[blparent] Germs, germs, everywhere. If germs bug you, don't read this!

[Veronica Smith]

Hello, just wanted to say something before you continue with  this very
scarey article, I used to have a friend and she would literally wash the
shopping cart when we'd take the kids to the grocery store.  Ok, I wipe it
down now and then, but I didn't take a bottle of Lysol and wash every bit of
it.  she did and thus her child was always sick and still is 11 years later.
My pediatrician told me that kids need to be exposed to germs or they can't
ever build their immune systems.   I have done the same thing with toys as
the article writer did, but for the most part, I am not a germ aphobe.  I
make gab wash her hands when she gets in from anywhere especially when she
used to get home from riding the bus.  V




Freaked out by germs?. Curious toddlers are walking germ magnets. M y son
Saxon recently had a friend over who hacked, sneezed, and coughed his way
through their playdate. After his pal left, I dumped the enormous basket of
Legos the boys had been playing with into the tub and scrubbed every last
block in hopes that Saxon wouldn't get sick. The Bionicle bubble bath took
close to an hour, but at least I could sleep that night. Was I over-the-top
in my cleaning frenzy? Little bit. Although experts agree that teaching your
children healthy habits can help keep sickness at bay, parents often go too
far. Germs are everywhere, and we can't, and shouldn't, try to keep our kids
completely germ-free," says Parents advisor Harley A. Rotbart, M.D., vice
chairman of pediatrics at Children's Hospital Colorado, in Aurora, and the
University of Colorado School of Medicine, in Denver. But commonsense
approaches can help us cut our kids' annual sick days in half and keep
families healthier. We visited six germy family hot spots and determined the
best way to stay healthy. Public restrooms You're a germaphobe if You
regularly beg your child to "just hold it" so you can avoid having her use a
communal commode. The dirt Studies show that toilet flushers, door handles,
and locks can be the most infectious parts of a public restroom because
people haven't washed their hands before leaving the stall. Similarly,
faucets can also contain traces of fecal bacteria. If your child puts her
hand in her mouth after touching anything that's been contaminated with E.
coli , she could end up with a stomach bug. Stay-healthy strategy Use your
togetherness in the stall as a teaching moment, advises Will Sawyer, M.D., a
family physician in Cincinnati and founder of the Henry the Hand Foundation,
which promotes hand hygiene. Start by encouraging your child not to flush
with her hands," says Dr. Sawyer. You can teach her to cover the toilet
handle with a piece of toilet paper or, if she's tall and coordinated
enough, to flush using her foot. Demonstrate how to lock and unlock the
stall door with your elbow or a piece of toilet paper. Before you wash up,
grab a paper towel so that you don't touch a dirty dispenser afterward. Also
use a paper towel to open the bathroom door when you're leaving, to limit
contact with germs left behind by those who don't wash their hands, which is
one out of every three people, estimates the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Community pool You're a germaphobe if The mercury soars
and you'd rather hose your children down in the backyard than deal with the
skeevy public swimming pool and showers. Who knows what nastiness is seeping
out of those soggy swim diapers? The dirt You share the water-and the germs
in it-with every person who enters the pool. A single incidence of diarrhea
could contaminate water throughout a large pool system or water park, says
the CDC. Teach her to wash for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday"
twice. Hand-Washing 101 Another mom, who saw my son washing up on a
playdate, raved about how he'd scrubbed in like a surgeon, and I beamed with
pride. Washing hands is big in our house. So if his pals ever do a
halfhearted job-putting soap on dry hands and splashing their grimy mitts
under the sink for a nanosec or two-I body-block them at the bathroom door
and teach them Hand-Washing 101. In this case my obsession is spot-on: It's
widely accepted that 80 percent of infectious diseases are spread through
touch, which is why hand-washing is the absolute best way to stay healthy.
Follow these tips. 1 Make it a habit . As soon as your child walks in the
door from anywhere, and especially before eating, ask her to head straight
to the bathroom to wash up. Help her understand that bacteria are invisible
so even though our hands don't look dirty, they very well still might be. 2
Wash well . Soap up wrists and back of hands as well as between fingers and
under nails for at least 20 seconds. Soap helps to remove germs but doesn't
kill them; there's little proof that antibacterial versions are more
effective. Germs love wet surfaces, so always dry hands thoroughly. 3
Supervise young children . Stand over little ones as often as you can until
they learn to wash their hands properly, suggests Owen Hendley, M.D.,
professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the University of Virginia
School of Medicine, in Charlottesville. Stay-healthy strategy Your brood can
still take the plunge. For the most part, continuous filtration and
disinfection of water reduces the risk of spreading illness at public
swimming facilities. Still, chlorine doesn't kill all germs and takes its
