to take my own toys?

[workinggally]

I take my dc to quite a lot of baby groups but the toys at some of them I think are quite unhygienic. Never washed and in all the babies mouths. One of the leaders at one said she washed them once a term as though this was really frequent, I'm sure some of the others might be even less frequent.

I was a bit shocked at the situation the first times I went but everyone else seemed to think things were ok so I just went along with it.

Anyway now my dc is unwell which could be due to unhygienic toys. (Although of course he could have caught it somewhere else).

Anyway to put my mind at rest in the future would it be ok to take my own toys for dc to play with? We don't want to stop going altogether as we enjoy the songs/ socialising.

Have other people ever taken their own toys? Tbh a lot of the stuff at these groups is older/ less nice than what he has at home, so it seems a shame to be exposed to infection unecessarily.

Oh forgot to say re the spoon question - don't generally use orher peoples spoons (most of my friends have more than one) but I do go to a church where we celebrate communion with a communal cup -the congregation hasn't died out yet. Also lent my waterbotyle to a stranger at an exercise class recently...... Over to you.

Sorry waterbottle

This isn't for real. Someone who finds other people's behaviour so shocking and abhorrent wouldn't give a shit what others thought of them prissying around with Dettol and their own toys.

Babies love germs, and germs love babies. You can't fight romance, workinggally.

I am now reminded of my eleven year old self refusing to touch the grotto rock at Lourdes. The place was crammed with sick people with all sorts of terrible afflictions and no way would I kiss the rock the way you are supposed to. Maybe I have been too quick to judge the OP.

if it bothers you that much then don't go. there are so many baby/toddler groups and activities to go to these days why waste your time at one where you squirm every time your baby touches something?

My DD and her best friend used to spend half the summer outside looking for woodlice and creating playgroups and nurseries for them in amongst the sandpit. TBH even at 8 and 9 they still do at times.

Mond you, at leatst they were only handling them, and pretending to feed them, rock them in cots or making playgrounds for them, and afaik they never actually tried to eat one!

Imagine you were at someone's house and they used a spoon, licked it clean, then gave it to you to use. Would you mind, would you be happy?

I'd think it was bit odd, as they could have given me a clean spoon but I wouldn't be that fussed.

I went to a restaurant with a group of friends recently and we shared our puds - each had a spoon and we dug in. That would really give you the heebie jeebies wouldn't it?!

I used to take DS to a singing session where they'd hand out instruments. Of course, all the babies immediately put them into their mouths for a good chew! Not sure if they ever got washed. One mum used to bring a shaker from home for her DC and I thought she was a bit precious and rude.

DS is 3.5 and has never had an upset stomach. Never been ill at all actually, other than chicken pox and the odd cold.

DS is sitting beside me watching Cbeebies, FWIW.

DS1 once ate bird poo and carefully licked each piece of kibble in the dogs bowl before putting them back for her.

DS2 has just today had a good chew on the trolley handle, licked the ground outside, licked the garage door, found an old piece of vegemite toast behind the lounge and found out that he can clean his nose with his tongue.

I think the toys he chewed on at playgroup were probably the most hygienic thing they went in his mouth.

I would use a spoon licked by someone I know well and certainly would use a spoon after a baby.

We are all in robust good health.

just what does one do with grass nasty yukky unhygenic green stuff?

Soup.

Ours was lovely thankyou. DD and I are off to rhyme time in a bit, I'll pop back in to confirm whether we survived playing with the instruments.

Honeydragon - how did Rhyme time go?
Any nasty cases of wiles disease or similar to report??

My one year old has taken to kissing the ground, like the Pope. I know he won't get ill because he's infallible.

Me too Sarah.

I dunno OP - you're getting a hard time because everyone wants to be all cool and laid back about their kids and germ tolerance. It depends how filthy these toys are. I had a dr surgery once where I didn't want my kids to touch anything, frankly. And I let the children lick the dog, so I don't think I'm manic when it comes to cleanliness.

If everything is that revolting you need to find a new toddler group.

