What's the worst advice you've had from MN?

[Dinkydonkytonk]

I have personally received some good advice from this site, however with all the LTB! and other extreme reactions I want to know if anyone has had some truly awful advice from MN?
Or did you follow advice but it turned out to be the wrong decision?
Or did you really LTB but regretted it?

@BashfulClam

You cannot go to A&E unless your head falls off!

And then you should get a taxi or have a friendly neighbour drive you, don't even consider an ambulance!

Seen a few years ago: a very upset OP asking about how to responsibly rehome her beloved cat because her baby had been hospitalised with a severe allergic reaction to it. Various posters going bananas telling her that her cat was a member of the family on a par with her baby, she should vacuum and wet mop multiple times a day/give up her baby for adoptiom instead, she was a neglectful, evil person who shouldn't be in charge of a cat or a child... Absolute nutters.

I've seen a few cat-themed threads go the same way!! I'm a cat lover myself but people can go a bit bonkers.

Another one that sticks in my mind is the one where a poster was made homeless suddenly with 2 children. She'd found somewhere else to rent but couldn't take the cat.

Poster after poster telling her that she'd made a life time commitment to the cat and needed to turn the house down and wait for a cat friendly property to come up..... or sneak the cat in anyway and hope she didn't get thrown out.

There was once a thread on here where a woman had been in a supermarket, there was a new mum in the shop who's baby was crying.

The op of the thread asked the mum if she wanted her to hold the baby while she shopped, new mum declined, and then her mother appeared and they sorted the baby out and carried on.

The op literally stalked this poor woman around the shop, talked to some of the people who worked in the supermarket because the baby was crying on and off and then posted on MN about it pretty much as soon as she got home.

When I say the op and a certain amount of posters were all winding each other up, I mean it was beyond the point of normal behaviour.

In the end the op decided that she was going to call the supermarket, get CCTV footage if the carpark, get the licence plate number, then see who the woman was and report her to SS as she woukd never forgive herself if something happened and she could have PND.

There was literally no more to the story.

New mum in supermarket, declines letting a stranger carry her baby round, baby gets a bit fussy while shopping and was dealt with by new mum and granny.

It was the most batshit crazy thread/advice I've ever seen on here.

"Life's too short" as a reason to make short term poor decisions or not act responsibly.

I asked for some ideas on where to get school trousers for my DD, who is size 14-16, so regular school uniform trousers don't fit. I explained she's 5'6" with a womanly figure. I got told I was a disgrace to allow my DD to get so fat and needed to stop feeding her rubbish.

I cook from scratch every day... DD doesn't even like crisps and fizzy drinks. She is and always has been way taller than other children. She was wearing age 12 clothes when she was 7 and has size 8 feet now at age 11. She's just big, not fat!

I ignored the bitchy comments and took the good advice about buying ladies work trousers from a supermarket 👍

@GoodbyeH thank you! She actually had the baby a few days ago, a little girl and they’re both staying with my dad for the time being. All going well so far.
@Learningtofeminist thank you! Yeah some very angry people turned up on the thread in the end, it’s weird how no matter how many times you make the situation so clear that a 5 year old would understand it, some people still choose not to see past the chip on their own shoulder. I got some helpful advice as well though so can’t complain too much. We’re all muddling through as best we can at the moment.

The people who buy into the tabloid perception of the horrors of compensation culture and think it's a crime to expect compensation when you are injured as a result of someone's negligence. I've tried putting to them a scenario where, say, they or someone close to them is left paralysed in an accident solely caused by the negligence of a reckless car driver, and asking whether they would really just suck up life-changing consequences in the interests of avoiding the horrors of a claim for compensation - they always go quiet.

LTB. Including from some posters who, from their own postings, have never been in a pleasant relationship in their lives and quite obviously took pleasure in breaking up other people's relationships whether it be through a lack of judgement, love of drama or malice.

What was my loving, fond relationship is now on the verge of breakup over an issue that had a chance of being sorted several years ago if I had had good advice and/or some direction towards counselling rather than the the insistence on the nuclear option. Now it may be too late for the relationship.

Thanks a fucking lot, Relationships board. It's my birthday today and at the moment, I sincerely hope it's my last.

@notlookingfowardtotonight so sorry to hear this.

for your birthday.

