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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think you can over sanitise?

34 replies

Happymummy21 · 23/06/2012 09:27

Since becoming a mum I've noticed many parents are very paranoid about their dc coming into contact with germs etc and seem to be constantly spraying antibacterial everywhere etc.

The cynic in me hates the 'clean freak' adverts by big corporates which seem to perpetuate parents desire to over sanitise. I'm concerned about the chemicals in all these products, probably more than the germs they kill.

I do like to have a clean house, but AIBU to think that you can over sanitise and them chemicals can be more harmful than the bacteria?

OP posts:
TodaysAGoodDay · 23/06/2012 09:32

Yes, this is why there are bugs like MRSA. They become resistant to being sanitised, and get stronger and stronger. I'm a great believer in not bleaching everything to within an inch of it's life, just relax about the whole clean thing. So no, YANBU.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 23/06/2012 09:33

Honestly I don't know, but I'm going to watch this thread because I feel like you do. There is of course the possibility that we like to think this as it gives us an excuse not to do housework Grin

I have a particular bee in my bonnet about those auto soap dispenser things - surely it doesn't matter if you touch it with dirty hands because you are going to wash your hands straight after using it?

MrDarcysbreeches · 23/06/2012 09:33

YANBU - i think people are creating more problems by over-sanitising. Yes, you have to be clean, but everyone needs "a bit of dirt" and we can't live in a bubble. I think there is a real danger of children not being allowed to playh outside etc in case they get dirty - surely thats part of being a child!

And i agree that the dangers of excessive chemicals in our system far outweigh the germs.

squeakytoy · 23/06/2012 09:34

YANBU at all. Unless there is an illness already, which could be mean the health being compromised by any bug or germ, then it is better to be exposed to some degree of bacteria to build up a healthy immunity.

LST · 23/06/2012 09:36

Yes you can!

My DS has never had so much as a sniffle. I love my house being clean and tidy but I have 3 cats that and my DM's dog and BF's dog have almost everyday contact with DS. I also suck his dummy I he drops it Blush

LST · 23/06/2012 09:36

YANBU btw

sharklet · 23/06/2012 09:37

YANBU people go crazy over sanitising. if you do your kids are far more likely to pick up bugs than if they have thier peck of dirt. However that does not mean to say I don't do proper food or toilet hygiene.

Graciescotland · 23/06/2012 09:37

I know what you mean, I always think that a few bacteria will help build a child's immune system. That said DS is rarely ill and never any more than a cold. If he was forever ill I might change my mind.

WrestlesBadgers · 23/06/2012 09:37

YADNBU.
I have a friend who vacuums and mops three or four times a day, hovers with antibacterial gunk, and disinfects absolutely everything in case her pfb "catches something."
Said pfb is always sick with a snot nose.

DD is allowed to eat dirt and has had one cold.

Case closed :o

PooPooInMyToes · 23/06/2012 09:42

I agree op. I remember reading something about the link between over sanitising and asthma? Or something like that. I remember telling my sil who laughed and laughed and laughed. She works in healthcare you see so thinks she knows everything Hmm

squeakytoy · 23/06/2012 09:45

I grew up with a mother who hoovered a couple of times a week at the most, dusted when the dust became noticeable, and while the house was fairly clean, cluttered but by no means a shit-tip, it certainly was not a sterile palace, with the dog, the cat, budgies, my dad (who smoked in the house)giving the dog his plate to lick after a meal, and not a plug in air freshener in site..

I have similar standards of housework, and my house is certainly not a palace.. Grin, it is cluttered, the dog sleeps on the furniture, and we have been known to eat food that has gone past the use by date without suffering any sort of poisoning too..

Having said that, I have a cold on average every 3 or 4 years, that lasts a few days, have never in my life had flu, and my husband is the same.

