WTH is wrong with parents?

[almostsane]

Okay, I will start off by saying that I am not a clean freak. Therefor, my child has picked various foods up, off of the floors in my house, and eaten them, but never anywhere in public! (at least not that I know of)

The other day I took DS to the doctor. This was NOT a well-baby visit. There were numerous sick children in the waiting room. Many were coughing and hacking, some sounded like croup, and most all of them were down playing in the floor. Anyway, so this mother comes in with a little girl, just barely walking. The little girl wants down and keeps bouncing in the mom's lap. So, her pacifier falls out and lands in the floor. The mom puts her down and tells the little girl to go get her sassy. The little girl does and in her mouth it goes!:eek:

The mom did not say a thing!!! The little girl gets back up in her lap and the whole process starts again. The pacifier falls out and goes in the floor, little girl gets down and in the mouth it goes again. Is it me or is this insane? If DS's pacifier falls in the floor now, I pull the wetwipes out and clean that sucker immediately. I can not imagine letting him put something in his mouth that has been in the waiting room floor. Right now, with all of the flu and bugs going around, I am religiously cleaning everything. DS's sleep bag comes home every Friday and gets washed in hot water just to kill the germs. I just don't understand some people.

[crayonblue]

I think that is gross too. But, I think you will be shocked at how much more relaxed you are when your next baby arrives! After a year or so of #2 having boogars wiped on him/her and big sloppy kisses and finding strange things in #2's mouth (all compliments of #1), you just stop worrying about it all.

I say all this BUT I am rather fanatical about my youngest's health because a cold could land her in the hospital and pneumonia can be fatal.

(Sorry I am rambling. I am on hold with the water company!)

[egoldber]

Sorry. :) That's me with Amy. Her paci goes everywhere with her and its the all silicone type, so its like super rubber bouncy ball paci! Its bounced into really weird and awkward places and I long ago gave up cleaning it when it falls to the ground.

That being said, when we are out I do keep her paci on a clip and its attached to her or the stroller, so it wouldn't really fall on the floor in the ped's office.

I did reach my limit the other day though when one bounced underneath the dishwasher and went allllllll the way to the back LOL!!

[bubbaray]

Well, just speculating here, as neither kid took a paci.... But, I don't think I'd use a diaper wipe or wet one to clean something that went in my kid(s) mouth. I'd be more concerned about those chemicals than the dirt on the floor.

[AngelaS]

And wait until the third arrives. You barely flinch when you move the couch and she finds the binky that's been under there for more than a year and she screams "MY BINKY!" and pops it straight into her mouth.

Um, not that I'd know from experience or anything....

[Melanie]

LOL. Eew Gross but yes, your standards will change. Dd wasn't a paci baby but with Ds (the first one, you know, the perfect child with the perfect parents LOL) I would rinse it with some water. I saw a mom do one of those paci-hit-the-floor-so-I-will-suck-it-clean-first-then-give-it-back-to-baby moves the other day. LOL.

[maestramommy]

Didn't someone post a list about what happens with the first, then second, then third child? I think the binky thing was on that list. We don't use binkys but pretty much by the third child you just pop it back in their mouth.

[sarahsthreads]

I probably would not have let that happen in the doctor's office, and probably not the mall either, but I can't tell you the number of times DD (our FIRST!) would find a binky stashed away somewhere for who knows how long and pop that sucker right in there. And other people's houses had to have cleaner floors than mine... I was much more controlling about it before DD was mobile - once she could go get it herself I gave up that battle.

I never saw the point of just rinsing it off. That's not going to kill any germs. But I also wouldn't use a wipe. Those things got cleaned in the dishwasher, or occasionally we'd make "binky soup" and boil all the ones we could find.

If I ever let myself think about it too much, just the idea of sucking on it and not cleaning it as often as you might, say, brush your teeth, creeped me out. But as far as I can tell she never got sick because of a germy binky. And boy was she a binky addict...at one point she was going to bed with three: one for her mouth and one for each hand.

Sarah :)

P.S. If I was like that with the first, what's going to happen to the poor little second child on-the-way?!?

