Do you let babies crawl on carpets?!

[Jimmyjammymammy]

I've just been scolded for being irresponsible for letting my baby crawl on a polypropylene rug. Apparently full of PFAS and most likely flame retardants and i should be using a baby mat.

My mind is blown by this. I'm a very anxious person and take precautions (probably too many) but I feel this is a bit extreme. Surely most babies crawl on a carpet? Do people actually just buy wool rugs or put baby mats down specifically to avoid a baby being exposed to potential toxins?

So, I'm very curious, AIBU to let a baby crawl on a carpet?!

This is just nuts. I grew up in an objectively unhygienic farmhouse and we crawled everywhere, fingers in mouth etc. It’s how you build an immune system! And yes mine crawled on carpets, and onto the stone floor, where the pets also walk. And they’re fine.

One man spending 40-odd years cutting up old carpet to remove it, installing new stuff and cutting it, releasing all those billions of fibres and bits of asbestos and lead paint from old housing stock along with aerosol solvent adhesive into his lungs 10 hours a day, is somewhat different to a kid spending about 150 hours in total for the period from about 9 to about 14 months (by which time most are likely to be walking).

If I had to choose between benign neglect and helicopter parent I’d choose the benign neglect any time! When we lived in Hong Kong we lived in a rural village. We were taking the dogs for a walk and DD asked if she could run ahead. I said yes, and then remembered the resident snake that lived under the bridge she would run across. “Just look out for the cobra!” I yelled at her fast moving back. Not my finest parenting moment!

Carpets, dirty floors, grass, mud, concrete… they ate cat food, woodlice and who knows what else.

Expose your baby to as much as possible. No wonder there are so many allergies.