I am so relieved that I wasn't on MN when I was younger with small children.

I think I would have been seriously doubting my sanity/ability to raise a child.

This can be a very supportive place and it can also be very funny and informative, but it has to be taken with a pinch of salt and one needs to take a step back and remember that anyone can write anything on an anonymous forum and that many posters enjoy living out their fantasy lives through their posts.

When the OP says "I really want to go to my sister's wedding at the other end of the country, I love her and her DH-to-be is great, but I've just had a c-section, my car's been stolen and my other dc is seriously ill in hospital"

Then all the responses start "well you clearly don't want to go, OP..."

I did a thread when I was literally mid way through splitting with ex
It was a horrible time

Some poster leapt on me
‘ you won’t do this will you ?
You are talking rubbish
You will ruin your kids life ‘ etc etc

I was so vulnerable and her posts shocked me so much I cried
CUNT

The problem with the LTB is that it did actually help me
No one in RL says ‘he is abusive’
No one !!!!

But it upsets me when vulnerable people get bullied for not moving fast enough

It’s the toughest thing ever and with the current economy some women literally can’t

Oh god the cat and dog threads !!
Don’t get me wrong , I don’t go out with poison and kill them

But it baffles me how people will happily eat a cow or a pig

But a cat or a dog has a
Mythical protected status and must be prioritised at all costs !

LTB and some posters also said DH should leave me. We had counselling and our counsellor said she wished she could shut the relationships board down!

Have an abortion because I I clearly wasnt ready for kids (I took the MAP once. That thread was mental).

Leave teaching because I am a 'disgrace to the profession'.

The two ingredient biscuits; mashed banana mixed with oats, spread thinly and cooked in the oven.

I mean I'll eat nearly anything but these were like chewy cardboard.

I don't know if this fits the bill but... I posted a thread to get some advice on a situation with my SD8 never having any clean clothes to wear at her BMs house.

I specifically talked about a particular item of clothing that any person might wear underneath their trousers or tights. Y'know?

Several fellow MNers reported me for being a pervert and my account was locked out. Had to contact MNHQ.

In short, I came here looking for help and... got Datelined.

Buying Pixi Tonic/Nip & Fab/The Ordinary skincare products. Ruined my skin that only a six weekly course of antibiotics for could clear up. Never again!

@BalloonSlayer

Yes!! I'm so glad you said this because I was actually seriously beginning to question my 18 month old's diet based on a couple of threads I'd seen lately.

I even stopped her having fruit as a snack and reduced her Weetabix down to one instead of two, because I thought she was heading for an obesity/tooth decay crisis based on what was being posted! I really should take less notice of MN advice.

@ChristmasinJune

The first post I made on here, several years ago. My ds had just started proper swimming lessons aged almost 4. He'd been silly in the lesson and not listened and I asked for advice on whether he was just too young and should we leave it for six months. One poster started with "why the fuck weren't you in the water with him?" And, despite me explaining several times that it was a lesson where the swim teachers asked parents to sit in the viewing gallery this was the whole point of the thread, maybe he wasn't ready for that type of lesson. Insisted over several posts that I was neglectful because I hadn't got in the water and should at least have sat on the steps with him. I still see that username around now and the "why the fuck didn't you....?" Type "advice" is still going strong

I think I remember that thread! Thinking about how it would be the exact same if I were posting about lessons here as they were also independent with parents away from the pool.

Not advice I've personally been given, but the 'you'll have to move house' brigade annoy me. As if anyone can realistically just uproot and move on a whim over the most minor inconvenience from a neighbour.

Any medical advice on here I usually take very lightly

It’s either something like putting butter on a burn (DO NOT DO THIS!), or call 999 now!

There are some people too who seem to think no matter how ill you are, you must never call an ambulance

It wasn't to myself, but on a recent thread a poster was talking about their really severe endometriosis and if there was anything she could do as other treatment options hadn't been very successful. She mentioned that she was really struggling to work due to the pain, and was only managing to work a few days a week and hence was also really struggling for money. One of the replies recommended she have a baby to solve it

@Avelandra
That advice for endometriosis, is given by doctors too, with caveat that it might come back. And it is medically sound.
Its got to do with the very definition of endometriosis and the fact that during pregnancy, the menstrual cycle pauses.