[JTsMom]

Ewwwwwwwwww! I'm far from a germaphobe, but that really grossed me out. I don't even like sitting in the waiting room at the ped. That must be one of the germiest places on the planet!

At home I wouldn't flinch- those are our germs. DS wasn't a binky baby though, so it was never an issue for us.

[lizajane]

probably not at the doctor's office... we wash hands like CRAZY at the ped's office. but pretty much anywhere else... he can just have it right back. he ate am m&m he dropped on the wal mart floor the other day. i rushed to snatch it before he could get it, but that just encouraged him more to get it into his mouth as fast as possible. um, ew. but he lived through it.

my older child sucks his thumb. it isn't like i can take it off and wash it every time he turns a door knob, KWIM? so the binky is kinda the same now for the second kid...

[s7714]

Like a PP, my younger DD is a thumb sucker. I does give me the willies sometimes to think about how much yucky stuff she touches prior to popping her thumb in her mouth. (Goodness knows she can get her hands quicker to her mouth before I get a chance to wipe down or wash her hands 99% of the time!) I guess I'm on the other end of the spectrum in that I believe constantly protecting our DCs from "germs" is the bad thing though. I don't think the world will end if my DD gets some dirt or, heaven forbid, particles of something like dog doody into her mouth as gross as it may be!

[mommy111]

And wait until the third arrives. You barely flinch when you move the couch and she finds the binky that's been under there for more than a year and she screams "MY BINKY!" and pops it straight into her mouth.

Um, not that I'd know from experience or anything....

ROTFLMAO!!!!! I'm sorry but that post was the highlight of my day. Thank you, Angela!

[vludmilla]

Well, just speculating here, as neither kid took a paci.... But, I don't think I'd use a diaper wipe or wet one to clean something that went in my kid(s) mouth. I'd be more concerned about those chemicals than the dirt on the floor.

Me too. I was thinking that very thing. Although I wouldn't be thrilled about having DD's paci on the floor, I wouldn't want the chemicals in her mouth even more.

[Marisa6826]

Just wait till your second one is here. Come back and read your post when he/she is about 8-10m old. I bet you a dollar that you'll laugh. :)

Seriously, I'm not being snarky. But it all.just.changes.

-m

[ellies mom]

Sarah :)

P.S. If I was like that with the first, what's going to happen to the poor little second child on-the-way?!?

Yeah, when I took that first/second/third child "quiz" with my first, I was a second/third time mom the whole way down the list. My poor second child. I prefer to call it "relaxed" or as I read recently "casual".

But I'm all for immune system building so I'd probably I've just wiped the bigger clumps of germs off on my jeans and gave it back to the kid.

[Ceepa]

yuck. I try not to think about the germs when I'm in the doctor's office.

[R2sweetboys]

"Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child differs from having your first:

Your Clothes-
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Worries-
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake yourfirstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier-
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Sleeping-
1st baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first six - eight weeks
2nd baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first two weeks
3rd baby: Goes right from the hospital nursery into their own room

Baby Book-
1st baby: You religiously make entries every day, carefully noting the number of spit-ups and bowel movements for the first year
2nd baby: You enter a few facts each week but stop after 6 months
3rd baby: You buy the book but enter the child's name, birth weight, and length on the first page

Diapering-
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities-
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out-
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing a coin-
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: When 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!"

:ROTFLMAO:

[SnuggleBuggles]

yuck. I try not to think about the germs when I'm in the doctor's office.

Ditto. I am pretty relaxed about stuff (I always thought I was pretty mellow w/ #1 but I am realizing that I might not have been!) but that is something that I would have trouble with. The pacifier would go away till it got a good cleaning.

Beth

[almostsane]

"Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child differs from having your first:

Your Clothes-
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Worries-
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake yourfirstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier-
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Sleeping-
1st baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first six - eight weeks
2nd baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first two weeks
3rd baby: Goes right from the hospital nursery into their own room

Baby Book-
1st baby: You religiously make entries every day, carefully noting the number of spit-ups and bowel movements for the first year
2nd baby: You enter a few facts each week but stop after 6 months
3rd baby: You buy the book but enter the child's name, birth weight, and length on the first page

Diapering-
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities-
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out-
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing a coin-
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: When 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!"

