19 kids and counting / safety

[MommyTVFan]

Hi
Followed Sue and Noel Radford and family on our tv programmes & see they have a new show on tomorrow (29/12/16).

Something I don't get is child safety in this and other larger families.

I mean I had 3 under 7 and I watch 2.5y old all the time, even when he is in older siblings room as there's bunk beds etc and even dressing up clothes can be dangerous

I know the Radford's have super high bunk beds and they always have around 4 kids under 6y I wonder how they supervise them? Or do you think kids like these and in other larger families are in hospital much more often ?

My dad was one of 11 and always said the older children where expected to watch the younger ones. He had an awful scar on his arm from getting his arm pulled through an electric mangle when he was 5.

I was pearl clutching at the amount of sex talk in this programme. Sue giggling with her girls about "sex advice", she sounded like a school girl really. Noel saying about having to close the windows when they DTD because of the noise Sue makes, their kids are going to be watching this!

I follow most of them on FB, their son Chris is expecting his first baby, there has been no mention of this on FB at all (apart from Sophie) I think they are not on speaking terms as he has said a few things before about being kicked out of the house.

I almost don't believe that Noel had a vasectomy and then a reversal. I'm sure they would have mentioned this before.

I know you should live and let live but imagine if we all had 19 kids? Over my dead body. The country is on it's knees as it is.

I know the thread is asking re safety and large families though...I guess it takes a good routine, a family that works as a team and a bit of luck!

Sue giggling with her girls about "sex advice", she sounded like a school girl really

Yes, I get the impression that she has never really grown up. She can't really have had a childhood- imagine being pregnant at 13 and giving birth at 14 by your 18-year old boyfriend. Maybe she is trying to live vicariously through her kids, but either way, it's not good for those children. This is not the same as people who have 6 children- these people have nearly 20 kids. In a lot of nurseries and schools there is a higher adult to child ratio than in this family. It's a shame that the kids can never get proper one to one time with their parents because they are constantly looking after a newborn (or shagging, it seems)

Noel seems rather adamant on keeping Sue upduffed. I wonder what is going on there?

Yes I saw a different side of Noel tonight, I always got the impression it was Sue who was the baby/pregnancy obsessed one but tonight it seemed to be all Noel
And he was quite odd and creepy about it

I'm seeing them both in a different light, they sounded like randy teens. I know they heavily edit these things but Sue just seemed so immature constantly too, she was really one of the kids. I actually felt sorry for them and the kids.

I wonder if they have fresh PJs every night and change all the bed linen 1-2 times a week in true MN style.

Op you sound a bit neurotic , I have seven dc including 2.5 year old twins. Only two dc have ever been in a and e for an accident. One dc is hypermobile and one dyspraxic without those health issues their accidents would never have happened.
I don't follow my 2.5 year olds around in case of random nail varnish or Elsa dress up incidents.

Happy actually in a previous show they said they bath the youngest ones every night (although they were put to bed in only a nappy) and Sue apparently changes beds every week. This programme is actually the first one that hasn't outlined Sue's daily housework routine.

The babies sleep in only a nappy? Even in winter?!

Noel is a creep. He is basically a paedo and famous for it really. Disgusting. I think they both have issues.

Oh my goodness... watching it now
Just got to the bit with the photos of Sue with their first baby, and she says "I look about 12!" Yeh, well you were only 14...
Feel particularly sorry for the girls who seem to take on the childcare duties...

I suppose regarding safety the older ones must watch the younger ones. I imagine the house is already chaotic so any mess isn't massively noticed. I feel desperately sad for the kids though.

The babies sleep in only a nappy? Even in winter?!

I assume they usually sleep in pj's but I think it was the door handle removal episode where it showed Noel putting the little ones straight from the bath (with wet hair) into their cots with only a nappy on. Maybe it was the summer?

Sue is always going on about how much the kids want more babies but they unanimously all said they didn't want more. It seems that a few of them have had serious bullying issues in the past and I doubt this programme is going to help much.

They both seem very immature, their kids are acting older than then are, and with more common sense.

YY to creepy Noel.

It fucking pisses me off that they gloss over the fact that Sue first fell pregnant at thirteen, well below the age of consent.

It seems as though the older kids do a huge amount of childcare and if you look closely, their house is a run down shithole. They posted a picture on Facebook of two of the boys asleep in a suitcase the other day

The house is very run down, there was a hole in the wall where the wood was showing, and the skirts looked shabby, but you would expect that in a house with 19 kids and not much time or money to do diy. Both of them are putting themselves and their wishes first, not one thought to the kids they already have. Poor kids kids being born into all that.

Sue acts as though she's still a teenager. She seems very young and a lot of the girls seems more mature than she does. Noel is creepy with his whole "baby making is a great hobby"

And seven - although 7 child is a large family, it's still much small than 19! If you have two adults that's only one adult to 3-4 children max. She also has one every year almost so 5 under 5 or close too, plus anoth 10+ children

I'd really love to know how they deal with things like any of the children having some additional needs like needing speech therapy or other therapies, GP appointments etc. How does Sue meet a teacher to discuss a school issue or manage dental visits etc. If a child is struggling academically, being bullied at school, I could go on, just how do Noel and Sue even have time to recognise it, never mind deal with it.
I would guess that her parents must be very heavily involved in their care, as well as the older kids doing their fair share of 'babysitting' too. I struggle to manage the above with 3, so it just doesn't make sense to me that it can be achieved with their children.

The biggest thing I've always thought about us that effectively she's trapped.

She can't physically manage without him. Not only does he look exhausted and run down to the point he honestly looks like he could just drop one day with exhaustion and end up in hospital. But she cannot do the basic task of getting her kids to school without him.

So even if she was miserable as sin or wanted to run for the hills.

She can't.

It's that lack of any peace that would drive me mental. Most people have a few children, either close so after 5 years all out of baby Zone, or with a few years gap so just one baby at a time. Either way when you have a noisy toddler or non sleeping baby you think, well it's not going to be forever. Well for them it is! 26+ years of constant newborns, constant masses of kids, constant potty training. Madness.

My youngest (of just 2), is now 5, it's wonderful that they now don't need me every second of the day. I love doing stuff with him, playing, and reading and chatting. But I don't miss wiping his bum or having to go with him to the toilet, or wiping his mouth constantly, or feeding him or similar.

I've watched every one of these and noted that Sue always has her hair sorted! this time it's Ballyage? how does she get time? i only have two and my roots are a mess...

I digress. I can't imagine being pg every year of my life. I saw in a previous show that Noel was driving this. Though they are both obsessed. One of the older girls said her classmates called Sue Baby Canon.

My dad is one of eight, brought up by a single mother with no money. The kids fended for themselves whlle nan slaved at work. The Radfields never seem short of cash.

The Oz coue were weird too. Calling them Mr & Mrs. bet they refer to each other as mother and fatger.