Painting when pregnant

[Gems]

Hi girls

Having a discussion/arguement with a girl at work about painting/decorating when pregnant.
So we agree that glossing is out of the question but i reckon so should emulsioning the walls. She thinks i should get on with it and that it wont do baby any harm at all.

Your thoughts would be great.

Thanks xxxxx

 

[Whisper]

Uhm, i guess if the room is well ventilated enough then it wouldnt really matter. I did glossing for about uhm 6hours last week i feel fine it didnt smell too strong all the windows were open etc.

I definitely think just painting the walls would be ok.

 

[Blah11]

idk :\ my mum said she was up painting the walls of her nursery when she was 8months pregnant with me and I came out fine.

 

[tinytoes]

i've done lots of painting. i kind of assume that people used to worry as paints used to be all chemically and full of elad - not any more!

Maybe I'm wrong but i think it's fine - lets face it most of us decorate a nursery while pregnant.

 

[Gabi]

Yup. My mom too. My nursery wasn't done till about a week before I arrived and I'm fine.... not entirely normal but fine

I've been painting the nursery. As what has already been said the harmful chemicals in paint have all been removed. As long as you dont over exert yourself and the room is well ventilated I don't see a problem with it at all.

 

[Gems]

Ok, i feel very silly now !! I just pressumed as it smells so bad that it was gonna be bad for babs. The OH did our hall and landing last weekend and i had to move out for the night as it smelt so strong and that was with all the windows open.

There goes my excuse for not helping ! lol.... xx

 

[mBLACK]

There are certain types of paint etc. that can be harmful to the baby, and certain types are not. I'd ask your doctor.

 

[Jules]

I wouldn't gloss, my OH did our bedroom the other week and the smell was so strong, we moved into the spare bedroom for the night.

 

[leedsforever]

I wouldnt paint... and I really dont like the strong smell... my oh is doing it :0

 

[x-amy-x]

I did lots of glossing about a week or so before my LO was born ... she's fine and so am i

 

[Angelmouse]

Ultimately, if it needs doing then it needs doing y'know?! I would say that if you're worried by the smell then using a face mask is good alternative.

My OH was just saying about doing our skirting boards and that earlier. I think I put him off by saying that the carpet will get crappy.

 

[PeanutBean]

Don't use dodgy things like metal primer, knotting or anything that really stinks. You can buy water based gloss now (even getting it mixed to your own colour if you go to the right place) and get breatheasy type emulsion (though that's water based anyway). It's solvents that are a real problem. No paint stripper!

 

[lorrilou]

we were decorating when i was 39 - 40wks pregnant with nicole and everything was fine. Obviously dont strain yourself but i cant see it being a problem.

 

[Hayley_Kev]

i did loadsa painting whilst pregnant with my son, and iv done loadsa things you shouldnt this time round too! while pregnant with my son i decorated all upstairs, fitted a shower. people say using nail varnish is a no no too, as well as dying your hair - i did these too along with the odd glass of wine or beer! i think people who dont have kids are the ones who seem to think they know more and whats best!
the way i see things is look back at how our own parents and grandparents lived - there was no sterilisers, no warnings like there is now, not even the medication/medical equipment we have nowadays to help against problems and things - and we are all fine aint we! people in this day and age panic way too much - and what was good enough back then to me is still fine now!

 

[PeanutBean]

i did loadsa painting whilst pregnant with my son, and iv done loadsa things you shouldnt this time round too! while pregnant with my son i decorated all upstairs, fitted a shower. people say using nail varnish is a no no too, as well as dying your hair - i did these too along with the odd glass of wine or beer! i think people who dont have kids are the ones who seem to think they know more and whats best!
the way i see things is look back at how our own parents and grandparents lived - there was no sterilisers, no warnings like there is now, not even the medication/medical equipment we have nowadays to help against problems and things - and we are all fine aint we! people in this day and age panic way too much - and what was good enough back then to me is still fine now!

I'm pretty sure my parents sterilised everything by boiling it. It doesn't have to be a separate machine!

Of course the ones that weren't fine aren't having babies now lol.

 

[Hayley_Kev]

Of course the ones that weren't fine aren't having babies now lol.

what do you mean by that?

what i am saying is that back then things werent so uptight. there was no rule on when to wean,no rule on age to stop sterilising things, no rules on when to put onto cows milk ect, there was none of the panics they put upon mothers of today.

 

[PeanutBean]

what do you mean by that?

what i am saying is that back then things werent so uptight. there was no rule on when to wean,no rule on age to stop sterilising things, no rules on when to put onto cows milk ect, there was none of the panics they put upon mothers of today.

I mean that weird stuff like playing with lead toys, or whatever else, that did cause damage to kids probably means that those kids didn't grow up to be on baby and bump having babies.

I know what you're saying, things weren't so uptight, but some of the new stuff is because medicine understands things better as time goes by and the advice often changes as new things come to light. For example, in my Mum's day babies were routinely induced until they realised it was causing more problems with infant mortality than it was saving. Women used to be given iron tablets as standard because doctors realised that haemoglobin levels were in pregnancy, then they found out that we have an extra pint of blood (or however much) so they hadn't calculated the levels right and they found it wasn't necessary to give out iron tablets to everyone.

One must strike a personal balance between following guidance and what feels comfortable but it doesn't make sense to assume all new advice is not really relevant.

 

[Angelmouse]

No that's fair enough but a bit of mud under the nails is good for children. If something lives only in a sterile environment then the simplest of germs is going to cause major problems whereas if it is exposed to ammounts of said germs then the body itself learns how to protect against them.

This is standard knowledge and is the basis of the vaccination programme or immunisation whichever label you want to give it. Why then, on the other hand is there the whole panic of, "oooh everthing must be spotlessly clean, deodourised and antibacterialised!"? After all it's the adaptation of bugs to the products that are used in this that have caused the spread of untreatable ones.

We could then get on to the chemicals used in the irradication of germs etc. but maybe we'll leave that one alone for now eh?!. :wink:

 

[ryder]

I will probably being doing the nursery myself. As long as you are in a well ventilated area and you get a good quality paint then you will be fine.

 

[PeanutBean]

No that's fair enough but a bit of mud under the nails is good for children. If something lives only in a sterile environment then the simplest of germs is going to cause major problems whereas if it is exposed to ammounts of said germs then the body itself learns how to protect against them.

This is standard knowledge and is the basis of the vaccination programme or immunisation whichever label you want to give it. Why then, on the other hand is there the whole panic of, "oooh everthing must be spotlessly clean, deodourised and antibacterialised!"? After all it's the adaptation of bugs to the products that are used in this that have caused the spread of untreatable ones.

We could then get on to the chemicals used in the irradication of germs etc. but maybe we'll leave that one alone for now eh?!. :wink:

I totally agree with you when it comes to germs! Babies should be licked in the face by dogs and left to crawl around the floor! lol There is way too much obsession with keeping everything sterile. But solvents and other such chemicals is a different matter, better to be safe than risk problems with the baby from exposure to nasty things.