Do you wash brand new clothes before putting them on your newborn baby?

[FetchHistory]

We're expecting a baby in a couple weeks and just been out buying some baby clothes with a friend. On the way home she mentions, all you have to do now is wash all these new clothes and iron them just in time for baby's arrival.

AIBU to put new clothes straight on my baby without washing them first? Is this a done thing or is she being unreasonable?
This includes packaged clothes. She said everything gets washed and sterilised before use.

NC because I didn't do this with my first DC and feel like a terrible mum 😭

Yes I always washed everything for baby, don’t usually bother for us but it removes any chemicals etc. I loved hanging all the little clothes on the line.

I wash my own clothes before wearing them , so I'll do the same with my babies.... ironing though isn't happening 🤣🙈

I wash everything new, due to the chemicals/insecticides sprayed on clothes in factories.

No point worrying about your previous child and not doing this, they are unscathed, the reason I do it is some people get an allergic reaction.

Never did it and nothing happened

No, I knew other people did though. I don't wash new bedding either.

No, life is far too short to wash clean clothes.

Washing yes, 'sterilising' would be impossible unless you seal them and put them through an autoclave cycle.

1st baby - everything washed, ironed & neatly folded ready for baby
2nd -.had a rough ideas of what we had left over from 1st washed anything that didn't pass the sniff test after being in the loft
3rd - you better run to asda love & pick up a couple sleepsuits or this baby is going home naked.

God yes. I saw a program once where they tested clothes are found traces of cocaine, feaces and all sorts of other stuff on new clothes. Plus all the finishing chemicals used. I wouldn’t wear unwashed clothes either.

Yes, you don't know what chemicals are used to treat the clothes or materials used to make them. Or where or how they were stored before making it into your hands. Rats, cockroaches and all sorts could have been running over them.

Yes, washed them to get rid of any nasties but to ensure they smell of home (was advised to stick to same washing liquid to create familiar scent)

1. It's fun.Washing all those little things dreaming of days to come why not. We are allowed to enjoy such activities!

Haha no.

I mean sure, you are allowed to enjoy them, but I’ll never find washing clothes fun under any circumstances.

@DorisFlies

Yes, washed them to get rid of any nasties but to ensure they smell of home (was advised to stick to same washing liquid to create familiar scent)

Ditto for me, I find newly bought clothes smell chemically and I wanted my babies to smell like our non-bio or our normal washing powder. It was part of the nesting process for me to coo over all the clothes on the line and it only took 1 or 2 wash loads as the clothes are so tiny! Def didn't iron anything.

Wash yes, iron no. Mainly because I know it's recommended. My mum never did with me or my siblings.

Not sure until what age I will be washing clothes first until...maybe 6 months? After that I probably won't bother.

Definitely!

I have very sensitive skin. If I wear new clothing without washing it first, I break out in an awful rash that can last for weeks. Imagine that on a baby. Wash the clothes.

@speakout where do you put your order in for a ‘gentle breeze’?

No real need to wash but if you have a tumble drier you might wash and tumble dry. Then you know what size they’ll be after any shrinkage. Otherwise you might only get one wear out of them!

I did with the things I bought ahead. But DS was tiny and a puker so we had to buy smaller items and use them straight away. He was fine.

Yes

But I wash all new clothes as I don't like the dye/ chemical/ shop plastic smell they have.

I read the baby books ( before the internet) thought I was prepared but my dc hadn't read them and things were not as planned.
Did I wash the new clothes? By the time my dc was born I could hardly wash myself. Not great when you decide to apply a fake tan ( which back then was not the great natural easy thing as it is now).
Save your energy for your dc .

Yes I wash all new clothes for my babies. I don't tend to bother after 6 months if the clothes are new but before that I would. Everything I intend to reuse from my older children has been washed and ironed.

FTEngineerM
@speakout where do you put your order in for a ‘gentle breeze’?

Seems to be a regular thing where I live- on the the lee of mountains,, so wind tend to be moderate or gentle. I am in the North of the country and I line dry all year round.
So gentle breezes are commonplace.

Wash yes
Iron hell no

I washed new baby clothes before use mainly because the nesting instinct kicked in and I loved hanging up the tiny little babygros on the line to dry. I’ve never ironed a single item of baby clothing in my life though. Fuck that.