Nursery Help

[megd893]

Hey guys - 

Looking for a little advice here. 
We have hardwood (laminate) throughout our upstairs.  We were talking about putting in a large area rug for warm feet, and warmth in general.  However, multiple people (as they do) have chimed in saying that the carpet will hold onto allergens etc. and make the baby more susceptible to allergies and reactions. 

I've done some research and I haven't found anything concrete.  
Any information sharing and personal experience you guys can share would be great. 

TIA!

[dmoney]

We have carpet throughout our whole house.. as long as you just vacuum every once and a while you should be fine!

[bendherova]

Yeah, I'd just vacuum, and you'll be fine. But you likely do that with your laminate anyway, right?

[Widget123]

My mother believes the same sort of thing about carpet and is using that argument to try to convince my father to re-carpet their house. They have pets that DH and I are allergic to, and DD frequently gets sick during/after visits to their house (may just be a coincidence).

I love area rugs personally and we have them on top of hardwood floors all over our house, because you can use them for a few years and then just replace them fairly easily before they get too gross, i.e. before they build up the dust, allergens, etc. too much that you are worried about. We just vacuum them fairly often to keep them fresh.

So I say yes to area rugs.

[teenybird]

I know it's only anecdotal, but I am a walking allergy too, and I find that wall-to-wall carpeting is harder for me than little area rugs. I think it's a lot easier to fully and thoroughly clean a rug you can pick up, shake out, or even launder - at least without having to call in a service or rent/buy a carpet shampooer. I think as long as you shake the area rug out and vacuum pretty regularly, it should be just fine. I have allergy issues with plain old hardwood too; I think the tidying-up schedule is really the key factor. Maybe try looking for a natural fiber rug (like wool)? They seem to be warmer than their polyester counterparts, and they don't need to off-gas like rubber-backed poly rugs do.

[billyhorrible]

Sooooo this is actually my mom's specialty. Yes, area rugs and carpeting are going to hold on to dander and mites which aggravate allergens/asthma. So will stuffed animals. They will not cause a child to develop allergies/asthma (in fact, there's some correlation between exposure and less occurrence of either - you've probably seen something along the line of children with pets are less allergic, etc.). However, if your child is highly allergic or develops asthma, these things will exacerbate the condition. (which would require possibly getting rid of the area rugs, frequent vacuuming of rugs, and storing stuffed animals in the fridge/freezer) But none of this is what I would worry about now when it's a nonissue.

[megd893]

Feb 5, 2015 11:09:41 GMT -5 bendherova said:

Yeah, I'd just vacuum, and you'll be fine. But you likely do that with your laminate anyway, right?

Yeah, we sweep and wet swiffer.  Make sure it's clean. 

[megd893]

Thanks everyone.
My mother has had the strongest opinion thus far, but I thought we'd be alright with an area rug. It sounds like I'm entirely right.
I don't want to put my kids in a bubble either - exposing them to things is good. Long as we're paying attention to make sure they're safe.

Thanks again for chiming in - much appreciated.

[leenziepops]

I say yes to rugs. I'm definitely putting one in the nursery since LO will be born in winter. If it gets too grotty to clean any more, I will just replace it. I'm expecting a nursery rug to reach expiry quickly so not getting an expensive one.

[bookninja]

We have carpet... We'll just vacuum, but I kind I wish we had hardwood and rugs, it always seemed like it would be easier to keep clean.
On a related note, we have a roomba... Easiest thing ever! Only work involved is toting the thing upstairs and emptying it out. Which is good because I hate vacuuming.

[kemdupuis]

We have 2 cats, and they produce a fair amount of mess. I use our Roomba to pick up any dust or pet hair during the week, and really vacuum all of the bedrooms and area rugs well each weekend. DH has pretty severe dust allergies and hasn't had issues at our house (he has issues at his parents house, but that's another story- ha!). I think as long as you keep them clean, you should be fine. We have hardwoods throughout the rest of the house, but I much prefer carpet in the bedrooms.

[Deleted]

Feb 5, 2015 18:26:05 GMT -5 leenziepops said:

I say yes to rugs. I'm definitely putting one in the nursery since LO will be born in winter. If it gets too grotty to clean any more, I will just replace it. I'm expecting a nursery rug to reach expiry quickly so not getting an expensive one.

It took me far longer than it should have to process how this was the case.  

OP, we also have hardwood and will be using a natural fiber throw rug in LO's room.

[leenziepops]

Feb 5, 2015 19:34:35 GMT -5 @jimbobcooter said:

Feb 5, 2015 18:26:05 GMT -5 leenziepops said:

I say yes to rugs. I'm definitely putting one in the nursery since LO will be born in winter. If it gets too grotty to clean any more, I will just replace it. I'm expecting a nursery rug to reach expiry quickly so not getting an expensive one.

It took me far longer than it should have to process how this was the case.  

OP, we also have hardwood and will be using a natural fiber throw rug in LO's room.

Haha were you thinking CATFISH! She does NOT go here!!!

[laurenlou83]

Feb 5, 2015 19:38:53 GMT -5 leenziepops said:

Feb 5, 2015 19:34:35 GMT -5 @jimbobcooter said:

It took me far longer than it should have to process how this was the case.  

OP, we also have hardwood and will be using a natural fiber throw rug in LO's room.

Haha were you thinking CATFISH! She does NOT go here!!!

I was super confused for a second, too, JBC! I then remembered you were from the land down under