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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder how long to wash your hands post pooey nappy

31 replies

nigelslaterfan · 03/12/2009 00:10

I mean obviously I wash my hands in hot water properly with soap and dry them. But sometimes I look at other people.... dh perhaps... and wonder. How well did you wash your hands mate? And a former slightly crazy ex mate, I was convinced she was a post nappy soap dodger but I have no proof. Only my own suspicions.

But just out of interest how seriously do other scrub their poo hands? I mean do any of you do the full ER up to your elbows iodine scrub? And what about when you're out and you only use a wipe that can't actually clean all the poo off your hands can it?

Well I need to get a life, obviously and I should be in bed. So any thoughts?

OP posts:
MadamDeathstare · 03/12/2009 00:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fernie3 · 03/12/2009 05:51

I wash them pretty well I think I have no idea how long for though - as much as you do after using the toiler anyway!

LoveBeingAMummyKissingSanta · 03/12/2009 06:47

It s not just how long but how well. Saw a mw on tv being interviewed about new mw, and she was saying that one of the first things they were all trainined to do was wash their hands as no-one ever does it properly.

Wanderinginawinterwonderland · 03/12/2009 07:47

Yes, I've heard the "Happy Birthday" thing too.

I'm really thorough when it comes to hand washing, particularly after changing mindees. There's just something different about changing another child's, who is not your own, nappy (yuck).

ABetaDad · 03/12/2009 07:51

Wash them half way up the forearm rinse and then repeat.

Working with animals for a large part fo my life taught me that.

StealthPolarBear · 03/12/2009 07:55

as much as i do after toilet - do for wet nappies too. only up to wrists though, only wash arms if i need to!
prob not as long as HB twice, but i thought thoroughly!
If I'm out & can't wash i use a wipe & careful what i touch before next hand wash

theressomethingaboutmarie · 03/12/2009 07:58

I now feel vile. If I haven't had any 'splashback' let's say, I use a (clean) wipe and give my hands a thorough once over.

StealthPolarBear · 03/12/2009 08:03

logically that's probably fine - you only touch the outside of the nappies and the other sides of the wipes!

StealthPolarBear · 03/12/2009 08:03

and if wipes get all the poo off the baby's bottom then surely they work on your hands too?

StealthPolarBear · 03/12/2009 08:04

although I realise you don't make meals with a baby's bottom

(random post of the week)

Tee2072 · 03/12/2009 08:51

Both at home and out and about I wipe any obvious poo off with a wipe and then use alcohol based hand gel until I can get to a sink. Then I wash the way I was taught when DS was in SCBU:

Soap into palm of one hand, rubs palm together for a count of 5.

Rub left hand over back of right for count of 5.

Rub right hand over back of left for count of 5.

Rub between fingers together for count of ten, left over right then right over left, five each side.

Rinse well!

fizzpops · 03/12/2009 09:00

Do you all get covered in poo that often when changing nappies? Really? I think I have only come into contact with the poo about three times and that was because DD chose to kick her legs at the wrong moment and I had to catch the full nappy.

And I always wash my hands straight away with soap and hot water, why wouldn't you (assuming you weren't in the middle of a field)?

MarthaFarquhar · 03/12/2009 09:05

I have had a 30 minute hand-washing lesson as part of my secondment to the NHS . Back of the thumb (top of hand) and top of fingers on the back of the hand are the most commonly missed areas linky

I will be undertaking spot checks later!

PotPourri · 03/12/2009 09:22

I do it the way the signs in hospitals show (as others have said). I also try to get hte kids to do that. I use my sleeve or a tissue ot open doors after washign hands. I hate when I can't wash my hands, or there is no soap or only cold water. But I do carry antibacterial stuff and do the same handwashign technique with that after cleaning with a wipe. At home I was my baby's bum with cloth wipes as I don't think wipes clean, they just spread it around and take some off.

But in the end, sometimes you just need to accept that a little bit of germs is good for your immunity long term...

Glitterknickaz · 03/12/2009 09:29

Yep, I do the between fingers stuff too.
If for some reason there is no tap and soap available - ie park or beach - I use a wipe then squirt on some hand gel that I keep in the bag for these situations.

pjmama · 03/12/2009 11:21

Digressing slightly, is anyone else totally bloody sick of washing their hands though?! My dt are 3 and out of nappies now but I still find myself washing them every five minutes for one reason or another - they feel like sandpaper and no amount of hand cream liberally applied seems to help!

I remember the days when I used to have manicures...

Original poster
nigelslaterfan · 03/12/2009 12:59

MadamDeathstare LOL at 'buttgerms'!!!

Well I do think I should do them for longer but I get nasty eczema which is hugely exacerbated by all this blardy washing!

I respect people on mumsnet for the enormous amount of the stuff they know what I don't.

OP posts:
VoilaAnotherGimlet · 03/12/2009 18:10

madamdeathstare I can't bear wonem who come out of the loo and then spend 5 mins wiping their "buttgerms" through their hair before giving their hands a cursory wash.

It's not just one's own buttgerms either, it's OTHER PEOPLE'S.....

People are gross.

Emster30 · 03/12/2009 18:49

See I don't yet have my own DC but when I have changed my friend's baby's nappy I have alwasy found it really hard to wash my hands straight after as I've been clutching the baby. I can just about manage to wash one hand but not the one the baby is in. I couldn't leave the baby as it is a high changing table, and I could hardly put her down on the bathroom floor.

So I'd better learn, before my own baby comes along, how to wash my hands one handed or what to do with the baby!

figrollinthehay · 03/12/2009 19:19

I try and wash our taps regularly because no matter how well you wash your hands, you have to touch the tap that you touched with dirty hands to begin with.

BustleInYourHedgerow · 03/12/2009 20:44

But then if you've washed your taps and then you have to wash your hands the taps are dirty because you've just touched them with your hands and if you wash your taps with your hands, are the taps not dirty by association???

StealthPolarBear · 03/12/2009 21:20

Emster - change on the floor, easier all round
or have a bouncy chair handy
I don't think germs survive that long on metal/enamel taps, or if they do, I can't worry about it. Obviously if the taps have poo smeared on them I'd avoid them but taps in someone's home are going to be fairly clean.
Having said that I do turn the taps on with my elbow when I feel my hands are particularly dirty, so I obviously don't really think that

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 03/12/2009 21:22

I do the happy birthday thing each time I wash my hands anyway,

serinBrightside · 03/12/2009 21:51

My kids have been known to announce loudly in motorway service stations "Mummy why is that lady not using the proper NHS technique"!

I have also told them to wait by the door until someone else opens it, or use their sleeve.

If all else fails I have alcogel in my handbag.

IlanaK · 03/12/2009 21:57

Can I nominate this "I realise you don't make meals with a baby's bottom" as quote of the week? I thought it was great!