When to wash?

[VidyaParanjape]

20+ days for due date.

I have washed the crib sheets and changing pad covers, but was wondering when to wash the newly bought clothes and towels. I do feel that within a week, dust seems to settle everywhere.. Is it a good idea to wait till last week or suggest washing right away?:confused: :confused:

[nov04]

I would be perfectly fine with a few weeks and as long as they thoroughly dry. Just keep them in a drawer.

[sidmand]

Unless you want to hang on to the clothes in case they're not the right size/season. We knew we had a few days (planned c-section) so granted we had a little leeway, but DH came midvisit and washed the appropriate sized clothes to bring back to the hospital (just our going home outfit though). We actually had to buy some smaller clothes for DD because we only had bigger outfits, but in case your DC is on the larger size, they may not fit into some of the clothes?

But if you're feeling like nesting and really want to wash the clothes...in terms of dust gathering, I wouldn't worry about washing now and keeping in a drawer.

[tnrnchick74]

I'm very guilty in that I washed everything SEVERAL times in my nesting fury. The only downside has been that Parker is a very hotnatured baby and can't/won't wear ANY of the footed PJs/sleepers or sleepsacks that were given/bought. Of course I washed them and took the tags off, so I guess to Craigslist they go!

[Nyfeara]

We washed all the linens & clothes the last few weeks before I was due. We'd just do a load here & there over the weekends. My MIL & my mother went kinda crazy with buying clothes, so we had a closet & dresser full from Newborn thru 12 months.

From our U/S, DS looked like he was on the big side. We didn't wash any of the newborn outfits b/c we had a feeling we may need to return them. Sure enough, we did. DS was 9lbs 2oz when born, so the NB clothing was too small for him.

We kept everything in his dresser or in his closet, I didn't really notice any dust problems.

[fortato]

Only wash what you think you're going to need...

I went nuts and washed everything, and took tags off of everything and then Jack came early and I didn't need most of the stuff I washed....

Crib sheets- unless you are planning to put the baby in the crib immediately- I wouldn't wash until the day before you were putting them in...

Onesies- you go through them like crazy from the spit up- wash those and have them ready.

Blankets- was a few- but since they are going to get spit up on them, you're going to be washing them again, so you won't need too many.

I kept everything in drawers to keep them dust and pollen free. That seemed to work.

[ThreeofUs]

Yeah, I'll second this: wash only what you will definitely use during the first few weeks. If you have a dust problem, either wait or wrap the washed clothes in something non-reactive like pillow cases.

[kijip]

We did not wash much before hand and it was great- because most of the 0-3 stuff had to go back to be exchanged for 6 month stuff. :) My son was not all that big at birth- about 8 pounds, 9 ounces but was super long (nearly 23 inches) and he packed on crazy weight afterwards so none of the smallest stuff fit at all.

[DrSally]

Not to scare you, but I washed all my girl stuff and it turned out I had a boy!