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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.

Grannyguitar Thu 20-Apr-17 11:10:02

I use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner. It neutralizes the clothes, killing any remaining froth, and leaves the clothes softer. Also, vinegar is a sterilent, so you don't need expensive dettol-y things. And no, the clothes don't smell like a chip shop!

phoenix Wed 19-Apr-17 14:52:53

Personally I found a knee on the chest pretty effective when dealing with a wriggling baby (joking)wink

The "no touch" hand wash dispensers for the home are just ridiculous, you are washing your hands, not getting ready to perform open heart surgery.

vampirequeen Wed 19-Apr-17 11:18:18

Unfortunately consumers are not very good at making rational judgements because they have been trained to be consumers by clever advertising since childhood.

grannypiper Wed 19-Apr-17 09:15:44

Clean meat never fattened a pig !

Even the companies that produce anti bac sprays admit that unless you leave it on a surface for hours it wont kill all bacteria. Saying that i use Lidl's lemon anti bac on my bathroom sink and tiles as it makes them sparkle.

Skweek1 Wed 19-Apr-17 08:58:49

I used old-fashioned nappies in my day, but did find disposables a blessing when we were going out somewhere. Did find that Napisan made the terry nappies flatter and less absorbent, but still did for 2 babies - needed new ones for 3rd (8 years later!)

thatbags Wed 19-Apr-17 08:05:11

Advertisements are aimed at making things seem at least a very good idea if not absolutely essential. It's up to consumers to make rational judgments about what they actually "need" or want.

vampirequeen Wed 19-Apr-17 07:46:11

When DD2 was about 18months she used to throw her food onto the floor every mealtime then eat it off the floor. I was worried about hygiene but my health visitor laughed and said, "Well at least she's eating." I used to put a plastic table cloth under the table so the food fell onto that. It took about 3 months to get bored of doing it. She also ate mud,the occasional worm and goodness knows what else. She was a muck magnet.

I was getting it out of perspective until one day when an elderly neighbour told me to stop worrying and be grateful. She said that a mucky child was a healthy child. Poorly children can't play and get dirty.

Total common sense.

M0nica Wed 19-Apr-17 06:35:54

I think we just didn't take much notice of allergies in the past. I had my first allergic reaction in the 1950s and had quite a bouquet of them by the mid-sixties. Mine are mainly topical or medical. I think it is unlikely hygiene was a factor.

nannynormal Tue 18-Apr-17 22:44:14

I can't use anti bacterial in my wash or toilet. We have a cess pit as we are not on main sewers and these products kill the bacteria that makes it work properly.

Grandmama Tue 18-Apr-17 19:10:42

Recently I read some research that indicated that the numerous allergies that crop up today (none of my school or college friends had allergies) are due to being over hygienic. Apparently bacteria (in the gut) counteract parasites (or is it vice versa?). Anyway they are inter-related. Wish I could remember the details. People never used to be so hygiene conscious.

Witzend Tue 18-Apr-17 18:49:55

I saw the ad you mean, OP, and the product is not the same as pull ups, whoever said that. It's 'nappy pants' for babies who wriggle too much when you're trying to put a normal nappy on.
I agree, just another item people will be persuaded that they 'need'.

I was just trying to think the other day, what we used instead of wet wipes. Cotton wool and baby lotion? My dd gets through so many wet wipes, but then she has 2 under 2. I suppose I must have got through an awful lot of cotton wool...

HurdyGurdy Tue 18-Apr-17 18:47:02

My eyes rolled so heavily that they nearly disappeared forever into the back of my head, when I saw the advert for the "non touch" hand soap dispenser thing. For the love of mike - now we have to be protected from touching the holder of the product that we are going to use to wash all those nasty germs off our hands? Why? What on earth kind of horrors will we encounter between touching the dispenser to dispense some of the liquid and rubbing it into our hands?

The phrase "saw you coming through a glass door" was never so apt!

