Baby Laundry

(doesn’t it sound little and harmless?)

When you’re a new parent, everything is new and unknown and overwhelming.  And when you’ve been waiting your whole life and then some to become a parent, you’re suddenly a new parent, just like everybody else. I want to leave room here for different people’s different personalities and different available support (and willingness to accept said support), because I couldn’t tell you if my personal experience is because it’s mine, or it stems from what I’ve been through – I’m guessing a little of both.

Let’s assume you manage to keep the kid alive (because, let’s face it, if you were any kind of threat, they wouldn’t let you take him home!)  There are so many other little things to think about – again, depending on who you’ve been listening to.  I was fortunate enough to have several good friends to talk with in the months leading up to the baby (and after, once the shock wore off), as well as family and my all-time favorite guru for everything – my mom.

Let’s take a simple example for now – laundry.  Do you wash the baby’s things separately from your adult things?  They are very small, but there is so much of them!  And do you use separate baby detergent? Do you need a softener?

You’ll come to learn that I love collecting information, and making an informed decision.  Imagine how difficult it was for me to finally understand that there is no right answer!  To each his own – what suits them best.  And it can all work just fine!  So now – I’m a big fan of the gradual approach – that is, try to adapt to the situation, and adjust from there.

For the first few weeks, I laundered all the baby things separately, using the detergent and softener my friends swear by.  Then, I began mixing few things here and there.  Gradually, I figured the child is older and less sensitive, and I’m more tired and less demanding, and now all things get laundered all together with the cheap detergent (just like some of you aunts were telling me to do all along!)