Bear's Baking Soda Bath

When we decided to have a baby, I knew that I would inevitably be covered in milk, spit-up, poop, pee and of course baby food.  I knew there would be oodles of laundry, sleepless nights and many trials and tribulations along the way.  Despite this, I somehow didn't realize that there may also be "baby stink" not directly related to diapers or food.  Like many babies the boy has a little blankie-bear that he keeps in his bed and provides him great comfort.  I tried early on to find another bear exactly the same, but as of yet, my efforts in that regard have failed.

Although I wash bear regularly, after a few months of snuggles, cuddles, drools and who know what else he does when I'm not in the room, I noticed that bear started to have a bit of an odor.  Some sort of sour milk & drool combo that was less than desirable.  I figured I needed to wash bear more often, and always in a hot water wash.  Didn't help.  I even got desperate and threw some stain remover on bear and added an extra rinse cycle to the wash.  He still smelled.

Months later, I was starting to get pretty grossed out by the bear's stench.  The boy obviously didn't mind, he continued to rub him on his face and suck on both the blanket and bear portions of the blanket.  As a mother in good conscious, I knew I had to find a way to get the smell out or I had to get rid of bear.  Something that smelled that funky couldn't be very good for my boy to be sucking on and breathing in.  I was going to try a vinegar soak, until a friend suggested that I soak bear in a mixture of water and baking soda before washing him; since vinegar has a smell all its own, I decided to try baking soda first.



I used about half a box of baking soda and a cup of water to totally drench bear; I tried to rub the paste right into the fabric and then poured some more on top for good measure.  My friend had said to leave him soaking overnight, but that obviously wasn't going to work, so I gave bear his baking soda bath before work.  After letting him sit in the bowl for about 10 minutes, I put bear into the washing machine (on top of a towel, on top of the other laundry) and set it to start a hot water wash in about 8 hours while I was at work.  When I arrived home, I threw bear in the dryer (after sniffing him of course, but experience has taught me he doesn't usually smell at this point anyways), crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Imagine my excitement when I pulled bear out of the dryer, put him to my nose and discovered he was clean and stink-free.  YAY bear and YAY baking soda!  Bear is going to be having a monthly baking soda bath from now on - he doesn't ever need to smell that bad again!