My in-laws and I had a big family gathering over the Easter break at my father-in-law’s house. There were 12 of us there including 3 kids under 3 years old.
On the first evening, as my wife and I were cooking dinner for everyone, my sister-in-law decided to use the kitchen sink to give her 6 month old baby a bath. The baby was splashing all over the place near where we were preparing food.
I’m not the most tactful person and I basically expressed to her that I thought it was kinda gross to bathe a baby in a sink where we would be washing dishes next.
Anyway, my sister-in-law and I had a bit of an argument about it, and a few of the in-laws piped in and agreed with her that there was nothing wrong with it. A couple of them stood on the fence and said “everybody’s different” sort of thing. They said that I’m obviously a bit OCD about things. I’ll admit that I am, but in this case I really don’t think you need to be OCD to take issue with this.
What do you guys think? Am I just too much of germaphobe?
Note - To give more context, I have 2 kids of my own (5 month and 2 year old) and the house had a functioning bathroom.
the question is…is your sister-in-law hot? You dont disagree with an attractive sister-in-law because it could ruin future fantasy fulfillments…now if shes a dog that’s a different story…but in any case, i dont see much wrong with it unless the baby is shitting or peeing in the sink…however the cooking right next to it would make it weird regardless.
Dude, the sink is the most filthy drain in the house. It has years and years of germs, bacteria, and other organisms living in it. Think of all the sht you’ve rinsed down it over the years, it just doesn’t go bye bye. Your sister in laws poor baby will probably have some sort of ring worm living inside of her now along with a wicked yeast infection brewing.
On a more serious note, after my daughter had heart surgery at 6 months old, the discharge nurse instructed us not to submerge her in water for two weeks/month (can’t remember). The reasoning was not to get the same water that touched her bum on the incision area. So I would say it’s pretty gross.
I was looking forward to CvM’s response, and it came out of left field. I think that its disgusting for all parties involved, but i wouldn’t have said anything at an in laws place.
Baby’s butt’s are very sensitive, skin in general… wasn’t thinking about other grown people’s taste buds or whatever, but you have to be careful for a year or so what you let the baby’s skin contact with…
My brother is a doctor and he gives his baby the kitchen sink bath. He even has a plastic tub to go with it. It struck me as odd, but what do I know about germs and bacteria, other than I"m covered in them?
It’s normal in Australia to wash your baby in your laundry tub but I haven’t heard of anyone washing a kid in the kitchen sink.
Is your SIL Australian? She might be used to the whole kitchen-and-laundry in one scenario. I live OS now and was pretty disgusted initially that the washing machine was in the kitchen, and therefore had no laundry tub, but this is normal for European apartments. It just seems so gross to be putting dirty clothes in the washing machine in the same room that you prepare food.
Washing babies in the sink is the way to go. It’s much easier than a bath tub. However, we never did it while preparing food. That’s just bizarre. Why did the kid need to be cleaned right at that moment? Weren’t things busy enough in the kitchen getting a meal ready without the kid cleansing going on?