whoa! pacifiers on the floor back in the mouth?
 

So, my wife and I are in an airport ready to head back home from a long weekend's vacation. I went away from the table we were sitting at for beer and a pretzel. When I come back, she tells me that she has witnessed more than one instance of the worst parenting ever.

I ask, "What did you see?". She recounts two separate instances of mothers retrieving their child's pacifier from the dirty
"restaurant area" tile floor, and plopping said pacifier right back into the child's mouth.

Well, initially, I'm disgusted, but. then I get to thinking..."How common is this???" "Do parents figure they can't control everything that goes into their child's mouth and give up the battle completely? Or was this really an instance of viewing the worst of parenting skills imaginable???"

Childless and worried...

If she thinks that is the worst parenting ever, then she needs to get over it. Its not as if they were feeding the children feces. People are way to germophobic these days. Yes, it helps to be sanitary, but to a point. There was nothing wrong with what these parents did in my opinion. Everything being so anti-bacterial these days is weakening our immune systems. Where do you think antibodies come from? People have been around for 2 million years, and that is not by any means the most unsanitary thing that mankind has ever witnessed by a long shot.

Yeah, I'd say lighten up a bit (in a nice way!)

My eldest son (6) was basically over-protected during his early years. Our second son (4) wasn't.

Result - No. 1 son is a very fussy eater, he's one of the smallest kids in his year group and he is more likely to get a sniffle or cold.
No. 2 son eats like a horse, will try anything once and is basically as strong as an ox. He regularly beats his older brother in their regular skirmishes. They both weigh the same too!

I know people want to be seen to be hygenic, but there is a limit.

Eventually you learn not to give a shit about little things such as this. We have a similar situation to fatboss. Our youngest is left to fend for himself a whole bunch more than the first one since we were a bit overprotective. He gets along in life easier to. Bad parenting is neglect, beating, emotional abuse, etc. It is not something so silly as this pacifier incident.

As the parent of a 3-month old, I can say I've done it several times. Most of the time I wipe the pacifier off. I've even been know to stick in my mouth first to clean it.

Like it has been said already, you learn to not worry about the small stuff. Hell, in a couple month's when she is crawling, she will probably be putting anything she finds in her mouth.

I watched my best friends kids do it all of the time. The boy would put anything he found in his mouth. It was extremely disgusting, but very normal for a kid. I'm sure I did it and I survived.

All the books you read as well as Drs. will tell you "sanitize, sanitize, sanitize" It is a load of crap though. We were the same as "fatboss" & both kids are just fine. in our own home its was not a big deal, but on a ditry resturant floor, I would probably wash it off.

that "dirty restaurant floor" probably gets mopped 3-4 times per day. How often do your floors get mopped?

i ate plenty of dirt as a kid, didn't you?

As a parent of 4, all have had pacifiers, and I would say I've put them back in their mouths many times after hitting the floor. They were wiped off before, but there are worse things you can do. All my kids are healthy. I'm sure they got just as many germs from other places, not only their paci that hit the floor. When you are a parent, then you can judge, sorry to say.

Hey, I remember when I first got my son to take the binkie that I would constantly have a wipe to clean it off every time it fell- but do u really know how often that happens????
My gawd, I would go through a whole pack of wipes or use gallons and gallons of hot water (when it's available) if I were to clean it every time.
I generally take the risk of cleaning it with my mouth (not like that's any cleaner) or wipe it off on my clothes (same thing) after picking it up. But it's a normal thing for a mother after the 10th time of the binkie falling out, that you just don't care too much anymore. THey get a million bacteria in their mouths everyday anyway by touching with their hands then sticking them in their mouths. As a mother with the binkie experience, I found it merely impossible to stay up on cleaning a binkie every time it fell- and that happened a lot!

My granddad used to say about dirt, "You gatta eat a peck before you die." I worry when my kids actually eat it by the handful, but the 10 second rule applies to dropped toy and binkies: If there's no visible <i>schmutz</i>, and it's off the floor within 10 seconds, it's clean.

With my first I was anal about cleanliness. After that, I didn't have time to fuss. It made life a lot easier, and like the children mentioned above, my youngest is one of my healthiest.

Imho, and based on something I read about 8 years ago (but can't find on the web), U.S. children get sick so often because they aren't exposed to enough germs growing up, therefore they have not had the opportunity to build a strong ammune system. Funny, in our sanitary world, kids could benifit from more dirt.

I am astounded to find that my reaction to my wife's fears would be echoed by real parents in the forum... That's kind of cool. So, basically, what most of you are saying is, gross as it may be, germs that don't kill you will strengthen you in the long-run...So, maybe the French will live forever... ha ha. Sorry, French folks. Bad experience on the TGV.

So, the kids that are eating their own boogers are auto-immunizing? Must be an evolutionary quirk!

True, but have you seen the mops they use.... ewwwwww.

We usually wipe it off with a baby wipe, or my wife sometimes puts it in her own mouth first (which is weird, since the mouth is one of the dirtiest, bacteria ridden places on earth)

Agreed. It's better to let the pacifier go straight from the floor into your kid's mouth - the bacteria that cause tooth decay don't exist in small children's mouths and their bodies have no way to defend against them initially.

Dirt don't hurt - germs can be immunally destroyed. Bacteria (which doesn't survive well in a non-moist, warm environment) can infect gums and kill new, developing teeth.

The only place I won't give my son back his pacifier after he drops it is the hospital. But then, I have my son's pacifier on a short string clipped to his shirt, so that's not really a problem.

Three second rule doesn't apply? :)


edit: Spiderman, who is that on your avatar?

I always put in my mouth first also, Man the sacrifices we make for our kids!