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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Washing hands after nappy change - MIL thread, sorry

528 replies

StarlingMurmuration · 15/07/2015 17:58

My PIL are staying with us at the moment to look after DS, after I have had an operation. I appreciate is is very generous and lovely of them, and I am grateful.

However, MIL isn't washing her hands after pooey nappy changes. AIBU to be bothered by this? How can I get her to do this without basically implying she's being disgusting? We do have hand sanitizer at the nappy change station, but I found she as using that BEFORE she changed his nappy instead of after! DS is 8 months old, just for info, and my operation means I can't lift or carry him, or bend over/ kneel down, so I can't do it myself at the moment.

OP posts:

captainproton · 15/07/2015 21:45

Considering I once had to go inside a sewage tank on a cruise ship, which are well known for norovirus outbreaks, I do indeed wash my hands the proper way. I also had about 3 hot showers in row and the stench- I won't go there.

I also like to give the door handle, toilet flush, light switch and floor in the bathroom a good clean once my DSS goes back to his mums. Purely because he is a filthy creature and has a poor aim both when having a wee and after wiping his bum and throwing the paper into the toilet bowl (or not). My dd has just toilet trained and is a bit messy so I've upped the toilet cleaning to once a day.

I always try to open public toilet doors with either my elbows or my sleeves. But yes having worked on cruise ships where you get a 1000 people in a confined space, buffet restaurants and 50 pct of the people not washing their hands, you begin to realise it's the soap that saves you and not some mythical resistance built up by embracing germs.

samsam123 · 15/07/2015 21:53

of course you wash your hands or don't you bother after going to the toilet yourselves yuk disgusting

pinechesterdrawers · 15/07/2015 21:54

Yoga, Im a frequent handwasher.

I wash hands after coming in from supermarket, before/during/after cooking so i dont touch fridge door/dishwasher with foody/oily hands, after nappy changing, after nose blowing or poking at my ears/face ....

my house is scruffy and untidy.

pinechesterdrawers · 15/07/2015 21:57

I also wash my hands for a good 20-30 seconds and then rinse. DH laughs.

WizardOfToss · 15/07/2015 22:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

yogababymum · 15/07/2015 22:33

Bim.... You need help! Sorry but that's totally disgusting. You don't wash after the toilet or after Sex.

Do you seriously touch your kids with those manky hands. It's not all about just getting sick, it's also about just being minging.

TigerTrumpet · 15/07/2015 22:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Topseyt · 15/07/2015 22:46

I always washed my hands after each nappy change (though not before it). It would never have occurred to me not to.

Genuinely surprised that some people seem to say it is OK not to.

Topseyt · 15/07/2015 22:51

Oh, and I usually kept a small bottle of hand sanitiser in my changing bag in case I needed to change them somewhere where there was no easy access to soap and water (back of car, in the park etc.).

Ni excuses.

skinoncustard · 15/07/2015 22:51

Hand sanitizers are only a substitute for hand washing if no organic material is on your hands, dirt , poo, wee etc . The only 'real' way to clean your hands is to wash them with soap and water. Too many people think a quick squirt with anti bacterial gel makes them clean, It doesn't !
Can't believe the amount of manky folk on here. Yuk!

msgrinch · 15/07/2015 22:58

wash your hands after sex?! I'd be seriously unsatisfied if u had the energy to get up and wash my hands after.

lozster · 15/07/2015 23:03

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this thread. I've worked in developing countries on projects to encourage hand washing. Even poorly educated people understand that germs are not visible and that hand washing with soap should take place post defecation and pre cooking. If someone who lives on a dollar a day gets this and prioritises buying and using soap, then why don't educated people who have every advantage to enable them to do this readily?

Loula117 · 15/07/2015 23:04

I don't change towels every five minutes, and leave bed linen on over a week, but I always washed my hand after a nappy change, just like when I've been to the loo myself. I'd love to know how many of the fanatical sheet changers aren't hand washers - really suprised by this thread!

yogababymum · 15/07/2015 23:07

Oh come on Mrs, if that's your excuse fine! But not everyone has sex only at night when they are going straight to sleep.