CassieJ Tue 18-Apr-17 18:32:25

I must admit that poo spray advert is awful, but I have no problem in what it is trying to say. When you have a family member who has crohns disease and their life can be spent in the toilet, believe me the smell can be overwhelming and embarrassing for that person. So anything that can disguise the smell can only be a blessing.
Also with having crohns in the family we get very used to talking poo, nothing embarrassing about it. When you have to sit in front of a doctor and describe what your poo looks like, consistency etc, and take samples, you very quickly get over the embarrassment smile

1974cookie Tue 18-Apr-17 17:45:23

Sorry to contradict you Moxeyns, but usually one of the problems with diabetics, diagnosed or otherwise, is Thrush. This usually occurs when they have a high sugar level ( Hyperglycaemia ). It affects both men and women.
However, there are other triggers like detergent, fabric conditioner etc that can aggravate the situation.
As for a UTI, it is often triggered by dehydration. However:
It is possible to get what appears to be a UTI which is not actually an infection, but my goodness, the pain etc is no different to an infection. This can be triggered by so many things, and you would be amazed by the amount of 'triggers'.

Deedaa Tue 18-Apr-17 16:48:32

Aagh! THEIR bottoms!

Deedaa Tue 18-Apr-17 16:47:55

I'm fairly careful about bacteria because of DH's compromised immune system. Even so I tend to rely on soap and water. I do use the Dettol stuff in my washing machine if I'm washing sheets, towels and underwear.

DD used reusable nappies for her babies and wiped there bottoms with a wet cloth. Never had any problems with their skin.

Mary59nana Tue 18-Apr-17 16:32:26

I also thought the the ad was a spoof Christinefrance as it was so bad and I have only seen it while watching children tv on Channel 5 in the morning with my grandson who found it very funny ? It's a must viewed ad just for others reaction. Can't share the link from Google

gretel Tue 18-Apr-17 16:30:14

That's interesting Yorkshiregel, I am also sulphite intolerant. I drank some Prosecco one New Year's Eve and the whites of my eyes went pink. I no longer drink wine either but sulphites are also in a lot of food products.

Yorkshiregel Tue 18-Apr-17 16:18:27

moxeyns I used to get a lot of UTIs at one time. Or I thought that was what I had. It turned out that I was allergic to the sulphoids and sulphates in wine, red or white it didn't matter, that were irritating my bladder. Do not get them anymore now I stopped drinking wine.

Yorkshiregel Tue 18-Apr-17 16:15:00

Do not be tempted to clean babies bottoms with wet wipes that have a lot of chemicals in them. They can blister bottoms of sensitive souls. Some people swear by them for cleaning taps, silver and the plastic in cars. That shows you what you might be putting on your baby's bottom!

Yorkshiregel Tue 18-Apr-17 16:11:08

Children get dirty! They need to so that they develop antibodies to germs. It is not rocket science. This is just manufacturers finding other ways to make money out of us. Why apologise for something that everyone has to do? We are humans, but every living thing has the same functions when it comes to poo, wee and other body secretions.

Christinefrance Tue 18-Apr-17 15:40:42

I saw that ad for poo spray Mary, I thought it was a spoof at first because the ad was so awful.
Must admit to being a bit of a wuss about toilets being clean and smells. I know we all have the same bodily functions but I can't help being a bit anxious about it and know a lot of people who feel the same way. My husband thinks I am bonkers and can't understand it.

wot Tue 18-Apr-17 15:38:13

It should be banned.?

wot Tue 18-Apr-17 15:35:24

That anti poo ponging ad is absolutely disgusting.

M0nica Tue 18-Apr-17 13:42:42

Who are all these people crawling from stone to stone constantly embarrassed by the fact that they are perfectly normal people with their innards containing kilos of strange organisms and their skin and hair covered with them as well, who wee, poo, fart, burp, belch and shed hair and skin cells as they go, just like everyone elsegrin