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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Handwashing before meals

59 replies

perrinelli · 08/08/2012 21:39

I admit it - I don't routinely get my DCs (4 & 1) to wash their hands before meals. I might think of it if they've been doing something particularly messy but might not. It just doesn't normally enter my mind. At least one of DD1's friend's mum is very hot on this & got me thinking as DD1 is going there for a playdate soon and found myself hoping she wouldn't show me up by saying "we don't do that at home"! So do we have sub standard personal hygiene in our house? Do most people actually do this?

OP posts:

Twinkleinmyeye · 08/08/2012 22:06

Our DC are 2.9 and 0.9 btw.

ScramblyEgg · 08/08/2012 22:07

No, not before meals generally, unless DS has been playing in the garden or doing something else messy.

Pooka · 08/08/2012 22:09

We don't.

And very very very rarely have d&v. Dd maybe twice in 9 years. Ds1 the same, though he's 6.

usualsuspect · 08/08/2012 22:10

Nope never.

vvviola · 08/08/2012 22:11

DH enforces it with DD1 - but it's partly a stage in distracting her from whatever she's playing with or else it will take ages to get her to the table. (I have no earthly idea why "go wash your hands and come set the table" works faster than "come set the table" but it just does )

If DH isn't here I often forget, set the table myself & just yell 5 times for her to hurry up and sit at the table

Yama · 08/08/2012 22:12

Dh introduced the concept into our house. I'd never heard of it but since I don't want the kids to grass me up I always ask if they have washed their hands.

FishfingersAreOK · 08/08/2012 22:30

Same as many - DH introduced it and I now enforce it too (so I don't get grassed up) DC 6 and 4 and only 6yo had d&v when bug going round school.

cornflakegirl · 08/08/2012 22:44

Love JollyHockeySticks' post! Do you wash his hands before he eats the pebbles?

froggies · 08/08/2012 23:00

If we have been doing messy stuff or out in the garden (we have free range chickens) then yes. When I am working (childminder), yes - I have one mindee who reminds me! If the kids are bugging the life out of me while I am trying to set the table/dish up, then yes. The rest of the time nope.

In the last 8 years there have been 3 d&v bugs (kids are 16, 6 and 3), and I haven't had any of them. (2 of those have been in the last 18months, and we were a lot healthier than the rest of the kids in the village school!) we don't have anti bacterial gel, and i have to be really careful about detergents as we have a septic tank, so no bleach at all. Cast iron constitutions the lot of them

WilsonFrickett · 08/08/2012 23:05

Yes, we do it but we do it as a transitioning tool (ASD). So, when we say 'time to eat, wash your hands' he can mump and moan about hand washing, but by the time he's over that he's ready to sit down and eat.

Devora · 08/08/2012 23:08

Only intermittently remembered here. I am very vigilant about washing hands after using the toilet, and before cooking, but always forget about the before eating bit.

Belshels · 08/08/2012 23:11

They drum it in in school but that's understandable with all the kids coughing and sneezing at certain times of the year.. The teachers don't want to catch stuff as they have to suffer and just soldier on these days! The health visitor came in whilst I was helping in the classroom, and put a small bit of glitter gel on one child's hand. He had to shake hands with another child then they both had to keep shaking hands with others so it multiplied so within 5 handshakes the whole class had glitter on their hands. Then they all went to wash hands for lunch and later in the day there was still glitter on everyone in different places including on my face! I thought quite a good way of demonstrating the point anyway.

amck5700 · 08/08/2012 23:13

never any tummy bugs (kids haven't missed school for anything in 5 years!) but we ask for hands to be washed before dinner - no2 son is really good about it - No1 is a bit more of a trial.......even after any kind of toilet visit even though he is now 12 - he is a total soap dodger!! No one will use any towel he has used as we suspect that he dries his hands without actually washing them!

CleoSmackYa · 08/08/2012 23:13

Only if our hands are mucky. Always after the toilet though.

Was never made to do either as a kid (no idea why!)

amck5700 · 08/08/2012 23:15

Don't ask for it to be done at breakfast as they have to wash and dress before they go downstairs and we only see them for lunch at the weekends and hands need to be washed then - doubt they do it at school. Well, No2 might he is a bit of a hand wash freak like his dad.

hmc · 08/08/2012 23:15

Yes - but then we have dogs who roll in cow/horse and fox shit on their daily walks and the children like to pet them. However, even if we didnt have pets I'd still enforce it

conorsrockers · 08/08/2012 23:24

Nope. Life's too short, and we are all hungry. I'm too busy dishing up 7 meals to be supervising hand washing. If they've been out with the horses I'm [usually] on it

But then we eat with a knife and fork - not our fingers ....

Freshletticialongjump · 08/08/2012 23:28

Yes, wee and wash hands before meals and after the toilet. Wash hands after meals to avoid wiping them on the furniture. Kids handle dog, cats and chickens all the time.
But never use anti-bac sprays or any of that rubbish. In fact my default cleaning material is a bit of washy and a dab of bleach in the lav. Don't buy any of the other cleaning stuff.
Bicarb or bleach the sink. Linseed oil on the floor and scrub the shower with a brush, not spray-on stuff.
Sad, but keeps our septic tank happy.

justabigdisco · 08/08/2012 23:31

Toilet - yes
Meals - no

conorsrockers · 08/08/2012 23:32

...and I can't remember the last time any of us had tummy bugs. It's probably my (bad) habit as I can't wash mine - (v. bad eczema) - I always get those sideways looks in public loos and feel like going and shoving my scabby hands under their nose !

NoComet · 08/08/2012 23:33

No and I've no idea if they wash their hands after they've been to the loo, but I doubt it.

Rest of school seem to have DV bugs that pass us by.

FussArse · 09/08/2012 00:03

No hand washing here either and no tummy bugs either. What gets eaten stays eaten in this house.

Birnamwood · 09/08/2012 08:45

Yes after the loo but only before meals if they're filthy
ds1 4 has only ever had one tummy bug.
Mil is a clean freak amongst other things and is horrified when ds sits to eat his meal without washing his hands, even though he has only been playing with his own willy, bum, nose toys

tara0202 · 09/08/2012 08:54

No we don't wash hands before meals unless they' re dirty. Never understood the need.

Do you wash hands before eating anything? Like a snack? If you're out for a meal do you and kids wash hands before eating?

Always wash after toilet though.

cariadlet · 09/08/2012 08:57

At school (I'm a primary school teacher), I always send children to wash their hands before lunch.

At home it's a different story! I never bother, and don't make dd either. We're both pretty healthy. Aren't you supposed to "eat a peck of dirt before you die"?

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