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Housekeeping

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Original poster

How much did your laundry increase when you had your first baby?

41 replies

LoveInAColdClimate · 18/12/2011 14:05

A rather alarming baby bok has just informed me that the average couples' laundry multiplies by five on the birth of their first child, from one load a week to five. I already do four or five loads a week - one bedding, one towels, one or two clothes (inc gym kit), often a load on the handwash setting (bras, tights, cashmere etc) and often a miscellaneous load of stuff like Turtle mats. Am I going to end up doing twenty to twenty-five loads a week?! Please say no! Or will I just end up doing an extra four or so (ie the difference between the one load most people apparently do and the five they do after a baby)? I know these are only averages but I am horrified by the idea of doing twenty-five loads a week.

Also, how on earth does anyone just do one load a week even if they live alone?! How do you get towels, bedding and clothes into one wash?

OP posts:
Original poster
LoveInAColdClimate · 18/12/2011 14:05

Bok = book...

OP posts:
joanofarchitrave · 18/12/2011 14:09

x 5 sounds about right. The increase is things like nappies (if going for cloth), changes of outfit after explosive nappy/posseting/dribbling situations, endless muslins, and extra changes of sheets/adult night clothes due to long nights of feeding with lots of milk and your snacks escaping in the bed.

One load a week people probably only change their bedding once a fortnight (like me) or less. Not that I manage one load a week. IMO that's ample, personally, but there are people on here who apparently change their sheets every day Confused.

I'd strongly suggest that you invest in a large apron/housecoat type thing or two. Pictures of my mother and her sisters as parents of babies, pre-washing machines, always show them swathed in vast aprons, for a very good reason.

orangeLFDThead · 18/12/2011 14:10

Depends if you have a sickie baby or not. Ds1 was and would bring back his milk after every feed. We would easily go through at least 5 changes of clothes a day for him. I often went through a few as well due to sick and I bleed very heavily afterwards too. We soon realised I needed a dryer to cope as it was winter and had all wet washing around the house. Sorry.

Original poster
LoveInAColdClimate · 18/12/2011 14:14

Oh god, we don't have a tumble dryer and have nowhere to put one. We are going to buy a dehumidifier to help with indoor drying, though.

An apron sounds like a good move!

OP posts:
lukewarmMulledWhine · 18/12/2011 14:21

Not a huge amount, as baby clothes are so small, as are Moses basket sheets etc. i guess another 3 washes a week, but you can often top them up with your things as well. You do get through lots of changes though, so I guess it depends how many spares you've got. I would definitely recommend at least 20+ muslins (mothercare do bumper packs), to protect you/floor/sheets (under baby's head) etc. We're still using them 5 years on.

Now when you have 2+ older children, that's when the machine never stops!

Original poster
LoveInAColdClimate · 18/12/2011 14:23

I have a ton of muslins but think I'll be stocking up on more clothes and cot sheets! Thank you.

OP posts:
belgo · 18/12/2011 14:25

From one/two loads a week to 3/4 loads a week, but then we did use washable nappies.

It sounds like you do a lot of washing anyway. Maybe you should lower your standards? Makes life easier.

FrillyMilly · 18/12/2011 14:27

I think I did about 2 extra loads a week, if that. DD was not a sickly baby and usually changed twice a day (one babygro/vest for day and one for night). I didn't use cloth nappies or reusable wipes so no extra washing there. I used to pop a muslin under her head when in Moses basket or pram so didn't need to change the sheet if she was a bit sick. The clothes are so small you can fit loads in one load.

joanofarchitrave · 18/12/2011 14:34

Consider a ceiling airer? We have finally found a space for one and things dry a LOT faster up there.

amerryscot · 18/12/2011 14:35

The volume didn't increase much, but I was silly about how I washed it.

With PFB, his clothes were all handwashed and line dried. With the rest, they were bunged in the machine with everyone else's.

Original poster
LoveInAColdClimate · 18/12/2011 14:37

Am reassured by lots of this, thanks! I suppose as well that sometimes I could squeeze a bit more into a load if it was small baby things - I tend to do DH's gym kit fairly promptly as otherwise it smells in the laundry basket, so sometimes the machine goes on with a three quarter load Blush.

Am also considering a ceiling airer, thank you.

OP posts:
Thumbinnapuddingwitch · 18/12/2011 14:41

In my case, it multiplied a LOT because I used cloth nappies on DS. I used to do maybe 3 loads of washing a week in general; with the cloth nappies I was doing at least 1 a day to start with (but the nappies were done every other day in separate washes from everything else).
I had an old A-frame airer which helped a lot.

