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Health and safety gone mad!

(33 Posts)
jane987 Fri 12-Jan-18 14:09:02

I have just been to all the charity shops on my local high street hoping to buy a potty for DGS. None available and I was told in several shops they are not allowed to sell them for health and safety reasons.
I think this is crazy given the call to reduce the amount of plastic were are disposing of in the environment and I am not of a mind to add to this by buying a new potty to have as a spare at our house.
I know of no bacteria/virus that can withstand a good dose of bleach and or boiling water so what is the problem with ‘elf ‘n safety. The same charity shops are happy to sell soft toys which are a lot more dubious in my mind.
I shall have to try a nearby new sale or e bay I guess unless anyone in the HP4 post code has a spare potty for sale.

Grannyguitar Sat 13-Jan-18 20:29:42

In the 70's I worked for Social Services, and one of my jobs was issuing aids. The car park was a fair walk from the office, and I hated walking up the busy road with raised toilet seats. Many a hoot and a chortle from a lorry driver!

NfkDumpling Sat 13-Jan-18 19:54:11

Tried taking the car seats to our local woman’s refuge first midgey, with a load of other stuff. They weren’t able to take them either.

Jalima1108 Sat 13-Jan-18 17:52:34

MamaCaz I have only just realised what I said blush

Oh dear, a little stool so that DGC could stand on it to wash their hands.
Which I now use to reach things out of cupboards (waiting for it to give way each time I use it!).

Yes, one used twice pram mattress and one hardly used JL cot mattress lingering around here too.

CDs or DVDs can become offensive weapons if snapped in two as well - so it is odd that you can buy them when you go through to Duty Free.

MissAdventure Sat 13-Jan-18 17:44:38

You could strangle them with the sleeves of a jumper! Ambush them with a quilt cover!

MamaCaz Sat 13-Jan-18 17:41:13

Jalima1108
I did buy a set of potty and little stool

Jalima,that post is still making me chuckle - I am picturing a potty that came with a little poo! grin

In response to the OP, though, I agree. It reminds me of the fairly recent policy of several well known charity shops of no longer selling knitting needles. The argument is that they could be used as a weapon against the staff. Yet knives (basic cutlery) is still widely available in both charity shops and regular shops. I don't get it!

MawBroon Sat 13-Jan-18 14:06:26

Raised toilet “thrones” are available through SS OT departments. Around here a company called Millbrook Health Care are the providers
I understand everything is scrupulously steam cleaned before being issued.

midgey Sat 13-Jan-18 13:56:43

A local women’s refuge might be very grateful for things a charity may not want.

Cold Sat 13-Jan-18 13:52:25

You can get a basic potty from IKEA for £2 and a "posher" one for £6

Luckygirl Sat 13-Jan-18 09:07:51

The Red Cross no longer supply used raised toilet seats on loan. You can buy one from them at a very reasonable price though. A "One Bottom" policy I guess!

loopyloo Sat 13-Jan-18 08:22:16

Do try Freecycle. People are often very grateful for quite used things.

OldMeg Sat 13-Jan-18 08:13:01

Second-hand mattresses could increase the risk of cot death, experts have warned. The risk is increased if the mattress was previously used by a child from another home, according to research.

NfkDumpling Sat 13-Jan-18 07:42:35

No cot mattresses either Bluebelle! I could not find a home for a hardly used cot-bed mattress - and two car seats in good condition had to go into landfill too. Apparently I could have sold them at a car boot sale, and I have now discovered a local on-line car boot on Facebook which would have been very useful.

We live in a market town with good footfall outside our house and usually anything we want to re-home vanishes very quickly if we put it by the gate with a 'Free' sign on it. But not the car seats or the mattress (which could have been re-used for something else). Very surprising, but I assume parents want new for their offspring.

Have you tried Mumsnet Local Jane?

BlueBelle Sat 13-Jan-18 07:19:54

We sell potties in our charity shop usually £2 for the ‘posh’ ones I ve never had one come in that looked even remotely used ......however there are a number of things we can’t sell and the list is increasing
No fancy dress since Claudia Winklemans child got burnt
No high chairs, prams, or pushchairs for safety reasons but we can sell cots, Moses baskets on stands, and travel cots !!!
No duvets for cleanliness no sleeping bags (although both are totally cleanable /washable)
No kids bikes
If something is washable or cleanable there is absolutely no reason for not selling it or passing it on how can a plastic potty cause a problem if you can put it is soapy water obviously we would never sell anything that looked well used but I ve never had a dirty potty come into the shop

Christinefrance Sat 13-Jan-18 06:53:24

I remember as a student nurse putting all the metal bedpans in the stereliser, they were then too hot to use so we had to get new ones from the store cupboard ?

Jalima1108 Fri 12-Jan-18 23:20:39

Oh good, they should have potties in Aldi the, well done GillT57!
Although I accepted a 2nd hand one (hardly used) I knew exactly where it had come from, it had been bleached then dettoxed again by me; I wouldn't buy one from a charity shop.

GillT57 Fri 12-Jan-18 22:25:55

Aldi have baby and toddler week next week, equipment at brilliant prices. Although I understand your logic, I would not buy a second hand potty.

jane987 Fri 12-Jan-18 21:24:55

Yep. I have scrubbed many a bed pan myself as a nurse from the pre disposable bedpan generation of nurses and a horrible job it was too.

Jalima1108 Fri 12-Jan-18 19:56:15

Well, JL has a sturdy looking one for £5.95, although there are more expensive ones online, all singing, all dancing.

The JL one looks as if it would do the job.

Jalima1108 Fri 12-Jan-18 19:54:19

I don't know, my neighbour gave me one for the DGC, well-scrubbed and I knew whose bottoms had been on it so was quite happy for the DGC to use it.
I bought the set from Lidl because it had a toddler toilet seat and a stool as well. As soon as DGD saw the toilet seat she refused to use the potty - progress.

durhamjen Fri 12-Jan-18 19:51:00

How much would you expect to pay for a second-hand potty?

granfromafar Fri 12-Jan-18 19:30:10

Jane - Have you tried Freecycle or Freegle?. I'm sure I've seen them advertised on our local group. Can't see the problem with using second hand ones. We all use toilets that other people have sat on don't we?

ElaineI Fri 12-Jan-18 18:34:24

DGS went straight to child seat on toilet - he would not contemplate a potty! I wouldn't buy a second hand one - yuck - reminds me of the re-usable bedpans I had to scrub with Thompsons cleaner on night duty as a student nurse!

Bridgeit Fri 12-Jan-18 15:56:33

Ohhps sorry crossed threads!!

Bridgeit Fri 12-Jan-18 15:55:35

That's true,LyndaW, it will come & it will go.Also sad to say there are still people in the world with little or no clothes.?

LyndaW Fri 12-Jan-18 15:51:51

Seems so wasteful, doesn't it?

Actually Bridgeit, that's not quite right. They may already be manufactured but buying one will only mean the manufacturer will make more to replace that is bought. If we stop buying unnecessarily, then suppliers will stop making unnecessarily.