what are the most absurd bits of advice you've received as mums

[hushshessleeping]

dd's great grandmother on dh's side has helpfully advised me 'not to stoop'when pregnant, to tie a cord around the top of my stomach so the baby wouldn't go too far up, to 'stretch' the baby's neck so it doesn't stay too short, to harden up my nipples using methylated spirits. She's from Guyana. She also told me that putting salt under her baby's tongue soon put a stop to his biting. It's a wonder the MIL and uncles ever survived!!

Ha ha ha, am reading this and nodding madly at all the same advice that I was given

Dmum is also very keen on feeding babies solids almost as soon as the birth is over...and her latest one is that I've missed the time for potty training dd and she won't do it now! dd only just 16mths As far as she's concerned I should start at about 9 mths and then she'll be done by the time she's 18mths With ds I waited til he was 2y 9m - and ready then it only took a week and one carpet accident.

Mil wisely keeps any advice she may have imparted to herself

oh and, eat your toast crusts, it''l make curly hair

Sister (no children of her own, as yet) passed on this gem: rub whiskey into gums to numb teething pain.

teabelly your mil is getting confused with 'toilet reflex'. You can put a toddler on a potty after a meal and they will do a wee.
This has almost nothing to do with 'toilet training' which is the conscious ability of the child to hang on and let go when desired.
Which is why so many people think their little darlings are potty trained but they have to sit them on it every 2 minutes or they'll wet themselves.
Much better to leave the nappies on till about 2 for girls or 2.5 for boys - then you can do a star chart for a week and they'll never wet themselves again because they actually have control over what they're doing.
Perhaps we should start a new thread on this one?!

if you went out with wet hair you would get a cold. i took great delight in disproving this one

Don't let them sit on cold stone steps or hot radiators - they'll get piles.

(That one came from my Grandad, bless him!)

Midwife told me in hospital newborn babies don't get wind - she was probably hungry. Funny, my other 3 all got wind.

Great topic

this is why i like MN

alcohol on gums when teething
butter on bruises
if child wets himself, its ok because his own wee wont hurt him- wont make him cold then?!!
dont let the baby look in a mirror- his teeth will come thru crooked
dont tickle the soles of the feet- the baby will be evil!

My dear departed Granny had a theory that if you put a hat on a baby you had to tuck the ears in properly, or they would stick out for life!
And if you let a baby stand up too early, they would get bandy legs!!

fransmom I can still hear my Grandmother's voice scolding me about that one every time I dash out with wet hair!

Ooh, Macdog, my Mum was obsessed with the hat/ear thing as well, also if dd was asleep she would frantically check her ears weren't folded over!

My Nan told my Mum to do the boob binding thing to stop her milk coming in, also told her she would get 'milk fever' if she didn't (whatever that is)

Only feed from 1 side at a feed. Not both. This from the midwife at the hospital.

I had mastitis within the month plus one of my boobs would be like Niagra Falls waiting for its 6 hourly feed (DS pretty much went every 3 hours between feeds).

My dd broke out in a rash while taking penicillin as a toddler. So I called my doctor and was told she was probably allergic and not to give it to her anymore. So anyway I told my ex's mother this and she told me that one of her kids had broke out in a rash once from penicillin, but that she just kept giving it to them anyway. I says to her, you know that was very dangerous? Her reply was, Oh a little rash never hurt anyone...and what do doctors know anyway. This attitude and the fact she was always telling me to give my dd a suppository when she cried cus she must have a tummy ache and about a billion other things is why my ex is happily my ex and his family... bleh

p.s. I never followed her advice on anything in case you wondered...lol She also told me to be careful not to get a scare from anything because it would give my baby birthmarks. She also told me not to stare at snakes cus it would make an evil child. Like who stares at snakes? someone else told me to get rid of my cats cus they would steal the babies breathe. However the Dr. told me not to change kitty litter as there was some chemicals in that could cause birth defects.

my PILs and hubby's grandma came to stay for a month when i gave birth to dd1.
MIL and GIL kept telling me dd didn't have enough layers on and kept wrapping her up, despite it being a very warm July month .. till she came up in spots. I asked the midwife and she said they were heat spots, and one cotton bodysuit was enough
GIL also was disgusted that i was expressing milk.
Also, not supposed to say she was getting heavier, prettier, etc or the opposite might happen!!!!

'those cloth nappies are awful, she can't get her legs together'

no, mil, remember, her legs are spastic

mythumbelinas I once, at mils, found the baby monitor bleeping cos it was too hot (they like to be warm, my in-laws) and fil putting a towel over the moses basket cos the sheet and blanket weren't enough

Belgo,biting your baby's nails off is very sensible.You can feel where the nail ends and the finger begins,so far less likely to cut them as you would be with clippers!

moondog agree I used to do it
wouldn't now he is 14 though yuck

Blimey - these are priceless. I was sitting here sniggering and thinking 'my goodness, my mum is so sensible' until I read 2 in a row that my mum had told me and I had forgotten about - only every 4 hour feeding and 'you can't do it all yourself you know' ref: bf - my ds was only putting on a lb a week after all; practically starving poor little dump truck.

That bfing after ds was 6 months old was 'a waste of time'.
To toghen up my nipples for feeding by rubbing them daily with a dry towel- not follwed suprisingly!
My SIL was told that her 5 month old baby should be given the bone from roast lamb as he was teething.....!

swedishmum i was told that too! she had wind and being 1st time mom i didn't realise. mw just said just feed her again in ten minutes (i bf at the time) and she'll be ok - she was sick. i was also told by the same (rubbish) mw, whilst in hospital, that my nb baby wasn't shivering (she was)- i later found out (through a baby whisperer book) that it was because she was cold and the mw didn't notice.i did feel guilty

r3dh3d - me and dp just read your post and . have also been toold that one and yet its been scientifically proven that when nb babies picked up and cuddled when crying etc or just cuddled they grow up more emotionally secure!

i think if i go into hodpital next time i shall tell them where to go especially if they haven't had children themselves