MistyRocks · 23/06/2012 09:46

yanbu! build their immunity i say

i am all for being reasonably clean and tidy but there is no need for the lengths some people go to

squeakytoy · 23/06/2012 09:48

We also wear clothes that have been worn the day before, if they are still clean, use towels more than once..

trixie123 · 23/06/2012 10:00

Christ yes you can! DD's highchair just gets wiped with the cloth from the sink - if I have an antibac wipe I might swish it over once a week but that's it. I never remember to wash the DCs hands before eating (we never did at home, though DP does) and as DS is potty training there is a quite a lot of issues with younger DD trying to clamber all over the potty but we just swill it out after a wee (proper clean in the rare event of a poo though). I have two of the healthiest and least bug-prone kids I know. DS is almost three and has only had one course of antibiotics which was for a persistent cough. DD is 13m and has had one cold. I have a friend who takes her DD's temp daily, whether she's ill or not and anti-bacs her OWN hands before having anything to eat, even a biscuit or something. Crazy obsession that drives me bonkers. Sorry, rant over... YANBUSmile

somewherewest · 23/06/2012 10:05

Totally. We've always been really easygoing around our our 6mo DS and he's had barely a snuffle since birth.

echt · 23/06/2012 10:08

Anti-bacs are the devil's work. They leave a film which allows stronger bacteria to grow.

All you need in the home is hot water and soap. Occasional bleach if you're not concerned about the environmental effects of making bleach.

Sorted.

eurochick · 23/06/2012 10:12

Yep, I agree. Over-sanitising is likely to do far more harm than good. We are designed to live alongside bacteria. We need them in our gut, etc.

I think I read a study which said that farmers' kids (who are exposed to all sorts of dust and animals) have the lowest frequency of allergies.

PuffPants · 23/06/2012 10:12

I am a sanitiser. DS is never ill, has never been on anti-bios, never had a childhood illness or vomiting bug.

Case reopened Wink

CrunchyFrog · 23/06/2012 10:14

Completely, speaking as a filth wizard. My kids are rarely ill and never get vomiting bugs :)

DS1 does have asthma though, but so do I.

echt · 23/06/2012 10:16

Puffpants what do you sanitise with?

echt · 23/06/2012 10:19

I don't know why I posted that, to puffpant's as the scientific data overcomes mere anecdote. Blush

Mopswerver · 23/06/2012 10:19

Agree with all those against this cult of hygiene. Reasonable levels yes, hands free soap pumps...a joke! Anti bacterial? Soap is anti-bacterial! Ad agencies have hi-jacked the phrase!

My particular Bete-Noir is the fad amongst Yummy Mummies for applying Anti-bac gel to their kids hands every 5 mins!

peeriebear · 23/06/2012 10:25

I don't own any sanitiser. DD1 is ten and has never had a day off in three years of primary (I can't remember back to infant school!) DD2 is 5 and so far has only had days off for hearing tests (grommets). Neither has had any kind of sickness/diarrhoea within my memory.

Shoshe · 23/06/2012 10:25

I know it was a long time ago, and things have changed very much since then.

My mother had her first child a boy Gary in 1952, she bottle fed, and was paranoid about germs everything had to be boiled before it touched him, he wasnt allowed to crawl on the floor and she would only put him down on a blanket that was always being washed.

When he was 9 months old. my Parents were posted to Singapore (my DF was RAF)

It was a long flight and a stop over in Pakistan, Mum had taken bottled boiled water with her but ran out in Pakistan, she asked for fresh boiled water in the hotel and fed the baby.

By the time the flight took off again, the baby was being sick, by the time they reached Singapore he had diarrhoea.

He was taken into hospital the next day, the Doctors told her it was gastroenteritis. They thought that maybe the water hadnt been boiled enough, and because Mum was so fanatical about hygiene, he didnt have the
immunities to fight it.

My brother died the next day.

Mum went onto have five more children, including twins, we were mucky sods,
allowed to be dirty, (mum called it clean dirt, washed off in the bah at night)

When I had DS 35 years ago, she went made seeing me Milton everywhere, insistent that washing the surfaces down with a clean cloth and hot water was more than enough.

I took her advise, DS was another mucky kid who was batherd each night.

It was enough.

waterlego6064 · 23/06/2012 10:36

Oh shoshe, that is a sad story.

I'm with the 'filth wizards' ( great phrase crunchyfrog!)

My two are rarely ill. I am almost never ill (cross fingers). The two mums I know who are the most paranoid about hygiene and hand-washing have children who are ill very frequently. One cold/cough/bug seems to just run into the next one.