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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

MIL bought DS a dog chew

94 replies

eyess · 18/01/2017 12:30

DS, who is just over two, had been complaining about sore teeth and had been chewing his dummies until they had holes in them and thus didn't function properly any more. We've given him teething gel and soft food for a bit, and tried to encourage him to chew on his Sophie giraffe, he seems better, but MIL brought him home with a dog chew yesterday and said he really enjoyed chewing on it round the shops. It's quite clearly a dog chew, it's a bone shape!

I'm not really sure what to make of it, how would you feel? Is this a thing that is done? Dog chews for children?

OP posts:

empirerecordsrocked · 19/01/2017 10:04

Meh.

My mum put my toddler dts on dog leads clipped to their belt loops to take them for a walk when she was looking after them and couldn't find the backpacks with reins.

lazyleo · 19/01/2017 10:14

My brother and I both had pups bones as teething babies and I was given them for my daughter. I thought it looked a bit odd but it did no harm. They are a bit tougher than other toys and definately give more relief than teething rings or Sophie which my daughter just didn't get any relief from at all. Bickiepegs were hit and miss with her. Ashton teething powders were the way forward for her. Like someone else mentioned a pups bone is better than a dogs bone as slightly softer, but they are both a good bit tougher than teething toys and don't break apart so no bits of rubber being swallowed etc. Ours were washed in the dishwasher so pretty well sterilised. Me personally I can't be fussed by the whole BPA free thing, or they've got this or that in them. Toddlers will pick up all sorts of things and shove them in their mouth. Apply a bit of common sense to your situation and go with it. Mum's sometimes forget to trust their own instincts - if you think it works for you and your child fine, if it doesn't politely and discreetly if you don't want to offend, just put it away. Say your little one just hasn't taken to it and that's the end of that. Your MIL shouldn't (And I say that in inverted commas as my own MIL does tonnes of things she 'shouldn't' but that's another story for another day!!) keep on at you. Trust yourself, it's your baby not hers.

lazyleo · 19/01/2017 10:15

For people talking about food grade stuff etc, it's not food, more a toy like this one :D
fetch.co.uk/kong-puppy-bone-85451011?gclid=Cj0KEQiA5IHEBRCLr_PZvq2_6qcBEiQAL4cQ02G69YyA6XkJX_icaD1Q-BVBFQTIBq_-CXakH81Lm_kaAiaA8P8HAQ

lazyleo · 19/01/2017 10:17

Wink: Trust me to pick one that is designed to have dog treats inside it!!! It should be solid rubber not with holes like this one has!!

Excuse me while I close the door behind me on my way out

HelenaGWells · 19/01/2017 10:22

The mould thing is not new or unique. ANY toy with a hole in can get moisture trapped inside. This them goes mouldy. Bath toys do it quicker because they get full of water but anything a kid chomps on will get drool in the hole.

I wouldn't let my kids have dog toys because they aren't safe for kids. End of.

DesignedForLife · 19/01/2017 10:32

I thought you were going to say MIL bought him a Sophie Giraffe, seeing as both my mum and MIL call it a dog toy.

People all in arms about BPA should read about the replacement plastic used in BPA free products - common one is called BPS and is probably worse than BPA
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/02/01/health/bpa-free-alternatives-may-not-be-safe/index.html

LaContessaDiPlump · 19/01/2017 10:37

A question for those posters with both babies and dogs: did you always manage to rigorously maintain separation of toys for dogs and toys for children? Did you never look up to find DC cheerfully gnawing on a dog toy?

I find it very hard to believe, given the preponderance of homes with both dogs and kids, that dog toys would not have to pass a basic 'not lethal to chewing mammals' safety standard. Also, DC gnaw on things for a far shorter length of time than dogs do, have less well-equipped teeth (if any) and are overall less likely to make a dent/ingest badness.

Really can't see the problem tbh!

bluebellsparklypants · 19/01/2017 11:18

Sorry op that made me laugh! I've often thought baby chews and dog chews are very close but not actually thought about giving my DS a dog chew but you know what as long as it's clean it probable feels quite nice for them to chew but I'm not sure I'd take it out with them 😃

bluebellsparklypants · 19/01/2017 11:18

Probably *

TheresABluebirdOnMyShoulder · 19/01/2017 12:15

People all in arms about BPA should read about the replacement plastic used in BPA free products - common one is called BPS and is probably worse than BPA

So just imagine what a dog toy might be made from!

BigGrannyPants · 19/01/2017 12:50

Most dog chew toys tell you they are not suitable for children on the label

MrsWhiteWash · 19/01/2017 13:10

I'd buy a children's teething ring and make sure he had with when he went out with MIL.

I'd worry it wasn't safe if bits bitten off and possible full chemicals not supposed to be consumed by humans.

gamerchick · 19/01/2017 13:37

Gawd I'm fed up reading about Sophie and the mould.

If you're the kind of divvy who puts a toy not meant to be submerged in liquid in the bath then you deserve a mouldy toy.

But then looking at one and getting the urge to cut it open is even weirder....

AWaspOnAWindowInAHeatwave · 19/01/2017 15:23

makes a mental note of this for next time dummy-refusing DD has a particularly stubborn tooth coming through

moonbells · 19/01/2017 15:36

Please, please be careful with dog chews.

One of them did kill my dog when a piece broke off - it was one of the aggregate types like McGintyii pictured - and choked him. By the time my parents got him to the vet he was dead.

It was awful. If we'd have known the risk we'd never have given him the chew.

dollydaydream114 · 19/01/2017 16:50

It's unlikely to comply with the same rules for manufacturing baby toys but unless your child is going to be chewing on it all day and every day for about a decade, the dreaded 'chemicals' aren't going to be a problem. I wouldn't worry about it, personally.

Most babies will chew on any old thing they find at some point, I think, won't they? Not saying it should be a regular thing but unlikely to be a problem now and again.

My friend was super vigilant about her first baby only having proper baby toys from approved suppliers ... then by the time her third child came around she'd long since stopped giving a shit and I found him sitting on the rug chewing his brother's old Crocs.

squizita · 19/01/2017 19:21

Dolly exactly. So much semi understood, hysterical bad science on this page.
Enough to make me hysterical about bad Facebook news/science and post-truth.

Justcurious000 · 19/01/2017 19:26

There are no risk factors but it would have gone straight in the bin once she left and I would have replaced it with an actual teething ring, not a bone shaped one, a normal teething ring.

Woolyheads · 19/01/2017 21:51

I bought my own DS a dog toy. I figured it didn't matter, so long as it worked for him. We still have it 6 years later, as a bath toy.

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