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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Lollipops and children

30 replies

Ribrabrob · 30/03/2018 01:18

A big bug near or mine is seeing children running around with a lollipop in their mouth. I do actually see it happen a lot and it's just so dangerous. Maybe I'm over invested/ott (happy to be told that I am) but it scares me whenever I see it happen.

Aibu to think that parents who allow their children to run about with a lollipop in their mouth are a bit, well... stupid?!

OP posts:
Fruitcorner123 · 30/03/2018 01:19

YANBU

Puffycat · 30/03/2018 01:30

I totally agree!
I’ve seen it any number of times and I just want to yell
“For fucks sake! Do you want to see your child fall flat on their face with that in their gob?!
I don’t because I’m classy (coff)

Puffycat · 30/03/2018 01:35

Ribrabrob, I would hazard a guess that you are also one of those people (me) who cringe every time they see a toddler scooting down the pavement at full speed with the adult at least 100m behind?

dancinfeet · 30/03/2018 07:51

I know a child who fell with a lollipop in her mouth. She bit down on the lollipop as she fell and it shattered - the pieces cut all of the inside of her mouth and the back of her throat badly, and some of the cuts were quite deep. My kids are teenagers and the rule in our house was always the lollipop stick stays in your hand at all times. Made them far less likely to run around with it hanging out of their mouth.

afreshnewname · 30/03/2018 07:56

I'm always paranoid lollies will come off sticks and choke my kids 🙈 I have an actual fear of it, everyone else thinks I'm being ott but I'd rather they stay alive

LastOneDancing · 30/03/2018 07:58

I'm a lollipop tyrant.
DS has had about 3 in his life when I've been unable to coerce him into a swap. I hate them.

He sits still to eat it, while I watch him like a hawk. I'm terrified of it coming off the stick & him choking more than anything, but yes, lollipops are vile.

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 30/03/2018 08:05

YANBU. I can't stand the bloody things. DD(4) has only ever had one (we were on holiday and a waiter who took a shine to her gave her one without asking us) and I watched her like a hawk with it! I have a lot of friends and colleagues who work in A&E and have heard some real horror stories.
As well as the risks already mentioned from running around with a lolly in their mouths they are also a massive choking hazard if the child sucks the lolly and it detaches from the stick.

frasier · 30/03/2018 08:06

Our local soft play sells yoghurts and ice cream in tubs and I’ve seen the kids running around (the tables, not the soft play part) with spoons in their mouths, both plastic and metal.

I had a word with one adult, turned out to be the grandparent, which is unlike me but I was scared for the child. They thanked me and remarked I was “clever”. I don’t think they meant it sarcastically, they genuinely hadn’t realised that if that child had tripped when running they could seriously injure themselves. Hmm

PlugUgly1980 · 30/03/2018 08:07

Hate them too. In our house you have to sit down at the table and eat them and keep hold of the stick. No running around or eating them in the car etc. I worry about them falling with them in their mouth but also the choking risk. More often than not mine will swap a lolly for a mini dairy milk or something.

Chrisinthemorning · 30/03/2018 08:07

YANBU
I’m amazed people give their children lollipops at all, tooth decay is such a worry.

Limedaiquirialwayslime · 30/03/2018 08:09

I agree, I always insist DD sits down but as with PP do try and persuade her she wants something else. We had taken a friend and her DD to soft play a few weeks ago and they give out lollipops when you leave. Friend told her daughter she could eat it in the car - er no she can't. 1) choking. 2) it's a new bloody car, I don't want sticky lolly everywhere! Her DD whined the whole way home.

lovemybabies3 · 30/03/2018 08:09

i hate seeing kids running with lollypops especially in softplay areas and parents arnt even watching them! if mine have them they have to sit on the couch until finished! also if there eating grapes and apples aswel! scares me so much!

scotchpie · 30/03/2018 08:12

Hate lollipops too, the only time my kids were allowed them was on a flight after they were too old for dummies.

Afresh - that was my worry too

neveradullmoment99 · 30/03/2018 08:13

I am like this with lollipops. However the chuppa chups seem extremely secure. They seem to have the sweet mixture stuck into the lolly stick part so you physically can only bite it off. I would never allow any of my kids a lolly and run around with it. No way.

MoorMummy · 30/03/2018 08:15

Me too! It makes me cringe, likewise the scooting thing too. Also kids not being held at traffic lights.

troodiedoo · 30/03/2018 08:17

This has jogged my memory to the 80s when I was a small kid. Not running with lollipops was A BIG THING. if you saw another child doing it you would give them what for, and they would be suitably chastised.

claraschu · 30/03/2018 08:24

Lollipops are good for one thing- keeping small children quiet and still. Mine only had them, as a huge treat, on a couple of occasions, when they had to sit still, and they worked! Especially as they were such a novelty...

londonrach · 30/03/2018 08:27

Yanbu. My mum knows of a child who died when she fell and the lollipop went down her thoat. We were banned from having lollipops as children as a result which might be way i dont like them now.

WingsOnMyBoots · 30/03/2018 08:29

Wow! This has never occurred to me. Luckily, I have no kids.

TroysMammy · 30/03/2018 08:30

I agree. Watching Michael Portillo's train programme there was a little girl with a lollipop in her mouth standing on the train seat and I mentioned it to my DP. That is the only part of the programme I remember.

JackietheBackie · 30/03/2018 08:35

Yes, although in fairness I don’t like seeing children running around eating anything. You are either running round OR you are eating. Not both.

Am also terrified about the scooter thing! We got a scooter for our eldest when she was a tot but both of us were ridiculously paranoid about her scooting out into traffic.

beachbodyunready · 30/03/2018 08:40

Completely agree about lollipops, I hate them with a vengeance. I'm always amazed when they are in party bags often for very young children - madness!

Bumdishcloths · 30/03/2018 09:05

The scooter thing drives me INSANE. See also: children on bikes going too far ahead, people not holding toddlers' hands while walking next to busy roads, and those shitty wheels shoes that are just begging for a child to go over backwards and smack their head on the pavement. And yes lollies are bloody awful.

SweetMoon · 30/03/2018 09:11

Yanbu. Rule for mine was and is no running with a lollipop in your mouth. common sense surely.

nocutsnobuttsnococonuts · 30/03/2018 09:21

I also hate lollipops I will take them out of party bags and bin them.

The rare occasion they have had one they must sit down and hold the stick. Breaking these rules results in lollipop in the bin!