Ball pit just arrived. Do I need to sterilise each ball before baby uses?

[goolish]

Arrived from Holland this morning, delivery took 4 days. Ball pit and 300 balls. Do I need to wash, dettol and dry them all? Or can baby just use it straight away?

I wouldn't bother!

If you're worried, set it up and leave it for a few days. Evidence has shown so far that the virus doesn't survive well on soft surfaces but does better on hard ones - therefore a few days ought to do the job of letting it die off of its own accord..

You could put them all in a bath in a diluted bleach solution or similar rather than washing individually!

Having said that, DS’ aquadoodle arrived this morning and I just plonked it straight out of the box.

Info can be found here: www.bbc.com/future/article/20200317-covid-19-how-long-does-the-coronavirus-last-on-surfaces

If the balls look like they're watertight you could put them through a cold wash in the washing machine in batches?

If you're worried could you make up Miltons in the bath and chuck them all in, then drain the water and leave them to dry?

For a ball pit it was bloody expensive so don't want to risk the machine I've only got the Milton tablets so wouldn't know how many to put in the bath but that seems maybe my best bet. Thanks! Don't know if I'm being paranoid or not

I would probably throw the. In the bath with a bit of washing up liquid rather than bother with the sterilising tablets.

I'd be worried they'd get water in them as think they have a tiny hole in seam normally....

Is it one of those stylish ones with tonal coloured balls? I would send it back and get a cheap and cheerful one from Argos that you can wash and dry easily and kids love because of the bright colours.

Have you got a dishwasher? Balls in a laundry bag then chuck them there on the hottest setting. I do this for most plastic toys.

Ah yes those balls in 50 shades of grey to match the sofa make me do a sad cringe for the kid. Give em some colour

As for the balls, pretty sure they may have a tiny hole in the seam as suggested by a PP therefore dunking in bath isn't a great idea. Maybe wiping, although time consuming, is best. Though I'd probably just throw them in the pit and let them get in with it

Set it up and leave it for 48 hours.

Do you have a bath with a shower over? If so, stick them in the bath, spray with antibacterial cleaning spray then blast with hot water from the shower so they don't fill up with water. Ideally you should let them air dry, until they are completely dry.

I’d put it outside for a bit... UV kills coronavirus I think, and it’s a gorgeous day! But check how long it’d need to be out.

It is one of the posh ball pits but I finally found one with multi coloured balls not shades of grey as that was always my peeve with them

I would just leave it unopened for a few days - thats what I am doing with all my post - its sat in its own isolation in the hall! Any bugs on there will die off after 3 days.

The one thing I wanted to avoid was quarantining it. I am seriously running out of ways to keep a high energy baby who isn't mobile yet (but desperately wants to be) happy all day every day and was hoping this ball pit would be my salvation

The BBC info says it can last for up to 9 days on hard surfaces. I would leave it for that long.

UV kills coronavirus I think

There is no evidence that this is the case - and certainly the amount in sunlight wouldn't do it.

1 Milton tab for every 5 litres of water x

OP - the ball pit would have been manufactured weeks ago and been boxed up waiting to be purchased ever since then. It won't have been touched by someone in the past week or two - it will be fine.

I agree with Oakmaiden. Nobody has touched the packaged items for weeks. Chuck the baby in.

If you have a garden put them out in the sunshine, viruses don't like UV light apparently.

I would just leave them for a few days to be on the safe side depending when they got dispatched. I wouldn’t put them in the bath as they’d get water inside

Chuck one ball in the dishwasher at 70 degrees with detergent and see if it survives? Forget about it and play with your child instead?