And if not, you need to chill out.

PS My daughter once licked the handle of the door in a public loo.

We're alive thank you Queencee, we sucked the scarfs and bells. The mouldy soup and toys sullied by other children haven't resulted in any serious diseases.

We are going to make cakes now ds is home from school. dd and ds are agitating nicely on a hot wash before they touch the flour in case they eat their own germs and implode.

allhailtheaubergine has a good point op, you got to a lot of parent and child groups, so only go to the ones you consider clean enough, or are the clean ones the ones where the nasty domineering 18 month old babies take the toys away to play with on their evil power trips over the smaller babies?

Either:

a)
b) you need a serious bout of therapy
or
c)

OP, pls come back! How often do you think the toys should be sterilised, each time after a play session? Or is that too rarely? Maybe you should re-sterilise the lot every 15 minutes or so.

Sadly, seriously, this is why soft toys are gone from doctor's offices, now :(.

Surely you mean wash, not sterilise? Would you really sterilise toys? To be fair to the OP there is a rather unrealistic bit in "What to Expect: The First Year" about choosing nurseries that suggests that a good nursery would get children to play with their "own" toys and wash in between.

Get over yourself

The toys at the toddler group DS goes to are never washed. I must admit I used to push the ones with the biggest deposits of black crud out of his reach but on the whole I left him to it, figuring that everyone else's offspring were still alive. DH takes him now and I assume he thinks the same.

I once read something a GP had said about only preventing children from touching 'toilet' germs. And he said if your baby wants to chew the handle of the supermarket trolley to let them get on with it. Don't look if it bothers you.

It's far more important IMO that your child learns to muck in (literally!), share and play with other children.

Load of old bollocks.

Do you spray the door handles of shops and the handles shopping trolleys before touching them.

What about produce that has been touched then put back on shelves?

Imagine you were at someone's house and they used a spoon, licked it clean, then gave it to you to use. Would you mind, would you be happy?

But if you didn't see them do it then you wouldn't know or be bothered..

Admittedly not nice,but not life threatening.

i have 4 children, never sterilised a toy in my life. Kids rarely ill and 3 never needed antibiotics.
get a life or go in early and scrub the toys

my mum is a total bleach freak and me and my sister have asthma and were often ill as kids.

DD1's fav game when little was to chew the wheels of her buggy. DD2 chews everything she can get her hands on including a snail in our garden.

They are rarely ill.

Don't stress too much over dirt. Seriously my mum nearly went round the bend with her cleaning and wiping obsessions. Lifes too short and all that.

Wow - I never sanitised anything. We never even had a steriliser for our three... The kids have great immune systems and only caught any bugs after we joined the local gym, which I think must be a real source of people from different communities mixing, which would explain why we seem to catch something every time we go. If we don't go for 6 months, we are healthy for 6 months. Weird.

Anyhow, as others have said - you are being a bit over cautious. Yes, it is a bit gross if toys are sticky etc, but take your own wet wipes and give the toy a quick rub before letting your baby play, if you are worried. If you take your own toys what new stimulation is your child going to get?

My toddler ate popcorn off the ground at the weekend before I could stop him :-( Another time at the doctor's office my 3 year old found a sweet under a chair and ate that! I think that some germs are good for them and although I definitely don't like that kind of thing, it hasn't harmed them.

honeydragon the grass soup was a bit bland but I used the bits of bread crusts my cherubs had dropped to make croutons obviously I blew the fluff off them first

my ex mil once presented me with a kit that had a spray and wipes and something you put under your nose to use when I flew home to protect me from 'the germs from other people breathing on the plane' shame it didnt work against her nasty germ of a son

My mum is a microbiologist and very vocal about the 'child cruelty' of parents who damage their childrens immune systems and -intentionally- make them susceptible to illnesses by refusing to let the child get a bit dirty.

If you want your child to be healthy, let his immune system build up strenth, so that when something big, and bad DOES come along it will have the natural resistance to fight it off. Otherwise you will have one very, very sick child.