NCDR: The floor

TJ1979

So I get a weekly email about my baby's development from not-the-bump.  In today's email, there was a discussion with 3 doctor-moms regarding what to do with toys/pacifiers/etc. that fall on the floor.  All three suggested washing anything that comes in contact with the floor in warm, soapy water before giving it back to baby.  Only one of the three admitted that as a busy mom, she sometimes abides by the 5 second rule.

Now, I'm not going to lie.  I'm a bit of a germaphobe, and I wouldn't give my baby anything that fell on the parking lot or grocery store floor back to her without cleaning it.  But in my own home?  Am Are SAK and I the only ones who sets baby on the floor to play?  I usually put down a blanket, but if she wants to practice scooting and goes scooting right off the edge, I let her go.  And I don't always use a blanket.  Especially in E's room (the pets aren't allowed in there.)  We don't use a pacifier so I guess I'm referring to toys only. 

So spill.  Do you put your babies on the ground?  Do you wash everything that touches the ground?  Am I gross? 

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TJ1979

Well yeah, I knew you were gross.    Just curious about other people.

TJ1979

I fixed my OP.

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sarenu1

I try not to wear shoe in my house.

And my kid has taken to sucking his thumb. I'm not washing his hands every time he crawls somewhere.

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Brandiewine11

I put the baby on the floor. Up until recently he was usually on a blanket or play mat, but now he rolls everywhere. I don't care. I have a dog and a cat. I just vacuum regularly. He's probably already eaten a ton of dog hair. Whatever. Some germ exposure is good. He's not sick and doesn't have an immune system problem, so I don't see an issue. We also don't wear shoes in the house, and the dog's feet get wiped when she comes in from outside so I'm not worried that too much either.

I did recently make him a play area that is fenced in for when I have to walk out of the room (mainly so the 100+ lb dog doesn't step on him). I put down those cute foam floor tiles but mostly so they were easier to clean when he spits up on them.

In public spaces, I would wash stuff.

sarenu1

theultimatesak said:

sarenu1 said:

I try not to wear shoe in my house.

And my kid has taken to sucking his thumb. I'm not washing his hands every time he crawls somewhere.

Oh yeah, no shoes in the house. Is that not a common thing? There are very few faux pas when it comes to etiquette where I live, but walking into someone's house with your shoes on is one of the few.

My parents never worried about it. We had a pool, so the carpet took more damage with us running in to use the bathroom.

I take my shoes of at the door, but sometimes I forget one item and need to run in for it.

Brandiewine11

Chickypoo2468 said:

Omfg. People will go out to our barn, you know, where all the poop is. And then walk through our house. Where my baby crawls. I need to find some kind of fancy farmhouse looking sign for this.

This one?

TJ1979

Chickypoo2468 said:

Omfg. People will go out to our barn, you know, where all the poop is. And then walk through our house. Where my baby crawls. I need to find some kind of fancy farmhouse looking sign for this.

https://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/37060?gclid=CjwKEAiAhIejBRCKm_fTxIWyyXcSJABXY0XYkZP7NRc_cTImBYT6mo0mJ4rLbLJJdfuoFrUmSPH3yBoCpLPw_wcB
You're welcome.

Brandiewine11

theultimatesak said:

I try not to wear shoe in my house. And my kid has taken to sucking his thumb. I'm not washing his hands every time he crawls somewhere.

Oh yeah, no shoes in the house. Is that not a common thing? There are very few faux pas when it comes to etiquette where I live, but walking into someone's house with your shoes on is one of the few.

We have a no shoes rule. We live in an area with tons of wildlife, etc. Our yard is full of deer, turkeys, geese, etc. I don't want the poop tracked in.

My IL's wear shoes ALL THE TIME, indoors or out. They put on their shoes first thing in the morning. I find it strange. I finally trained them to have "inside shoes" and "outside shoes" at our house. Except their inside shoe are not slippers. Just shoes. Whatever.

abby8279

My girls are on the floor all the time. That being said, I am a very clean person.  We pulled up all the carpet in our almost brand new home and put down wood floors. I vacuum the floors several times a day (sometimes just areas, but the whole house once).  No one wears shoes in the house.  So I have no problem with it.  I still don't usually let them crawl around in the bathrooms or kitchen though.  If a pacifier falls out it's nbd.  I wipe down their toys occasionally.  In the spring I put the hard toys in the tub and wash them and put the plush toys in the washer.

countrycotton

As the kid get more mobile good luck keeping stuff that has been on the floor out of there mouth. Dd drops and picks up stuff off the floor all day long. Everything goes in her mouth as she is teething, and has recently taken to liking everything! When we are out of the house I try to keep the things that go in her mouth fairly clean but this kid is speed lighting.

