Do you sanitize everything for you/your kids?

[Minnie824]

This may sound like a dumb question, but I was talking with some friends lately, and came to realize that some people actually do sanitize everything. They have a spray that supposedly kills all germs, including hepatitis, hiv, colds, whatever, that my friend has, and sprays on items such as grocery carts, restaurant high chairs, etc for her DS. Now my question was, if this is some chemical that kills all this bacteria, how safe is that to injest? Anyway, maybe I'm the one who needs to 'clean up' more for my DDs. Am I in the minority, who just lets DD sit in the grocery cart, and in a high chair? I mean, we wash our hands alot, but thats pretty much it. What does everyone else do?

 

[chyam]

I believe in cleaning and do sanitize somethings but the medical evidence sometimes proves we sanitize to much and this is why children have asthma etc. They cannot build immunity to something they are not exposed to, there was finding recently from a Wisconsin university that farm kids are actually healthier than city kids, perhaps because they are exposed to more dirt, animals and other things. I know as a child I ate all kinds of stuff out of the garden, never washed it, I was probably exposed to a certain amount of lead paint also, and I am very healthy, I also sleep with windows open when I can and I do let my body see sunlight, some people just go to overboard with the sanitizing thing. I also think it is funny when you go to a restaurant and see all these gloved people preparing your food...........heck you can do anything with gloves on just as with bare hands so unless they are changing them all the time what are you gaining?

 

[Christine]

I'm with you.

The only thing that used to bother me was the grocery store carts. Way back, they did not have much in the way of "covers" for the carts and I've heard that the grocery cart handles are HUGE vectors for the flu, colds, etc. But other than that worry, I just let it all go. Lots of handwashing.

 

[CEDmom]

I'm not a germaphobe. When DD was a baby I had one of those grocery cart quilted inserts more for comfort and so she'd fit better than to avoid germs. Now she goes into the carts with little thought on my part. She usually even eats while we're shopping. If I have a wipe I'll have her use it before eating. I'll avoid her putting food down on a restaurant table by laying napkins down. However, germs are important to help build the immune system. After 5 years in daycare my DD has an immune system like Fort Knox. I actually worry more about her carrying something home for DH or I to catch then of her getting sick herself.

 

[meandtheguys2]

The only time I tend to get freaky about germs is the week before vacations. This, of course, was only after the vacation that we spent with the stomach bug! Other than that, I think that the body needs to come in contact with germs to build any sort of immunity.

 

[damo]

I have never sanitized anything. We have never used Purell or any other germ killing spray. We are a very healthy family. Actually, the last time my son or I had a cold was three years ago.

 

[tinatark]

I'm certainly not the best sanitizing mom out there, but today I put my car in the shop for maintenance, got a loaner car.

Stopped at the car wash on the way home for a car wash/interior clean - then got home and wiped down the dash and other surfaces with Simple Green AND sprayed Lysol everywhere in that nasty car! It was SO bad, I felt like taking a shower when I got home!

The next person who gets that car will be happy!

 

[oogieboogie]

I don't sanitize. I have a travel size of Purell that I haven't finished for the last 4 years. I take it on vacations mainly to wash the kids' hands after they go to public restrooms because sometimes the sink doesn't work, or what not.

I believe that Americans are so germaphobe that they overclean and oversanitize, which in turn actually harms the body because the body's immune system doesn't build a tolerance for simple common germs. Add overmedication to the problem, and you can see the rise in asthma, allergies, etc.

We're not worried about germs in my family and we're pretty healthy people. The only times we get sick is when DSs bring home a cold from school and even then it usually only lasts 1 or 2 days.

 

[Maleficent13]

Nope; I am a stickler for normal handwashing, but that's about it.

 

[goofyforlife]

If a little dirt helps kids build immunity....My DD should be safe for life....

I do think my sister goes overboard with the amount of cleaning she does around my Nephew though....Maybe thats why he's sick so much....

 

[bajanswife]

We never sanitize either. From the time my kids could sit up on their own they were sitting in the tops of grocery carts, and we never sanitized those - the kids were fine, no nasty bugs. It wasn't until my kids started going to preschool and being exposed to other kids' germs that they really had several colds/viruses a year.

Not only do we not sanitize, but we walk in and out of our house barefoot, hence tracking dirt from outside to inside. We have been known to climb up on the bed with dirty feet (gasp!) - yet we are all pretty healthy. We made it through the summer with no illnesses for me or DH, and 2 kids with a mild throat thing that passed quickly and did not require a doctor. I think that is a reasonable level of health to have, and I don't plan to change my ways.

