To stand DD on a chair next to me when I wash the dishes

[Helgathehairy]

We don't have a dishwasher. DD is 18 months. In the morning when I start washing up she used to start screaming and trying to push me away from the sink and scream some more so I stood her on a chair next to me. She dead happy, babbles away and I've given her a sponge to play with.

DH is horrified and thinks she's going to fall and I'm not going to catch her.

Am I being stupid and she's too young or is he worrying a bit much?

I promise to abide by MN Jury rules.

I'm a bit late to the party but I'll chip in anyway.

Never mind the dangerous fall consequences, some dishwashing detergents also contain dry chlorine that is activated when mixed with hot water.

This means that when you fill the bowl, chlorine fumes are released in the steam that rises. These can cause eye irritation and difficulty breathing, especially for those with respiratory problems.

Never mind young children, this is a dangerous task for adults and should certainly not be considered a parent-child bonding opportunity.

PS If you have high-back chairs, could you stand her on one pushed right against the sink then put another by the side of her with its back towards her, so the only 'open' side is towards you IYSWIM?

Both my DDs stood on chairs next to me, helping.
They never fell off.

To shut your DH up stop DH worrying, could you put another chair next to your dd, on the other side to you, with its back nearest to dd. then she'll be caged in?

I did this with all 3, still do with the 2 year old. Watch out for drinking glasses in water not easily visible!!
I put chair with back of chair to one side of child, a chair behind child with back to child's back, and me on other side. I know the chair behind won't stop fall but reckon will slow fall or make noise allowing me to catch child.
This is for us a lovely child- parent time.

YANBU I remember doing it as a small child and both mine managed to survive doing the same thing.

Make the most of it because one day she'll be a teenager and washing dishes will be a distant memory

I always did this with mine, but used a stool. They stood on the stool directly in front of the sink with a washing up brush, and I stood behind, with arms either side, leaning over the top to pass things to be "washed", then take them and put them on the drainer. Never had a problem. We enjoyed it.

High chair without tray? I thought you were going to say your DH would catch domesticity/ wife work!!

I wouldn't do it- but not for safety reasons. I've just never felt guilty about telling any of mine to bog off and watch the telly if I'm busy doing something necessary.!

Washing up liquid a danger to adults?!? Only on mn...

DS2 has been pushing a chair up to the sink and "helping" me wash from as soon as he could walk. He's never fallen off, I think it's a good thing to get them involved in jobs round the house.

Dismiss at your peril.

Because the dishes are a chore that has to be done, most people never think twice about what’s in a bottle of washing-up liquid. Nevertheless, a product like this can still add to the total toxic load of your body though its use and through is presence in the environment.

So what’s really in the bottle? The ingredients labels are usually woefully inadequate. When I enquires about Waitrose own brand they told me to find what I was looking for on the internet. After an extensive web search we did indeed find some - but not all - information on the components that make up their 'Fairy Liquid'.

• Aqua
• Sodium laureth sulphate
• Alcohol denat
• Lauramine oxide
• C9-11 pareth-8
• Sodium chloride
• 1,3-Cyclohexanedimethanamine
• PPG (polypropylene glycols)
• Dimethyl aminoethyl methecrylate/hydroxyproply acrylate copolymer cirate
• Parfum
• Geraniol
• Limonene
• Colourant

The first thing that jumps out about this information is how well this Waitrose detergent illustrates the problem that so little data exists or is indeed required on the components of common household products, even though human exposure and environmental impact are both key issues for a product of this type.

That's a really good idea about the second chair!

BigMammyKumquat what on earth are you washing up with! Washing up liquids may not be fantastic for the environment, but washing up is certainly not a dangerous task! Washing up liquid, as the name suggests is a liquid so cannot contain dry chlorine (more often used in dishwasher powder/tablets).

That's funny, I just looked at the site that ingredient list comes from. It's from 2006 and the first link on Google, so hardly required extensive research!

www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/268721/behind_the_label_fairy_liquid.html

I sat DD on a towel on the floor with a bowl of warm washing up water, swished it around to make lots of bubbles, chucked her rubber ducks in there, a few plastic plates etc and gave her a sponge and asked her to wash up for me, she

Loves it

Kumquat seems to be trying to pass off someone elses article as her own original post but with an epic fail in ad lib!

I wouldn't at 18 months- that's far too young to have any sense of danger at all. The other chair is a good idea, but if she falls properly then chances are that won't stop her.

I cook with a 3yr old next to be but her chair is up against a wall and I'm generally next to her- though at 3 I don't worry about that too much. People expect too much of 18month olds I think, they're still babies in so many ways, what about a high chair?

I used to do the same with my DC at about that age. My son in particular was always very co-ordinated and would climb/run/jump on anything so I never worried. However, observing other children, I'd say there's a lot of variation in their abilities, so you need to make a judgement based on your DD. Can she generally climb up and down from the chair? If so, then she probably has the balance and co-ordination to know not to throw herself off! You just need to watch out for times when she might get distracted and forget she's up there :)

I don't see a problem with it. By then both my DCs were dragging the chairs across the kitchen and climbing up by themselves. Usually on the quest for self service food.

My little girl is 2.5 and has been 'helping' me wash up since 14 months and has never fallen.

Oh dear. DS has always stood next to me while I bake/clean/put things away. Not even on a chair but on his stool which we bought especially for this purpose.

I let DD do this at that age. She's kinda grown out of it now at nearly 2yo.

What I did was take two chairs, place one at the sink and one beside it, between the first chair and the corner of the cupboard. Then I got the highchair and positioned it at a right angle to the open end. This meant she was sealed in and couldn't step off a chair and fall. Of course she still needed to be under constant supervision as she could still fall. The chair backs and highchair back were really just a suggestion boundry - they wouln't have been safe enough to stop a fall.

My have all done this with either a normal dining chair or their Tripp trapp chairs.

well mine are all 18 plus now all stood on chair to watch, then to do washing up as long as the chair is stable I don't see the issue, obviously its not risk free but what is with children?