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Painting while pregnant-help

agent79@me.comagent79@me.com member
edited August 2013 in 2nd Trimester
My FIL and DH are painting the nursery (and our 2-year old's room, they'll share) right now. DH promised VOC-FREE paint, but I read the can and it's "low VOC" and still has the warning on it about cancer and birth defects.

It REEKS in here. 


What would you do? I don't want to sleep in this house tonight with volatile organic compounds floating everywhere. :)

Thanks!!
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Re: Painting while pregnant-help

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    HFrizzleHFrizzle member
    Open the house up and air it out. One day of painting one room is not going to give you or your baby cancer or birth defects. You do kind of sound like you are overreacting.

    DD#1~Emma Dawn 12/19/00 7lb 10 oz 21"
    DD#2~Daphney Mae 04/17/03 7lb 13oz 21"
    DD#3~Grace Deonea 05/20/10 8lb 2oz 21"
        DS#1~Brody Maxwell born 10/16/13 8lb 10oz 21"

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    agent79@me.comagent79@me.com member
    Yeah, I research EVERYTHING, so I know how paint off-gasses carcinogens into the air for over a year after painting. It is enough to make any pregnant mommy worry!

    Maybe I should adopt the "Ignorance is Bliss" attitude. :)
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    HFrizzleHFrizzle member
    Dr Google is not your friend!

    DD#1~Emma Dawn 12/19/00 7lb 10 oz 21"
    DD#2~Daphney Mae 04/17/03 7lb 13oz 21"
    DD#3~Grace Deonea 05/20/10 8lb 2oz 21"
        DS#1~Brody Maxwell born 10/16/13 8lb 10oz 21"

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    Soap1Soap1 member
    agent79@me.com said:
    Yeah, I research EVERYTHING, so I know how paint off-gasses carcinogens into the air for over a year after painting. It is enough to make any pregnant mommy worry!

    Maybe I should adopt the "Ignorance is Bliss" attitude. :)
    It's not "Ignorance is Bliss" - it's what the PP said.  Dr Google isn't appropriate.  We aren't ignorant to possible causes of harm, we just use our doctors' expertise combined with replicated, peer-reviewed information.  

    Regular, repeated exposure to paints and solvents by pregnant women may be linked to a birth defect, but this does not apply to a woman who painted her baby's nursery.
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    ScarlettVScarlettV member
    What brand of paint did you get? Is there no door you can close? Windows to open?
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    agent79@me.comagent79@me.com member
    It's Behr paint. The door is closed and windows are open, but it still stinks. My midwife says better safe than sorry. I'll either stay at my parent's tonight, or sleep on the couch in the living room with the windows open. It really stinks, and it's making me want to puke.
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    agent79@me.comagent79@me.com member
    PS- Did you guys know that if you buy paint with VOCs, the VOCs continue to seep out of the paint into the air of the home for years? After year 1, only half of the VOCs have seeped out. VOCs are one of the most harmful chemicals to inhale. 

    I find it strange that nobody cares! LOL
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    HFrizzleHFrizzle member
    I have more serious things to worry about than the amount of VOC they think seep out in a year.

    Just curious though, are you keeping your kid out of the room for a year?

    DD#1~Emma Dawn 12/19/00 7lb 10 oz 21"
    DD#2~Daphney Mae 04/17/03 7lb 13oz 21"
    DD#3~Grace Deonea 05/20/10 8lb 2oz 21"
        DS#1~Brody Maxwell born 10/16/13 8lb 10oz 21"

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    ScarlettVScarlettV member
    We are currently painting with Behr, its low voc and are just keeping the door closed with windows open, as you are. Can you still smell it even with the door closed? I can't and have been just fine in the house. Any paint is going to stink St first. I really don't believe it is quite the catastrophe you are imagining. Guidelines advise you not to actually paint in the room, you will be fine staying in the house.

    After about two days, FYI, our first layer of paint had all but completely lost it's smell.
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    Soap1Soap1 member
    HFrizzle said:
    I have more serious things to worry about than the amount of VOC they think seep out in a year. Just curious though, are you keeping your kid out of the room for a year?
    Good question!
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    agent79@me.comagent79@me.com member
    I don't want to "live in fear", I just wish there were better solutions. VOC-FREE paint would be the best option, but since they didn't buy that after I specifically asked them too, now I'm a bit peeved.

    I wish ladies weren't so snarky on here. I'm honestly having anxiety about some things lately. Obviously I'm not keeping my kid out of his room for a year. It's just that now I KNOW there are going to be VOCs off-gassing in there, and it sucks. :(
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    HFrizzleHFrizzle member
    I don't think anyone was really snarky until you started questioning why we weren't worried about these things the way you were. Being a paranoid/helicopter parent does nothing but stress you out 10x more than what is needed.

    In the grand scheme of life, there are so many other things to worry about besides paint.

    DD#1~Emma Dawn 12/19/00 7lb 10 oz 21"
    DD#2~Daphney Mae 04/17/03 7lb 13oz 21"
    DD#3~Grace Deonea 05/20/10 8lb 2oz 21"
        DS#1~Brody Maxwell born 10/16/13 8lb 10oz 21"

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    Laumb11Laumb11 member
    HFrizzle said:
    I don't think anyone was really snarky until you started questioning why we weren't worried about these things the way you were. Being a paranoid/helicopter parent does nothing but stress you out 10x more than what is needed. In the grand scheme of life, there are so many other things to worry about besides paint.
    Lurking: I just painted the entire nursery with my mom using Behr "low Voc" paint and after a day there is no smell. It is fine to sleep in your house but if it is making you nauseous you should just stay out for the night. 

    DS 12/15/13


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    ScarlettVScarlettV member
    agent79@me.com said:

    I don't want to "live in fear", I just wish there were better solutions. VOC-FREE paint would be the best option, but since they didn't buy that after I specifically asked them too, now I'm a bit peeved.


    I wish ladies weren't so snarky on here. I'm honestly having anxiety about some things lately. Obviously I'm not keeping my kid out of his room for a year. It's just that now I KNOW there are going to be VOCs off-gassing in there, and it sucks. :(
    What I don't understand is if you are so worried about this that you don't even want to spend the night in your house, then why don't you do some actual research on it, instead of coming here and asking the opinions of ladies on the bump? You realize you have access to all the same info we do.

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    micaelasmakeupmicaelasmakeup member
    Well I painted my DDs nursery with low VOC paint when I was 8 months pg. She's 3 now and a little hyper, and she has a really crooked toe and really has a hard time saying her R's so take it as you will...





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