Crawling baby licking the floor :-O

[mennofied]

Okay, I'd like to think I'm not a germaphobe, but it really freaked me out today when I saw my 5 month old licking the floor! I mean, we walk on those floors with the same feet/paws that walk through grease stained parking lots, grocery stores, hospitals, schools, public bathrooms, and fertilized pesticide sprayed fields. I'm usually of the mind set that germ exposure builds a healthy immune system but seeing him licking the floor just grossed me out! And then, of course he wanted to put that grimey mouth on my boob! What do you do about this stage of development? Do you just let them lick the floors? Do you have a new cleaning routine?

[ZippyGirl]

Stop wearing your shoes in the house if you still do.  That's probably the number one thing people can do to "green" their home, and it's free.  I let DS lick the floors.  I am not too concerned because we remove our shoes and don't spray our lawn.  We do a weekly floor cleaning with vinegar and water.
 

[annaknitsspock]

Lol, everything went in the mouth at that age! Not sure if my DD ever licked the floor, but definitely dropped gross, wet things on it and then popped them in her mouth. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure she licked the floor. PP had the best suggestion--stop wearing shoes in the house. We clean with vinegar and water too, although it's not every week. After a certain point I just tried to block the reality of how gross it was and not think about it, because it was impossible to stop it.

[MrsGregory]

I had no idea taking your shoes off at the door was "green"!  I have always just done it because it's polite, and cleaner (and therefore polite).

Mine doesn't lick the floor, but lemme tell you, you miss one stinkin' crumb when you sweep up after lunch, and you find her and cat sharing it, Lady and the Tramp style.  Same cat that uses her tongue for toilet paper.

 

[annaknitsspock]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

 you find her and cat sharing it, Lady and the Tramp style.  

Hilarious. Mine has always shared her food with the dogs--holds it out for them to lick and then takes a bite herself. Repeat. The other day I caught her eating a piece of dogfood. Great mom-supervision moment there. 

[MrsGregory]

Do what I do (especially if the moment is public) and put one arm in the air, victory-style, and announce:  "Mother of the year!" as proudly as possible.

I did this the last time I WHACKED her head into the car door getting her in.  God love her, she just looks at me like "Crazy woman.  Mind my skull!" and takes it like a champ.

Mother of the year!

[mennofied]

Oh yes, our dog is going to love having a little toddler running around sharing food! He already follows him around waiting for him to spit up his curds and whey!   I'm also having a lovely time trying to keep the babies hands from poking our pets in the butt. He's aiming for the tail but you know how well babies reach for things! I can see this is going to be a fun stage!

Not sure if I'll be able to convince hubby to take shoes off at the door but next time I get around to mopping I'll give it a go. Still leaves our four-legged friends tracking in crud, but it's less disgusting than shoes that have been in public restrooms.

Thanks for the advice!

[Kaydove]

We just started fun with solids and only do it occasionally but the big dog already learned how fun it is! I put her in the Prince Lionheart Bebepod chair that straps to the dining room chair so she's lower than the high chair (still too little for the highchair and its straps were lost in the move) so she's at the perfect height for dog to clean up her face after she takes each bite.   I feel like thanking him since I don't have as much to clean up. ;)

[~Adorkable~]

i woke up last week while staying at my moms house with the twin and had to figure out what the slurping noise was, it was my boy licking the wall with gusto! so strange, it could not have had food on it, its a new constructed guest room, apparently new paint taste good?

we did a shoes off thing in the rooms we baby proofed for crawling stage, specially because my hubby takes the subway home from working in a hospital, two places that over tax my "casual germs are good for you" thinking. 

when they moved in to the dinning room to eat solids i got a wonderful stem mop and used it every few days and really like how fast and easy it is and since its just water, babies can eat off the floor as far, see if i care.

here is the model we picked up, Eureka we have had a few smaller ones in the past, but this one is the real deal

[mennofied]

Originally Posted by Kaydove 

We just started fun with solids and only do it occasionally but the big dog already learned how fun it is! I put her in the Prince Lionheart Bebepod chair that straps to the dining room chair so she's lower than the high chair (still too little for the highchair and its straps were lost in the move) so she's at the perfect height for dog to clean up her face after she takes each bite.   I feel like thanking him since I don't have as much to clean up. ;)

Yeah! I love having help keeping the floors clean! Our dog has learned the sound of spit up and comes running to do his job!

[rainface]

Ha! I about threw up in my mouth the other day when I found my darling little one shoving the bathmat in her mouth as fast as she could. That, and my teva sandals (removed at the door, but not tossed in the closet out of reach - stupid mommy!). It's SO gross. I do my best to keep the kitchen and bathroom floors a little cleaner now that she follows me EVERYWHERE but there are things I have to just not think about too much...

[begoniamama]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

Do what I do (especially if the moment is public) and put one arm in the air, victory-style, and announce:  "Mother of the year!" as proudly as possible.

This is my new mantra! i am the proverbial Mother of the Year for so many reasons, most every day. the latest was when i put on 6 month old LO's diaper so poorly (he's so dang mobile i get like 3 seconds to do it these days) and it fell half way off and i didn't notice until he had peed all over himself and a couple pillows. Mother of the Year Award goes to me! there should be a thread with that title, and stories of how we won the award.

as far as shoes off in the house, i really want to implement this once he starts crawling, but since we've always been so casual about shoes in our house i am going to have to be that person that reminds people to take off their shoes...and i'm not excited about being that person. one thing that i'm thinking about doing that might help is having a shoe basket either outside of the front door or right inside the door, and/or a bench to remove shoes. kind of like a makeshift mud room setup hinting at people that they need to take off their shoes. that should help i hope!

[begoniamama]

and yes adorkable - i just purchased a steam mop and cannot believe how great it is. i think it's the shark brand. i actually like mopping now. yeah i said it!