That you just wash the baby clothes

[glitterglitters]

I'm in a fb group about babies of an age similar to mine and there are a lot of mums in the US.

A post popped up about nappy leaks/poo explosion/poonamis and the US mums are saying they throw out entire outfits weekly?!?

Now, this is my second child so I'm no stranger to a horrific code brown, but am I being silly I find this incredibly wasteful?

Sure it's hideous, but don't you just crack on with it?

When I said I just scrap/recoil/soak where necessary/loadsa stain remover/wash/job done I was basically a minority.

I know some blow outs are bad but aibu thinking it's just plain frivolous?

The only time I've done that is after a poo explosion at a shopping centre. Chucked his poo stained vest and trousers as didn't want to carry them home on the tube - not envy.

But otherwise no - what a waste.

@AveAtqueVale I too binned a few toilet training pairs of knickers. DH was a bit but when I explained that a) I'd deliberately bought cheap ones for the purpose which meant that in two wears they were the same price as a nappy, it wasn't costing us much b) they were pure cotton so would degrade and c) did he want to clean them? he shut up.

I've never thrown away any outer clothes, but the occasional end-of-life-anyway babygro, or pants if out and about and I don't want to carry them home - probably could count the number of times on one hand though...

I lived in Canada for a bit, and I confess I did find it a bit weird/slightly icky that I couldn't do a properly hot wash (washer had no internal heater, so it could only go as hot as the building's hot water - yes, communal hot water too), and that non-bio didn't seem to exist (probably best, given the aforementioned lack of hot wash). Everyone seemed to be surviving though, so it must be fine!

This is why I take all the recipes and tips from the US with a pinch of salt - their washing experience is very different, so their tips don't necessarily apply.

I still wash anything pooey at 60-90 depending on if coloured/white when I have a european washing machine though!

It's wasteful and revolting to throw away clothes when they can be washed.

As for stains - nobody wants to dress a baby in stained clothes, but honestly, a clean bodysuit that has some stains on it, that will be under other clothes, is no biggie, especially when it's only going to get pooed on again!

I think if you have kids (and even if you don't) you have a responsibility to the environment, otherwise you are just turning the world they've got to live in, into a landfill site. It can't continue.

Sorry to derail thread slightly but throwing a few things in from a different angle

when friends or any of the their families in laws or out laws, i make sure to send a couple of packs of baby vests along as a present after the baby is born in size 0-3 months. (friends who have babies get a proper present), the vests is for the other family members that ive met a few times and not randoms.

I have been thanked profusely many times (by people who said they were stealing my idea) as while relatives have bought all the fancy stuff and come to see baby in the fancy stuff for photo ops, baby still needs vests and babygros underneath for the non fancy stuff. My gift may not be fancy but certainly useful.

@mathanxiety I think it was you mentioned Dunnes stores (they are my go-to for baby vests etc) great minds and all that

@MrsDilber This is probably teaching granny to suck eggs, is your DS under the incontinence service?
They can provide pads, pants, bed pads, creams etc. Medication if it was needed, PM me if you would like a chat?

Im currently doubly incontinent, so i think i can reasonably say on this sort of thing -

very little clothes had had to be thrown out over the past 5+ years due to this, any that i tossed was due to holes appearing after vigourous washing (ex a £7 top washed min 3 times a week for 2 years)

others went because i got too fat for them or couldnt wear them due to other reasons - they went to CS

My washing machine and TD does at least one load every day - i work it into my budget to keep electric over and above min top up i need, i have received bday present in the past as a top up for electric

I know thats off the topic of washing baby clothes or disposing of soiled ones, but im throwing out idea, and offering support to a parent whose DS is having problems.

Oops i just read that back after i pressed post, sorry

"@MrsDilber This is probably teaching granny to suck eggs, is your DS under the incontinence service? They can provide pads, pants, bed pads, creams etc. Medication if it was needed, PM me if you would like a chat?"

That sounds like i am offering or wanting to discuss medication with Mrs Dibber, i am not a medic and have never been a medic and nor do i pretend to be,

This was not the way i intended to phrase this and not an offer of medical advise, just an offer of support from someone on the path of getting help needed from an incontinence service for her DS

I've thrown away quite a few outfits- usually because they're pale colours and I know from past experience the stain won't come out. Sometimes because I just can't face dealing with the mess. I threw out a pair of my toddler's trousers yesterday- her nappy had fallen down and she had poo coming out of her trouser legs. I considered scraping it into the loo then rinsing them in the sink, then hot washing them, disinfecting sink etc and decided to chuck them. They were old ones and showing signs of wear.

My DD had terrible constipation and subsequent 'leakage' till she was about 8; she used to go through 4-5 pairs of pants a day. I constantly had buckets of Milton on the go, scraping, rinsing, disinfecting etc and a new pair of heavy duty gloves per week! I'd forgotten just how grim it was. But she suddenly grew out of it. And before that I had a 12 year old DS who had wet the bed every single night despite consultant intervention. Again, he suddenly stopped overnight too. They overlapped for about 5 years.

