Is it safe to paint a room?

[fabnforty]

Am 9 weeks and although my fourth pregnancy am filled with anxieties and obsessed with keeping myself safe!Need to get a grip but thought would ask for advice about painting. Basically need to get it done but the glossing does smell pretty strong and wanted reassurance its safe. May have to abandon if making nausea worse as nose seems extra sensitive anyway!Need some sensible girlies to advise me please.

I've painted furniture with no problem. But tbh am a bit gung ho about things like shifting furniture and painting at the best of times. At 9 weeks I would have painted a room had it needed it. But it's entirely up to you. There will be people who wouldn't dream of it I'm sure.

Theres always people who wouldn't pick up a heavy bag of shopping!I am one of those who just get on with stuff and not one to obsess about stuff normally,just thought as the opportunity was there to ask others I would do so thanks.

I'd use emulsion no problem, but I wouldn't gloss. Mainly because I bloody hate gloss paint and cannot get it on the doors and skirting without giving myself a nice shiny coat of it as well.

If you can get someone else to do it then do, only so you can have a rest and erm.. supervise them! otherwise i wouldnt worry about it, im 5 months pregnant and have been up a ladder painting my ceilings all weekend. but like someone else said i just get on with things too, so wouldnt let being pregnant stop me x

Gloss paint has nasty chemicals in it which can make you feel dizzy. It's not advised to use it yourself when pregnant because of the fumes. Emulsion is fine. But be careful whenm painting walls generally as lifting your arms high can affect your blood pressure and makes you dizzy, or even inm extreme circumstances, pass out.

I just painted our lounge with emulsion which i thought was fine, not very fumey, although the stretching which Joygirl78 just mentioned did effect me alot. With gloss there are more chemicals in it, which makes it alot more fumey, i remember painting a small cupboard with it once and it had my head spinning as if i'd been high lol, so personally i'd avoid it BUT its hard to avoid all things when you need to get something done. Try get someone else to gloss if you can :)

From reading this thread it appears that the effects of painting when pregnant are purely on the mother; and don't affect the baby.

Is that right? I was worried about painting as I thought it may effect the development/lungs/whatever else of my child. But if it's just that I may feel woozy, I can cope with that no problem!

Any idea anyone?

i have my dad painting for us at the minute.
mainly because dh is working all hours and i am too lazy sick and knackered, and gives dad as sense of being needed and useful

I'm not sure how breathing in fumes that can affect your breathing/make you faint could only have an affect on the mother, not the baby (since it's connected to our blood supply). I wouldn't underestimate the effect of feeling faint at the top of a ladder either!
Aren't there low-fume paints available to try, I'm sure I read another thread on this at some point!

Slightly different question: I am pissed off with my dh who is insisting on sleeping in the painted room (where our bed is) and it stinks (admittedly I have a blood hound nose at the best of times). Surely that isn't going to do him any good, even if he does have the door open?? I am genuinely concerned. I am on the sofa because I refuse to sleep in there, as for a start it will only make me more nauseas, irrespective of the fumes. One wall of the living room has been painted but the door is open and the paint is dry, and it doesn't smell much. The ell I can smell may be from upstairs anyway

missingmymarbles is the fresh paint in your room gloss or emulsion? If it's emulsion (ie you've done the walls) then it he probably can't even smell anything as it's not usually strong-smelling, if it's gloss then the fumes might make him feel queasy but shouldn't do him any actual harm. I'd happily sleep in a freshly emulsioned room (31w)

Continued and constant expsosure to gloss paint probably would 'affect' the baby as gigggi points out. A one-off probably would have no lasting damage. But I think it's best avoided like exposure to any nasty breathable chemical while pregnant.

Hi
Just wondering about glossing now as i have tons to do, no-one to do it as dp works stupid hours as it is. what if i wear a mask though? weve had lots of renovation work done so there are still boxes of them lying around with ventilators on, think theyre about £4 for a box from wilkinsons.

I spoke to my midwife about this last time i saw her and she mentioned there was more risk of harming the baby by being up the ladder no matter what i was doing up there, i could fall off etc. Im doing it today with the mask so surely if i smelt any fumes that would help get rid of them, also a painter friend once told me yrs ago to get rid of the smell of paint cut an onion in half and leave on a saucer in the room, it draws in the smell somehow and really worked when my mum used off paint that stunk the place out!

I'd a good look into this a couple of years ago - I worked as an industrial chemist for 10 years so I've been in contact with pretty much everything there is.

I would say have a look at the back of the paint tin. If it's got nasties in it, it should have some orange hazard warning symbols on it. There is a specific hazard rating for stuff that's toxic to unborn babies - "may cause harm to the unborn child" - and I'd be really surprised if anything that dodgy was used in paint for houses. There are other hazard warning symbols - I wouldn't worry about "flammable" or "irritant" but personally wouldn't use anything that said "harmful" as that covers a lot of different stuff.
Also, if it lists toluene in it I would give it a miss as that's definitely a dodgy one, and I think it does turn up as a solvent in like glues and paint thinners and things. If there's no warning labels on the tin, it should be fine.

Oh, and a mask won't help - it will screen out dust but the only protection from chemicals which evaporate into the air is a mask with its own air supply.

I think it's prolonged exposure to solvent based paints that is the problem. I think you'll be fine painting as a one off. I painted some furniture with eggshell paint that was pretty fumey but it was only for one day. Just avoid using white spirit/turps to clean paint off your hands...best to wear gloves. Agree that mask will only screen out dust. I'm planning on doing some spray painting next week (39 weeks) and will do it outside but with a mask to avoid breathing in particles. Late preg makes me want to DIY!!!

If you are going to do it, open all the windows and take lots of breaks in fresh air?!?!

I've been doing woodwork with satinwood paint (not a fan of gloss) and choosing water-based products.

The fumes are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - paint products/solvents will tell you on the back of the tin what percentage is in there (the big brands will have a coloured triangle; Homebase seem not to on their own-brand stuff but it's in the text. I've been using anything marked as 'minimal' so have been favouring Crown's breatheasy stuff.

No problems so far having painted two rooms - the only thing I've found is I need to take more frequent breaks as I have to make sure I don't get close to the wall and rub all the paint off with my bump! So my arms get tired quickly.

Anything involving solvents though I've had the husband doing.

thanks fliss he woke up fine this morning
it was just wall, water based emulsion from dulux so am sure it's fine. i still think it stinks and makes me feel queasy.

Blimey I can't believe how many people responded to my question!Only just checked, thanks girlies. Still not sure what to do, prob is I am the one good at glossing in my house, husband will be all wonky which will annoy the hell out of me and I wil prob end up doing it anyway!Perhaps its a time when I need to just keep it zipped and not criticise!Then again I gotta live with it a long time!To missingmymarbles you made me laugh out loud about your hubbie. My husband snores so maybe putting him in a room thats been glossed may sort it out!