to think that it is mostly unnecessary to sterilise toys?

[silverten]

Have been pondering this since a couple of D&V episodes, and a mate asked me how often I bleached my floor.

Generally I don't make much of an effort to clean DD's toys- obviously if they've been vommed or copiously dribbled on, I'll give them a wipe with a clean damp cloth (I don't like sticky toys!), or if she or any other baby who played with them has come down with something a little nastier then they'll get a swipe with antibacterial spray. I honestly can't see the point of bleaching a floor (I don't have pets)- it gets swept/hoovered daily and anything sticky gets wiped asap. Eventually I'll give it a more thorough clean to get the more ingrained dirt that I can't see out, but it's a floor- it's meant to get dirty IYSWIM!

Am I being unreasonable to think that this is a sufficient level of hygiene with a not-quite-one-year-old?

OMG I'm going to be flammed! I've just bleached my bathroom floor! I dettol my kitchen floor and I use laminate cleaner everywhere else! I have also just put a load of soft toys in the washing machine. I've cleaned all the bath toys in hot soapy water and I've wiped all the baby toys down with antibacterial wipes. I do this about twice a month. Obv in between as well if toys get sticky etc. But i only antibac the babies toys as he puts everything in his mouth, I don't clean my DS1 (6yo) toys, he has a very dusty playmobile ship at the moment, but he doesn't tend to put things in his mouth any more and is very good at washing his hands.

I also have the thirty second rule for food: if it's been on the floor for less than that it gets put back on the highchair.

Come to think of it, that was what prompted the bleach conversation in the first place!

I am not a total skank, though- I do Dettox the highchair after particularly messy meals.

I had a friend who washed all of her six month old DD's toys in Dettol every night to make sure there were no germs on them. I had a one month old at the time and told her she was a crazy lady and there was no way I'd be doing that. She thought I was a terrible mother. LOL.

YANBU.

IIRC, research has shown that a bit of dirt is good for children.

All those nasty chemicals absolutely arent, and your SIL is wasting her time freezing toys, that wont kill the bugs - thats why you cant refreeze food you have thawed out without cooking it first.

And if you need any more consolation, my DD now 17 was a terrible soil/gravel/cat food eater. She's never ill and I'm convinced her immune system is top notch thanks to all the bugs she ate as a toddler

I'm a BIG fan of the 30 second rule - virtually all food would end up in the bin in our house without it.

I don't sterilise new/our own toys, but if I pick something up from a charity shop I do tend to give it a good dose of dettol before letting my two loose on it (mind, we have some pretty skanky charity shops around here)!

follyfoot - my Mum used to say that it was "just clean dirt" - meaning that it was just everyday dirt, not dirt from being an unwashed, unclean person, if that makes sense.

emjxxx - it sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands! (washing bath toys in hot soapy water? Surely the bath water isn't that dirty)

on a related note - does anyone have a foolproof method for removing black mould from bath toys? Ours don't get dirty exactly, but this nasty mould stuff appears virtually overnight...

I wouldnt sterilise toys no.
I do mop hard floors though - OP it sounds as though you hoover/sweep hard floors but dont mop them? I think bleaching the floor is definitely OTT but I would mop it weekly with hot soapy water at least..

allnew - I Wish I did have too much time on my hands!! (I think I might have today) It's probably just me and I am somewhat anal! But the toys end up with water stuck in them that goes all eeeewwwwyyy and they seem to get a bit of a slimey coating to them. I do give them a good squeeze and a rinse when they have finished playing with them at the end of the bath but I still need to give them a good clean every now and then.

Also big fan of the 30 second rule and my DS2 loves cat food and dunking his biscuits in it!

sosickofthesoundofscreaming have you tried Milton on them? If not then I guess Dettox would work.

Yes hard floors. I sweep then hoover all the hard bits, and anything sticky is wiped up asap: so if I drip a bit of coffee, or there's a lot of sticky dribble, or the residue from the mealtime assault, it gets wiped up with a bit of soap or spray as necessary. I wash the cloths I use for this very, very often- I hate having damp mucky cloths hanging around breeding germs!

sosickofthesoundofscreaming - NOTHING works, don't waste yor energy. I tried everything and in the end bought new ones.