To not expect to have to do this at baby group?

[Hands124496]

I've been taking my son to a few sensory sessions. He's 8 months old.

Adults are asked to gel their hands with alcohol gel obviously that's fine and understandable. But they keep asking me to do my baby son's as well

To be honest I've just pretended to do it a couple of times but I'm just wondering if I'm unreasonable for feeling uncomfortable doing that and thinking it's an odd request.

The first thing my son does is put anything and everything in his mouth! I've no doubt if I rubbed gel in his hands he'd want to taste them! It also dries out my own hands having to do it everywhere nevermind a babies skin.

AIBU to think it's not reasonable to expect parents to gel their babies hands before a group?

I understand I don't have to go to that group, I'm just curious if others would find it weird.

I bring my own wipes.

soap & water is better anyway - bring your own baby soap & wash his hands
simples

Bizarre. The biggest vector of spread of disease is your son, not from where his hands have been prior to the group. I’ve no idea why we’ve got into sanitising our hands on arrival somewhere but not leaving.
I wish someone would do definitive research about whether or not you can get covid from someone else’s hands touching something that you then touch.

No I obviously don't think he's going to get drunk.

Damn. This thread would have been so much more fun if you were worried about him getting drunk.

I wouldn’t put the hand sanitiser on my baby’s hands either.

I wouldn't be comfortable with this tbh given the high alcohol content and chemicals in hand sanitisers generally. I think a lot of websites and products advise that the product has to be fully dry before it's safe. Frankly I wouldn't comply and say something like 'allergic'

Those gels aren't suitable for children under the age of 3. This is utterly ridiculous. There are gels and wipes safe for them but not the alcohol based ones.

@FTEngineerM

It’s just another example of plonkers setting rules they think will help

The baby’s hands will be in their mouths within minutes and then what.. do you sanitise again.. every time they put their hands in their mouth? Every time they touch their faces? Do you then sanitise every time you touch their hands that have been in their mouths?

It’s ridiculous. Just carry on being sensible as you are

All that ... perfectly said.

Makes no sense. Either the group is safe to attend or not. The kids will be crawling around eating carpet and whatnot anyway so why only hands? Perhaps they should have a sanitiser fully body dip as they go in the room.

It's an odd request, I wouldn't do it either.

I don't get the logic. Sanitise a baby's hands which will immediately go in their mouths, anything they touch is likely to go in their mouths, they aren't wearing masks... it makes no sense and offers no benefit nevermind what it does do their skin.

My ds is 2 and asks to do his hands when we enter his nursery or a shop with hand sanitiser and that's fine but I wouldn't have done it when he was a baby.

I'd just politely decline.

@FTEngineerM

It’s just another example of plonkers setting rules they think will help

The baby’s hands will be in their mouths within minutes and then what.. do you sanitise again.. every time they put their hands in their mouth? Every time they touch their faces? Do you then sanitise every time you touch their hands that have been in their mouths?

It’s ridiculous. Just carry on being sensible as you are

Totally agree with this!

No I wouldn't do this unless it was a baby safe product. What's actually in alcohol gel? Obviously the alcohol evaporates but it leaves a disgusting chemical taste behind so obviously other ingredients get left behind.

I use Milton baby hand sanitizer on my wee ones hands. Not because I'm that worried about Covid anymore than all the winter bugs just now. I use it after soft play / toddler groups etc

@FTEngineerM

It doesn't evaporate it dries onto your hands

And how do you propose it ‘dries’ if not through evaporation @JugglingJanuary ?

It doesn't ALL evaporate off, the poster was implying it would eveporate off as though it was never there, it doesn't, it leaves a lot there.

@FTEngineerM

@UnbeatenMum

No I wouldn't do this unless it was a baby safe product. What's actually in alcohol gel? Obviously the alcohol evaporates but it leaves a disgusting chemical taste behind so obviously other ingredients get left behind.

Exactly!!

I wouldn’t do it (bad for skin, futile etc) but I’d use a wipe.

No fucking way. That stuff is nasty enough on adult skin. An eight month old isn’t going to be walking around handling things and I’d assume they’d clean the toys between sessions anyway.

I’ve been going to baby groups with my 11 month old since they reopened. I’ve never been asked to sanitise his hands and understand completely why you don’t want to. Their skin is so sensitive.

Do they watch you do it? If not just don’t mention anything. If they police it, I’d find a different group.

No one sanitises hands at ours. The babies just pass stuff round and shove in their mouths. It wouldn't do a blind bit of difference.

You can get some baby friendly spray that is fine if they eat it… I use it a lot as I’m so sick of us being ill!

I agree that from what I've read it's mostly transmitted by air, but at work we still have to spend a lot of time wiping things down. It seems pointless really but I think it's about being seen to be taking precautions. It seems to give people a sense of safety.

We use vital baby hygiene - no alcohol and safe for babies. It's a spray and it's for sanitising hands and dummies etc on the go.

Get some from boots and maybe show the course leader.

I had a lockdown baby and then went to lots of baby groups in early 2021 as soon as you could do so. Was never asked to gel the baby 😁 it was all masks, distancing and the organiser wiping everything between sessions instead.

It sounds weird. Washing your baby's hands or using a baby wipe should be sufficient.

I'm eternally grateful that there were no 'baby groups' when mine was a baby. I might have felt obliged or been coerced into going and would have hated it.

@blyn72

It sounds weird. Washing your baby's hands or using a baby wipe should be sufficient.

I'm eternally grateful that there were no 'baby groups' when mine was a baby. I might have felt obliged or been coerced into going and would have hated it.

How old are your kids? My mum took me to play groups and I'm 34.

It’s because many people have lost any common sense over covid. They make up ridiculous rules that have no actual benefit (this one really is ridiculous when you actually think about it). Just say no thanks and move on.