HarryTheDirtyDog · 15/07/2015 23:13

yogababymum - opposite way round here, house shocking, but very careful handwasher.

msgrinch · 15/07/2015 23:16

Neither do I. Don't really feel the need to wash my hands after whenever we do it.

coconutpie · 15/07/2015 23:25

rollermum - ummm what do people do with coins? /scared to ask

Some of you lot are filthy mingers. Not washing hands after a nappy change? That is fucking disgusting. Is it any wonder that bugs are so rampant? Some people have such a serious lack of basic hygiene, there is no excuse for it.

I wash my hands all the time - when I come in from being out, always after using bathroom, before / during / after cooking, emptying bins, after cleaning the place, etc etc etc. Poor hand hygiene really pisses me off. I also hate shaking people's hands and always wash hands after or use antibac gel / wipe - clearly my disgust is justified because people are so unhygienic! Yuck.

For nappy changes - after I've changed nappy, I wipe hands with an antibacterial hand wipe, put baby in a safe place and then go wash my hands properly.

Oh and I always avoid people's home baking at work - looks like I'm justified with that too!

EddieStobbart · 16/07/2015 00:02

Coconutpie, the minging non-hand washers fondle those coins, that's what happens to them...

TowerRavenSeven · 16/07/2015 00:07

I've only got to the first 10 responses and all I can say is YUCK. Not washing your hands after every diaper change, whether poo or wet is utterly disgusting. Sickening. You must be joking. Right??!!

bluejeanswhiteshirt · 16/07/2015 00:14

I don't understand why it's so shocking? If no poo goes on your hands and you only touch the wipes and the outside of the nappy then what's the big deal? I wash my hands a LOT but never feel the need to after changing nappies.

Canyouforgiveher · 16/07/2015 00:18

God what an eye-opener this thread is. and not in a good way.

Like Lozter, my company runs water and sanitation for health programs in developing countries, the main focus of which is ... hand washing. because it gets the most bang for the buck.

Any talk about towel changing or bed sheet changing is just random chatter. Washing your hands after being in contact with faeces (and you are if you change a nappy with poo in it) is basic hygiene and disease prevention.

Women died of puerperal fever (childbed fever) because doctors didn't wash their hands. Actually the rate of handwashing of doctors/medics is still disturbingly low and I know people who ask their doctors to wash their hands before examination.

There is actually no excuse - wash your hands. and teach your children to do it too. Can't imagine what an older child is taking in watching mum or dad change a shitty nappy and then continuing on to prepare dinner. Doubt that child will wash his hands in the bathroom.

TowerRavenSeven · 16/07/2015 00:30

Because when I used to change them there is no way you are just touching the outside of the diaper. Even if you can somehow just touch the outside of the diaper surely you are touching where the diaper was on the child? Some dampness of any sort makes it to your fingertips? That's urine and germy, not to even think of changing a soiled with poo diaper. Those wipes have pores to them, yes the crap gets through them onto your hands. And people wonder how disease gets transmitted.

Canyouforgiveher · 16/07/2015 00:31

But if you wipe yourself after going to the loo, does poo go on your hands? it doesn't on mine but I still wash my hands in hot water and soap. Would you really change your child's pooey nappy and then feed him without washing your hands. I'm sorry but I actually can't get my head around that. Don't your hands feel like they NEED to be washed?

TowerRavenSeven · 16/07/2015 00:39

I also have to add that I didn't matter where on earth I was changing that diaper, I washed my hands as soon as possible afterwards. Hand sanitizer immediately after changing the diaper if I was not near water, and I got myself to water as soon as possible afterwards.

I can't ever ever remember a playdate or baby group at someone's home where anyone that changed a diaper didn't immediately wash their hands afterwards. Because I would have noticed and said something for one thing! How hard is it to say where is your restroom/kitchen sink I have to wash my hands? We used to hold our hands up like surgeons looking for a sink.

Coffee1234 · 16/07/2015 02:59

A friend of mine works in a neonatal
unit and she conducted an experiment on poo and toilet paper to show the medical students. She demonstrated that it took about 10 layers of toilet paper for faecal bugs not to seep through from the source onto bare fingers. Poo seeps through toilet paper and wipes, even if it's not visibly on hands.

I'm a bit traumatised by the non washing people, no wonder there's always so much gastro about.

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