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SaraRL07

I have paci wipes in the diaper bag that I use if we are out of the house.

At home I abide by the 2 second rule and if it is clean looking (but I do have hardwood floors).  I like to think we are building her immune system little by little.   

Kelly11235

My kid (15 months) is always on the floor at home.  The pacifier can go from floor to mouth in every room, with exception to the bathroom.  If it falls on the bathroom floor, I've gotta wash it.

If it falls on the floor when we're out and about I either wash it or use one of the pacifier wipes I keep in the baby bag.

ElleBeeDub

Yeah, at home, my kids (and all their things) are on the floor constantly. I don't vacuum every day, and we don't mind shoes on the house. Immune system-building ftw!

Mandmeesh

My germaphobe-ness has actually calmed down since M was born. Up until he was maybe 8months old I was crazy. Kept our pets away from him. Cleaned incessantly, etc. Now he's everywhere all day long. Food off the floor? SURE! Dogs licking your face? SURE!

Out, though, I still wipe everything with sanitizing wipes. When we are back in the car M holds his hands up to be wiped, usually

He doesn't spend time away from us in anyone else's care...so I feel like he's missed out on yucky opportunities :-D

mrshudson618

I generally put down a banket when baby is little and non-mobile but we have hard wood with a very thin area rug in the main living area.

It's really not normal to me to take off your shoes in someone else's house. Yes, I often take off my shoes in my own house, but that's a comfort thing, like taking off my bra. Taking your shoes off is really a casual and a make yourself at home move, so If someone besides super close family took their shoes off in my house for no reason I would super side eye them. I would be uncomfortable taking my shoes off in someone else's house unless they specifically asked me too. It's just not something that most people I know do.

And I'm in Kentucky.

Mandmeesh

I tried long ago to get people to remove shoes in our house. Failed: miserably

tjkdlhb

I don't worry about it.  I've got enough to worry about.

There is usually a blanket on my living room floor but mostly because it's carpet and my 2.5 year old eats and drinks in there way more than I'd like.  If DS is in the kitchen I'll put down a blanket, but that's more because it's a cold hard surface.

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flummadiddle85

V went through a shoe chewing phase, so anything else on the floor hardly seems like a big deal... No pets yet, but I'm terrible about vacuuming/mopping. We do have a lot of people over, between 20-30students/week, and any parents/siblings that come in too. They all take shoes off since we request it because otherwise we inevitably end up with someone tracking mud on the carpet. Not cool. Social guests will usually just ask, or V won't let the, get past the doorway without taking their shoes off. Oh toddler routines. And with V I put blankets down to play simply because it was easier to throw the blanket in the wash than try to get spit up out of the carpet. G is not on the ground nearly as much yet since V is all in his face and such.

flummadiddle85

And sorry for the terrible iPad formatting. I miss paragraphs.

sarenu1

The service guys we call usually wear booties when they step in the front door.

sarenu1

I hate heels on my floor, more than dirty work boots. I can clean dirt off wood floors, but scuffs, scratches, and dents can't be washed away.

unaveragejane

When he had out kitchen done last year, the guy in charge always took his shoes off at the front door and made all the workers do the same if they had to walk through the house. I tried to convince him that they weren't going to hurt our wood floors, but he insisted. I don't know if it was a respect thing, cultural (he was half Cantonese, half Arabian), or what.

unaveragejane

I think here there's not a "norm" about shoes. For the older generations, a lot of them grew up with just one pair of shoes if any, so it's kind of an unwritten rule to wear shoes so you don't look poor. For younger people and city folks, you take your shoes off to help preserve the person's floors, but only if you know the person well. My friend's criteria is this: if I know you well enough that you come in the house through the garage instead of the front door, remove your shoes.

