Here are a couple of questions for all you mommies:
1. Do/did you use baby laundry detergent? My mom said she never used it with us, and we’re just wondering if it’s really necessary to buy the special laundry detergent or if regular detergent is fine to use. We’ll ask our doctor, but I’m just curious as to what you all did.
2. Do you need an extra car seat base to put the car seat in a second car? I had heard somewhere that you can put the car seat in without the base, so I’m wondering what you all did.
It’s nice to know so many moms to ask my many questions!
In Lucy
We got a second carseat base for Jeff’s car. I have no idea how you would put one into a car without the base.
I did use Dreft with Lucas, but … I did it more because it was such a “new” thing and I was all excited about it! 🙂 You can just use regular free & clear laundry detergent or homemade if you want. I’ve heard not to use dryer sheets on their clothes in the dryer, though, because it reduces the flame retardant properties.
I am not sure about the second base but regular detergent is aok.
Okay…so, I’m not officially a mom yet, but I do know you can put the infant carrier in the car without the base. I did this with my nephew and there were instructions on the carseat. But, I don’t think I would do it one a regular basis.
We have registered for Dreft, but I don’t know that we will go out and buy it if we don’t receive it as a gift.
We use Free and Clear for all of our detergent. It’s the same thing as Dreft (no perfumes, dyes, etc…), but a heck of a lot cheaper. I wanted it for all of our clothes because the baby would be laying in our arms and on our shoulder and stuff and we’ve just used it ever since.
We’ve never had an extra base. I’ve done the buckle the carseat without the base thing (it depends on the carseat whether or not you can do that. I’d check the owner’s manual), but it seems safer not to. What I do now is just move the base when I need to put the carseat in another car. That is rarely the case for us, but if we were constantly changing cars I’d probably just buy two.
I never used any special detergent with either girl. You could start with it just to be safe, then try a few things in your regular load & see if she has a reaction. If not, you’re totally fine.
As for the car seat, you can definitely use it without the base… we always do that on vacations rather than bring the base with us. At home, if we switch cars, we usually just move the base because they aren’t that difficult to install & we don’t do it often. I noticed a lot of people mention that they don’t think it’s as safe… but I’ve done some research & found that the bases are actually less safe than just buckling them in because some bases have been known to unsnap from the carseat in an accident. Some of my friends actually use the base & then strap it in with the carseat as well. Don’t mean to scare you, but something to think about.
at first, we didn’t use a special detergent, but Amelia had REALLY sensitive skin as an infant and would break out really badly from any scents or detergents. So we used Dreft for about 3 months until her skin sensitivity went away.
We use the Free & Clear, same stuff I’ve been using for years. Also I use Gain or Snuggle liquid fabric softener, but I run two rinse cycles. Never had an issue using this method with either Megan or Michelle.
We brought the Evenflo brand of carseats and strollers. The seats, bases and strollers are interchangeable. We have two strollers, two baby buckets and two bases. Only one of the strollers doesn’t match the rest but that was to be expected as it was the only brand new piece we brought. Due to us having crazy schedules and it was just easier having two of things. You can buckle them in to a car without the base, but it’s so much easier and safter to just get to bases.
We have used some Free & Clear detergent here and there, but I have never used Dreft. My babies don’t seem to have sensitive skin, so I don’t think it’s necessary.
As for car seat bases, I hate to flat out disagree with some of your other commenters, but infant car seats are actually SAFER WITHOUT THE BASE as long as you install your carseat correctly! A base is a convenience item only. It will take a minute less to put your baby in the car if you use a base, and you are less likely to wake her up when removing the seat from the car. I personally did not use bases with the twins at all. This came from carseat.org: “Most infant-only restraints perform better in crash tests without their bases than with them, although the shell-only and shell-plus-base must both be tested to meet federal requirements. The flat-bottom base not only compresses the vehicle seat cushion more than the contoured shell, it also elevates the shell, raising the child’s center of gravity. The combination results in more downward rotation of the head-end of the shell and an increased risk of contact with the back of the front seat. There is also a chance that the shell could separate from the base in a severe crash, although recent base designs have reduced the likelihood of this happening. The base is a convenience feature and only improves protection of the infant to the extent that it may result in a more consistent and correct installation than would occur from reinstallation of the shell alone before every trip.”
Hi honey! I just wanted to pop on real quick and say hello!!! You are looking fantastic and the nursery is so beautiful! I hope all is well with you! I still can’t follow your blog for some reason. It makes me mad! LOL
Kami
Laura used Dreft cause is smells sooo good, but now used free and clear cause Alyssa’s skin is sensitive. We all use free and clear for our stuff because when she was a baby and we would hold her, her little face would break out. Now it’s just habit. Better safethen sorry.
The Car seat base is a MUST! You want Lucy to be as safe as possible and a safe correctly installed base is the way to go. We had all of ours installed at the local firehouse. Now I have read that the bigger care seats installed backwards are safer then the infant seats with the base, but those infant seats that come with the bases are made to be used with them.
Also do some research they are saying it is best to keep the kids backwards facing for as long as possible, even way past 1 year old. It is the safest!
Cady and Joe,
To answer your question, we use All Free and Clear for all of our clothing and no dryer sheets. Did you know that dryer sheets reduce the amount of flame retardent of childrens clothing. Seriously google that to learn more…
Also the second car seat base is very useful. If one drops off the baby say at a daycare and one parent picks up this is ideal… The car seat can buckle in on the side of most seat there is a slot to place the seat belt through it. It’s safe but not safe enough for long term use. Plus the most dangerous thing Lucy will do daily is ride in a car…Think about if you reakky need two bases. For us because we both work and on weeekends used either car to run errandss or go out and shop it was a great value and utilized a great deal!!!
Enjoy your pregnancy 🙂 You look great, some times the baby lies across sometimes the baby is head down or breach so do not compare yourself to others.. just enjoy Lucy’s movement and kicks before you know it she will be in your arms…
Stacy
I used regular detergent back in the ancient days when my kids were babies. LOL Free n Clean should be good.
There are lots of babies in my family – and no one uses baby detergent. Of course, I use it for bras and underwear and there are no babies in our house. 🙂 The Target brand is cheap and smells very nice.