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AIBU

Selling more unnecessary stuff to mums?

(54 Posts)
phoenix Mon 17-Apr-17 20:44:48

Evening all, just watched (yet again) that ad for "special" nappies for when babies start to wriggle and crawl.(ok, they are sort of nappy pants, I'm just imagining the mess if you try to pull them down after they have been pooed in!)

Goodness knows how we managed without all these things, let alone all the dettol anti bacterial/sterile type stuff!

Do the ads seem to try to make parents germ phobic? Surely once babies are crawling it is impossible to keep them in a "bacteria" free environment.

Seems that there is a potentially huge market there, and there must be some mums going for it.

Mary59nana Tue 18-Apr-17 13:40:10

Totally agree with you Vampirequeen?They also feel the need to give details
Really OTT ad

vampirequeen Tue 18-Apr-17 13:23:13

Apparently we should now all feel guilty and embarrassed by the smell we may cause and people will judge us by it because it would appear that no one else's smells.

Mary59nana Tue 18-Apr-17 13:18:33

I was absolutely gobsmacked watching a TV ad Promoting a spray to use in the toilet before we go for a Poo .... How on earth did we manage before ? Another way for the companies concerned to brainwash us into parting with our pennies

grandMattie Tue 18-Apr-17 12:42:46

M0nica, mee too, I have a range of skin allergies. I don't boil, I use very mild soap pwder.

But another alternative is to soak underwear in Milton/Nappysan and then wash normally. That should get rid of the "thrush" yeasts and some fungi. Bacteria are less affected, but get removed by dilution - the amount of water used in washes/rinses.

Nah, these sprays are a) to panic mothers in particular, that they don't keep their children/houses "clean enough"; b) to sell more and more antibacterial products. the bugs then become resistant to such products, adding to the range of drug-resistant bacteria. sad

petra Tue 18-Apr-17 12:30:12

How are we all living longer with all these germs around?

barbaralynne Tue 18-Apr-17 12:19:35

Don't know how my eldest survived being born in India where she learnt to crawl inside and outside in the garden and put her fingers in her mouth frequently! And she used to crawl around the eye hospital where I worked too! I always lived by the "peck of dirt" mantra.

goldengirl Tue 18-Apr-17 11:53:39

If there is a chink in a possible market then you can bet your life someone will fill it. It's becoming a crazy situation and many fall for it. Luckily my family is not frightened of bacteria and keep coming round to my house quite happily grin

Abonet Tue 18-Apr-17 11:38:40

Interesting moxeyns. Thnaks. I didnt know that.

moxeyns Tue 18-Apr-17 11:29:08

People who get frequent UTIs might benefit from a diabetes check...

M0nica Tue 18-Apr-17 11:20:44

The anti-bac stuff is recommended because if you wash clothes at 30 degrees the water is not hot enough to get, underwear in particular, hygienically clean. So you use the anti bac to do what the hot water used to do.

As I have a range of skin allergies I continue to do what I have always done; wash at 60 and keep added chemicals to a minimum.

LouP Tue 18-Apr-17 11:12:28

Dear Phoenix, you tear the sides of the nappy pants and then it just becomes an ordinary nappy that you take off in the normal way.

MawBroon Tue 18-Apr-17 10:03:06

Just that. Words of wisdom.

Abonet Tue 18-Apr-17 08:37:29

What do you mean MawBroon by !Always a good idea to wash underwear. hmm hmm

If you spend time with older people you get to learn what temperature they use to wash their clothes, including yes, their underwear.

Christinefrance Tue 18-Apr-17 08:26:38

I do that as well vampirequeen, also when the machine is on a cleaning cycle after I have washed dog blankets.
Manufacturers are always looking for ways of parting us from our cash, we have to decide what is necessary and what is not. I am a bit of a sucker for new products but do my own testing before buying things more than once.

MawBroon Tue 18-Apr-17 08:23:37

I often wonder whether it is a good idea for people who get frequent UTIs, to wash their underwear at 30 deg
Always a good idea to wash underwear. hmm hmm
BTW is the temperature of their knicker wash the sort of thing you ASK people??? .

Welshwife Tue 18-Apr-17 08:06:54

I think anything more than normal cleaning of most of the house is not necessary unless someone in the house has a bug such as norovirus. That makes you feel so awful it is good to keep the number of sufferers as low as possible. Then a cloth with bleach is as good as anything to keep everything washed/wiped over. If you are scrupulous with that it can keep the bug from infecting everyone in the house.
I have to admit to using wipes in the bathroom upstairs for the floor as it saves carrying mops and buckets up the stairs!

vampirequeen Tue 18-Apr-17 08:05:39

I use the anti bacteria stuff for the towel/flannel/tea towel wash rather than boiling. It saves money. I don't see the point of using it in any other wash as the clothes start to collect bacteria the minute the leave the machine anyway and most aren't dangerous to humans with a proper immune system.

A lot of things are sold by scaring people. We have lived and evolved with bacteria so our immune system deals with them. When my DDs were young a fridge cleaning product was brought out. All my friends rushed out to buy it. I didn't. Not surprisingly my DDs had no more illnesses than any other normal children.

Abonet Tue 18-Apr-17 07:41:09

I often wonder whether it is a good idea for people who get frequent UTIs, to wash their underwear at 30 deg.

Chewbacca Mon 17-Apr-17 23:15:16

grin Tizliz I suspect you're right!

Tizliz Mon 17-Apr-17 23:12:10

chewbacca this has come about because we are told to wash at 30 deg, which doesn't kill germs. So you save money on your electric to spend on special products. ?

hildajenniJ Mon 17-Apr-17 22:06:50

How on earth is anyone going to build up any immunity to germs and bacteria if all our homes are so clean and sterile? There's an old saying that I hear myself trotting out to my DD when I see her using the anti bacterial spray. "A man has to eat a peck of dirt before he dies." We are all far too clean these days.

Cold Mon 17-Apr-17 22:06:31

Sorry are you referring to pull-up pants in the OP. They are not a new thing my own kids used these 20+ years ago. You don't pull them down after a poo - the sides are designed to be ripped along the seam. They are useful for potty training as the toddler can do it themselves - yet it is not a disaster if they are out and about

Chewbacca Mon 17-Apr-17 21:46:16

Maybe Abonet. Suppose if you're up to your ears in silage, or worse, the last thing you're bothered about is an anti bacced door handle! But I suspect it's more to do with selling households a product that they don't really need but plays into their concerns or anxieties of having a "sterile" home. And young mums with babies and toddlers are targeted for that market.

Abonet Mon 17-Apr-17 21:38:02

Is it a town thing versus a rural thing? The more you live an outdoor life, the less likely you are to be so concerned about "germs"?

Chewbacca Mon 17-Apr-17 21:18:42

Slightly off topic but I'm perplexed by the current adverts that advocate putting anti bacterial liquid into your washing machine as well as the usual detergent. Surely the average family doesn't get so dirty these days that their clothes have to be washed and anti bacced? And why do door handles in an ordinary home have to be wiped down with anti bacterial solution too?