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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that it's bloody obvious that you don't put a baby to bed soaked in calpol?

87 replies

ThirdElephant · 09/08/2021 20:09

Just that really. I asked DH to put the baby to bed and give him some calpol first because he's teething and has been sleeping badly. Baby was already in pyjamas at this point. DH did this while I was dealing with the eldest. Baby just woke so I picked him up to find that he's absolutely covered in calpol. All down his front, two big blotches, soaked to the skin underneath and sticky all over.

I've obviously now had to change and wash him down to remove the residue, fully waking him in the process.

DH happened to wander by and I pointed out that I'd had to change the baby and said, 'He had calpol all over him'. DH just said, 'I know', shrugged and grinned when I gave him a look of incredulity. I am internally seething.

AIBU to be very annoyed or am I overreacting? Would anyone aside from my DH leave their baby sticky overnight?

OP posts:

MrsMiddleMother · 09/08/2021 21:30

I would be furious, that's disgusting of your husband. Poor babe.

mrsm43s · 09/08/2021 21:30

If I'd been your DH, I'd have given baby a quick wipe with a babywipe, but I wouldn't be waking/washing/changing pjs on a baby for a bit (a teaspoon full or less) of calpol.

If your baby is genuinely covered in calpol, then my main priority would be double and triple checking with DH that he gave the correct dosage. The correct dosage wouldn't be a big deal, even if spat out in its entirety.

Jiggyjigsaw · 09/08/2021 21:32

Calpol doesn't just spill out of the bottle it has to be drawn outwith the syringe. Even if he missed the baby's mouth it was only a few ml and it didn't seemike anyone was bothered except you. You woke up the baby to clean him.

ViciousJackdaw · 09/08/2021 21:33

I'd specify the stickiness was over his torso from his neck to his belly button, down the left side of his body

So not 'soaked', 'absolutely covered' or sticky 'all over' then?

Original poster

ThirdElephant · 09/08/2021 21:33

@mrsm43s

If I'd been your DH, I'd have given baby a quick wipe with a babywipe, but I wouldn't be waking/washing/changing pjs on a baby for a bit (a teaspoon full or less) of calpol.

I think it was 5ml, he's been doing this for a few years now so should have a handle on dosages, but baby was only in a single layer onesie thing and it did go right through to the skin. I think it definitely warranted a change, it was properly wet to the touch and the skin underneath was sticky.

OP posts:

Original poster

ThirdElephant · 09/08/2021 21:37

@ViciousJackdaw

I'd specify the stickiness was over his torso from his neck to his belly button, down the left side of his body

So not 'soaked', 'absolutely covered' or sticky 'all over' then?

Soaked through. As in when you put a liquid on a fabric and it seeps right through to whatever is beneath it. The calpol soaked through. Which it did.

I'd say for the purposes of regular conversation it was all over the onesie. Unless you have to have complete coverage to use those terms. I would, in conversation, say my kid got pasta sauce all over them when realistically it was probably only 20-30% of their total body area- that's just a normal turn of phrase, surely? Or doesn't it count unless they were literally dipped in a vat of it?

OP posts:

Dontwatchfootball · 09/08/2021 21:39

More than the spill it is the fact he knew and thought a grin and shrug (and leaving it to you to clean up) was ok. I would be furious too. Implies he knew it was wrong and did it anyway. For his own child.

ShowOfHands · 09/08/2021 21:39

You said soaked. It's in the title.

Absolutely covered from his neck to his belly button would genuinely make me wonder if he had overdosed the baby or spilled a whole bottle. A teaspoon of Calpol would not soak a baby, filling neck creases and covering/saturating pyjamas.

I had a baby who spat out the full dose every time and so know what it looks like. And absolutely soaked to the skin from neck to belly button is not it.

MummyGummy · 09/08/2021 21:42

DH sounds like a lazy git who couldn’t be bothered to clean/change the baby so left them uncomfortable until you noticed and had to do it. YANBU.

GrumbleB · 09/08/2021 21:47

How old is baby? It's on 2.5ml isn't it?

I've had babies that have spit out full doses and no where near enough to cover them from the neck to belly button.

At most I'd have mopped up with a wet wipe but I'd not have disturbed them by washing them down and changing pyjamas if they were happy enough.

ExpressDelivery · 09/08/2021 21:49

I can't imagine changing a baby because of some spilt calpo at bedtime. I mean, the dose is what, 5ml? How soaked could baby have been?

5ml, a teaspoon full. If it's as bad as you say the much bigger issue is that DH was trying to give baby too much.

