AIBU to have only just realised..

[petalsinthegarden]

.. that actually, my toddler and baby don't need fresh PJ's every day?

I complain about the amount of laundry all the time and have only just clocked that I control what the kids wear. They don't need fresh PJ's every day.

What have you realised recently that's actually common sense?

We're scuzzy as fuck in our house so all this washing astounds me. Big family, so it seems like I have plenty to do as it is... (I WOHM - no idea when I'd get all the laundry done if I changed the DC that often)

I realised we'd hit peak grimness at the weekend though, when DH announced that there was no point DSs having a wash because they had football the next day so would be getting muddy anyway. I pointed out that they play football every single fucking day so that really wasn't good reasoning...

When they are in nappies, and the pjs are clean, no they need to be changed every day. Since they are clean at night, mine get changed after one wear, same way their underwear get changed every day.
I wouldn't put a baby in bed with the babygrow he wore during the day, you wouldn't go to bed with your clothes on would you.

I don't think it takes any effort to put a load of laundry on to be honest. I do at least one load a day, and my machine works just fine!.

I wash the uniform every day. Pyjamas get changed when they have a bath!

DS gets filthy at breakfast so he eats in his pyjamas and gets clean ones each night. Except on nursery days when he gets dressed straight away then pyjamas last 3 nights till the next time he has breakfast at home.

They also don't need baths everyday.

^^ THIS. So very much this.

Especially in the winter. Central heating and cold air play havoc with DD1's skin. Faces, hands, teeth and botts next to the sink and into bed. Way forward. They get a bath every other day now.

It was a great part of the routine when they were teeny but they don't need it now. And hair gets washed twice a week.

Not washing every stitch every day was a revelation for me too. Especially when I went to get a new washing machine and was complaining it hadn't lasted 10 years, which made sense according to the man who sells me such things, as I use it twice as often as the average person. I only have two children!

I think a lot of cleaning expectations are taken from parents, who got theirs from their mothers. My Gran had a coal fire, the bedrooms were a bit damp and a bit musty in the winter she had to clean daily and do the washing weekly. There was more dirt and grime. There was also finite hot water so it was a weekly bath rather than a daily one.

There is no need at at for clean bodies in clean bedding and clean clothes to be washed so frequently. It seems such a waste of water, resources, money, time and effort to clean things that are already clean enough.

[grin]@bikerunski

I try and stretch pyjamas to two nights, but DS eats his breakfast in them, and regularly spills milk/water/cereal down them, so it usually is only one night. When he gets older, he can wear them longer.

Really glad I was born lazy reading this....
Luckily I’m quite resourceful too so I always do things really efficiently, unlike my very patient oh who will spend bloody hours faffing around doing something I’d have done in 3 minutes.
I have been known to cut a few too many corners at times though

but most people go out at some point, so it's not clean bodies in clean clothes! Many people don't even shower before bed, and adding that to sweat and so on, it's not clean bedding either.
You sweat, you come in contact with dirty anything outside, you cook and the smells comes on your clothes and hair.

If you take public transport at some point, you will have noticed that people in general stink - or at least enough of them do and make it unpleasant for everybody else.

I don't believe that a shower a day is too much for anyone, kids included.

Sadly, my daughter has bad eczema and I have to change her PJs every day both because they get all greasy from her moisturisers and because she gets skin infections if I don't. My son on the other hand will wear the same PJs for days.

I wouldn't put a baby in bed with the babygrow he wore during the day, you wouldn't go to bed with your clothes on would you.

I do if he’s been wearing a sleep suit all day and it (miraculously) hasn’t been sicked or dribbled on (thank god for bibs). He quite often goes to bed in the vest he’s had on all day. I always change him out of trousers/dungarees/leggings though as they aren’t ‘nighttime’ clothes in my head.

And you don’t need to was your towels after each use either!
Your usually drying your clean body so why would you even bother?

as a baby I used to wash daily (reflux pukey kid) - now she's a lot older I wash pj's once a week. We don't have school uniforms where we live, so she may wear the same jeans 2 days in a row, depending on how dirty she gets them. She does put on a fresh top/jumper every day, but if that is still clean, I don't bother washing it until she has worn it twice (at least). She's not a teenager so not smelly or anything :-)

If you take public transport at some point, you will have noticed that people in general stink - or at least enough of them do and make it unpleasant for everybody else.

In my experience, you have to work bloody hard to smell offensive. You’d have to not shower for several days or get very sweaty and sit around in your sweaty sports kit for hours. Re-wearing your PJs or skipping the odd shower doesn’t make you filthy and foul smelling.

I still put fresh ones on dd she's 19 months, but my boys are almost 5+6 and it's only this last year that they've worn pj's for 2-3 days before washing them. I should do it with dd as well I know! There really is no need for fresh pj's every night, unless poorly or dirty!

And you don’t need to was your towels after each use either!

People do that?!

each to their own, I always shower before bed and usually have a quick one during the day, morning or after the gym. I don't like to smell and I like hot water!

When babies, I generally followed the rule that clothes stayed on until it contained any bodily fluid.

I follow pretty much the same rule for pjs now. My kids don't sweat in the same way my DH does for example, so I don't see the point in washing them after one wear unless they are covered in breakfast.

I only wash things when they smell or look dirty.

I feel weird now.

Dd1 wets the bed and couple of times a week and often gets breakfast or toothpaste down her pj's so she goes through a lot in a week. Better than getting it all down her school uniform though.

We also have twin toddlers who still get a lot of dinner over themselves, fall in mud, wipe their noses on my trousers etc so we do tonnes of washing. I wait until there's a full load but that is most days really. I expect hope this will reduce considerably as they get older.

@KonaMum indeed they do!

That's me too! I wash all the PJS and uniform etc every day, I tried to wash them less but to be honest the amount of time there's lunch/cereal/paint etc down everything it's easier to just chuck it in the laundry. The machine is on 3 times a day which is a pain but it's lovely to be able to put fresh clothes on every day.

I think most people don’t bother do exert themselves on the cleaning front.
I work with the general public. The amount of people with bad breath and unwashed clothes is a huge percentage!
I think there are lots of Mumsneters that care about these things...
In my real life experience, not so much!

When babies, I generally followed the rule that clothes stayed on until it contained any bodily fluid.

Yup. After her bath I tend to put DD to bed in normal clean clothes (as long as they are soft and non irritating) rather than designated PJs, so that we're good to go in the morning. She lives in bodysuits and joggers anyway, and I don't see why after 12 hours of wear she needs to be changed out of them.