newborn vs. mother-in-law

[drewmo]

I have both on the way. Baby arrives late January; mother-in-law in early January. Who will likely have a greater impact on my woodpile? And why?

My guess is that baby will, considering our only source of heat is wood and, from what I understand, baby will be up every 3 hours, which means Mom (or Dad) will be up every three hours, which means the stove will get stoked with every waking. And Mom-to-be has already made it clear that the house will remain warm, without question. But, from what I also understand, mother-in-laws fear cold.

We went through 4 stair (stair = meter cubed) last year. This year, I ordered 6 stair, and have probably used a stair so far.

 

[Burn-1]

Drewmo I am in the same boat.

Baby coming by C-section on the 28th, Mother-in-law on 27th. I figure I'll be stoking during the baby wake-ups as well which is fine because the PE Vista we have in the living room is not anywhere near an all-night burner. Mother-in-law only has experience with smoke dragon stoves of the 1970's so I'm hoping to win her over with the warmth and no-smoke smell. Congrats on your new arrival. And, actually you will find that the new baby will probably be up much more frequently then every three hours for the first few weeks.

 

[Corey]

You may be surprised - the regular stoking may allow for more even temperature control than stuffing the stove full for an overnight burn. Although I suspect babies and/or in-laws may not take kindly to cooler temperatures that us adults and people paying for the fuel may tolerate.

Congrats and good luck with both!

 

[SlyFerret]

I voted for the mother-in-law, since she might get spunky and start throwing wood in the stove herself.

-SF

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Congratulations to both of you. Keep the home fires burning and by all means, keep the mother-in-law happy.

 

[drewmo]

I voted for the mother-in-law, since she might get spunky and start throwing wood in the stove herself.

-SF

I'm a bit afraid of this, as well.

Congrats, Burn. Looks like we have an interesting/exciting winter in store for us.

 

[bokehman]

My vote is for the new mum; they always seem to want to cook a new baby, even though it is not good for them.

 

[Millworker]

Definitely the baby.....

On a different topic, since the stork will be visiting my home soon as well, what are your plans for keeping the baby away from the stove when she begins crawling? Not sure where your stove is, but mine is smack in the middle of the house with front and rear exposures, don't want the little bugger burning himself!

Are those gates sufficient?

 

[bokehman]

what are your plans for keeping the baby away from the stove when she begins crawling?

My recommendation is a large playpen. It covers all the dangers in the home of which a fire is a very small part.

 

[Cearbhaill]

Put a big doggie x-pen around the stove. Works for Christmas trees, too.
And supervise- gate the room off when you can't keep your eyes on the child and only let them in when you are right there.

 

[bokehman]

Put a big doggie x-pen around the stove. Works for Christmas trees, too.
And supervise- gate the room off when you can't keep your eyes on the child and only let them in when you are right there.

Instead of protecting the child from the environment try to imagine you are protecting environment from the child. That way you'll cover all the dangers, even the one you don't realize exist.

 

[kdiman]

For around the stove Kidco makes a hearth gate i have a 1 year old and a 2 year old and it works great.

Here is a link to the site that sells them=
(broken link removed)

It is expensive but worth it.

Kelly

 

[tutu_sue]

My mom-in-law just visted. She sleeps with 4X the blankets the baby does. Everyone should be happy at 70F. Congratulations and please post a picture of the baby.

 

[RandyW]

There is another thread with a nurse saying not to keep temps up to high with infant because of SIDS. search it and read it. VERY DANGEROUS FOR TEMPS TO BE TO HIGH. Be very cautious consult your Pediatric DR.

This is very serious.

 

[SlyFerret]

And how the population survived without AC in the summer time, I'll never know.

-SF

 

[bokehman]

And how the population survived without AC in the summer time, I'll never know.

That's apples for oranges. In the summer most houses are well ventilated reducing the chance of carbon dioxide build up. Also it is a question of odds. In my grandmother's day losing 3 kids out of 5 wouldn't have raised many eyebrows; these days though we try to get them all through to adulthood.

 

[Gooserider]

I voted for the rug-rat - figure if the M-I-L turns out to be a fuel hog you can ship her off to someone else, you have to keep the rug-rat around. :lol:

Gooserider