These laundry hacks make parents' lives easier
Plus, the must-read parenting articles from around the web this week.
When you’re pregnant, it can seem like the whole world has advice to share with you – from the sage stranger in the supermarket queue, to the usually quiet friend who suddenly has verbal wise-words diarrhoea – everyone who has children of their own will have tales to tell of lessons they learned the hard way.
It can be a lot to take in and before you child is born it can be hard to really grasp just how helpful some of these tips will be.
As a new mum, whenever I faced a new dilemma – be it how to cut tiny fingernails or pain-free ways to remove splinters – I would have a niggling feeling that someone, somewhere, had told me a good way to tackle this problem… if only I could remember what it was.
That is partly what inspired me to start this newsletter, as I thought it would be handy to have parenting advice and insight grouped into easy-to-find topics that can be drawn upon as and when needed.
One of the pearls of wisdom I was told while pregnant that did stick with me (due to the sheer number of experienced parents who espoused it), was a tip that has helped save countless babygrows from the fabric bin:
Washing up liquid is not just for dishes
Washing up liquid is surprisingly effective at getting baby poo stains out of fabric. You just need to rub some on the mark with a little cold water to work up a lather, then rinse it out (with cold water too), before putting the stained outfit in the washing machine.
Photo by Christian Fickinger on Unsplash
Babies (and children) produce an awful lot of washing and anything that makes the never-ending cycle of laundry that bit easier to tackle is a godsend in my book.
So I asked parents to share the best time-saving laundry hacks they know. Here’s their collective wisdom:
Time is of the essence
Dried on stains are far tricker to shift, so if a nappy leak occurs when you’re out, it can help to soak the dirty outfit in cold water and wrap it up in a nappy bag until you get home.
Choose your weapons wisely
Lucille Whiting says Napisan is more effective than other stain removers, and it “works out cheaper”. It’s currently available to buy for just £3 at Wilko and according to customer reviews it is also good for getting out sweat marks and is suitable for sensitive skin.
Don’t let the sun go down on stains
If a stain doesn’t come out in the wash, before you start scrubbing at it again, try hanging the clothes up outside to dry. Sunlight has the ability to ‘bleach’ out some stains in a way that is so effortless it is almost magical. This can also work well for brightening up old white sheets.
Divide and conquer
To avoid spending hours sorting out which socks belong to which child, Georgina Durrant, who runs SEN Resources Blog, recommends doing “separate loads per person/per age group (ie. do a separate wash for parents clothes and a wash for kids clothes) as it makes putting away much easier”.
Clothes airers aren’t the only option
Take a step out of your laundry routine by putting wet items onto coat hangers to dry (these can then be hung on your washing line or over doors). Then, when the clothes are dry, you can transfer them straight into your wardrobe. You will also be able to fit more washing on your line at one time this way – and, if hung carefully, it may help you avoid the need to iron.
Don’t go it alone
“I also get the kids to help put their own clothes away, even at four and five,” says Georgina. “We do it as a bit of a competition/race putting the clothes away. They love it. Their drawers are a right mess and I have to sort them a bit later when they aren’t watching, but it does genuinely help me a lot.”
Avoid bedding bother
Trying to find a matching set of bedding can be a pain - especially when you need to change the bed quickly during the night. To make life easier, Hester Grainger, co-founder of the Perfectly Autistic community, advises that once you’ve got a set washed and dried, you should fold the duvet cover and put it inside the pillow case, as that way “you always have the set together”.
Can You Help With A Little Thing?
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on UnSplash
Have you discovered any ways to make getting medicine into a reluctant baby/child easier? Cold season is upon us and an upcoming issue of The Little Things will focus on what to do if your child simply refuses to open their mouth for medication. Do you have any advice that could help other parents? If so, you can let me know by replying to this email. Thank you.
Little Lowdown
Wherever you stand on the issue of a pregnant woman having one glass of wine, new NICE proposals that all maternal alcohol consumption could be recorded on children’s medical records, raise very serious questions about women’s rights. As BPAS research associate Rachel Arkell writes in HuffPost UK: “While improving diagnosis and support services for those with FASD are clearly laudable aims, the proposals assume that women would be happy to forego their legal rights to privacy and confidentiality in healthcare, by virtue of her pregnancy. Women, quite literally, are being written out of the emerging guidelines on alcohol use during pregnancy – indeed, the word ‘woman’ is not mentioned once in Nice’s equality impact assessment, despite the major focus of the Draft Quality Standards centring on changing her behaviour.”
I am equal parts repulsed and intrigued by the sentence: “Milk companies aim to keep human mammary cells healthy and fed so they will secrete milk.” Should mother's milk be produced in the lab? Decide how you feel about this issue after reading Zoë Corbyn’s Observer feature.
“I wasn’t given any pain relief because I wasn’t believed; nobody believed that I was in labour.” Tinuke Kayode, co-founder of the #FivexMore campaign, has spoken about her experience of giving birth to Sarah Graham at Hysterical Women, to mark the UK’s first Black Women’s Maternal Health Awareness Week.
In Vestoj, Clem de Pressigny’s exploration of her changing relationship with fashion as she became a mother is a must-read: “It felt as if I was at all times inadvertently showing something too intimate and too beyond my control for the work setting... I couldn’t escape the feeling of being exposed… I wanted the order and construction of fashion to smooth over the primalness of pregnancy, to camouflage or distract.”
About Me
I’m Ellen Wallwork, a sleep-deprived mum-of-one, incessant worrier and freelance journalist. I’ve been writing about parenting for more years than I care to remember and previously launched the Parents section on HuffPost UK. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (but be warned, I’m not a prolific poster).
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Disclaimer: This newsletter does not provide medical advice and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. The use of any information contained in this newsletter is solely at your own risk.