Weirdest things you've seen other parents do as they bring up or care for their DC?

[FortunesFave]

Here are mine.

I was in a public toilet in the cubicle and heard a woman come in with a small boy.

They went into a cubicle together and I heard her ask him repeatedly "Do you want to dirt!?"

She meant poo!

"Do you want to dirt???

Omg.

Second is SIL. When her DS was little...around 2 or so, she'd put chips for him INTO A BOWL OF COLD WATER so they'd cool faster.

Dump the cooked chips into a bowl of water. Leave them there for a bit and then drop the soggy pile onto a plate for the poor child.

WHY? What are yours?

[yesterdayisinthepast]

@Everylittlehelpsalittle

With regards to the snot sucking, I found out a few children in that breast milk acts as a saline solution and a few squirts up their nose brings most of the gunk flushing out.

I snot suck, not because I'm African or lazy or 'wierd' but because my babies were struggling to feed and breathe with a blocked nose and sucking their tiny nose just came naturally. Yes I had a few 'eww's and 'yuck's from family members but who gives a crap? I would rather have a bit of baby snot in my mouth for a second that watch them struggle. Doesn't take a genius to work that one out.
and snot sucker pipets are so dangerous. Babies can't be trusted to keep still with something up their nose. They can cause real damage. I would never use one. Thats my wierd parenting contribution- believing the marketing companies and shamong parents for making do without xyz

Exactly this! It definitely isn't nice having snot in your mouth for a split second but what is the other option? To let your little one struggle to breathe??

The nasal aspirators seem such a hassle and like you said it's not safe to put a small object in a baby's nose especially as they're always moving/can move at anytime. Even if it's not your culture I don't think that makes you weird at all!

[mam0918]

I have some issues with food but I nearly vomited in a costa coffee once after watching a mother scoop up the soggy liquified mess of a chocolate her baby had just regurgatated for the second time and then she ate it herself.

Im wretching now just thinking about it.

[ImTheOnlyUpsyOne]

@HoppingPavlova

This is very common practice in a lot of African countries. It is also very effective and God forbid we in the UK can actually learn something from another culture.

Sure it does the job. The thing is we have alternatives that do a much better job readily accessible for next to no cost, so why you would do that instead is.

My mum does this (we are caribbean...very common).....i can't do it, i have nasal aspirators...my babies have been terrified of the nasal aspirators but don't have a problem with granny sucking their snot out....when they're at home they just continue with blocked runny noses and my mum thinks i am very mean and precious ...it's all perspective. I don't necessarily think the aspirators do a better job it's just what you are familiar with

[itsgettingwierd]

@EmeraldShamrock

Suck a snot from her newborn child's nostril.
I bought her a sucker for baby 2, she preferred her own method.

I had to do nasal suction in my ds.

I gagged doing it with the sucker.

I cannot imagine doing it directly with my mouth 🤮🤢

That's some dedicated parenting

[Bluskyenonstop]

Few mums in my child’s school holds their Y6 kids hands when walking to school / from school.
There is nothing wrong with any of those kids and it’s all on the pavement.

[Clocktopus]

How do you know there's nothing "wrong" with them? excuse the whole can of worms around developmental disability being considered a wrongness I occasionally hold onto Year 8 DS as he has form for suddenly bolting so if I see signs he's getting a bit tweaked and we're alongside a road or other hazard then I'm alert to it and I keep a hand on him.

[Comedycook]

I knew a mum who took her 12 year old dd with no sn to see Santa...she was her youngest child and I think she was just devastated she was growing up

[ForkHandlesplease]

I worked with a girl who hated the texture of orange peel but she liked oranges, so if she brought one for lunch I peeled it for her. May satsuma in cling film girl was similar.

[ArabellaScott]

Not sure how I made it to such a grand old age, through two children's many seasonal viruses, never knowing about snot sucking.

I would like my naivety back, now, thank you.

[darklindor]

I wish I'd known about snot sucking when my children were born in the seventies. Can you do it through a thin piece of muslin?

