As you prepare for pregnancy, chances are you are washing tons of cute little baby clothes, baby sheets, towels and blankets. And experts and pregnancy books always tell you to take care (and spend the extra money) to use baby laundry detergents such as Dreft, so that you don’t risk bothering your baby’s skin once he or she is born.
Truth is, your newborn will have very, very sensitive skin. They will likely get all sorts of little rashes, and skin peeling and difficulties with their delicate skin in the first few weeks after birth. And yes, some of that can be attributed to using harsh detergents to wash their clothes and blankets in. In fact, anything that comes in contact with your baby’s skin has the potential to cause a break out (including your own clothing) as they work to develop anti-bodies.
That being said, some of the amazingly smelling baby laundry detergents are super expensive! And you will be doing a lot of laundry once the baby arrives. While there is nothing that beats the smell of baby laundry detergent, you do have other options.
The key is to look for hypoallergenic, perfume and dye free laundry detergents. Many stores today even sell organic laundry detergents or detergents that are made for sensitive skin. Obviously, the baby detergents are not perfume free, because they smell like clean babies. So even though they may have fewer chemicals than your traditional detergent, you can actually find products that are purer than those.
One of the benefits to choosing a non-baby but sensitive skin laundry detergent, aside from the price difference, is that you can wash all of your household laundry together. And, many of the traditional baby detergents do not do well at getting out the typical organic stains on your baby’s clothes while other detergents do. In fact, for organic stains such as spit-up or bile, you might want to get a pre-treatment sold in the laundry detergent that is for biological stains.
Most often, the recommendations for washing your baby’s clothes in perfume and dye free detergents expire around the age of 6 months. But many moms switch back to regular detergents earlier. When you do switch back, just keep a careful eye on your baby’s skin to make sure that they don’t have any allergic reactions to the detergent.
All in all, the smell of freshly washed clothes in baby detergent is definitely one of the perks to pregnancy and having a newborn in the house. However, it is not always a necessity – and you may find other options that wash your clothes better. As long as your baby seems to handle the washing detergent, then there really is no need in spending triple the price for exclusive baby detergents.
Written By Stef, Mom of 4 @Momspirational
This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2017. All rights reserved.