PengyQuinn · 18/12/2011 14:46

We bought a tumble dryer for the first time ever in the months after having our first. She was a winter baby and we struggled to get all the washing dry.

The reasons we had more washing:

I was bfeeding and leaked onto my bras and t-shirts, despite breastpads, so had to change several times a day
DD was a puker, impressively so in fact, so changing her cot sheet most days and sometimes a few times in a day
Nappies leaked because newborn poo is very runny, plus the puking meant constant changes of clothes for her

Also we did washable nappies, they always go through on their own and don't sort of class them as laundry, they are separate in my head somehow.

Magneto · 18/12/2011 14:53

Dh and I would do between 3-5 loads every Saturday pre-ds and nothing during the week.

We have always used disposable nappies but still by day 4 of having ds home I had done 2 loads each day. Including the sofa cushions and every single towel in the house. I panicked that we obviously didn't have enough clothes for ds as he was going through at least 3 sleepsuits and vests a day! He was king of the projectile vomit as a small baby and even managed the odd projectile poo while we were changing his nappy!

However, it did settle down eventually and now that he's 16 months I only do 5-7 loads each saturday, however we still get through a ridiculous number of towels each week (probably because even though I hang wet towels on the radiator to dry and use again, they inevitable get pulled down and used to wipe sticky hands/spilt drinks/wee accidents from nappy-free time etc).

oreocrumbs · 18/12/2011 14:58

Mine didn't go up too much but DD was bf so no bibs etc and thankfully wasn't sickly and didn't have too many explosions!

I do one wash a day in our house, put in on in the evening, and hang it up/tumble dry in the morn. We have a lot from DP and I (one set of uniform, one gym kit and one set of normal clothes each at least) thats without the rest of the stuff like towels, bedding and DD!

It is managable, and remember baby clothes dry quite quickly, and you will just have to pick easy to wash and dry clothes if your LO is sickly! Xmas Grin

controlpantsandgladrags · 18/12/2011 14:59

I can't remember how many loads I used to do before DC but I have 2 now and probably do an average of 9 loads a week. It was probablya couple more than that at one point when DD2 was a baby.

oreocrumbs · 18/12/2011 15:04

Also if your baby isn't due untill the spring or summer then it is a bit easier if you can get them dry on the line and if you get a nice breeze no ironing

I enjoyed depositing DD in the garden (in her bouncer) while I pottered on hanging out washing but she is a summer baby Xmas Smile

ZuleikaJambiere · 18/12/2011 15:16

My experience was that the baby's washing squeezed in with the other stuff, as it's all tiny. It was my clothes that needed changing several times a day - leaky boobs, baby sick all over me (she managed to miss herself everytime), food spills from eating one handed all the time etc etc. That really surprised me as I'd assumed it was all baby stuff that would need endless cleaning

Meglet · 18/12/2011 15:17

I've always done a load every day.

Now it's me and 2 young children I do 3 loads a day. There's no point in letting it build up to fewer large loads as there's nowhere to dry it all. I prefer to keep on top of it.

I have a tumble dryer (squeezed in), use the washing line all year round, an airer and have undies on radiators.

maxpower · 18/12/2011 15:22

Mine increased by about 1 load a week. However, since having DC2, it seems to have doubled.....

upahill · 18/12/2011 15:22

Having the babies didn't make much difference.
Having teenage boys did!!
Since the boys started High School they are never out of the shower DS1 is three times a day minimum - fresh towel every time + change of clothes.

DS2 is just starting the same pattern!

BarfTheHeraldAngelsHeave · 18/12/2011 15:22

Lots - the babies clothes mainly due to explosive liquid Poo from one end and the sick at the other.

Then you have your own cloths which it landed on.

PattySimcox · 19/12/2011 10:55

Ugh loads and loads here with PFB.

Leaky boobs and lochia; projectile vomiting on himself, me, the sofa covers, sheets, muslins, towels etc; explosive poo all over his clothes and whoever he was sitting on.

With DD I lowered my standards and learnt to catch it quickly in a muslin.

belgo · 19/12/2011 11:32

upahill did I read that right - three showers a day with clean towels everytimeShock! No way would I allow my child to do that, not until they started paying the electricity and water bills!

ShowOfHands · 19/12/2011 11:37

With dd not a lot but ds is a vomiter. On himself, me, dh, dd, the sofa, sheets, towels etc, multiple times a day.

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