[Terminallysleepdeprived]

@Clocktopus

My DC drink squash, one won't drink plain water at all as due to sensory issues it apparently tastes "disgusting".

My dd has massive food issues courtesy of medical professionals who were trying to do their best by them, but if you saw us in a restaurant etc you would thin we were weird/pandering.

One of my DC has ARFID and both autistic DC have various rules and rituals around food. I was once told on MN that if I'd never offered DS chicken dippers then he wouldn't have known they existed and he wouldn't have ever wanted them in the first place, I should have just fed him only fresh, unprocessed foods alongside fruit and veg. He was offered these at weaning, never ate any of them, and the list of foods he would eat gradually dwindled down to 2-3 'safe' foods. He's had lots of input from professionals and will now eat around a dozen 'safe' foods which is probably as good as it'll get, he covers all the food groups at least so we're not worried.

Dd has multiple allergies along with asthma, her asthma was undiagnosed til she was 3 but she would have attacks and throw up so associates those foods with being sick. In the attempt to rule out food allergies she was stopped form eating certain things as they might be making her sick. Doctors explained this to her from age 2 to 4 and she was perfectly capable of understanding. She now still at 8 refuses foods.

The only foods she didn't associate with being sick were nuggets, sausages and pizza. She rarely eats chips, refuses nearly all veg.

We have worked bloody hard to get her list of safe foods increased beyond the above. It has increased but veg etc is still a big issue.

If the choice is to keep dd alive and eating something or be accused of being weird and pandering then I choose keeping dd alive frankly.

[mam0918]

@JudgeJ

It is natural for babies to be potty trained around 6-12 months. It is nappies that have caused things to delay.

Hope you're wearing a flak jacket, they don't like that sort of talk on DM! I am convinced that later potty training is supported by the disposable nappy industry, there was nothing like a soggy terry nappy to tell a child to use the potty!

funny you mention jackets... its fully natural for humans to walk around naked no matter how cold it is, die young from disease and live in caves but we dont do any of that anymore either.

Just because something is natural does NOT mean better or easier.

[EmeraldShamrock]

Perhaps (and say it quietly!) it could be the case that you do what is normal to your culture whereas in some culture they do it this way because they are more hands on with their children?
They are more hands on with the DC because they suck their DC snot?
Don't be ridiculous.
It isn't the norm in my culture however I'm a very hands on parent.

[Clocktopus]

If the choice is to keep dd alive and eating something or be accused of being weird and pandering then I choose keeping dd alive frankly

Same! A chicken dipper beats starvation any day

[Peanutsandchilli]

@Newmumatlast

The squash comments all really concern me. My child won't drink just water. Yes I started with just water but my partner drinks lots of squash all day and she was taking some from him. I'm not happy about it but it happened and now she refuses water. Entirely. Even really really weak squash. I have tried to make it better with higher juice content rather than crap squash and no aspartame but I actually feel really crap about it and sad that I'll look like an awful mum when out but I actually think I am a good mum. My child has quite a few issues around food and is really particular but so is my husband who has additional needs so I am conscious she may have either picked that up from him or it may be that I need to watch for additional needs. I am trying to get her into nursery in the hope peer pressure with other kids will help. Any advice I'm willing to take but don't think that people are always doing things they're happy about and arent having a real struggle behind closed doors.

Please don't take other people's comments to heart. Anyone can be the 'perfect parent' online. The reality will be very different.

I'm not ashamed to admit my kids have all been brought up drinking squash. I was brought up drinking squash and it's had no obvious negative effect on me.

My 11 and 4 year olds take flavoured water to school. They are not influence by other kids, they have always hated water. My 17 year old drinks nothing but diet coke. I have never really given them milk to drink until recently, when my two year old started asking for it. My 13 year old actually prefers water now, and, aside from the eldest, the others don't have fizzy drinks day to day.

I can't be arsed with people calling me a crap parent for giving them squash.

[Rosesareyellow]

Few mums in my child’s school holds their Y6 kids hands when walking to school / from school.
There is nothing wrong with any of those kids and it’s all on the pavement.

