Wiping cooker when baby bathes

[Pormbk]

My sister just had a baby. My sister and I are only a year apart so very close. I’ve moved in for the first month into the spare bedroom. Just so I can help cook meals, walk the dog and keep things in order.

My sister is a bit of a neat freak. Ie she will need to do a quick vac and fold blankets etc before sitting down and watching telly. No problem. She doesn’t expect others to do anything so my family has always just ignored this anal retention side of her.

Anyway, sister has started insisting that whenever the baby is bathed (kitchen sink) we clean the range cooker which is on the same side. As it makes her feel gross and it’s cosier once cleaned. I think this is mental as her cooker is never THAT bad, mostly it’s just a bit of oil from a fried egg at breakfast.

Normally I would tell sister that she’s the only one bothered so she can crack on. But she’s had a difficult labour and pregnancy so it’s falling on me. I just want things to be nice for her also.

Im not crazy for finding this crazy, right?

Sister helped me a lot a few years ago when I had a difficult divorce in my late 20s

I would just do it if it's not that dirty. Otherwise I wouldn't want to clean it if it really became dirty dirty.

Isn’t a baby bath easier and safer?

She's a neat freak and you're not, her house her rules and if she's not well enough yet to keep things as she would like why not help her out you, won't have to for long.

Wouldn't it easier to just clean up the oil after breakfast? I don't like a dirty hob either to be fair.
I take it the cleaning sponge isn't being rinsed and squeezed into the baby's bathwater 😂

They have a seat thing for sink. They have a new sink which is the perfect size.

If it's clean ish then just heat it and run slightly soapy cloth round a couple times. I'd be more annoyed if it was visibly covered in muck each day and I was expected to clean it.
If it was me I would protest and keep saying it's clean already but that's the last thing she needs with a baby and a cleaning obsession.

Oh god don’t get me started on the wipe down procedure for the sink - she gets her glasses! She’s too sore to bend down to use the bath so prefers to stand and use sink.

Wait. Why are you washing a baby in the kitchen sink?

Isn't anyone else thinking that it's incredibly rank to wash a baby in the same sink you'd be washing vegetables or dishes in?

It's easier to wipe the hob as you go along - a quick spray and then return when you deal with plates.

It's not a horrendously long task, so in the great scheme of things, I wouldn't mind.

Agree with this.. kitchen sink not great for baby bathing

Please don’t derail thread. They have chosen to use kitchen sink whilst sister is too sore to bend over. They have a thing for the bath but it’s not being used right now cause sister wants to wash the baby.

Their kitchen is brand new and gorgeous. Steamed clean to within an inch of its life

Theie belfast sink is really the only sink deep enough right now

I dunno. I’d probably do it to be honest. For one thing, I always wipe the hob after I’ve cooked anything as I don’t like oil/grease sitting there so I don’t think that’s unreasonable anyway, but also it’s part of her nesting instinct and I’m not sure refusing to do this will be helpful to her mental state, which may be fragile after a difficult birth. It’s not like she’s asking you to clean the windows or scrub the patio or dust the skirting boards once a day.

And babies were often bathed in the sink in the past - can’t see that as a problem!

I think it would be better to do it straight after each meal but it’s not wrong we such.

Sounds like she’s being a little bossy but as she’s at a tricky time with a new baby I’d let her have her own way unless it’s extreme.

Quite normal and has been for generations. It saves bending.

Love a baby sink bath!

I really don't think most people would survive "the old days "

No bathrooms or inside toilets.
No fridges
No washing machines
No hoovers.

If the cooker is "never that bad" surely it's no effort to clean it?

Is the baby safe?

I am wondering if there's a bit of postnatal anxiety at play

I would just do it OP. I get it's OTT but it's not the time to object and point out for sister's clean obsession. It's just doing a little thing to keep her happy.

Yes, it’s very… thorough and won’t make any difference to the baby whether there’s a clean hob or not. But it’s a quick job, it makes her happy and you’re there to help her, so I’d just internally roll my eyes, smile and do it, just to make her feel happy and comfortable.

Isn't anyone else thinking that it's incredibly rank to wash a baby in the same sink you'd be washing vegetables or dishes in? You’re being silly. She’s not washing the baby with the dirty dishes or veg. It’s no different from a baby being washed in a bath where adults have washed off dirt and sweat. The bath gets cleaned. The sink gets cleaned.

Someone wanting to wipe something in their house is not 'mental' or 'crazy'.

Seems cruel to type out paragraphs about the woman's minor chores and calling her mental and crazy.

A lot of people bath their babies in the sink, both our health visitor and NCT course recommended it for newborns.

To answer your thread: no I wouldn't clean the cooker. However we all have weird-ish obsessions when raising our kids and this one doesn't seem worst than others. Ultimately it's up to her, and it won't last long as soon it will be easier to use the bath or shower.

Has she got postnatal OCD? I has so many issues with my mental health after babies (due to the hormone fluctuations). The hob does not need cleaning every day, but this might have become part of her ritual.