Are paint fumes dangerous? And am I allowed to paint?

[Dollydaydream97]

So I'm sharing a room with my baby at my mums house ( long story as to why) but yes and I'm due in 6 weeks and I know that's the cut off time in terms of safety for the baby when they are here as the fumes will have gone by then but am I allowed to even be around them myself and most of all can I take part in the painting process? I wa s only going to use the mini rollers and do what I can reach on the walls and family will do the high bits and glossing ? Has anyone painted before in pregnancy? And also what on earth do I do worst case scenario if she comes early and comes home before the 6 week safe period is up! I know there is a lot more to worry about with a early baby but I'm just wondering what I would do? I understand probably shouldn't of left it this late but housing situations have changed rather sudden

Why aren't you using water based paint?

What 6 week safe period?

I'm sure plenty of women paint in pregnancy with no adverse effects, it wasn't something that worried me!

Don't paint the skirting boards until you are ready to give birth. It brought on labour for 2 of mine.

I’m only 9 weeks but I painted our downstairs toilet yesterday!

I just about decorated my full house whilst heavily pregnant, there was hardly anything else to do.
The only incident was when I got stuck on top of a wardrobe and wait for dh to get me down.

I wasn't aware there was a 6 week period with little babies either. There are probably paints that have very low volume fumes etc now.

I'm just using wilkinsons own brand in shade of pink and then a white silk ? I'm not sure what the difference is between water based ect? Never really done the painting thing before as I'm not the best sorry @BlueBug45
@Flisspaps I was told by a family member to not paint 6 weeks before the baby is here apparently the fumes are dangerous or something ? Could be untrue but I guess I'm just going off what I was told 😂
@frenchfancy ?!? Ow god really ! My mum was going to do this ? Does this mean I should avoid the fumes then for a few days?

@GingerFoxInAT0phat
Ow god 🙈 At least you done it though how did you get up there ! 😂

fumes are not dangerous and of course you can paint.

Paint used to contain lead about a million years ago. So unless you're sanding down very old existing paintwork it shouldn't be a problem.

I think it's more with the removal of old paint that there are issues as pp says. You should make sure the room is well ventilated though and take breaks for fresh air regularly, and I'd avoid doing the glossing as gloss fumes are worse (stronger) than normal wall paint.

@MrsMoastyToasty
Nope just painting a pale pink over 2 white walls then the white on the ceiling 😌

There is no risk from water base paints which most people use to decorate walls and ceilings nowadays and have done for the last 20 odd years.

Oil based paints let off fumes so there is a risk there, but now when people say they are doing "gloss" the paints still tend to be water based.

Your relative's advice is from the early 1990s or before when people tended to use solvent or oil based paints to decorate rooms. The fumes would make you feel sick even if you weren't pregnant.

I’m 17 weeks today and have been painting two of our bedrooms with valspar paint from b and q, i also looked up online about painting and spoke to my midwife and she said aslong as u have the windows open and take regular rests u should be fine. Me and hubby are finishing off the babies room this evening. Only taken us 3 weeks on and off hehe

Paint contains MI as a preservative. I'm horribly allergic to it and I wouldn't want to have a newborn breathing it in. Can't see it hurting a baby in utero though.

How do I know if the paint I have is water based? So sorry if that sounds so thick but I wouldn't a clue

If you can wash the brushes with water then it is water based, if you need to use white spirit to wash the brushes then it is oïl base.

is wasn't the fumes that set off the labour, it was the position you have to be in to paint the skirting boards.

There's a little round globe shaped thing on the back of all pots of paint. If it's blue or green it is almost certainly water based, if it's orange or red then it's oil based. It states the VOC content of the paint

It is really not a problem. Open a window.

If it's for walls them it will be water based. If it's for wood/ metal them it is more likely to be oil based

This is what the NHS says

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2531.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=131

Also nothing will cause you to go into labour unless your body is ready.

If sitting in a particular position worked, the NHS wouldn't waste their time on induction drugs etc.

I think you'll be fine with emulsion bought from Wilkos, it's very likely to be water based which is far less harmful than solvent based paints.
Solvent based paints are rare these days.

I used some white Wilko paint a few months ago and the fumes smelt really bad for quite a few days, so don't be surprised if it smells bad when first painted.

I used dulux paint the same week as the wilko one and it hardly smelt after a day- although I don't think that necessarily means there are less fumes.

I'd keep windows and doors open as much as possible.

We painted when I was about 34 weeks last time. As long as you have the windows open and don't actually sleep in there for a couple of days then you will be fine 😊

Low VOC is what you need

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041201400261X
"Prenatal VOC exposure and redecoration are related to wheezing in early infancy"