How I Use Laundry Baskets as a Parenting Product
It May Sound Kind of Crazy, But My Favourite Parenting Product is My Laundry Basket
As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. If you buy a product we have recommended, we may receive affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work.
Of all the must-have baby products on the market, none changed my parenting the way a simple laundry basket did. When I ordered this set of three IRIS USA, Inc. Comfort Carry Laundry Baskets ($35), I had no idea that my purchase would do so much more than haul dirty clothes — it was multi-purpose baby gear.
I swear by several well-known baby products, like the Hatch Rest and the Skip Hop Pronto, but I never would have expected the difference something as basic as a laundry basket could make. Here's all the ways I use these simple baskets.
I let my baby take basket naps.
It all started, unsurprisingly, in the laundry room. One morning, I squatted awkwardly down to load the washer with my napping infant strapped into her carrier. This daily ritual was becoming cumbersome. The IRIS USA, Inc. Comfort Carry Laundry Basket ($35) so resembled the bassinet at my bedside that I decided to lay her down in it, on a receiving blanket fresh out of the dryer. She dozed on, thanks to the machine's perfect white noise, and I folded the clothes without straining my back. When I finished, I carried the basket (and the baby fast asleep) by its handles into the next room with me. But this was only the start of how a laundry basket would help my parenting.
I used it for worry-free play time.
In the coming months, my IRIS USA, Inc. Comfort Carry Laundry Baskets ($35) became the ideal place for my baby to sit and play with a few toys. Its corners perfectly supported her in a seated position before she was quite ready to hold herself up independently. Every morning after I had fed, changed, and dressed her, I plopped her into the basket with a handful of toys to explore. As for me, I settled myself on the sofa with a hot cup of coffee and a good book.
It made bath time easy.
I also used the IRIS USA, Inc. Comfort Carry Laundry Baskets ($35) in the bathtub. In a similar fashion as the morning playtime, I put her into the basket with a few bath toys, then set it directly in the tub instead of buying a separate baby tub. The laundry basket kept her toys contained so they never floated out of reach, and while confined by the basket, she didn't slip around or feel as if she were in such a vast open space of water as the whole bathtub might seem to an infant. Draining the tub was simple as well; as I lifted the basket out, the sides kept her supported as the water flowed easily through the basket's open slats.
It's an easy clean-up solution.
Now that my daughter is older, I still use the IRIS USA, Inc. Comfort Carry Laundry Baskets ($35) for a parenting purpose. Only now the basket isn't so much her friend — we call it Toy Jail. When it's time for her to clean up her toys, I set a timer. When it rings, I walk around the house with the laundry basket, tossing any stray toys into it. It's been a great motivator for her to clean up efficiently, or to simply put toys back in their places when she is done playing with them. I also like how it completely removes the power struggle over cleanup. She gets a chance to do her job, and if she doesn't, I don't have to come up with a big punishment or put a lot of effort into picking up her mess. And I don't feel guilty because I'm not throwing the toys out, I'm just putting them "in jail" for a temporary time.
