How to prevent clothing shrinkage??

[jillsuz]

I'm 7 months pregnant and I decided to start washing some of baby's clothes to get ready for him to come home. I washed them in cold water and dried very shortly on medium heat. However, some of the Carter's onsies shrank so bad! I washed one 6-9 month onsie, and it shrank to newborn size! I thought I was doing everything right, with the cold water and medium heat (my dryer does not have low heat, only a no heat fluff option). Is there anything else to do to prevent shrinkage besides hanging the clothes to dry? That would be such a pain, particularly when baby comes. Do you all wash the baby's clothes before he wears them? I read it is a good idea to wash out all the chemicals that might irritate baby's sensitive skin. Now I am not so sure it's a good idea...because noe he might never be able to wear the clothes if they shrink so bad! I feel like it's money down the drain.

[lilycat88]

Huh...strange. We've always used Carter's onesies and they are probably one of the only piece of clothing that we've been accurate on sizing with (meaning, a 3-6 mo size actually fit her when she was 6 mo old). I can think of only 1-2 Carters outfits that shrank any at all. She's in the 95% in everything and we generally run about a month early in Carters. (She wears Carters nearly every day to daycare since it's cheap and I won't cry if it gets ruined). So, she fit into 6-9 mo stuff at about 5 mo. Perhaps I'm just lucky. I am SO not careful about laundry. The extent of my laundry care for baby items is to use warm water, use a "free" detergent and fabric softner and dry on medium. As she gets older, and we invest in some nicer items, I'll probably be more careful.

Generally, I did wash clothes before she wore them. I didn't wash anything before she was born, though. Perhaps I was superstitious or perhaps I was just looking for something to keep my mother busy after she was born :-) It worked!

[momceecers]

Your on the right track. If you really did wash them cold the shrikage must have happened in the dryer. Do you know if your dryer has a moisture sensor? They are the best. If not I would try drying stuff for a shorter amount of time or dryness. Luckily babies come little, so you should still be able to use the things that shrunk.

I still prewash everything before anyone in my family wears anything. The fabric stabilizers can be harsh to sensitive skin. That said I have a few friends who never prewash and don't have any problems. Good luck with the washing. Its amazing how much one little person creates.

Cindy