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Childbirth

To wash or not to wash??

39 replies

SophieSkaterina · 31/12/2004 18:18

Hello hello. I am a newcomer so apols in advance if I screw up. I am now in that pre-birth dream time waiting for my baby boy to arrive. Due on the 16th Jan, though already measuring 41 weeks and so I suppose (should I hope?) that he may well come early. Certainly far too big to move much and even leaving the house is getting difficult - primarily because NOTHING FITS down over the bump anymore and I am looking depressingly like mutton dressed as Jade Goody in my unintentional cropped top/ jogging bottoms combo.

My question. Am I already a bad mother if I don't wash all the new baby clothes that I am taking to hospital? My mother says YES but the pragmatist in me thinks its wise when I don't know how little this little one will really be (new born or a 0-3??). Please advise oh wise ones. XXX SS

OP posts:

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puddytats · 31/12/2004 18:20

I did not wash any new baby clothes - did not see tyhe sense personally plus by that stage was so big even leaning down to the washing machine was too much like hard work!

PuffTheMagicDragon · 31/12/2004 18:21

Hi Sophie, I would say yes, do wash them. I didn't for my ds2 (forgot) and he was covered in a nasty rash for a couple of days.

mckenzie · 31/12/2004 18:21

I think there are 2 schools of thought on this one Sophieskaterina.

One says you should wash them to make sure they are rid of any shop dirt etc and the other says dont wash them as we are causing problems for ourselves by being too parnoid about hygeine.

Fingers crossed you dont have to wiat too much longer for your little bundle of joy to arrive.

AMerryScot · 31/12/2004 18:21

I don't think I washed new clothes. I did wash things that we had brought down from the loft.

codswallop · 31/12/2004 18:21

do IMO

Angeliz · 31/12/2004 18:23

I have just spent the whole day washing all dd's old baby clothes and some new ones i've bought for the bump.
So i'd have to say yes!

zebra · 31/12/2004 18:36

I never washed any of the baby clothes unless they actually looked dirty. Not the new ones, not the ones I got 2nd hand, not the ones I got down from the loft. Nothing I've read here would change my mind. Honestly I don't know why people do!!

codswallop · 31/12/2004 18:37

my Mil always does mine
she loves it

shrub · 31/12/2004 18:42

i washed both my ds1 and ds2's clothes because a mum in my ante natal group use to work in a clothes factory and told me about all the horrible chemicals, dyes and bleach they use. but you also can get those in washing powder, though you can get one called ecover which i've found works really well

Dizzylizzy · 31/12/2004 18:46

I didn't wash them but dh did :O, its just a thing that I've got with new clothes etc, I ALWAYS wash them first to get that horried NEW smell out of them, also I tend to find that they are a bit stiff when taken out of the packaging.

Each to their own, good luck with the arrival of your little one, don't forget to let us know how you get on.

Blossomhill · 31/12/2004 18:47

I would wash the 0-3 stuff and take that to the hospital with you. Babies have such sensitive skin that I just loved the feeling of the clothes when they were all washed and soft. SO much more comfortable and I just felt better knowing the clothes were clean.

NameChangingMancMidlander · 31/12/2004 18:58

It doesn't make you a bad mum !!!!

I did wash them all, every last outfit, vest, mitten etc that we had for DD. TBH, the clothes are so dinky that one washing machine load will probably get your little fella's wardrobe done in one fell swoop. I'd ask DH/DP/MIL/anyone to help, if you really would find loading and unloading the machine too much.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 31/12/2004 19:02

Didn't wash any of mine. Luckily because as it turned out DS1 went straight into 0-3months and I returned all the newborn stuff. He had no doodgy rashes or anything.

zebra · 31/12/2004 19:04

Mine didn't come up with rashes or the like, either.
How do you get clothes really soft without adding fabric conditioner (yet more perfumed chemicals), anyway?

aloha · 31/12/2004 19:53

I didn't wash anything. Didn't even occur to me, frankly. Life is difficult enough without washing clean clothes!

WideWebWitch · 31/12/2004 19:54

I didn't wash anything either. Both children fine!

WideWebWitch · 31/12/2004 19:56

I remember a boss of mine years ago (ex Cambridge law student) telling me that there'd been a legal case revolving around whether brand new clothes were supposed to be ok to wear without washing and apparently they were.

HappyMumof2 · 31/12/2004 20:11

Message withdrawn

codswallop · 31/12/2004 20:51

dh used to be nt he rag trade
he says wash as you woudlnt believe the state of the factories

PuffTheMagicDragon · 31/12/2004 21:06

Sorry to be a bore, but ds2 was not a happy bunny in his unwashed, straight from the packet mothercare sleepsuits. The rash, which joined together and basically turned him into a hot, screaming beetroot was entirely due to the unwashed clothes and whatever his skin reacted to in them. Once some washed sleepsuits were delivered, his skin calmed down and returned to normal. Unlike ds1, he has never suffered from eczema, so its not because he had extra sensitive skin.

shrub · 31/12/2004 21:19

also forgot to add there will be pesticide residues on the clothing and loose fibres if non-organic. i don't use fabric conditioner, just the ecover washing liquid - and clothes are soft. i sound like an old hippy but i only got interested in all this stuff when i was expecting my first and it is truly shocking what they put in everything from our food to the so called gentle baby washes we are suppose to buy. anyway rant over, thats for another thread!

highlander · 01/01/2005 03:04

I washed everything, but didn't actually have an awful lot. DS then proceeded to pee and crap over everything in hospital, with the end result of DH having to run out and buy new stuff whilst wee DS was wrapped up in a towel. The midwives thought it was hilarious!

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biglips · 01/01/2005 03:37

i didnt wash the baba's clothes that friends gave to me but the new ones that i bought i did

eidsvold · 01/01/2005 04:17

washed all clothes - those in storage, those I bought prior to birth and those given to dd before she wore them. As someone said - one load and half an hour on the clothesline and it was done.

geekgrrl · 01/01/2005 06:48

I read somewhere that up to 20% of the weight of new unwashed clothes is made up by the 'dressing' chemicals used and get washed out after one or two washes.
i always wash new stuff. Don't like the smell or the feel of new clothes.

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