Page 2 | Do you let babies crawl on carpets?!

Jimmyjammymammy · 2024-11-23T10:40:04+00:00

I've just been scolded for being irresponsible for letting my baby crawl on a polypropylene rug. Apparently full of PFAS and most likely flame retardants and i should be using a baby mat. My mind is blown by this. I'm a very anxious person and take precautions (probably too many) but I feel this is a bit extreme. Surely most babies crawl on a carpet? Do people actually just buy wool rugs or put baby mats down specifically to avoid a baby being exposed to potential toxins? So, I'm very curious, AIBU to let a baby crawl on a carpet?!

Amammai · 23/11/2024 14:25

My two boys would not have stayed on any kind of mat once they could crawl. They were literally everywhere and anywhere! Youngest could get up the stairs by 7months!

Carpet, stone floor, tiles, Lino, grass, sand and probably mud too! Both healthy and fine. I’ve never even thought about not letting them!

ChocolateTelephone · 23/11/2024 14:23

VegTrug · 23/11/2024 12:03

Now this I definitely wouldn't do! People's shoes have stood in everything outside, including excrement and spit from people with all sorts (potentially things like HIV) then walked into the coffee shop. Baby crawls then put hands in mouth. Becomes infected. That's quite literally how viruses spread 🦠 so your mum was right to be horrified, Eugh. If you wouldn't allow your child to crawl along a wet pavement outdoors then definitely don't allow them to crawl on PUBLIC flooring as that is potentially even worse as if it's carpet (say in a coffee shop) then it absorbs all the crap.

And no, it does not 'build their immune systems' 🙄

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I would suggest people don’t take medical advice from anyone who thinks you can catch HIV from saliva or faeces 🙄

MagpiePi · 23/11/2024 14:23

My kids not only crawled on carpets, bare tiles, grass and mud but have also eaten food that had fallen on the floor at a kids birthday party, cat food, sand (on a PUBLIC beach no less 😱) and rabbit droppings (he thought they were raisins).
Not sure how either of them survived to adulthood or weren’t taken away by social services.

NotMyCircus99 · 23/11/2024 14:20

😂😂😂 Some judgy mum that is, ignore op, she’s batshit.

ChocolateTelephone · 23/11/2024 14:20

If I let my baby crawl through mud in the woods - and I do - I can’t be fretting about a bit of carpet.

Bbq1 · 23/11/2024 14:19

Devilsmommy · 23/11/2024 10:57

My dad was a carpet fitter so I know exactly how carpet fibres fuck with lungs ok. Not saying anyone's wrong to let their baby crawl on carpet but I just couldn't do it

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Well your baby isn't also fitting carpets is it? Very different crawling in one versus fitting carpets on a daily basis.

PerditaLaChien · 23/11/2024 14:11

Baby crawls then put hands in mouth. Becomes infected. That's quite literally how viruses spread 🦠

Except it isn't.

Its quite hard for viruses to spread from surfaces as they don't live long on them.

Most viruses spread via aerosols (droplets thrown out when people cough, sneeze, vomit) or via much closer contact (eg cleaning up bodily fluids, touching others skin directly combined with poor hygiene, hugs/kisses/sex).

PerditaLaChien · 23/11/2024 14:08

Omg my kids crawled on all sorts. My carpets are wool but i was not precious at all this sort of thing.

MyNameIsBatty · 23/11/2024 14:06

VegTrug · 23/11/2024 12:03

Now this I definitely wouldn't do! People's shoes have stood in everything outside, including excrement and spit from people with all sorts (potentially things like HIV) then walked into the coffee shop. Baby crawls then put hands in mouth. Becomes infected. That's quite literally how viruses spread 🦠 so your mum was right to be horrified, Eugh. If you wouldn't allow your child to crawl along a wet pavement outdoors then definitely don't allow them to crawl on PUBLIC flooring as that is potentially even worse as if it's carpet (say in a coffee shop) then it absorbs all the crap.

And no, it does not 'build their immune systems' 🙄

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Erm...you can't catch HIV from saliva. Please don't propagate this dangerous myth.

Coconutter24 · 23/11/2024 14:05

When mine were babies and on the floor I would put a play mat down or a blanket if at someone else’s house but I never once thought of doing that because of fibres, dirt or anything I just thought they’d be more comfortable

BarbaraHoward · 23/11/2024 14:01

takealettermsjones · 23/11/2024 13:40

But most people do let babies crawl along (the equivalent of) a wet pavement outdoors - at playgrounds. They use their hands, knees and feet to climb ladders, go across bridges, go through tunnels etc. They crawl and play on grass/fields, too.

