Hand washing/sanitising before holding baby

[CMC13]

When did you become more relaxed with hand washing/sanitising around your baby and people holding them?

After eight week jabs, but I had a summer baby so all the first meetings were outside wrapped in a light muslin.

Immediately. Both my children were healthy at birth, I don't remember ever requesting adults wash before holding them. Sticky toddlers is a different matter 😂

Immediately.

they and I were in hospital for about a week and very few nurses or midwives sanitised before touching them.

I didn't really have to ask anyone to sanitise etc but it was just after covid so a lot of people did it off their own bat and we had reduced visitors so that helped naturally.

I think once they've had all their jabs I'd feel more relaxed and especially once they're doing more tummy time and putting things in their mouths.

Immediately.

With DD2 it would have seemed particularly futile since DD1 was bringing home nursery germs. But even with DD1 it wasn’t something I thought to ask people.

From day 1. It wasn't something I was ever concerned about.

I think its this time of year that scares me with flu and rsv. They put their hands in their mouth but not things yet. They do tummy time but are just about lifting their heads. They're twins 5 months old but born at 36 weeks. So 4 months corrected x

I never asked anyone to do this. Not even the dog.

The dog?

I'm just making the point that germs are normal. Obviously you want to avoid RSV in a newborn, but so long as people don't have symptoms and your baby is healthy, just go for it. Then once they're not a newborn anymore you can relax even more.
Your babies are 4/5 months? Another month or two and they could be crawling. Then they'll be licking the floor and kissing other babies faces.

I never asked anyone to sanitise!

My family and friends washed their hands without prompting doing the newborn days - I would have asked otherwise.

I got their primary school sibling to get in the habit of washing hands when he came
home. But beyond that it was futile, i had to accept he was germy and I was amazed they didn’t have more colds than they did.

Besides there’s research that says exposure to microbes in the first year can activate a newborn’s immune system which is protective down the line.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44199844.amp

I remember when visiting a friend their toddler planted a slobbery kiss over my PFB and the mum then apologised for the heavy cold the toddler had! Predictably the baby then got it and I was so annoyed. But when I read the article I felt a lot better and more relaxed about germs. 9 years later and he’s still alive and thankfully he hardly has any colds - no idea of if there is any connection.

To be fair, even though I never asked anyone to wash their hands, I’d not have wanted a snotty toddler kissing my newborn!

i never did this. I think at 4 months youre over the worst. I’d start now!!

At 4/5 months you can relax. They will be eating food soon, crawling and putting everything they can get in their mouths. I caught my daughter chewing on a shoe while I sterilised her bottles once. Just relax now.

After a couple months I didn’t care too much. I remember a friend seeming shocked/offended when I asked her to sanitise her hands before holding my newborn. Most people did it without being asked. It’s just common sense.

As a little bit of reassurance: illness is a thing that happens to everyone. When your children catch a cold (and it is when, not if), it is not your fault. They will be okay 🫂