waterbirth mamas- where did you find the fill hose?

[Attached@TheHippie]

We rented an aqua doula, but need to buy a fill hose. Dh went to OSH, and Home Depot and couldnt find a non-toxic drinking hose?! I didnt know this was going to be such a pain. Where did you find yours at? I saw one for sale online through Camping World.. but I really want to avoid shipping charges.

[DreamsInDigital]

A lot of mamas here avoid Wal-Mart but I found mine in the camping section.

[mama_at_home]

Uh oh, what is wrong with Walmart? I am learning so much today.

[CrunchyKat]

I got mine at Rite-Aid.

[teachinmaof3]

Garden section of WalMart.

[alegna]

I found mine at Target.

-Angela

[MamaTaraX]

I dunno, we have a garden hose and were told it was fine by my friend from whom we rented the AquaDoula. It's old though and I learned from someone on MDC that that means its less likely to have whatever toxic crap on/in it that is supposed to be avoided. Worked fine, nobody keeled over

Namaste, Tara

[Snowdrift]

If cheap is not a requirement, then you might want to try an aquarium store. There's hose device they sell--I forget what it's called (some snaky name, python maybe?--for filling and emptying large tanks that not only doesn't require a separate hose adaptor but also is set up tto easily start a siphon to empty the thing.

If I had the fifty or seventy-five bucks, I'd probably get one of those. They come in different lengths too, hence the unsureness about the price.

As for cleanliness they are designed for tropical and marine aquariums, an environment requiring a far more pure environment than waterbirth. It's mostly food-quality airline with clean and sanitary fittings, although like all plastics it is generally recommended that for aquarium use (and presumably waterbirth) you rinse whatever hose you use out beforehand.

[Attached@TheHippie]

ok... an update... and a little clarity.

dh actually said he DID in fact find the white drinking water hoses at OSH and Home Depot, except he did not buy them because they said for cold water only. since we were filling the tub with hot water he didnt think that could be the hose that everyone uses.

so, today i drove out to camping world and they had a huge selection and a full aisle of drinking water hoses! but on the back of all of them in little print they said 'not suitable for hot water use' or 'for cold water only'.

i cant find a non-toxic drinking water hose for hot water!!

well, i decided just to buy one of those anyway. hopefully its okay!

[CrunchyKat]

I honestly can't understand why it would say that? I picked up mine for like 5 bucks at Rite Aide and it worked superb!

[Snowdrift]

I suspect it's a liability issue. Very hot water running through an uninsulated hose could be quite the burn hazard. I've used airline--not as thick or heavy duty as these hoses--for transferring boiling hot mead from the stove to a container and while we did get a couple of minor burns from forgetting how hot everything was, the hoses have always held up fine.

They get squashier and imo easier to manage, but also you gotta remember to use a towel to handle it, especially if you turn up the temp on your heater.

Note, I've never had a waterbirth yet, and when I do shortly I'm gonna use MIL's hot tub, I've just got a lot of hobbies that involve food-quality plastic hoses or tubing...

[Attached@TheHippie]

yeah.. i figured that maybe people just dont see it since its in the little tiny print on the back of the cardboard front?! well, the worst that can happen is it may melt i guess. we will use it for a trial run fill up tomorrow night and see what happens.

[grace's voice]

A regular garden hose came with the one I rented.

[girlsmamma2]

we used a regular garden hose for our hb last time. but after becoming campers, we found there are drinking water hoses lined with copper i think. you may have the cold/hot water problem but try an rv lots store. A large dealer that sells campers usually has a good accessory store. that is what we'll probably do this time to make sure it's clean.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by tie-dyed

If cheap is not a requirement, then you might want to try an aquarium store. There's hose device they sell--I forget what it's called (some snaky name, python maybe?--for filling and emptying large tanks that not only doesn't require a separate hose adaptor but also is set up tto easily start a siphon to empty the thing.

If I had the fifty or seventy-five bucks, I'd probably get one of those. They come in different lengths too, hence the unsureness about the price.

As for cleanliness they are designed for tropical and marine aquariums, an environment requiring a far more pure environment than waterbirth. It's mostly food-quality airline with clean and sanitary fittings, although like all plastics it is generally recommended that for aquarium use (and presumably waterbirth) you rinse whatever hose you use out beforehand.

We've had large aquariums for years so I can tell you a Python is a must for cleaning aquariums. It would work great for a waterbirth too. You can get them for around $40.

[DesireeH]

I got that white one at Lowes. It said the cold water thing on it too but we did hot anyways and it was fine. Granted, dh ditched the hose completely after about 5 minutes and bucketed in from the bathtub and it was much faster. LOL

[2+twins]

Got mine at OSH. They have them at Ace too I believe. Just ask where they keep the potable water hoses for RV use (about $12-15). And yes, it's fine to run hot water through it - just not all the time (which wouldn't be the case).

[Attached@TheHippie]

we did the trial run last night! the hose was fine, it didnt melt!!

it only took about 2 hours to completely fill the aqua doula! for some reason i thought it was going to take a lot longer than that. AND, dh even had to take some water out because the tub was WAY too hot, and...when we got in it almost overflowed!

anyway, i wish i knew that the drinking water hoses said cold water only on them. after everything ive read about filling the tubs and having a white hose, i NEVER saw that anywhere!!

[aprilushka]

Uh oh. I thought we would use the garden hose-- what's toxic in them? I guess I'll get an RV hose instead.

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by aprilushka

Uh oh. I thought we would use the garden hose-- what's toxic in them? I guess I'll get an RV hose instead.

They're treated with some carcinogenic chemicals - it's why they are always labeled "not drinking water safe" or something to that effect. Just not the best thing to use if you can avoid it. I didn't know that before and used a regular hose with my first 2 births (although the first ended up being born on land), if that makes you feel any better.