Babies are fragile beings; everyone knows that. And so, the parents' responsibility is to make sure nothing happens to them. This isn't an easy task, as due to their fragility, a lot of things can hurt them.
Still, sometimes parents do some things that are pretty irresponsible and can put a kid in immense danger. For example, in this story, a dad thought it was a good idea to wipe his baby's face with a dishcloth. Let's just say that his wife wasn't a fan of such an idea, which caused quite a lot of drama.
More info: Mumsnet
Parents have a responsibility to do everything they can to shield their babies from all possible dangers
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Even if something doesn't seem like a big deal, it might hurt a kid big time, so parents should second-guess almost every action of theirs
Image credits: KamranAydinov (not the actual photo)
Apparently, it's a memo that didn't reach the dad from today's story
Image credits: syda_productions (not the actual photo)
He wiped his baby's face with a dishcloth that was usually used to clean dishes and floors
Image credits: namechangesafe
This made his wife, who is the baby's mom, freak out, as she thought it was beyond dangerous to do that for a 3-month-old baby
Babies spitting up isn’t something uncommon. In fact, during the first three months of life, about half of all babies do it occasionally. It happens because the food backs up from their stomach through the same tube that carries food to the stomach, called the esophagus, and causes infant acid reflux, since the proper muscles haven't matured yet.
As long as the baby doesn’t spit up too much or too often, it’s nothing to worry about – it won’t affect their growth. It’s just a way an immature body works and will be grown out of later on.
So, when the OP’s 3-month-old baby spit up, neither of the parents really batted an eye—it wasn’t something out of the ordinary. Yet, what took the original poster by surprise was that her husband grabbed a dishcloth from the kitchen sink to wipe the baby’s face.
She called him out on it, but he was nonchalant about it. Then, she asked if he would wipe his own face with it and he answered that he would, implying that he does not see why she is freaking out here.
So, why was she freaking out, you might wonder? Well, it turns out this exact dishcloth was typically used to wipe mess from the floor, the sides of cabinets, and stuff, as well as even the dishes. Quite versatile, isn't it? Granted, the one used on the baby's face was taken from the washing bowl and bleached the day before, so it wasn’t so dirty, but still, using it on a kid’s face felt weird for the OP.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
After all, it’s no secret that young babies are less immune to various bacteria and viruses than older kids. Their kid is 3 months old, so still an infant.
Of course, a lot of various factors play a role in defining the strength of an infant's immune system. From the way they were born, to whether they’re being breastfed or not, vaccination status, inheritance, and all things like that. Yet, being wary is always recommended – why put a baby in a possible danger, right?
When the OP wrote about this whole situation online, asking netizens if she was overreacting to her husband using the dishcloth on the baby’s face, they pointed out that her reaction wasn’t too out of line—his action was indeed pretty dangerous, along with other actions he does with the baby, like lifting it with both hands.
Yet, what the cybercitizens also paid a lot of attention to in this story was another weird fact about the infamous dishcloth. Why was it being used both on the floors and on the dishes? This fact alone seemed pretty gross for some folks, so naturally, they were also disgusted by it touching the baby's face.
Either way, the general consensus was that the dad is definitely putting his kid in danger and that the mom reacting harshly to it wasn’t too much – it’s her task to make sure a baby is safe.
Netizens agreed that the man's action was unsafe, but they were also confused why the family used the same rag for both floors and dishes, saying it's a whole separate problem here
