I would be a bad mum... if I still lived in Germany! Or: differences in traditions and guidelines

What a great thread!

I am Dutch.

My English friends think I am strange because I put DD in a play pen like this: www.babyzaak-online.nl/Coming-Kids-Basic-Shine-Baby-Box-p-19480.html one friend asked if DD didn't feel like a prisoner

They also think we are nuts for teaching our children how to ride a bike at a very young age and not putting helmets on them.

My one friend always comments on how DD's clothes are so different to the UK. Her DD is always in soft shades of pink or lilac. Mine wears bright colours and only a small amount is pink.

My Dutch friends hadn't heard of BLW, but it is starting to gain some popularity.

They are also a big fan of the up your bum type painkillers, however you only give them if really needed as having a mid fever is good. It is a sign that your body is fighting off the infection...

Sids is not such a big deal. The risks are quickly explained but the guidelines are much more relaxed. Yet our Sids death rates are really low.

Young children walk to/from school or cycle by themselves and leaving your dc home alone for a moment is not considered a criminal offence!

my dc have 'ranzenenvy' but then the children in germany have to carry their textbooks with them and they often walk to school, sometimes a mile or so (on their own). so it makes sense that they are ergonomical. still too bloody expensive. dc's school backpack cost 10£ and is fine for the reading book, lunchbag homework book.

I'm a bad mum because

• I don't make my dc wear slippers (we get given at least 3 pairs per year as they are essential
• t-shirt in march is fine when it's 20 degrees
• my dc don't get warm drinks (herbal tea or milk) they don't like them
• they don't have to clear their plate
• I don't give homeopathic sugar pill for any ailments

oh, and I get berated about the early school start. can't I defer? family just doesn't get that the system is different.

I am Danish (or Danish/Italian, Luxembourgish) but brought up in Denmark. But have been living for some years in the UK, so here is my
UK compared to Denmark.

UK gives fare more antibiotic out, so easy to get, and often its given in a bigger amount than needed, just in case or for future use.
UK thinks children will freeze to death if they sleep outside in winter time,
in Denmark, children sleep outside in their pram, gives them fresh air. We use different duvets, so the child is covered in connection with the year.
in UK the school thinks, they know better what you child should be served, like white toast, fries and fried food and all these weird little bags of crisp. In Denmark we give our children homemade lunches with them,
made of rye bread, veggies and water/juice/lemonade.
In Denmark, children bike with their parents, siblings or alone to school, parents do not need to drive them around all the time.

Totally agree with dranksangriainthepark. Moved to Italy when DC were 2 and 6 weeks. So I was already a bad mother for travelling with such a small child. I am also a terrible mother becauses DC's bed time is 830. Apparently we arepunishing them with such an early bed time.

That's another interesting topic, foreign mumsnets. The main discussions in the Estonian one seem to be 'What are your babies/children wearing today' and there's usually a bunfight between people who use winter snowsuit and others who are still/already using spring/autumn overalls.

There no Angst like Ranzen-Angst

WidowWadman - omg - like this one forum.gofeminin.de/forum/matern2/__f2448_matern2-Welchen-Ranzen-fur-Schulanfanger.html nuts and I thought ppl on mn were pfb!

I am feeling very [envious]. I went to. French school, answer had the huge posh satchels (cartables) but no enormous cone of sweets!

Yes there are hip braces for babies with hip dysplasia ("clicky hips") in the UK - my daughter had them for several weeks as a newborn: full-time at first then gradually less and less. Had to hold the bones still while cartilage in the hip socket developed into firm bone. Have hardly heard of anyone else needing it so not too common.

Frau Englisch - we had that in Romania too, with keeping the legs spread (we were told to put a folded muslin and another nappy on top). Took her back to UK for a check up, asked them to see if there was still a problem with her hips, and if she would have to have a brace - they looked at us as if we were mad and told us her legs were fine (in fact they looked at us as if we were mad when they saw the double nappy and muslin).

blase means bladder.

