which generally " accepted" parenting protocols do you not go along wiht

[codJane]

here

cleanign babies teeth - never really bothered

weighing

i'm just following what my mum used to do, me and my brother tuned out great so she did something right, and i agree NURSEYEMMA that all children are individuals, what works for dd might not work for my next child so just do whats best for them, with love and caring they'll be fine

Washing hands before dinner, I always forget that!

stairgates, waste of time, had three kids all learnt to get downstairs backwards on there tummies from the age of 1. when we went on holiday with 3 other families to a cottage with three staircases our kids were the only ones that didnt fall down 'em!

Also no cupboard locks or plug covers, did we have them when we were young??

ds 1.1yrs and still bf. in our house:
did bf exclusively til 6 mos
do bath most nights as he has fun & sleeps better after bath
do wear clean clothes every day & clean pyjamas most nights unless i've not done the washing
do not have a baby monitor
do not have locks on cupboards
have a baby gate that's propped against wall, unused
feed ds small portion of whatever we'e eating unless it's beef vindaloo or something -often give him extra veggies though, and sometimes YES they are from a JAR
do let him watch some telly
do let him nurse til he falls asleep
do put him in his cot to sleep around 8pm but then co-sleep after he wakes around 12-1am

NEVER put him on a feeding schedule, always fed on demand
always wash clothes in same soap i use
never used wipes at home - cloths are fine
let him pick his food up off the floor & eat it
let him eat grass, pine cones etc as long as it's nothing too dirty/something he could choke on
let him climb on furniture/stand on the table
had him in the swings at the park at 4 mos, propped up with a blanket
cleaning teeth consists of letting him chew on his toothbrush til he's bored & throws it away - won't let him use it to dig in the cat box, though!

I'm a bit of a lurker here but felt so much better for reading this thread I had to contribute!

Never bothered with locks on cupboards, just moved the dangerous stuff up to the top ones. Once DS realised there was nothing exciting in there he didn't bother. When we visited friends with locks on cupboards he spent whole weekend trying to open them and see what was inside...

Let DS climb stairs, etc. - taught him how to do it properly and we've never had a problem (DS now 3)

Picking food off floor. We call DD (12 months) 'the hoover'...

Tried to sterilise spoons, bowls when weaning DS but kept scalding myself with boiling water so gave up and never bothered with DD. Also weaned both at 4 and a bit months as returned to work p/t when they were 6 months and couldn't expect nursery to do it.

Hairbrushing. Both my kids have bed-hair all day. Might do something about DDs when it gets a bit longer

Clothes - major celebration if it will do another day. As if I haven't got enough washing to do!

lol i got loads:
dont bath my kids every night
if were not going out i leave them in their pjs
never done the baby swimming thing
didnt have moniters for them
dont use stairgates anymore

Babywipes - a rip-off with all kinds of chemicals in them - what's wrong with a wet flannel or water for grubby hands and faces and wet cotton wool for dirty bottoms?

Not letting them eat nuts etc - my nearly 2 year old eats things with nuts in and hasn't choked yet, she also loves olives and cherries and is quite capable of taking the stones out.

I've thought about this thread for days. I'm afraid I do all of the things you don't
Bathe every day
Brush teeth twice a day
Have safety gates
Have cupboard locks

Stressteddy wanders off muttering " Imust chill out, I must chill out...."

Stopped sterilising when I realised my baby was frequently licking the dog and vice versa.
The first thing my husband fed ds was bread and nutella.
The list goes on...

I can't believe this thread.
Who cares whether people decide to bath their kids every day/every other day?
I agree with chocolate peanut: some of you just seem to want to boast about how irresponsible you are. Smoking in the presence of your kids,breastfeding whilst drunk, leaving your kids unobserved in the bath and not cleaning their teeth are not clever.
I await the brickbats---

I don't think most people are boasting- it's just nice to be honest once in a while, a refreshing change from the nanny state we live in.