Original poster

ThirdElephant · 09/08/2021 21:52

@ShowOfHands

You said soaked. It's in the title.

I had a baby who spat out the full dose every time and so know what it looks like. And absolutely soaked to the skin from neck to belly button is not it.

I am sorry, I wrote the title and original OP when very cross. No, the child was not coated in calpol with some sort of super soaker. He was, I maintain, wet from his neck creases to his belly down the left side of his body but this was not fully uniform coverage and it was not absolutely painted on. I am sorry for misleading you, however unintentionally. If there is a next time, I will draw a diagram and submit photographic evidence to avoid ambiguity. I truly repent of my use of hyperbole in the moment. Please forgive me for my heinous crime (which was clearly far worse than leaving a baby in a wet and sticky onesie).

OP posts:

Confrontayshunme · 09/08/2021 21:55

I don't get it. The baby wasn't bothered if they went to sleep. Babies just aren't bothered by things that annoy adults. My DC were constantly snotty, sticky and gross, but it barely botheres them. I puy one down for a nap after a trip to the beach with granny and when she woke up there was a pound of sand in the cot from her clothes. I get being annoyed with the smirking, but it sounds like the sleep deprivation is bothering you. You aren't BU for that. It is the worst and hard to control your emotions when you are so tired.

Suzi888 · 09/08/2021 21:55

I reckon he spilt the entire first syringe/spoon on the baby. It is very sticky and I can recall my DH squirting some in DD’s hair (don’t ask how, not a clue). YANBU to clean the baby up.

ShowOfHands · 09/08/2021 21:56

I wasn't berating you. I was trying to make sure your baby hadn't overdosed or had a bottle spilled on him.

I like a good exaggeration as much as the next idle social media user. But you didn't sound cross or like you were using artistic licence. You sounded deadly serious.

But it's done now. Tell your dh to clean the baby when it's dirty and get some sleep.

GrumbleB · 09/08/2021 21:56

Please forgive me for my heinous crime (which was clearly far worse than leaving a baby in a wet and sticky onesie)

Well it's just a bit misleading isn't it. Your husband didn't leave your baby head to toe soaked in Calpol. He spat out either a 2.5ml or 5ml at most, dose over himself and got his onesie a bit sticky.

I think your OP sounded a bit OTT personally and, whilst the smirk and shrug would have annoyed me, I wouldn't have been waking a sleeping baby because of a small amount of spilt Calpol.

Original poster

ThirdElephant · 09/08/2021 21:56

@GrumbleB

How old is baby? It's on 2.5ml isn't it?

I've had babies that have spit out full doses and no where near enough to cover them from the neck to belly button.

At most I'd have mopped up with a wet wipe but I'd not have disturbed them by washing them down and changing pyjamas if they were happy enough.

5ml at his age. And it had soaked right through the onesie. Thinking about it, it's probable it went under the onesie and soaked up onto the onesie rather than from the top of the onesie through. He tends to open his mouth and let stuff flow out of it rather than projectile spit, so it probably went down his chin, under his neck and straight onto his chest. If it had been immediately wiped from his chest I bet it wouldn't have done much to the onesie at all 🤔.

OP posts:

Staffy1 · 09/08/2021 21:56

Yes, I imagine mine would. Infuriating, aren’t they?

ExpressDelivery · 09/08/2021 21:59

Well I must be useless too. I wouldn't have changed a baby at bedtime for the sake of a teaspoon full of any spilt liquid and I definitely wouldn't have woken them to do it later.

sleepyshiftworker · 09/08/2021 22:04

Heck. I think you need to relax.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 09/08/2021 22:06

Lazy, shit parenting, I'd be furious.

WobblingMoon · 09/08/2021 22:10

IMO you're being over-dramatic. 5ml of Calpol just can't soak a baby that much. It's a splodge at best. I wouldn't wake a baby to change them due to that. I don't think your DH did anything wrong - it's a judgment call. But I get that his smirking is probably bloody irritating, but that's a different issue perhaps.

Miniestelle · 09/08/2021 22:14

It can't have been that much. The bottles come with a syringe now and its difficult to spill more than that cos the bottle hole is tiny.

DeflatedGinDrinker · 09/08/2021 22:15

Shit parenting 👎🏼

AdobeWanKenobi · 09/08/2021 22:41

He’s had the calpol because he’s teething you say? My dcs are adults now, but I do recall teething being a particularly slobbery affair. Sounds more like calpol infused slobber down his front.

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