But that’s just an affectionate thing for them to do 🤷‍♀️ Kids grow up so fast these days, I think it’s sweet to think older kids still like to do this. I highly doubt it’s a safety thing so the pavement thing irrelevant - I don’t hold my three year olds hand on the pavement - weirder if they were just grabbing their 11 year old’s hand to cross like you would with a preschooler.

[Brollywasntneededafterall]

When my friend moved to a new build her dc were never allowed in the garden without shoes on. And never by themselves. Both dc over 5..
She literally followed her youngest around. A bog standard square patch of grass with a slide and a play house in it.

[spottytop]

When our sons were at nursery I casually got to know this woman who would run me down the road sometimes. Anyway, here son went with his father's stripy y-fronts every day - it was his comfort blanket. What an absolute affrontery. Also knew another mum who would dress her son in a cravat. My mum often told me a story of a woman she knew who would dress her son as a girl because she was so disappointed to have a son. I don't know if it's true but that's not light hearted, that's just other level.

[Terminallysleepdeprived]

@Clocktopus

If the choice is to keep dd alive and eating something or be accused of being weird and pandering then I choose keeping dd alive frankly

Same! A chicken dipper beats starvation any day

Amen to that!!

Courtesy of some collusion with the school she will eat quorn nuggets now and veggie sausage rolls.

We have a rule that she has to try 1 new thing a week. Some she has liked, others she has hated. But there are always safe foods. So we will do nuggets with some sweet potato mash.

We also do a lot of comparison and familiar links. So a chunk of roast chicken breast is just a nugget without it's coat on. Pork is just a flat sausage, Mash is just the soft middle of a chip.

I have long since stopped giving a shit what people think when we are talking in a restaurant to explain what foods are

[Goldbar]

@Harleynotsothin. For me, it's not so much being 'holier than thou' about squash as just limiting the damage it does. So squash or even a fizzy drink served with a meal is fine. Squash or fruit juice sipped throughout the day isn't.

I wouldn't particularly judge a parent who did it though, I'd just hope that their kids are up-to-date with their dental check-ups so they don't end up in pain and having teeth extracted under a general anaesthetic. My view is coloured though from having dentist relatives who frequently have to refer young children for extractions due to severe tooth decay. Hence wittering on about it.

[Rosesareyellow]

its fully natural for humans to walk around naked no matter how cold it is, die young from disease and live in caves but we dont do any of that anymore either.

Off topic - but none of things are ‘natural’. The reason we have no fur is because we’ve adapted to wearing that of others, pre-historic humans didn’t walk naked in the snow… and if you made it past childhood humans have always had a good chance of living to old age. Not many people lived in caves either. So many historical misconceptions in one paragraph. I digress.

[MassiveHoard]

For me, when I see something I think of as odd it's imagining what the possible explanations might be that's the fascinating bit. I'm absolutely sure I've been seen as weird in my time but there is usually a perfectly justifiable rationale for whatever you think is odd. The judgement part displays a lack of curiosity about the experience of others.

[randomthings]

The reason we have no fur is because we’ve adapted to wearing that of others

Its possibly because we evolved no fur to enable long distance running to wear down prey animals. (I digress too)

[EmeraldShamrock]

@Newmumatlast don't worry about it the perfect parent doesn't exist.
My DS only eats yellow food, he'll eat cauliflower and sweetcorn but otherwise no vegetables, more waffles and chicken fingers than you can count though.
We're all just doing our best. ❤
He does drink water but nothing else, no fruit juice etc incase I hide vitamins in it.
If DC eating okay.
There are tasteless sprinkle vitamins that help.

[randomthings]

@MassiveHoard

For me, when I see something I think of as odd it's imagining what the possible explanations might be that's the fascinating bit. I'm absolutely sure I've been seen as weird in my time but there is usually a perfectly justifiable rationale for whatever you think is odd. The judgement part displays a lack of curiosity about the experience of others.

This is such a good way to approach the world.

I like what Kelsey Graham says (Frasier actor), that one of the greatest evils is to judge someone without first hearing their story.

OP, take note!