Although I don't necessarily agree with all of them (esp smoking), I do think this thread is good. I was raised with very little health and safety in mind, yet I seem to have survived unscathed.

drink wine while breastfeeding
no daily baths
hand washing rare!
took down stairgate when dd was 17 mths
eat food from floor
babies barefoot in garden
chewing toothbrush for teeth cleaning
very little safety proofing
allow 2 year old to play with small objects (never puts them in her mouth) and climb wherever she wants
Microwaved milk

i could go on......

Does anyone know how long it takes alcohol to get into breast milk?

I've never known and always convince myself 'it takes ages' if I'm feeding ds while having a drink and 'it's straight away - it's gone now' if I'm feeding him with a hangover!

Just newish here but glad to see that I am not on my own with regards to being slack upon occasion though I am more relaxed with DS than wben DD was born but still do the sterilising for DS (not DD) nightly baths and 2x a day toothbrushing for DD but not for DS as delicate skin and no teeth.

Nearly died laughing at some of the comments and absolutely howled at Flum in the bath - thanks for that on such a wet drippy day.

Slightly irrelevant, I know, but as we are taking about 'parent protocol', I still give my DS (20mths) a bedtime bottle of milk (about 9oz) and most nights he drinks the lot.

My philosophy is that he obviously wants it, if he's drinking it. He eats well during the day too so I suppose I've just answered my own question!

BUT, I'm wondering if there is something I haven't considered re: the bedtime bottle, such as will it be difficult to wean him off of it(if this is necessary) and also, isn't this horrendously bad for his teeth? He has it last thing at night (after his bath and teeth are brushed so it wouldn't be practical to brush his teeth straight afterwards because he is usually almost asleep and the trip to bathroom would wake him up.

What to do, what to do...

Or shall I just think - if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

no stairgates or cupboard locks (yet)

not v good with handwashing before eating

toothbrushing mainly involves dd sucking toothpaste off brush

have resigned myself to fact that dd will consume dirt when in the garden

drank (small amount of ) wine while breastfeeding

I do bath dd every night though...it's a bit of a ritual and we enjoy it

(smugmumofboys...point of dreamfeed is that you don't wake the baby...although in our case this only worked for a little while...was amazed it worked at all though)

Didn't do (and still don't or won't):
Sterilising
Nightly baths
routine - never got the hang of them!
Bed sharing
listen to what other ppl told me I should do!

Do:
Have fun and makin it up as I go along.

Being a parent can be hard enough without having to listen to all the BS that the so called 'professionals' like to spout at us!

OMG it does make you wonder how we all survived long enough to become parents ourselves! Not brushing teeth, washing hand eating food off the floor OMG the absolute horror!!!! We should all be punished for allowing our children to grow up properly!

despite popular opinions saying not to do some things, i allow:

• running round in barefeet in garden
• baths every 2-3 days
• picking up spilt food off floor
• fish n chips on fridays
• staying up later on saturday nights

i have a philosophy that kids need germs to build and immune system up, i never use anti-bac unless iv used raw chicken!!

oh yes i enjoyed my tipple while breastfeeding. happy mum = happy kids.

Yes drank wine whilst breastfeeding, expert opinion seems to be divided on this one. Found pregnancy abstinence torturous so couldn't wait to have the ODD glass. Even the do-gooders do this in secret I find!

Smoking in front of kids really unfair, taking it too far.

Bath fequency personal choice, no one ever died from being a bit grubby! Me and my little'un are both up and dressed early in the day however otherwise I feel my lifes slipping away from me and I have a horror of towelling dressing gowns!

i think its disgusting to smoke and drink around your kids, why on earth have children in the first place if your just going to subject the to it, drinking whilst pregnant and breastfeeding damages your unborn and living child, i dont even need to mention smoking. having the odd drink once your child has gone to bed and wont feed until the morning is one thing, feeding whilst your drunk is disgracefull