What is the most neurotic thing you did as a first time parent?

[cwnhokie]

I was just reading another post and it got me thinking, I couldn't have been the only first time crazy neurotic worried mom, right?

Here's mine. My first DS had his circumcision the day before we left the hospital. The said to put a little vasiline on the diaper to keep it from sticking. Well we didn't want our little man to hurt, so we thought if a little is good, more is better. Well our first day and night home, everytime he peed we had to change everything, his clothes, the sheets, he was soaked. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, he didn't do this in the hospital, were they a different brand of diapers, did they have him in a different position in the little bassinet thing? It took us about 12 hours and 12 complete changes, I think DH even went out to buy more sheets, to figure out the problem. Keep in mind we were sleep deprived and I was drugged after a csection. We had made his diapers water proof, by lathering them up with vasiline everytime we changed him, DAh?

Ok, now what have you guys done?

 

[aprilgail2]

Well I guess these were neurotic..but I wouldn't change doing them again! Anyone walking in the house had to use some antibacterial gel that was next tothe front door...my daughter was a preemie and it was RSV season and I didn't want her getting it.....and I also would not let anyone hold her that even smelled of cigerette smoke...I had friends that wanted to come over and see her..they showered at home, changed their clothes and came over without smoking..visited her and then left for home and smoked outside the house LOL...I still don't like anyone around her that smells like smoke! There are 2 kids in her class at school that just reek of smoke, I know a few other parents in the class were saying how sorry they felt for the kids having to walk around like that so I know I am not the only one fanatical about cigerette smell...

 

[golfgal]

When our oldest was a newborn I would wait for DH to come home for lunch before I took a shower. After a couple days DH pointed out I could take him into the bathroom with me in his infant seat thing. DUH.

 

[kristen821]

When my ds was born I stilled lived with my parents. Thank god because my mom was my brain at times! The first day we had him home it was really hot outside so we had the central air on. I was so afraid he would be cold from the air I layered him in clothes. Anyway he was so crabby and he felt a little warm so I took his temperature it was close to 101. i was crying it was horrible. I started packing to go back to the hospital and my mom told me take a layer of clothes off him and take his temperature in a half hour again. Under protest I tried it. Needless to say, his temp was back to normal in a half hour and he was happy again. That poor kid! I also would not let him go anywhere that anyone had smoked ever. I was so afraid that the smoke was traveling around the vents and just wouldn't allow it. Now my second, I was much more laid back, but dh is so over protective of her. I guess it is because she is a girl. I really feel sorry for her when she starts dating!

 

[Stacerita]

I was not a neurotic first time parent. But my parents were neurotic first time grandparents. Ive always been more laid back and "lets see what happens" type of person. They are so not like that. A few weeks after I had the sweetpea I was going to head to the store and casually mentioned to my mother that I was going. She freaked out! How could I even think of taking the sweetpea outside? There were going to be people out there with germs and it isn't safe for the baby to be out of the house. Now I know she just wanted whats best for her grandchild. But how long did she except us to remain stuck in the house for anyways? And it wasn't like I didn't have a ton of people visiting my home within that first few weeks to see her. So its not like we were isolated. I tried to remind her, that she had been out already. If the kid leaves the hospital, then they have been out. There was no reasoning with her on that. It was just too dangerous to take the sweetpea outside.

 

[MamaLema]

DS9 had colic - BAD. I swear the kids never stopped crying, day or night. One day, me and DH got frustrated and took him to the hospital and said "something is wrong-he never stops crying!" They did check him, but chalked it up to colic. He is the the sweetest kid right now.

Also, I always overdressed him. The first one really is the "experiment" baby

 

[worm761]

my DS came early. not super early and was really healthy with only a few problems. but i had had a horrible pregnancy and had almost lost him sooo many times. started going into full blown labor at 5 months. i am still just a little (read that ALOT) overprotective of him.

anyway....he had reflux when he was an infant. he inhaled some of the spit up. sooo very scary. i slept sitting up with him on my chest for the first four months. then he slept in a bassinet next to my bed with my hand on him. so i always new that he was breathing.
i was also a fanatic about sterilizing EVERYTHING that he touched. i didn't just sterilize his bottles. i sterilized his toys too. till he was about a year old. i did other things too but i figure i will stop here that way you guys don't think i am a complete nut.

 

[Cindyluwho]

My DD12 did everything early. Started crawling at 4 months, walking at 7 1/2 months. Well one day I laid her on the bed, she was still just a few months old and sure enough she rolled over (for the first time) and fell onto the floor. She cut her lip and it started to bleed, just a little bit but it was BLOOD! Of course I called 911! The lady was so sweet, talked to me and calmed me down. Her first question was, "Is this your first child?". I'm such a dork sometimes....

Oh, and then there was the time I called poison control:
me "My daughter ate a Wandering Jew"
Poison control - dead silence then "A Wandering Jew"
me "Yes, she crawled over to the plant, pulled it down and ate some of the leaves"
Poison Control "It's killing me not to make some lame joke right now, but your daughter will be fine. The plant is kind of caustic and may cause a rash around her mouth or some stomach upset but she'll be fine"

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My DD was born Aug 24, When we came home from the hospital we had a heat wave of 100 degrees days. I didn't put the a/c because she may get a draft But the heat wouldn't have hurt her- DUHHHH!

 

[kristen821]

I would turn the air off whenever i was giving my ds a bath. Everyone would be sweating, but not ds he was nice and comfortable!