Blasentee? Blow job tea?

Don't even get me started on fecking Nieren- und Blasentee which my mother believes to be the elixier of life and doesn't understand why I don't drink it by the bucket load, and if not that I could at least drink effing fennel tea.

WidowWadman you might not get Lemsip, but you can buy tea to treat every possible ailment . We not only have Kinder-Erkältungstee (tea for colds) in our cupboard, but also Kinder-Hustentee (tea for coughs). I'm still not sure which you force feed your child when they are coughing because they have a cold, though!

Do other countries put babies' legs in a brace to help their hips set in the correct position? Dd's hips were assessed at birth by ultrasound and we were told to put a folded muslin between her legs over the nappy to keep her legs spread. After a follow-up appt at six weeks we were told she was then fine, but some friends had to have a brace on their babies for three months. I've never heard of any friends in the UK having to do this, is it just a German thing?

I was quite an anxious, by-the-book first time mum with my PFB and stuck strictly to the 'rules' on weaning my DS on baby rice and mushed veg. I remember having lunch at a Nigerian friend's home and her 1 year old was chowing down on chicken drumsticks and jellof rice. I was appalled

DH is half Spanish /half Italian. We live in the UK.

I am always in trouble about the DC not wearing slippers. Last summer near Malaga the themperature was about 38c, DD2 got Bronchitis. MIL asked the paediatrician about the DC running around barefoot, fortunately he told her that unless it was barefoot outside in snow it wasn't a problem!

I still remember my Schultuete! It was bright orange. It matched my Schulranzen and to top it off - I was dressed in orange top to toe on my first day! I still have a picture and it makes me giggle. That was back in the 80s...

DS started reception last September and he is August born. I got him a fully coordinated dinosaur set of Kindergarten bag, P.E. bag, pencil case, money bag, umbrella for his birthday ready for school. He loves it and his class friends too.

I can't wait for him to be old enough to waste money splash out on a coordinated Scout system.

I suppose, having read this thread, that's the only German thing left inside me. I've been here too long, not in touch with German family anymore, but the obsession with perfect school gear is still in me.

Germans would definitely tut at me for taking him to school without a coat when it's only a couple of degrees outside. He doesn't want to wear it, he isn't cold and I suppose it's toughening him up. I on the other hand freeze below 20 degrees and wrap up in a winter coat even when most Brits walk around in t-shirts. I was even freezing on holiday in Barbados, fgs! Must be the many layers in my childhood that made me nesh (as DH says...).

I have an Iranian friend who cannot say no to her DC. She will trawl 4/5 shops to buy her DC the exact toy that they've decided they want on a whim. I don't know if this is cultural but her DSs are definitely treated as kings and are fairly undisciplined. She looks in horror when I say no to DC if they ask for something.

The English nursery I sent mine to puts babies outside to sleep in coach built prams in a special open pram port, unless it is 3 degrees or lower. It does actually reduce the incidence of colds etc, IMO.

Ooh. Colds. In France we have snot sucking material and a thing you squirt up the nose. A kind of saline thing. It really helps babies with colds.

Your paed will explain how to so it at your first postnatal appointment.

We also have a chest physio person that will come to the home to treat babies and children with bronchiolitis and pneumonia. I have seen mine in my local nursery popping in for the last few days of treatment. This is free. And it helps. My British mummy friends have not heard of chest physio for such cases.

A UNICEF report a few years ago compared childhood in a few European countries. Very long, but extremely interesting. The UK does not do well at all compared to Sweden and Spain.

www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publications/IPSOS_UNICEF_ChildWellBeingreport.pdf

Dodi I got dd1 one of the smaller ones, about a third of the size of the big ones and meant for siblings I guess. Plenty big enough for a four year old!

They do the Schultuete, (which also needs to be colour coordinated with the Ranzen if you're really obsessed). Must admit I made a Schultuete for my daughter, because I didn't want her to miss out on that tradition

Ahhh, you're making me 'home' sick WidowWadman . Been here (UK) too long...