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Exactly, I would consider two risks about crawling in a coffee shop - hot drinks and annoying people. If they are ok in a given setting then it's all good in my book.

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/11/2024 13:59

Annabella92 · 23/11/2024 13:51

Yeah I don't use them. What's the worry about the water supply?

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Literally nothing, at all. Stay hydrated and keep those babies off carpets, grass contaminated by surface water run off, and eat no food made away from the home at restaurants, other peoples houses, and just keep living your best life generally.

Iloveeverycat · 23/11/2024 13:56

I think the reason so many children have allergies nowadays is that they are not exposed enough. That's where they get their immunity from. Parents seem to want to keep their kids in a bubble nowadays and everything spotlessly clean and not wanting them to get dirty.

Annabella92 · 23/11/2024 13:51

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/11/2024 13:40

And what about your pots and pans with their anti-stick coating, and the water supply generally. Just let the baby crawl.

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Yeah I don't use them. What's the worry about the water supply?

Sortumn · 23/11/2024 13:41

Who told you this? Do they not realise that babies eventually turn into teenagers who live on monster, fruit loops and vapes?

MillyMichaelson · 23/11/2024 13:41

My kids are teenagers now and I believe this is the first time in my life I've given the phrase 'carpet fibres' any thought whatsoever.

Then again, my daughter ate a scab off of the floor of a hospital waiting room so I'm not a brilliant barometer of good parenting.

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/11/2024 13:40

Annabella92 · 23/11/2024 13:36

If you throughly wash the clothes you remove most of these chemicals. Especially if they're natural materials. Nobody puts a carpet on a boilwash

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And what about your pots and pans with their anti-stick coating, and the water supply generally. Just let the baby crawl.

takealettermsjones · 23/11/2024 13:40

VegTrug · 23/11/2024 12:03

Now this I definitely wouldn't do! People's shoes have stood in everything outside, including excrement and spit from people with all sorts (potentially things like HIV) then walked into the coffee shop. Baby crawls then put hands in mouth. Becomes infected. That's quite literally how viruses spread 🦠 so your mum was right to be horrified, Eugh. If you wouldn't allow your child to crawl along a wet pavement outdoors then definitely don't allow them to crawl on PUBLIC flooring as that is potentially even worse as if it's carpet (say in a coffee shop) then it absorbs all the crap.

And no, it does not 'build their immune systems' 🙄

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But most people do let babies crawl along (the equivalent of) a wet pavement outdoors - at playgrounds. They use their hands, knees and feet to climb ladders, go across bridges, go through tunnels etc. They crawl and play on grass/fields, too.

Polyp0 · 23/11/2024 13:37

NuffSaidSam · 23/11/2024 10:44

And you don't think they were breathing in fibres from the throw?

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🤣

Annabella92 · 23/11/2024 13:36

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/11/2024 13:30

Good heavens! Not letting them crawl on a carpet that presumably gets vacuumed regularly is just bonkers. Especially given all the chemicals and flame retardants in just about everything else, including clothes. Not sure why that person has it out for carpets specifically.
Humans have survived this long.

If you throughly wash the clothes you remove most of these chemicals. Especially if they're natural materials. Nobody puts a carpet on a boilwash

Annabella92 · 23/11/2024 13:34

I wouldn't say anything aloud. But it depends entirely on what the carpet is made of.

I am very wary of microplastics and the effect on our health of inhaling filaments all day long that we know are endocrine disrupters and perhaps have some part to play in the precipitous decline in sperm count. When I see bedding and throws made of synthetic fur it boggles my mind that anyone would buy these.

Nodlikeyouwerelistening · 23/11/2024 13:30

Good heavens! Not letting them crawl on a carpet that presumably gets vacuumed regularly is just bonkers. Especially given all the chemicals and flame retardants in just about everything else, including clothes. Not sure why that person has it out for carpets specifically.
Humans have survived this long.

MaltipooMama · 23/11/2024 13:23

Wow well I didn't even know a crawling mat excised so clearly I'm the worst of the worst!

Bjorkdidit · 23/11/2024 13:21

Bigearringsbigsmile · 23/11/2024 12:02

Where on earth was that?

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Sounds a lot like where I grew up except the asbestos factory was a couple of miles away but my primary school was next to the lead works. I remember having blood tests a few times because of it.

Goody2ShoesAndTheFilthyBeast · 23/11/2024 13:05

yes, I did. by the time they're crawling they're sticking all kinds of shit in their mouths. I don't think a carpet is that big a risk.