Flipping, freezing, sterilising and the just plain ludicrous - what daft things did you do with your PFB?

[NorthernLurker]

Talking to dd1 tonight (she is 15 and has two sisters) I remembered how totally inept dh and I were.

We:

Filled the baby bath and then carried it (taking two of us) in to the living room of our flat to bath her because it was warmer than the bathroom. Then after the bath we carried it back, sloshing right and left, to empty it.

The first night we had her at home we were so worried about overheating her we put her in a cradle in a vest with a sheet and single blanket, by a window, in April......then wondered why she cried all night and went to sleep when the sun came up.....

Sterilised the bowl for her breakfast until she was a year old. This was dh's job because I Was At Home All Day With The Baby! When he forgot and tried to get in to bed and go to sleep without doing it we had a row. Dh still complains of the 'tyranny of baby's bowl'

When she was six months old and started to roll she would roll herself on to her front to sleep. So every night we would check on her, find her on her front and flip her on to back. Unsurprisingly this woke her....but we kept doing it till my HV told me we were crazy!

Were we alone in this insanity?

Screaming I don't actually think there's anything wrong with asking people to wash their hands before touching a newborn. I would do it without being asked. They are so susceptible to infections.

So no need to be :)

Wittier, me too. And there was a fireplace in the living room which was thankfully just across the hall.

Warmer house now. Any new babies will be bathed in the bathroom.

We USD heating in the other rooms, just not the bathroom, or maybe that radiator didn't work I can't remember. I just remember the bathroom was freezing, I hated getting out the bath, or going to the toilet in winter!

Actually dd1 was regularly bathed in the kitchen sink because our bathroom was perishing cold. Lovely warm bathroom in this house, it was one of the. key factors for buying it!

Ans hand washing before holding very new babies isn't a crazy idea

We were carrying the baby bath in to the livingroom which had the kitchen (and sink) at one end!. Why didn't we just chuck her in that?

I even managed to do this by myself when she did a horrible up the back nappy when dh was away for the night.

When we first came home from hospital and DD woke for night feeds I used to put a hot water bottle in her moses basket so the sheets wouldn't be too chilly for her when she went back to bed. It made sense at the time.

This thread has made my night!! My fave is warmed cucumber sticks.

I would put dd's baby grow on the radiator whilst she had a bath so it was nice and toasty for her

I had sister who warned me about being PFB so I don't think I've been too bad after reading these.

I couldn't have been to PFB, the day I come out of hospital my best friend turned up and did the roots on my hair!

I still put PFB's pjs and towel on the radiator during his bath so they're nice and warm for him and he's nearly 4

I was too scared of cutting my babies' nails so used to nibble them while they were sleeping on me.

It ALL makes sense at the time. It's only in retrospect that you realise exactly how odd maternity made you And the dads are just as bad!

42- it's common advice now to use a hot water bottle in to warm the basket.

I did the hot water bottle in basket thing, but mainly because PFB disliked/dislikes sleep and would wail if I put her back and the sheets were anything other than toasty, meaning another 40 minutes of feeding and shushing.

I think my best one was not allowing her to watch any television, at all until 2 years old. If we were out and came across one I would cover her eyes or turn her away from it.

These days I frequently hear "Ben, Hawwwwly? Ben, Hawwwwwly? Please?"

I was terrified of overheating PFB and retrospectively panic over how inadequately I wrapped him for the snowy winter in which he was born! I remember desperately wanting a pram thermometer so that I could accurately gauge the correct number of blankets whilst we were out.

Also did the bath thing!

However, PSB due soon and I found myself wondering this morning how I could politely phrase a request to friends and family to NOT wear perfume/aftershave when they visit newborn - I remember how vehemently I hated getting my lovely fragrant baby handed back to me NOT SMELLING OF HIS DELICIOUS SELF. Is there a way to actually ask this of people...?

I phoned the maternity suite at gone midnight to tell my dd had vomited/ possited after her feed in her moses and that i was scared she would do it again and choke. The midwife calmly told me thi was very common and babies naturually turn to the side to vomit. She was a eight puker so i soon got used to it!!
We also used a baby bath in living room, once my mum aomehow emptied the full bath all iver our rug! Another time my dd pooed in the bath and my dads girlfriend who was a midwife scooped it out the bath for us... While i pulled my dd out. What was rhe point of scooping the poo out? There wa no point! But it was very selfless i guess... Plus shows even the most qualifies can go a bit doolaly when a baby is about!

