Doing Your Baby's Laundry
By jands1
@jands1 (835)
United States
November 12, 2008 7:23am CST
I ran across this article today and thought it was great enough to share. No worries. It is really short.
(HealthDay News) -- It's not always necessary to wash your young infant's laundry in a detergent that's specially formulated for babies, the Nemours Foundation advises.
Here are the foundation's suggestions for washing your new baby's clothing:
Babies who have skin problems such as allergies, eczema, atopic dermatitis or other sensitive skin issues should have their clothes washed in baby detergent. In other cases, you can try regular detergent.
Before you switch to washing baby's clothes in regular detergent, test one article of clothing and see how baby's skin reacts. If there is any sign of irritation, keep using the baby detergent or one that is color- and fragrance-free.
If you use cloth diapers, they should be washed separately from other items.
Cloth diapers are the only items that should be washed in mild baby detergents, in order to prevent diaper rash. They should be washed without fabric softeners, in very hot water and with a second rinse.
Did/Do you use baby detergents for your baby's clothing?
3 people like this
16 responses
@hildas (3031)
•
12 Nov 08
I have always used regular detergents on my babies clothes. I used to put in lots of softener though. They all had good skin, but if they had of had eczema I probably would of used baby detergent.
My niece has really bad eczema. She is five months old. I must ask her Mum what she is using to wash her clothes in.
I think if your baby has good skin, it is fine to use regular washing detergents. This is a good article though and I am sure others will be glad to here this, as some of those baby detergents can be expensive and it would save buying them.
@underdogtoo (9579)
• Philippines
13 Nov 08
Baby's clothings are pretty important. I used to wash my baby's clothings and I don't remember now how I did it. I am just glad that I probably got everything right because my baby is a big boy now. Cheers!!
@kaui_808 (191)
• United States
13 Nov 08
I have very sensitive skin myself so we've always used hypoallegenic, no dyes, no scents detergents anyways. So, I've never had to use a seperate detergent for my son to bgin with. I just figure there's so much chemicals out there tp begin with why not cut back where I can across the board, that way there's nnot two seperate diets or restriction in he household. If it's not good for him then we don't need it ourselves. That's just my thinking.
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
13 Nov 08
We did the cloth diaper thing, and started out with Dreft which is a specially forumulated laundry detergent. We soon found ourselves mixing our sons cloths in with our own (minus the diapers) and realized it was too expensive to wash everyones clothes in Dreft, so we went back to the regular detergent. Oddly enough my wife is more sensitive to laundry detergents than our toddler ever was, so we just use generic detergen on everything now. Occasionally we find something my wife can't tollerate and we don't use that brand anymore, but for the next child, we will give the special baby detergents a miss unless we actually start to have problems with the regular.
@ladysurvivor (4746)
• Malaysia
12 Nov 08
Well, this is new information to me since I don't have any kids. Sometimes I will help my mother wash my niece's clothes and usually she uses the ordinary detergent. My niece does not have any skin allergies so I guess it is easy to take care of her clothes.
I notice that fabric softeners are a strong contributor to skin allergies, maybe because they contain a lot of perfumes in it. Some elements in the perfumes can cause allergic reactions not only to babies skin but to adults skin as well.
And yes, washing in very hot water will kill all the germs and will create a germ free clothes for the baby. This is a very healthy step to take.
@jands1 (835)
• United States
12 Nov 08
I agree ladysurvivor about perfumes. I myself can't use the Tide or Cheer detergents because of the massive amounts of perfumes in them. Make me all itchy and break out in hives. 
I'm all over the hot water. When my son was a baby, I would forgo the energy savings and turn up my hot water heater to ensure his laundry was sterilized. :)
I'm all over the hot water. When my son was a baby, I would forgo the energy savings and turn up my hot water heater to ensure his laundry was sterilized. :)
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
12 Nov 08
I only used special baby detergent when my babies were newborn. I think after 6 months I got real and just started washing them with regular detergent. Then with my second, third and fourth, I did the same thing. When they are newborn, they go threw so many different outfits anyways, so I always had just a load of baby clothes.
That is gross if someone washed their cloth diapers with other items of clothing!!!
@jands1 (835)
• United States
13 Nov 08
I used Woolite for my son when he was first born, then I switched over to regular detergent when he was about 8 months old or so because I realized that some of his stuff got mixed with mine. He had no adverse reactions. Therefore no more having to spend a fortune in Woolite. LOL
I agree about the cloth diapers. I had a special hamper for his cloth diapers. And I bought those enzyme tablets that get dropped in. Then would rinse them, bleach soak for about 30 minutes, then a proper wash.
