To think this is classic PFB?

[SamanthaBrique]

Friend just posted this photo on Facebook, with the caveat that she's got 6 weeks to go and wouldn't be "taking any risks" with her baby girl.

Yanbu. I find it fascinating how many responses have told the op they are being unreasonable because asking for hand washing isn't a big deal while totally ignoring the batshit crazy 'must have a booster for whooping cough' thing.

I can only assume people are too lazy to read the third and longest paragraph of the meme?

It may be normal in other countries but in the uk most adults won't have had a whopping cough booster, so she might as well just say 'no visitors'.

I've seen people saying that you have to wash your hands etc to even visit a litter of puppies before now. Which I think is fine btw. I don't like it when people jump on others for saying or doing something slightly out of the ordinary, or different to them more like. You seem quite bitchy to me.

Actually I think it's great and well done to her for making it clear she won't be compromising her baby's health for ignorant visitors.

Whooping cough is a very real concern and many people are crashingly ignorant about it - as illustrated so clearly in this thread.

The booster expires so you need to be topped up as an adult, and it is the responsible thing to do.

A former friend who is vehemently anti-vax paid no heed to medical advice to keep her whooping cough ridden children out of school or away from friends. Put hundreds of lives at risk, it was the deal breaker for me. I have zero tolerance for ignorance when it comes to infecting others, not least because one of my friends lost her newborn to WC thanks to such ignorance.

The meme poster is better off with a healthy baby and without sneering and ignorant "friends".

We recently had an outbreak of whooping cough at dc's school and all the children who caught it were fully vaccinated

I was born long before the whooping cough vaccine and never caught it.

But what harm is she doing anyone? At worst this is a bit eye-rolly but what's the big deal? It's her baby, if you find it annoying and don't want to visit that's fine too.

A bit PFB I suppose, but at least it wasn't demanding or rude in its tone. THAT I'd have an issue with.

'When you get to meet the baby...'

Like it's some amazing privilege she might grant you IF you jump through enough hoops!

Oh well, she'll soon realise that your baby is THE most incredible thing in the world....TO YOU, other people, not so much.

windinthepussywillows. No, that's fine. Even asking people to use it or wash their hands is fine, ESPECIALLY with Prem babies.

It's the wanky meme that's the problem and treating people like lesser mortals who MIGHT be granted a viewing of the First Baby Ever.

I don't get the sneering at pfb we were all there once in some form or another !
I work with infants (allied health) and adult and child borne illnesses can have a massive impact on a newborn, they are quite vulnerable actually.
It s the height of bronchiolitis and winter vomiting bug season, whooping cough is having a resurgence.... I don't think it s unreasonable to ask this if people. Her way of going about it with a meme is maybe the only way she felt she could get the message out there.
Also it s

Very cringey yes, however the overall idea isn't a bad one. DD caught whooping cough at 6 weeks old and the next year of her life was spent on meds not intended for small babies, and trips back and forward to hospital. Wasn't a pleasant time! As well as cringey it's also factually incorrect as first vaccinations are at 8 weeks ratios wide (perhaps worldwide but don't know this as fact)

We recently had an outbreak of whooping cough at dc's school and all the children who caught it were fully vaccinated

Yes but they would have had a far milder version than if they had not been vaccinated.

She is going to really struggle with pre school and school! Get a grip women!

*europe wide, not ratios

One of my family members visited my 5 week old baby whilst suffering fro. Ecoli.

Never underestimate what selfish twats people can be when they want to see a new baby.

I found out after or I would never have let them in.

So the meme and putting it on FB is wanky. But the hand washing bit is not. Some people are total dicks about not washing hands before pawing at newborns. My PIL have form for coming to visit both my newborns by a journey of tube+train+plane and then trying to grab the baby as soon as they arrive without washing their hands. They were told to go slough off some of the grime.

I had hooping cough as a baby in the 70s and my mum still talks about how horrific it was.

The random fact you never caught it means absolutely nothing Atenco - like the car seat example (babies in the 60s and 70s generally travelled in the car without a car seat, and most of us didn't die...)

Is whooping cough really seen as this horrible in the UK?

I know several people that had whooping cough, measles etc...

That's not an anti-vaxx statement, I'm just a bit surprised, I guess.

Whooping cough in infants is terrible yes, talking from experience! You might not die as a healthy child or adult but as a baby you may die or have long term complications.

Sounds as if you need to do a bit of reading before your baby arrives Spunky - babies under 6 months are at huge risk from hooping cough, which can be fatal. The complications which can occur with measles are life changing

hooping cough

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Measles/Pages/Complications.aspx

I have recently returned from a visit to the US and all the people I saw out and about would use anti-bacterial gel before picking up young babies. This really concerns me from an immune system point of view. Not to mention an antibiotic resistance point of view.

Fwiw I think the meme is cringeworthy, but I washed my hands a lot with my PFB. I stopped pretty quickly. Especially once I saw her lick the pram wheels! My youngest is lucky to get her hands washed ever! And has a pretty good immune system so far!

Marlina presumably she was mobile before she licked pram wheels

Once a baby is mobile their immune system has matured significantly in comparison to that of a newborn. All newborns are vulnerable because they are all born with an immature immune system.

Letting a 9 month old crawl in the mud and handling a newborn with unwashed hands or letting an unvaccinated child kiss and cuddle a newborn are not the same thing.

People are over reliant in anti bacterial gel though - obviously it doesn't kill viruses, and some pathogens can't survive in water but are unaffected by antibacterial gel!

Don't get the issue with whooping cough actually. Pregnant women are advised to get vaccinated to offer some protection for their babies too for the first weeks. Is the op's friend not vaccinated herself?

I personally think the meme is over the top unless there are specific health concerns, but I'd do no more than roll my eyes and scroll on. Ime the babies/ children who tend to be the most I'll are those who have been raised in an antibacterial bubble where they've never had a chance to build their immunity. There's a balance to be reached.

Presumably she won't mind missing out on all the visitors' presents!

Little avoiding unnecessary exposure in the first 2 months or so is not the same as keeping children in a bubble - presumably you haven't read the thread either, with the stories from posters whose babies caught hooping cough or RSV in the early weeks and suffered lasting complications for years?

Personally I think there is a lot to be said for following the lead of a typically developing baby - there is probably good reason why baby humans have evolved to develop along the timeline they have with ability to move away from the caregiver under their own power and explore the world occuring in rough parallel with an increasingly mature immune system.