrated the skin,

gingernut79

Its to make sure the chemicals from the clothes factory are all washed out. And no harm to rinse out anything that might have come into contact with it between there and your baby.

Sure its hardly a big deal, in any case you'll be well used to washing everything very frequently soon enough!

Moonbeam

I haven't washed any new born clothes for either of my girls but if either of them had sensitive skin I would wash them

cynder

What about washing the car seats, bouncers, baby swings/seats and buggies? surly they have chemicals in the fabric and if baby is born in summer, baby's skin will be touching the fabrics.

newmammy2011

grindelwald wrote: »

What about washing the car seats, bouncers, baby swings/seats and buggies? surly they have chemicals in the fabric and if baby is born in summer, baby's skin will be touching the fabrics.

Obviously common sense is needed!
My babies are due in the summer, but living in Ireland I dont think it will be warm enough that they will be sitting naked with their skin in constant contact with any of those......but in the unlikely event....a light cotton sheet underneath them should do the trick!

cynder

newmammy2011 wrote: »

Obviously common sense is needed!
My babies are due in the summer, but living in Ireland I dont think it will be warm enough that they will be sitting naked with their skin in constant contact with any of those......but in the unlikely event....a light cotton sheet underneath them should do the trick!

My guy was born 5 weeks premature in the july 2005, (the hottest summer on record since 1995) he was kept in just a vest or a shorts set so his skin had regular contact with other fabrics and not just clothes. He was also jaundiced for 6 weeks so he was kept in just a nappy (or naked) at times and placed by the window in either his swing or bouncer without any sheet under him.

I take it you wont use disposable nappies either as they have bleaching agents and chemicals in them too.

I personally think its OTT but its an individual choice.

It could be worse, I've seen mothers smoking around newborns and haven't said a thing to them as its their choice, but i would not them smoke around my kids.

Best of luck with the rest of the pregnancy.

Squiggler

grindelwald wrote: »

I take it you wont use disposable nappies either as they have bleaching agents and chemicals in them too.

This isn't true of all disposable nappies, there are several brands out there that are unbleached and chemical free. And there are also a wide variety of re-usable nappies, which require pre-washing several times to ensure maximum absorbancy, this is also true of towels and of re-usable baby wipes.

I've worn new jeans without washing them first and ended up with blue legs. I might find that ok for me but wouldn't want it happening to my child, so I can see the extra dye argument for pre-washing, and as someone who reacts quite badly to most laundry detergents I can also see the unknown chemical argument.

If those aren't/weren't relevant to you Grindelwald then that's fine, it seems that they might be relevant to other people. I don't think anyone is suggesting that not prewashing is a criminal activity

newmammy2011

grindelwald wrote: »

My guy was born 5 weeks premature in the july 2005, (the hottest summer on record since 1995) he was kept in just a vest or a shorts set so his skin had regular contact with other fabrics and not just clothes. He was also jaundiced for 6 weeks so he was kept in just a nappy (or naked) at times and placed by the window in either his swing or bouncer without any sheet under him.

I take it you wont use disposable nappies either as they have bleaching agents and chemicals in them too.

I personally think its OTT but its an individual choice.

It could be worse, I've seen mothers smoking around newborns and haven't said a thing to them as its their choice, but i would not them smoke around my kids.

Best of luck with the rest of the pregnancy.

Sorry to hear your little guy had a rough start.

I completely agree that there are worse things that could be done than not prewashing babies clothes but I do still feel that there is a valid argument for prewashing, so I will be doing it! if nothing else it will give me a preview of the mountain of washing I will have for the next few years!

I actually ordered my first batch of reusable nappies on monday!

cynder

newmammy2011 wrote: »

Sorry to hear your little guy had a rough start.

I completely agree that there are worse things that could be done than not prewashing babies clothes but I do still feel that there is a valid argument for prewashing, so I will be doing it! if nothing else it will give me a preview of the mountain of washing I will have for the next few years!

I actually ordered my first batch of reusable nappies on monday!

Yep the washing will mount up, i do at least 6 washes a week.

Best of luck with the reusable nappies, i never went down that route terries were used on me as a baby and i used to get very bad nappy rash.

If i was you i would get a tube of bepanthen, it is the best one out there for nappy rash, unfortunately it wasn't around for my eldest (every time she cut a tooth she got a chest infection , every time she got a chest infection she got antibiotics and every time she got antibiotics she had the runs and every time she had the runs she got very bad nappy rash, blood blisters the size of a €2 coin, she had to have steroid creams) but bepanthan worked for my 2 boys and never took them to the gps with nappy rash.

The premature one got nasty nappy rash when he was 4 hours old, his skin didn't like huggies newborn nappies, i switched him to pampers and it disappeared after 3 days.

newmammy2011

Thanks!
Will give the reusables a go...havent ordered too many in case that doesnt work out!!
Have some bepanthen at home!..think it came in a bag from the baby fair in the RDS so will give that a go if needs be!
Yeah the increase in washing will take a bit of getting used to!...Can usually get away with doing 3 washes a week between me and OH....but Id imagine 2 newborns will add to that somewhat!

cynder

Wait till 2 newborns become 2 toddlers, you will spend most of your time cleaning.

Hope the reusables work out. If you have a spare minute or two after the 2 little ones arrive can you give us an update of how you find them, it will be good for any other moms who are looking into reusables.

newmammy2011

Will do!

keano_afc

We did, was recommended to us by a midwife. Gets rid of all the loose threads that could catch around toes and cause discomfort.

upinthesky

i wouldnt i love the look and feel of new clothes

bulmersgal

i washed all my little ones clothes, did her no harm. will just put new clothes on her now and she 10 months

Das Kitty

grindelwald wrote: »

Wait till 2 newborns become 2 toddlers, you will spend most of your time cleaning

Ah yeah, but you'll have less to clean because all your belongings will be broken or hidden!

hibride

I always wash my Daughter's clothes, the main reasons being the chemicals used by the manufacturers to make the clothes look better (ie no creases) and to prevent mildew, and to rinse out excess dye.

Not getting a rash or an alergy from it doesn't mean it's not bad for the baby. In fact, I also wash most of my new clothes before wearing them