Is it true?

[applechips]

i travel a lot and my kids used to *used to* get sick a lot. More than was needed to build a strong immune system

i've got some protections in place now, some of my own invention, some are ideas from friends who travel 5 days a week for business.

1)we fold up the bedspreads and put them away.

2)we ask for additional sheets and put them over the furniture. sounds crazy, i know...but if you saw that 20/20 episode, you'll know why. they *always* balk at this but I firmly insist.

3)i use alcohol hand wipes on everything as soon as we come in...the phone(s), the tv...everything. i also bring a tiny spray bottle with 50% alcohol 50% water and i spray any necessary surfaces and wipe them down.

4)i firmly take out the blankets and request fresh blankets that have been washed and dried in hot water.....stating that one of my children has severe allergies and asthma (true) and immune issues (well, a stretch unless you consider the allergies the immune issue which it kind of is).

5)i call house keeping and request that they not enter the room at all unless i request that the room be cleaned. while they would be cleaning the room, they would also be tracking in everyone elses germs on their carts/bodies/hands and filling my room with dangerous fumes from strong cleaning products. (there's good evidence to support a link between asthma and fumes from various cleaning products). i just put the trash in a plastic garbage bag and let them know when there's trash to be picked up.

6)as soon as we come in the room from a park, we all take off our dirty clothes and head for a quick shower (or at least wash hands/feet). we put clean clothes on.

7)at night before bed, if the kids are fresh out of the bath, great, they can get into bed....if they bathed earlier, they wash hands/face, i wipe feet with hand sanitizer right before they get into bed.

8)i bring baby wipes to just wipe down the counters, sinks, faucets and of course i have the alcohol spray to swipe down the back of the toilet, toilet handle, seat and rim every day (with a babywipe).

sounds extreme and i know it is. we're really not germ freaks at home, but i really just can't risk lila getting sick when we're away from homebase. it doesn't make my kids compulsive...they're *so* far from that, but some ppl would probably have to be careful on that front.

every time we get in the car (from the parks, or someplace at home like target or school), we do hand sanitizer and do wash hands when we walk in the door of the house.

we now get the normal 1-2 colds per year (which i knock out quickly with vitamin A, zinc, ech/goldenseal, C) instead of a cold every few mos. my kids had the flu for 1 day 2 yrs ago (stopped it in it's tracks with the aforementioned supplements).

the above measures, though extreme have been very helpful.

once you've seen the actual reports of semen on the bedspreads and e coli on the phone/remote/tv......well, that just about does it!

your best bets for clean things in the rooms are towels and sheets and pillowcases....so use accordingly

katherine in atl

OMGoodness! I do this too...my mom is a germ a phobe, LOL, and did this too everytime we went to a hotel. So I guess I get it from her. Also, anytime we are staying in a hotel we bring flipflops and wear them all over the place. The rugs really freak me out at hotels. Yuk. If my kid walks on the floor without shoes I immediately wash her feet and have her put on socks and then the socks get taken off before bed. We also bring our own sheets and bedspreads when possible. Thanks for posting your list!

 

[magicaldisney]

WHY DID I OPEN THIS THREAD!! And why when I did, didn't I stop at the first post!!

OMG totally grossed out. Not in the mood for breakfast now.

 

[cillakat]

<<There are at some hotels, but were not at the Beach Club last week!

The thing that completely grosses me out is that the comforters are pulled directly over the pillows each time they make the bed - so even when we throw the comforter in the corner each day, if they put it back on... ewwwww!>>

call housekeeping and just let them know to remove it fromt the room completely during your stay easy breezy.

and on the nose picking front..on my scale of concern, that rates much lower than semen (and other bodily fluids) and e coli.

katherine in atl

 

[DISNEYLOVER70]

I have never even given a thought to most of this stuff!!!!!!! How nasty!!!!! I put alcohol wipes and flipflops on my "things to pack list"

Comforters: "Nasty" ickkkkkkkkk............ I think I am going to bring some pillowcases too, they won't take up any space at all in the suitcase and I think I would find some comfort knowing my kids are putting their faces down on something I know I cleaned........

Thanks for making me aware of all this (i think )

 

[disneymama73]

okay not to freak you out even more.....BUT before our trip I actually had a bug crawl into my ear!!! It was a silverfish. long, lotsa legs. very creepy. The kicker is I had had a bug man out about 10 days proir to spray for spiders. Our home is only 2 years old and I keep a VERY clean and tidy house. Here's what happened...


I woke up because I felt a bug crawl into my ear. I awoke dh and he fussed at me saying "it's unlikely to be a bug go back to sleep."

Of course I couldn't sleep because I KNEW it was a bug. I could feel it. Finally he got up and looked at it (3 hours later) and saw its legs (are you creeped out yet?). He tried to pull it out but it just went deeper! It hurt and I started to cry. hard crying. When he would shine a light in my ear the bug would go bezerk and start moving all around like it was trying to escape...only it was going the wrong way!! I was about to pass out.

I was bawling uncontrollably because I didn't know if it was a spider, and if it would bite me or lay eggs!!! Plus I am a germ freak so the thought of a live creature inside me about made me vomit!

He called an ear/nose/throat doc he knows and he met us in the ER to get the creature out.

The bug was still alive when he pulled it out!

I am all better now but just had to share my yucky story!

***THUD***