@aseretdd (13730)
• Philippines
12 Nov 08
I have never used baby detergent on my daughter's clothes... i always used regular detergent... but i don't wash her clothes with mine... they are always separate... i have not seen baby detergent available in the market... but i have used those bottle cleaner... and they are quite great in cleaning baby bottles...
@jands1 (835)
• United States
12 Nov 08
Detergents vary from area to area and country to country aseretdd. For some reason, in the USA, manufacturers produce a large variety of products. And most consumers aren't educated enough on the variety to figure out what they really need or don't need.
I myself, should I have any more children, will be following the advice in the article. But, once I'm sure my baby doesn't have allergies, it's back to good old fashioned regular detergent. :D
@rainmark (4302)
•
12 Nov 08
Thanks for the information that you shared.
When i do my baby laundry i used a regular washing powder or detergent soap, and my baby doesn't have any skin allergies, he is not really very sensitive and also i nevre forget to used fabric softener which has anti-bacterial to make the fabric soft and smells nice.
Cheers!
@my2boys (821)
• United States
12 Nov 08
With my first child i used regular detergent and nothing happened to his skin or anything. It worked fine. With my second child i do use detergent for baby clothes. I dont really see a difference and when i run out of it i will probably just go back to using the regular detergent. Have a nice day.
@jazel_juan (15747)
• Philippines
13 Nov 08
i have not heard of baby detergent here in our country, i had always used regular detergent.. and i do not use any softener because i once watched in the television that it is not good for the baby's skin.. 
@jands1 (835)
• United States
13 Nov 08
The availability of baby detergent is contingent on the country. Some countries tend to have tons of perfume laden detergents and so those countries tend to also have baby detergents.
This article isn't the first time I've heard that fabric softener is a "no-no" for baby clothing jazel_juan.
@nadooa247 (1096)
• United States
12 Nov 08
Im pregnant and i must thank you for this article! I didn't even know there are baby detergents....
I am thinking time to time about what i'd have to do for the baby, what i'd need for him (crib, car seat, stroller, baby monitor when he's a bit older and in his own room, etc.). But what i'd have to do about his laundry never occurred to me to be rather frank with you. I know about keeping baby bottles clean, and the brushes moms get to make sure the bottle is cleaned thoroughly from any milk... laundry... eh.. never crossed my mind..!
Thank you for the informative article!
I am thinking time to time about what i'd have to do for the baby, what i'd need for him (crib, car seat, stroller, baby monitor when he's a bit older and in his own room, etc.). But what i'd have to do about his laundry never occurred to me to be rather frank with you. I know about keeping baby bottles clean, and the brushes moms get to make sure the bottle is cleaned thoroughly from any milk... laundry... eh.. never crossed my mind..!
Thank you for the informative article!@jands1 (835)
• United States
13 Nov 08
You are most welcome nodooa247. Congrats on your upcoming baby. Yay!
Honestly, babies have been being born since the dawn of time and people have used various methods for cleaning baby clothing. I am kind of wondering of the whole baby detergent thing is just another way for manufacturers to make more money off of consumers.
@TiffanyRose831 (57)
• United States
13 Nov 08
i have 2 children and i think it is best to wash the infants clothes separtly with the baby detergent for the first 6 months. They make it so it is less harsh to their precious little skin. But it is really expensive. I am sure every baby's skin is different and some are illergic. After 6 months they are not as little and delicate and think you can change over but not using too much. Yes definetly test 1 piece before washing it all in ANY type of detergent because you don't want the little one having a reaction. Also baby clothing i thought shuld not have a fabric softener because that can really cause reaction. For my daughter when i switched from one detergant to another she was and still does get inchy. that is because of her skin. But my son didn't not have any problems with it. Hopt that helps.
Tiffany :)
@MysticTomatoes (1053)
• United States
12 Nov 08
No, we never did. My daughter doesn't wear enough clothes to justify washing her clothes in a load alone. Even with her crib bedding, the load would only be about a third of the way full and that's just a waste of energy and water.
We have always washed her clothes and bedding in with our clothes. I buy Tide detergent for my skin allergies and her clothing and bedding gets thrown in with my clothing and my husband's clothing. We haven't had a problem one with her having allergic reactions to the detergent.