TJ1979

This has somewhat derailed into a shoe conversation which I find absolutely fascinating!  I cannot stand to be barefoot (UO?)  I wear my shoes into my bedroom and switch into my slippers.  If I've just been walking around the lake where there's so much duck poo on the sidewalks, I won't walk through the house with it.  E loves her shoes, and we really only disallow the shoes on the couch, she wears them all over the house.  We don't wear shoes in the babies' rooms though.
But I don't think it's cultural or regional, because my BFF doesn't wear shoes in her house.

bumpuser9353653

Sometimes I put a blanket down for A, but really it's more for comfort than to keep her off the carpet. If something falls on the floor, I look at it to make sure there's no dog hair or other dirt, but generally,I just blow on it once or twice and hand it back.

I didn't grow up taking shoes off in the house, with the exception of in the winter or if they were wet or muddy. We don't take them off for any reason other than comfort (or if they're wet/muddy) and don't expect guests to. Some do, some don't. When we visit others, I generally look to see if they've taken shoes off, and obviously follow their lead.

The only thing I'm particular about is toddlers not touching or kissing the baby's mouth and the dog not licking the baby's mouth.

sarenu1

As a side note, my mom actually keeps a basket full of slippers at her front door in several sizes.

I absolutely love this. She's not strict about removing shoes,but its one less thing I have to bring to the house in the winter.

DecafGrandeMocha

sarenu1 said:

As a side note, my mom actually keeps a basket full of slippers at her front door in several sizes.

I absolutely love this. She's not strict about removing shoes,but its one less thing I have to bring to the house in the winter.

I'm a germophobe who has now had to chill out a bit as a FTM. However, is something wrong with me that I'll lick my LO's pacifier if it falls in our house or our parents' but no way would I wear community slippers barefoot? I might if I was wearing socks.

I'd also like to add my Asian mother keeps telling me if I walk on the first floor of anywhere barefoot postpartum, the spirits will steal my 7 week old baby's soul. She always has some crazy superstition for eveything I've ever done LOL.

agm04

I once saw a kid on his hands and knees sucking spilled blue juice of some kind off of a Wal-Mart floor.  If I can stay a step ahead of that I'll probably be happy.

sarenu1

DecafGrandeMocha said:

As a side note, my mom actually keeps a basket full of slippers at her front door in several sizes.

I absolutely love this. She's not strict about removing shoes,but its one less thing I have to bring to the house in the winter.

I'm a germophobe who has now had to chill out a bit as a FTM. However, is something wrong with me that I'll lick my LO's pacifier if it falls in our house or our parents' but no way would I wear community slippers barefoot? I might if I was wearing socks. I'd also like to add my Asian mother keeps telling me if I walk on the first floor of anywhere barefoot postpartum, the spirits will steal my 7 week old baby's soul. She always has some crazy superstition for eveything I've ever done LOL.

Chill, they are used by direct family only.  And in the winter when wood floors are cold on socked feet.  And yes, we wear socks with them.

That and my parent's house is usually set at 64.

DecafGrandeMocha

sarenu1 said:

DecafGrandeMocha said:

sarenu1 said:

As a side note, my mom actually keeps a basket full of slippers at her front door in several sizes.

I absolutely love this. She's not strict about removing shoes,but its one less thing I have to bring to the house in the winter.

I'm a germophobe who has now had to chill out a bit as a FTM. However, is something wrong with me that I'll lick my LO's pacifier if it falls in our house or our parents' but no way would I wear community slippers barefoot? I might if I was wearing socks.

I'd also like to add my Asian mother keeps telling me if I walk on the first floor of anywhere barefoot postpartum, the spirits will steal my 7 week old baby's soul. She always has some crazy superstition for eveything I've ever done LOL.

Chill, they are used by direct family only.  And in the winter when wood floors are cold on socked feet.  And yes, we wear socks with them.

That and my parent's house is usually set at 64.

Sorry, my bad for assuming it was for everyone!

SuperTinkerham

Eh, rub some dirt on it, kid. I'm gross, but my baby will have immunities!

Kelly11235

agm04 said:

I once saw a kid on his hands and knees sucking spilled blue juice of some kind off of a Wal-Mart floor.  If I can stay a step ahead of that I'll probably be happy.

Mmmm sweet sweet Anti-Freeze.