:ROTFLMAO:

This is hilarious. I see that I am already patterning myself for the 2nd child. I wore my normal clothes until I could absolutely, not button my jeans. I guess I will just have some adjusting to do when DS#2 gets here. I have seen DS#1 eat things off of my car floor, the house floor, and even the ground, but the dr's office just really grosses me out. I mean, the flu and bug germs are just flying. I only take DS during winter months if ABSOLUTELY neccesary.

[crayonblue]

Almostsane,

I wasn't sure how you were going to take this whole thread but you impressed me with your response! I always found it so annoying when people said, "Wait until you have a second child..." but find myself being the annoying person at times!

Best wishes to you as you prepare for #2 and all the wonderful changes around the corner! :)

[egoldber]

I think having a thumbsucker for my first child sort of hardened me to the whole germ thing. Plus, every cold Amy's had, she's gotten from her older sister!!

[AngelaS]

I think having a thumbsucker for my first child sort of hardened me to the whole germ thing. Plus, every cold Amy's had, she's gotten from her older sister!!

Exactly! My first two were thumbsuckers so by the time my last one was a binky baby....it could practically go anywhere and still be 'safe'. :P

[lmintzer]

Okay, so I have two kids, and I still would be grossed out by sucking on a paci that's been on a ped's floor.

However, I also get grossed out when I see people putting their baby's food right on a restaurant table. I always brought Table Toppers or used a plate.

I'm much more lax about other things, but certain places seem, so, well, germy!

[Rayray24]

I would have to say I would be grossed out, I was at mcdonalds the other day and this bitty baby in a car seat was given a toy and you could tell she wasn't very old b/c her skills weren't good, but she threw the toy right on to the dirty mcdonalds play area floor, it was mid-afternoon and had been snowing/raining so the floors are dirty and wet, what do the parents do....give it right back to her and she puts it right in her mouth!! This grossed me out. I think because I wouldn't put it in my mouth I wouldn't want it in my childs. My dd is a thumb sucker mostly because of this reason, when we would go some place and she would throw her toy/pacifier/whatever falls on the floor, I would put it in the bag untill I could wash it. So she just started sucking on her thumb, and I try really hard not to think of the germs on her thumb before she sticks it in her mouth... oh gives me chills thinking about it now :) I do know people who would of stuck it back in there childs mouth though, like my dh he's a firm believer that the more germs you get the better you are.

[JBaxter]

I have 3 kids and Im with the moms who are saying Just wait..... Kids have an immune system it works... What would be the difference in a binky landing on the floor picked up and reused than a thumb sucker sitting on the floor then sucking their thumb... same germs. You would disinfect your childs hand every few seconds. Your parenting views change as your children increase.

[MartiesMom2B]

It is amusing to see how many kids each of the posters have in relation to their response.

[mudder17]

And wait until the third arrives. You barely flinch when you move the couch and she finds the binky that's been under there for more than a year and she screams "MY BINKY!" and pops it straight into her mouth.

Um, not that I'd know from experience or anything....

:hysterical: Thanks for the laugh Angela!

[AngelaS]

It's just another typical day in my house..... sigh.

[stefani]

So DS was not a pacifier baby nor a thumb sucker... until he turned 4.5 years old... sigh.... Now he is a finger sucker (any fingers will do, sometimes multiple! fingers at the same time).

If I were the mother, I would probably put the paci away / at least rinse it.

Of course, I have a licker, who likes to lick, among other things... fire hydrant!... He was doing that when he was 2 years old. Now he thinks it is funny when he tries to lick me! I guess it is because I would avoid it or run away.

[veronica]

Honestly, DS is using a binky, DD never did, but after watching Dr. Oz lick a toilet on Oprah (when they were trying to confront people with OCD), I feel like

"if it's ok for Dr. Oz, it's ok with DS!"