I am actually in the camp that believes that germs are a necessary part of life, and we should only be making efforts to avoid contamination with really awful bugs from raw meat, undercooked food etc. No-one in our family has ever had a serious case of food poisoning, so we seem to be doing OK so far. Our bodies become accustomed to the germs that exist around us, and most of them are actually beneficial to us. It's only the occasional bacteria or virus that overwhelms our bodies, and truthfully, if our immune systems are strong that happens less and less. Sanitizing does not help our immune systems become strong (strong immune systems require many antibodies, and antibodies are only created through exposure), and since there is no way to be sure that you have sanitized every last germ in sight, when you do get exposed to a nasty germ, you will suffer much more than those with hardy immune systems. That is my *personal* belief, however, though it is somewhat backed up by research. And there are exceptions to everything, of course - everyone has stories. I just think that a life without sanitization can be (and usually is) a healthy one, provided you follow some basic hygiene (not suggesting that everyone live in a real dump!).

 

[minkydog]

Nah, I barely sanitize my house, let alone every grocery cart my kids touch. We are great believers in hand-washing and none of the kids have ever had anything worse than chicken pox and the occasional strep throat. They are sick about once a year. Very sturdy stock. I think all this "sanitizing" just fans the flames of fear. Not mention that all those chemicals may have side effects of their own. I figure my grandparents lived all their lives on a little barrier island on the Outer Banks. They had no doctors, no "sanitizing" agents, they ate what they trapped or shot or grew in the sand. There main medicnie was aspirin and whiskey--if you culdn't cure yourself with that, you were a gonner. Granma lived to be 76 and Granpa lived to be 88. I'll take my chances.

 

[WishingOnAStar]

When I had my first daughter, I was a huge germ-a-phob!! I couldn't stand for anyone to even touch her- including relatives!! I was constantly bleaching her toys, washing everything she came in contact with, etc. (I was a teacher and the same way at school. I was referred to as "the Lysol Queen" b/c I was always spraying and washing everything!)

However...... by the time I had child #3 and had 3 children under 3 years old, I didn't have the TIME to do all that!!

Now, I tell the kids not to use the water fountains at school, put Purell in their lunch boxes and keep some in the car - when I pick them up, I make them use it.

I do think you can go overboard, but, I also think my kids get sick less than others b/c I am big on the handwashing! Who knows? Maybe they would be like that anyway???

 

[disneysteve]

Absolutely not. We didn't do it when DD was an infant and don't do it know. I think people are way too obsessed with trying to sanitize everything and, as others have mentioned, studies have suggested that it is causing problems with asthma, allergies and antibiotic resistance. When DD dropped her pacifier, we wiped it off with a napki (or our shirt) and gave it back to her. She has barely been sick and she's almost 10. Our friends who would sterilize everything that the kid handled have kids with bad allergies and constantly getting sick.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Not big on santatizing either. DD is rarely sick. I am not even a stickler on handwashing.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

First child I lysoled everything.
Seventh child - we use anti bacterial hand soap and I carry wipes in my purse. THat's about it. We don't spray down our hotel rooms and I have even let my kids sit on the bedspread without freaking out!

 

[lsyorke]

Research is showing that "sanitizing" is making our kids sicker. Plain old hand washing is the best defense for illness. So get a dog/cat for your kid(early exposure prevents allergies later), let them play in the dirt(sunshine is good!),let them be KIDS!!... they will be healthier for it!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I am not a germaphobe by any means. We wash hands before eating (well, the kids are supposed to...) and after going to the bathroom. When one of us has a cold or right before vacation I will occasionally wipe doorknobs with a Lysol wipe. I also have Purell wipes, but really just use them when we are unable to wash our hands. I do not like to use anti-bacterial products, though.


My kids are fairly healthy. Normal colds and stomach viruses, but my youngest didn't have his first sick child visit until this winter--he was 5 years old!

T&B

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No, good hand hygiene is enough for us.

 

[NMAmy]

Nah...I'd clean her toys at home from time to time (she's an only child so it was mainly a cleanliness issue) but I never worried much about grocery carts, etc. I think some exposure to germs is good for you.

I have a friend who is a real germophobe. It freaks her out when I lick an envelope--and she's always amusing in a public restroom watching her try to avoid touching anything.