WIBU to refuse an request for my 4 year old to participate in the ice bucket challenge?

[SpidersDontWashTheirHands]

I appreciate that it has done wonders for an underfunded and very deserving charity (though it annoys me massively that people are now doing it for any old charity of their choice) but I don't think it's appropriate for me to sit my four year old son on a deck chair and drench him with iced water. If he were fourteen I'd do it because he'd understand the concept. If it were a roaring hot July day we'd probably play out with water pistols. I just don't feel comfortable about doing this. So WIBU and curmudgeonly to refuse?

Oh and the person who nominated him was asking us to donate to MacMillan.

Errrrr just say no and donate (if you wish to) to the charity of the choice (MND for me though as my dad had it!). ??.

Errrrr just say no and donate (if you wish to) to the charity of the choice (MND for me though as my dad had it!). ??.

4?! Who throws buckets of icy water over a 4 year old? Sheep.

Just say no. DD is 4 and did it with a beach bucket of warm water when I did mine, she wanted to do it after she saw my nieces . We donated money for her.

There was a video on my newsfeed today of a small baby (maybe 12 weeks) having a small container of what seemed to be cold water tipped on his head (he reacted like it was cold anyway) I thought it was an awful thing to do

This one. It's just a screen shot of the video.

When my kids were under 5, they loved pouring water from the paddling pool over their heads! They thought it was hilarious.
You can't tell how cold it is from watching a video.
I just watched my 4yr old great nephew do his bucket challenge in the bath. I'm guessing it wasn't cold.

The whole stupid thing is getting out of hand, as per usual.

It's gone from raising awareness and funds for a charity (a good thing) to something completely ridiculous, bullying at times and unecessary.

I may be jaded but I doubt that half of these people who have done this 'challenge' have actually donated anything.

My 7 year old was desperate to do it so when dh got nominated, he then said ds to do it too.

If my 4 year old wanted to do it I'd let them. Cold water but with no ice. It's a bit of fun and a good way to explain how charities and donations work.

Let him if he wants to, or don't if he doesn't. He is not going to die from it, it's just a bit of fun raising money for charity. I think it's really awesome to see so many ordinary people get involved with charity stuff.

"He is not going to die from it, it's just a bit of fun raising money for charity."

My son has a heart condition which means if he does this due to peer pressure or some dick decides to throw this water over him, he could well be in hospital or dead.

Fuck off with "it's just a bit of fun" It isn't. It's a stupid stunt, that's got out of hand because everyone wants to jump on the bandwaggon.

It's not even about the orginal charity anymore. It's more about getting your face all over the web in the name of "fun".

My apologies, obviously I assumed the child in question wasn't going to die from it, as I assumed the parent wouldn't be seeking advice if that was the case.

I'm pretty sure I also said not to make him do it if he didn't want to.

Not sure what's wrong with fun tho.

I think we now have the full house of ice bucket bingo .

Who will be offended if you just say NO? Don't need to justify yourself, your DC not their's!

Like Kate Moss says

"Don't complain, don't explain"

DS is 3..... I nominated him! He had an inch at the bottom of the bucket of standard water. He then nominated his cousins and DP :) the kids had water, DP had the biggest bag of ice I could find....

FWIW I have seen quite a few children, some younger than 4 doing it but it's clearly not with ice water! I would let my 4 year old decide if it was me.

Seriously many of you sound like right fun sponges! It's really no big deal! You either do it or don't do it! Both my kids have done it and my nieces and nephews from age 3 if they wanted to! With ice as well and they've loved it, sharing their videos etc! I wouldn't make them do it but if they wanted to it won't do them any harm at all, it's water FGS? it's ridiculous to just say 4 yr old are too young if they're up to it! Bloody cotton wool parenting

Most of my class of 5 year olds have done it/are desperate to do it! Everyone I know who has let their children do it have used lukewarm water - no different from playing in a paddling pool where they chuck water on each other. But it's up to you, if you don't want your child to do it just say no. It's definitely raised awareness and money - various charity representatives were in tv this morning and said donations and awareness figures were amazing. But each to their own.

I had 5 x 9-10 year olds in my garden doing it yesterday, great fun by all and they all donated a couple of quid to MND each.

They loved watching the videos of others too. Some do a small bucket of warm water, others go whole hog with freezing water, its easily adapted to suit anyone and I haven't seen any comments about anyone who hasn't done it or not done it big/cold enough. If you can't afford to donate, join in anyway, maybe someone you nominate will.

Do it, or don't do it, up to you, just dont ruin a good and fun idea for others which is also raising lots of money by being all narky about it when there is no need.

I may be jaded but I doubt that half of these people who have done this 'challenge' have actually donated anything.
Which means that half the people have, which has raised millions of pounds.

The fact that there are a few people who can't do this for medical reasons, is no reason for other people not to do this!
People are doing this for fun and to raise money for a good cause. It is completely free choice if you find this kind of activity fun, clearly a lot of people do.

If anyone nominates me I'll tell them to go and get stuffed, and I will donate to whichever charity I like, when I like, thank you very much.

This is getting absolutely ridiculous. I thought it was bad enough when I saw that a friend of a friend had nominated a 5 year old with special needs today but really, nobody should be nominating children as young as this.

If small children want to do the challenge, understand why they are doing it and rather warmer water is substituted then sure, go ahead if this is your choice. But there's no law that says you have to take any notice of any notification if you feel uneasy about your child taking the challenge.

Why would the kids even know about it or share videos?? Why are they on social media

I don't think it's cruel a kid doing it if they choose it but I don't get why they would know either and while it's great the charities have benefited the whole thing still irritates the fuck out of me because people aren't doing it for reasons of charity but for personal ego/profile. 1 minute of internet fame, shallow and part of a larger "look at me look at me" culture.