Screaming your shampoo in eye story is hilarious!

When DS1 was a newborn and used to wake crying at night for a milk feed, we'd immediately change his nappy first before giving him milk (on the basis that we couldn't leave him in a dirty (2 hour old!) nappy if he then fell asleep after milk, and wouldn't want to wake him to change him (the idea of leaving him in a slightly damp nappy never occurred to us).

Poor wee soul would scream inconsolably (as you would, if you were starving but your 'caring' parents saw removing a slightly damp nappy as a priority).

It amazes me that we maintained this approach for about 8 weeks before we wised up (DS2 never got a nighttime nappy change unless there was pooh!)

Ah this thread is great. Love the cucumber sticks.

We also did the bath in the living room. One time we had the bath balanced on top of our meticulously laid out change table, with its colour matched boxes and baskets, when it sprung a leak and a wall of water cascaded over everything. All my precious co-ordinated lines of nappies and wipes - ruined! Ruined!

My pfb is nearly 8months and I still do lots of ridiculous things despite knowing they’re ridiculous!

If she’s asleep and I cant see that shes breathing, I sort of wiggle her lips with my finger cos she pulls a face and that tells me shes alive. Of course it quite often wakes her up.

When she was about 2 weeks old someone with a.cigarette leaned in her buggy and stroked her cheek, me and DH were wringing our hands and as soon as they went.away I.plucked her.out of her pram and ran home to wash her face. I’d had a c section and we live up a steep hill so it was bananas!

Was worried about EBF baby not gaining weight (someone should tell HVs to use the phrase "failure to thrive" VERY carefully with PFBs.). I made my own weighing machine by sewing a sling out of an old towel and attaching it to our luggage scales (the ones you use to weigh suitcases before flying with Ryanair!). Used to weigh before and after every feed to see how much she was eating!

Im actually going to have to wash my face as my mascara must be all over it by now. I have NEVER laughed so much at a Mnet Post.

The obsessive sterilising, the breast milk in cornflakes and my personal favorite - no more tears in the eye. My sides hurt!!

I remember my sterile fears well. The lists of instructions to my mum when she babysat and the flying across the room to rugby tackle anyone who went within a mile radius of him with anything less nutritious than a carrot stick!

My personal favorite memory is my PFB nutting himself off my front teeth leaving two indentations in his forehead. I phoned NHS 24 (oh yeh) but the best bit was - they told me to head straight to A&E!!!

By the time I phoned my DH in tears and packed a bag, common sense started to sneak in and I cancelled the appointment - phew.

3 DC's in and sooooo much has changed!

I was completely stumped when the time came for me to give ds1 His First Bath in hospital. Do you have to move their tiny balls about to wipe right down into the creases? How do you get at their bottom when they are lying on it? The midwife who came to help me must have thought I had a screw loose.

I couldn't bring myself to stop sterilising ds1's bottles even when he changed to cow's milk. In fact, I only stopped doing so when dd2 changed to cow's milk and I managed to go cold turkey with both their bottles! I agree with other posters that you can go quite steriliser mad.

I have also woken children on occasion to check that they were breathing. You realise you've gone too far when they are old enough to ask why you are waking them up...

Also done that thing of carrying the baby bath full of water, water sloshing about the place and making a dreadful mess. I have no idea why I was carrying it, or why I thought it might be even a vaguely sensible thing to do.

jellyandcake lol I know exactly what you mean though. My mother in laws perfume was so vile and she'd kiss them constantly (which I also hated because I can't stand her). My mum smokes so when all 3 were newborns i was ILL whenever she held them. We regularly got into arguments about it.

TBH you can't really without looking nuts. Im on your page but nah, can't be done.

It will be over and done before you know it then you can have your lovely baby smelling 'new baby' within a few hours again.

These are really making me laugh!

I phoned the maternity ward when DD1 was a week old and told them I was worried she was sleeping too much (she'd slept in peoples lovely warm arms all afternoon). The midwife laughed and told me I was very lucky!

She became a hideous napper, I wish I had enjoyed it more!

When MIL first babysat PFB overnight at 6 months old, I wrote detailed instructions re his care...and laminated it!

Appearing with warmed cucumber sticks is GENIUS. I love that you have it on video, forever

I am going to look forward to seeing DH be PFB with our babies... I will try not to interfere too much and instead record it on video