 

[JerryMoCricketsGal]

What makes me laugh about this thread is the things people do as 1st time parents (boil nipples for bottles, make sure everything is sterile, ect), then by kid number 3 or 4 they are not worried if the child eats cheerios off the floor as long as it's not in a pile of dog doodie...lol

Not putting any 1st time parenting behavior down, been there, done the sterilization...lol

I just have to laugh because my friend just had her 1st, and she's ultra neurotic. Although I only have one of my own, I have 18 nieces and nephews that I have been around forever, and I have seen the 'changes' in the parenting over time...lol

Like I said, hope noone takes offense to my amusement in this thread; as I have done the neurotic thing myself.

 

[kristen821]

What makes me laugh about this thread is the things people do as 1st time parents (boil nipples for bottles, make sure everything is sterile, ect), then by kid number 3 or 4 they are not worried if the child eats cheerios off the floor as long as it's not in a pile of dog doodie...lol

Not putting any 1st time parenting behavior down, been there, done the sterilization...lol

I just have to laugh because my friend just had her 1st, and she's ultra neurotic. Although I only have one of my own, I have 18 nieces and nephews that I have been around forever, and I have seen the 'changes' in the parenting over time...lol

Like I said, hope noone takes offense to my amusement in this thread; as I have done the neurotic thing myself.

No offense take here! It is so true. My son was so fagile to me, but my daughter she'll live!

 

[MomofKatie]

For MOST things concerning DD, I was very easy-going. But, the first few times I drove the car alone with her in the back, I just got very worried and kind of paranoid. I drove on the city streets at aout 20 mph, waving people around me, sweating and shaking- I probably jeopardized her safety more by driving so darn slow than if I just went with the flow of traffic, lol!

 

[pattyT]

my oldest DD didn't get to have McDonals til she was 4 - and then a coworker bought it for her because she thought she was deprived

 

[Beth76]

I was/am not over protective or nuerotic. We're all pretty laid back here and fortunately, have never had any major injuries or mishaps. I did get a little weird when my first DS started learning to ride a 2-wheel bike last year. I just couldn't let go of the seat and I knew that wasn't helping him at all. So, I deferred all the bike-riding help to DH and he learned much quicker.

 

[CathrynRose]

I was just reading another post and it got me thinking, I couldn't have been the only first time crazy neurotic worried mom, right?

Here's mine. My first DS had his circumcision the day before we left the hospital. The said to put a little vasiline on the diaper to keep it from sticking. Well we didn't want our little man to hurt, so we thought if a little is good, more is better. Well our first day and night home, everytime he peed we had to change everything, his clothes, the sheets, he was soaked. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, he didn't do this in the hospital, were they a different brand of diapers, did they have him in a different position in the little bassinet thing? It took us about 12 hours and 12 complete changes, I think DH even went out to buy more sheets, to figure out the problem. Keep in mind we were sleep deprived and I was drugged after a csection. We had made his diapers water proof, by lathering them up with vasiline everytime we changed him, DAh?

Ok, now what have you guys done?

OMGOSH! LOLOLOL!

Well, hows this - you just solved the mystery I had 14 years ago with my first son. Holy cow... LOL! Im half tempted to callmy ex-husband and let him know, too.

 

[ElizaB39]

UNDERdressed DD12. We had her in Dec, brought her home and dressed her in a onesie and then wrapped her in a receiving blanket. She was always so warm! Also DS had a nosebleed (barely) when he was 3 months old and I freaked out! He was #2 but that hadn't happend ever with DD.

I didn't want anyone to hold DD when she was an infant in case she never went to sleep on her own! LOL They all thought I was nuts. Also DD had a photo blanket on because of her bilirubin and we called her our little glow worm. Never mind that I SOBBED because I felt bad for her.

 

[JVL1018]

I used to stay up until 2 am because I figured the less I slept, the less time my daughter would be alone(I listened to her breathing, I had the monitor on the crib railing) and on the off chance she stopped breathing I would know right away. I was a little paranoid about SIDS.
I also got a little OCD and would reposition the throw pillows on the couch and loveseat 15 times before going to sleep, like a superstition that if they were perfect she'd be safe for the night. I KNEW it was crazy and I'd try to walk away but then I'd think, ahh it doesn't hurt anything, and I'd run back and fix them.

However that was the only thing I did, I wasn't fanatical about everyone disinfecting themselves, I did take her out to the bank at 5 days old, to the mall fomr 3 weeks old, I didn't rush to the doctor for a runny nose or slight fever etc.

I was looking at her medical records while waiting for the ped once and he had written:great parents, very calm mother.
This was when she was about a year old and I had stopped all my SIDS related wackiness, so I told the dr and he laughed and said I hid it well.

 

[liamandcaili]

My Pediatrician file must say "paranoid mom." I once took my son in because I thought he had a tick in his head. It turned out to be a mole.

 

[Florida_Mom]

I did a couple of neurotic things with my first. I had an ear thermometer, and I was constantly taking his temperature...so sure was I that he had a fever all the time! LOL Since my second DS has come along, I've never taken a temp. I can't believe how I changed! Even when I know he has a fever, the doctor will ask when the fever started, how high was it, etc...I have no idea. Obviously, if it were really bad, I'd take it. But usually, I'm like..."eh, low grade" or "Hmmm...time for some tylenol!"

The other thing I did was I went into some kind of sensory overload thing, and everything had to be really quiet. Even when DS was awake. I'd have the TV on during the day for me while I was doing stuff around the house, but it was so quiet you could hardly hear it. I made DH talk softer. It wasn't that I was worried that DS wouldn't be able to go to sleep...I just couldn't stand the noise. Maybe it was that I was on overload from lack of sleep and a crying infant?