Decorating while pregnant

[kbaby]

Hello.
Im 37 weeks pregnant and have started to decorate the baby's room. This has included filling gaps in the wall and then sanding it back, painting and glossing etc.

Does anyone know if this is safe to do? Ive made sure the room is well ventilated but im worried about the sanding bit as I may breathe in the dust. It doesnt really say much in any of the books I have.
Thanks

Not sure whether it is safe or not, and I am also interested - nesting instinct etc. I guess for sanding, you can get a dust mask and goggles so that should cut out inhaling etc. I have know lots of people to do home improvements, especially painting when they were expecting.

I'd definitely wear a dust mask and keep the windows wide open.

I did the same as you at around 35 weeks, and excercisaed normal caution, ie kept the room well ventilated and wore a mask (cheapo from local DIY store). The only stupid mistake I made was that of standing on a swivel (!) office chair to do the high up bits, unsuprisingly I fell off. Both baby and I were fine, apart from being a little shaken. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend doing anything similar !!!

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I decorated up until approx 39 weeks - this included filling, sanding, glossing, hanging curtains, stripping walls.
You will know your own limits, take it steady, do everything in small portions!! take lots of breaks and if painting open a window.
It kept me sane in the weeks leading up to the birth and keeping active makes for a great birth.
Keep well and enjoy

Kbaby, I decorated our bathroom when just over 35 weeks and dd was born the next day. Will never know if it was a factor but I will not be doing any decorating this time round!

kbaby i have decorated like never before during this entire pregnancy. includes, sanding, stripping, waxing, staining, glossing, filling, painting..............god knows. am now 38 weeks as you know love! and all is ok. to be honest never seriously considered it might not be ok until about recently. have kept doors and windows open and wore a face mask most of time, but now not sure whether using electric sander to sand plastering is a good idea. really want to get this job finished b4 babs and not so worried about dust (mask) but vibrations!!!!! anyone? dont worry kbaby.

I do lots of this kind of stuff in my normal life and have gratefully received pregnancy as an excuse to cry off. But would always wear a face mask of some sort for sanding back fillers because the dust is so fine. It's prob. not that likely to affect baby inside, just to bother your lungs! It's just sort of chalky stuff so v. benign in itself but lungs don't do well on it.

Any more serious dust or vapours ... solvent based or whatever... you can get an organic vapour mask from builders' supply merchants but I'd really question the wisdom of working with those during pg if you can avoid it.

I was worried about vibrations too Egypt - in retrospect - after using a compressor and a hammer action drill. I don't think it did any harm but it just didn't feel right. I was going to ask you if you were using hammer action drill when you were talking about your DIY adventures before, but didn't want to worry you if you weren't worried!

Have decided for now that the worry is a reason not to do vibration type jobs but not sure of actual dangers if any.

Must give you a little gem of advice my MIL gave me when I was 5 months pg. I wasn't decorating but rearranging displays in my classroom and stretching up a lot. I mentioned this to her in passing and she was horrified and told me you should NEVER stretch up when you're pg as you'll end up wrapping the cord around the baby's neck!!
Old wives' tales? Nah, of course not! Not partic relevant but thought it'd give you a larf.

One thing to be careful of is removing old artex - the older stuff contains asbestos which is especially bad if it's sanded off. I think it is fairly safe to do with a steamer as the steam stops the dust.

I was on my hands and knees varnishing floorboards and up ladders painting ceilings right up until I was 1 week overdue with ds2.

I think you have to be careful of using gloss paint if the baby is going to be in that room within a few weeks, it takes a really long time for the odours to wear off.

Other than that ...enjoy, just make sure you are safe!