sweet time in killing certain ones. That's why it's important to discourage
kids from swallowing pool water or squirting it from their mouth. You should
also avoid the pool if your children have diarrhea (this is especially true
for kids wearing swim diapers). Make a point of taking frequent potty
breaks-waiting to hear "I have to go! may mean it's too late. Who wants to
be on the receiving end of the other moms' evil glares while they wait for
the lifeguards to clean the pool? The baseball or soccer field You're a
germaphobe if You're contemplating signing your son up for chess club
instead because watching him high-five the dirty paws of the opposing team
is more than you can bear. One out of every three people leaves a public
bathroom without washing his hands, estimates the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The dirt When your child touches other kids after
the game and then slurps on an orange wedge, he deposits not only his own
germs but those of his teammates and opponents directly into his mouth.
Hand-to-hand contact is the number-one way viruses are spread," says Dr.
Rotbart, author of Germ Proof Your Kids . If your child shakes hands with
someone who has a virus and puts his infected fingertips into his eyes,
nose, or mouth-boom! -he's got a one-way ticket to Funkytown. Stay-healthy
strategy "When you can't get to soap and water, alcohol-based hand sanitizer
is an effective alternative," says Dr. Rotbart. Stand at the end of the
congratulations line and give your kid a nickel-size squirt of alcohol-based
hand sanitizer, and hey, why not share with the whole team? You might feel a
bit neurotic, but there really aren't any better (or more subtle) options.
Remind your child to distribute the gel onto his palms and work it between
his fingers. When your athlete gets older, stash a bottle in his sports bag.
(In the meantime, push for congratulatory fist bumping. After all, we rarely
touch our eyes, nose, or mouth with the back of our hands.) Your house
You're a germaphobe if Your daughter comes down with a stomach virus and
your strategy is to send the sibs to Grandma's, leave the sick child's meals
by the door, and read Goodnight Moon to her via speakerphone from another
room. The dirt When one family member gets sick, the rest of you don't have
to go down. With due diligence, you can still give your child some TLC (in
person) and prevent everyone else from getting infected. Stay-healthy
strategy Disinfecting frequently touched surfaces with wipes and using
alcohol-based hand sanitizers can significantly reduce the spread of
gastroenteritis at home and at school, according to a study by researchers
at Children's Hospital Boston. To avoid transmitting viruses to other family
members, take this advice from Dr. Rotbart: "Stash a bottle by the door of
your sick child's room to use when leaving. Disinfect any frequently touched
surfaces or objects, such as crib rails, dresser-drawer handles, hard
plastic toys, doorknobs, and light switches. As a temporary measure, use
paper towels in the bathroom and kitchen instead of hand towels. And don't
allow your children to share drinking glasses, water bottles, or
toothbrushes. The playground You're a germaphobe if You arrive at the park
in a hazmat suit to disinfect the jungle gym and scoop out any undesirables
from the sandbox. The dirt Just because your kid will probably dangle from
the same monkey bars that a sick child touched at some point doesn't mean
you have to deprive him of his social hour. Viruses, like those spread when
kids sneeze and cough, can live on outdoor equipment anywhere from a few
minutes to a couple of days. But for the most part they usually aren't cause
for concern. Your child would have to touch the precise spot where another
child had left her germs moments earlier and then immediately touch his
eyes, mouth, or nose to become infected. More encouraging news: Although
squirrels, cats, and other critters have been known to do their business in
sandboxes, related cases of gastrointestinal-related illnesses are few and
far between, says Dr. Sawyer. Stay-healthy strategy Don't allow children to
eat or drink anything while in a sandbox or before washing their hands after
playing in a sandbox. If soap and water aren't available, be sure to clean
your child's hands thoroughly with baby wipes before she eats in order to
get rid of dirt, sand, and possible animal waste. (This is one instance
where hand sanitizer won't do the trick; the alcohol can't remove those
offending particles.) And don't forget to cover the sandbox at home. Grocery
store You're a germaphobe if You plan to keep using shopping-cart covers
until your kid is 10 years old. The dirt Grocery-cart handles are far
germier than most anything else, according to Charles Gerba, Ph.D. (aka Dr.
Germ), professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona
in Tucson. In addition to bacteria from hands, raw meat juices and pesticide
residue can end up there too. Stay-healthy strategy That shopping-cart cover
is perfect for a baby or toddler-just don't forget to wash it regularly or
else you're defeating its purpose. When you don't use a cover, disinfectant
wipes, which are being offered more frequently at the front of many grocery
stores, have been proven to kill germs and bacteria left behind. Bring your
own, if need be, so that you can wipe down handles or even hands after
anyone's touched packages of meat or poultry. And of course, when it's
age-appropriate, teach your child not to put things in her mouth. □