God, my life was a complete tsunami of bodily functions. I need to remember that on days when I feel a bit fed up!

Never threw any away, always washed them and they were fine. DS had weekly poonamis - occasionally it went up to a catastropoo or even an apoocalypse - usually when visiting his great grandmother in residential care, which at least meant there were plenty of toilets to clean him up and change him in. All clothes went in a sealed bag and then once home straight into the washing machine on a rinse then on a wash.

Chucking everything would have been daft especially when it was all over his bouncy chair or play mat, no way I would have replaced them every couple of weeks.

Depends on how bad the poonami was and the general state of the item. I have thrown away some vests covered in wooppers and I have also washed some. They only cost 30p (much of his clothes are from charity shops) so its a toss up between that and buying loads of product/single item wash/lots of wipes

Couldn't you just throw them in the washing machine on the hygiene setting? That's what I do.
Tbf most men's boxers are worse and alot of people wash those with their own clothes...

Mine do stain quite often but hang them out in sunshine (bit tricky to come by at the minute mind you) and it vanishes!

I have thrown away one pair of trousers - one of those poonamis where he might as well have not been wearing a nappy as none of it went in the bloody thing. And teething. But I just have a bucket I soak everything in before it goes in the machine. Job done.

Digital - eww ive never seen mens boxers that bad and ive washed a lot - maybe men I know just wipe

I live in the US, in a very affluent area and I don’t know anyone who would do this.

Especially give how considerably better US washing machines are.

I think it’s more likely a weird Facebook group thing than a weird American thing.

As an aside, living here I don’t see any differences between how materialistic or consumerist American and British people are.

Tbf most men's boxers are worse and alot of people wash those with their own clothes...

Come on, that is so not true.

And as for throwing away period stained underwear...it takes two minutes (if that) in the sink with a nail brush and stain remover then straight into the wash

What if you're at work?

I'd like to see my colleagues faces if I did that in the work kitchen or bathroom sink.

By the time you get the knickers home the stain will be tried in .

Some of us do work you know and comments like that show you must not.

Mind you I dont know why anyone would join a Facebook group where members post photos of shit stained clothing.

@NewYearNiki seems to come with the territory of new baby groups.

Haha luckily DP isn't that gross. But I grew up in a house with 3 men. Grim!

But my baby has only had one poonami and it was tiny so I still think men are worse. Lol

We never had a poonami but then we used cloth nappies, (2 parters mostly, so never any leaks). Infact we never even bothered taking spare clothes out with us, but we were treated like the sandal wearing lepers locally - mutters of how come she doesn't have a car when they live in that road (admittedly posh road but smallest house), but I prefered to walk. Most of my daughter's clothes were secondhand, but they were never stained. I'd never throw anything out, poo stains come out so so easily in the sun, even this time of year in the window it might take a couple of days.
As for periods, I use a cup with a panty liner (& at work) , but again a short soak and then a wash, and any stain comes out in the sun

By the time you get the knickers home the stain will be tried in .

Some of us do work you know and comments like that show you must not.

I work very full-time, have a five and a three year old, and a husband who works away during the week, thanks.

You can let the blood dry, and it still comes out with two minutes, warm water, a nail brush and a decent stain removing soap. Many's the time I've wrapped toilet paper around the offending area AT WORK because I have no spares and don't want it going through my trousers, chucked my undies in the wash basket at home then scrubbed them a few days later at the weekend. Not a single stained gusset in my underwear drawer.

And I maintain that soaking is completely unnecessary. As a PP said - pre-wash rinse in the washer of the pooey clothes. Modern washers get them more spotless in 10 minutes than soaking in a manky bucket. Add remainder of dirty clothes when rinse is done, 60 degree wash, bio washing powder. Zero stains, smell, soaking or chucking perfectly good clothes in the bin.

Wasteful. I just pull them off, clean up and rinse then wash

I found some of the cheaper supermarket brands did stain with poonamis (not that I dislike those stores as I shop in them!!). I would always attempt to wash them though. If its just newborn milk poo I’m sure it would wash out tho I’m not sure if thats definitely the case with formula. Older weaned kids it might be an issue esp if its cheap material, which it sounds like it is!

DS had food allergies and for about 18m, pretty much all his poos were a neck to knee poonami. If I was unfortunate enough to be out in public, it took half a packet of wet wipes to deal with the aftermath. He had a baby bath at nursery. At home, it was just easiest to shower him.

Outfits would only have had a couple of uses before being bombed. I couldn't have replaced them every time and the washing machine and washing line did admirably in keeping clothes stain and odour free.

By the time I was pregnant with DS2, I realised that I may as well use washable nappies. They coped better than disposables, but by then a change of diet and probiotics had limited the damage anyway.

The hanging baby vests in the sunshine to get rid of poo stains is magic! Granted they weren't very deep stains but when I took them off the line they were like new. I curse the winter.