Wood Burning Stove with Newborn??

[skipperdoo]

With winter fast approaching and our first child due at the end of Nov, DH and I have been arguing about the wood burning stove.

It is in good working order (only installed last year) but sometimes when DH opens the door to put a new log on the fire, smoke smell fills the room and wafts all the way upstairs even if the doors are shut. I don't know if this is a problem with DH's technique or the stove itself. He usually does this while the fire is still going to keep it going and strong (versus waiting for it die out to ashes and starting again from scratch). Not sure if it matters but it is a DEFRA approved eco friendly model.

I love a good fire at Christmastime but I'm worried about this issue with a newborn. On top of pollutants, I know smoke inhalation is a huge risk for SIDS. DH thinks I'm being dramatic and a worry wart and that people have been burning wood since the dawn of time.

What do you all think? And is there a compromise I'm not thinking of? Or a technique he should be using that he's not?

TYIA

Even if it was working fine I would absolutely never used one with a newborn around.

I wouldn't use it. I have asthma, and I really notice the indoor pollution caused by stoves. A baby's lungs are so tiny and sensitive, it's not worth it.

There’s just been some research released about how much pollutants release into a house even when working properly. I stopped using ours when we had our first child and after not using it for 3 years we replaced it with an electric log burner lookalike. It wasn’t worth the risk for me.

Wood burning stoves are bad for the environment and cause air quality problems inside.

I would never have one in my own house, let alone with a child.

Would you be warm enough without it OP? We have a wood burner and have used it since DS was a baby, but we'd freeze if we didn't. If it's your only source of heating I think it's worth using.

We had a woodburner installed when i was pregnant with my youngest and used it a fair bit when he was little. He is the only one of my kids that has asthma. Could be a coincidence but I do worry it was the smoke that caused it.

I grew up with an open fire, most homes had this type of fire somewhere in the house back then

We now know that wood burners are the third biggest pollutant. And that is inside the home as well www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/16/home-wood-burning-biggest-cause-particle-pollution-fires

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/children-risk-air-pollution-cars-former-uk-chief-scientist-warns Although this article is about car pollution inside cars, it gives the effects on that oollution

Even eco friendly approved stoves are terrible for the environment so I wouldn't be using them regularly. If you get it sorted one or 2 round Christmas wouldn't be the end of the world.

Are you using properly seasoned wood? Sounds like it's a bit damp

Assuming you have it swept and checked so you stop the smoke in the house issue... yes I would and have used ours.

Dd was born at home, so the GP came to do her newborn checks. As he lay her out and uncovered her he said "Ah, I see you have a little Wenlock..." - we craned over trying to work out whether this was a previously unnoticed abnormality in our wee baby... when he indicated he meant our Coalbrookdale stove was of that model. Never been so relieved!

Even eco friendly approved stoves are terrible for the environment so I wouldn't be using them regularly. If you get it sorted one or 2 round Christmas wouldn't be the end of the world.

I agree, it’s a bit like having a favourite cigar on a special occasion- it’s not going to hurt once or twice a year

We used ours last winter as we had no boiler and no other way of heating our home.

However I wouldn't use it with a newborn baby if I had another, affordable option.

People saying they're awful and should be made illegal need to keep in mind that many people rely on them to warm their homes - especially if they live rurally.

As if my chronic insomnia, alcohol habit, maternal smoking, APOE genes and family history didn't predispose me towards early dementia. But sure, blame the woodburner.

I hope you sort out the smoke problem, OP. That should not be happening.

Oh yeah, gas hobs lead to terrible indoor air quality, who knew?

No mains gas here so not something I thought about. I do find gas hobs quite stinky when exposed nowadays (eg. holiday cottages).

*Let's assume I get it checked out and it's all fine.

I guess my main question is would you still use it or not?*

No way. I wouldn't be using it at all with a newborn around - whether you can smell smoke or not.

As if my chronic insomnia, alcohol habit, maternal smoking, APOE genes and family history didn't predispose me towards early dementia. But sure, blame the woodburner.

How childish. It's certainly not the only factor in heart disease or ling disease either. But if you are firing up a log burner for no other reason than it looks pretty then you might want to weight that up against the knowledge that particulate matter is a contributory factor in both.

Tell him you are having a baby and that smoke is bad for newborns and he can bloody well cope without the stove for six months.

It’s irrelevant to say ‘people have been having fires since the dawn of time’ since until recently it was unusual for babies to survive to age five. Show him some Victorian infant mortality statistics.

I think it's shit that he can't not have a fire for the sake of your child.

Gosh, who has time to fire them up to look pretty? My woodburner needs constant feeding! It's a chore to keep it going.

Definitely fired up for warmth here, and to reuse contaminated paper waste (DS brings chip wrapping home 4-6 nights/week).

Not if you have alternative heating.

Have you seen the price of "alternative heating"?
DD was just given a monthly estimate for gas bill in a small London flat -- £130.

Our wood & kindling is all scavenged or from our own garden -- free.

Plus the CH does whole house & sometimes I just want one room warmed up.

I wanted a log burner until i read up on the environmental and health impact of them.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/uk-news/wood-burner-burning-stove-pollution-health-b1776405.html%3famp

Says here they should never be used around children

We’ve been having a similar discussion re our wood burner so I don’t think you are being unreasonable. I bought an air quality monitor and an air purifier but even then I’ve said it can’t be on with baby in the room once they arrive and I’m still a bit nervous about being around it while pregnant even though the monitor shows very low emissions from the stove esp with the purifier on. Having said all of that….your stove definitely shouldn’t be filling the house with a smoky smell as smoke should always be drawn up the chimney. Either the wood isn’t properly dry and/or it is a technique issue and/or your chimney needs swept.

Are you using correctly seasoned wood and the correct Coal? Damp wood can be smokey which shouldnt be used,as a pp said Chimney Sweep every year.

I’ve 3DC and we’ve always had ours on in winter including when they were babies