Worried about toddler and germs

[notcoping777]

My toddler is at that age where he wants to crawl everywhere. At home we have hard floors and even though I vacuum and mop most days, they never seem to get fully clean - there’s always pet hair, crumbs and other dirt.

This afternoon we went to a stay and play session where again, he was crawling all over the place. There were loads of toys that he was touching, then putting his fingers in his mouth. Another child there was coughing quite badly and DS used a toy he had touched straight after him (I only noticed the other boy was coughing after DS had touched the toy and put it in his mouth).

The other day we were in a shop and he was yelling to come out his pram, so I let him crawl on the shop floor, which in hindsight was probably foolish as it would of course be covered in germs.

The way he’s being exposed to all these dirty environments is starting to make me quite paranoid that he could pick up some horrible bugs. Does anyone else worry about this and is there anything I can do? I do wipe his hands with wet wipes before eating but they’re not antibacterial I don’t think.

What others have said about their immune system. Pediatricians are actually worried about all the hygiene around covid, for young children. All this anti-bac-ing, masking, and not going to groups and mixing with other kids and using shared toys, means they've not come across enough bacteria to prime their immune systems.
They're predicting high levels of allergies and auto immune issues, as well as toddlers not having enough immune response to deal with infection when they're older.

The best thing you can do for a lockdown baby/toddler is not to be too hygienic at home. Let them crawl on the floor, let them shove soil or cat food in their mouths. The outside world has been made too sterile for them, so home needs to offer some challenge to build their immunity.

Colds. Not fish.

However saying that, I definitely wouldn't let my child crawl around the floor of a shop...

What are other people’s views on this - was I too relaxed

I would be wary about this from a point of view of him being in the way and tripped over, not bothered from a germ point of view. They do lock all kinds of stuff. I only get bothered when hey both insist on getting their faces too close to toilets to examine their poo and I do have to keep getting them to move back from that but I don't otherwise think about it much and I only insist on hand washing after toilet and before meals, not after being in a soft play or anywhere else.

As the old saying goes - a peck of dirt never hurt anyone. He's a toddler, he's going to touch everything and put stuff in his mouth. You did it, I did it, we all do it as babies and children. We survived. Just make sure you wash his hands when you get home.
I think living in a completely sterile environment is worse than getting a bit dirty - nothing to build your immune system and pretty boring! Where's the fun of getting mucky, muddy, sandy or wet?

A lot of toddlers eat soil, research has shown there is a link to needing healthy gut bacteria in that urge. We evolved in a microbial world and are physically designed to deal with it so (for healthy people) it shouldn't be of undue concern, as a pp said. Taking a fresh damp flannel with you is fine and kinder to the skin than wet wipes.

Honesty I wouldn’t worry about this kind of stuff. It’s good for their immune system and sooner or later they’ll be at a nursery or school so it’s good to be exposed at a young age to germs and that.

I wash my kids hands when we get home and try and get them to not lick things that long totally Ming but other than that there’s not too much we can do about it.

Enjoy your hol

Hi op try not to worry but have a look a the healthy microbiome I think it is called - basically how exposure to growing things helps us have good immune systems ourselves. Yes I would feel squeamish about shared toys and shop floors (although they have to have the shared toys!) but want you wnat most is what my granny would have called “good clean dirt”!

Have you always been this anxious OP? I suffer with anxiety and I worry about germs the way you do.. but only about me strangely.

Children need germs to build their immune system. As long as there isn’t anything dangerous on the floor then a bit of dirt and lint won’t hurt him, it essentially should only make him stronger obviously I’m not saying to lax on cleaning the house when it needs to be done.. but I really wouldn’t worry about the baby crawling around, chewing on all sorts etc. It’s inevitable, they will get colds, bugs and viruses easily at first as they’ve not be exposed before. But your body can build an immunity to something you without exposure.

We weren’t even made to wash our hands after playing outside as kids.. and albeit we had a couple cases of worms as children, the only illness I ever really suffer from is tonsillitis now. I am very, very rarely I’ll. while my cousins who were kept away from anything remotely dusty and antibac’ed to death are constantly ill and on antibiotics and often for one reason or another.

Please try not to panic too much, if your feel your worries are getting out of hand I would suggest contacting the health visitor to discuss your concerns.

My 10 month old licked a mirror in soft play last time we went puts absolutely everything in his mouth and fights like crazy when I try and clean his hands so I just leave him to be the dirty little sausage that he wants to be. He's had 1 cold since he's been born. And I've not been keeping him locked away because if covid, he comes to shops, goes to see lots of family, goes to various soft play and bay things and is at a childminders for a couple of days at a time. He even put a dog toy in his mouth before I could stop him the other day . It's good for them! Don't worry. I know when I was a kid I spent my weekends at the horses, rarely washed my hands while I was there because I was too caught up in things, and I get ill maybe once a year now if I'm unlucky

Too much hygiene for kids is honestly bad - no wonder allergies have exploded. They need those germs to develop a good immune system

You do not need to keep anti bacteria wipe everything, just regular soap and wet wipes are just fine, I just wipe my DS’s hands if they’re visibly dirty or they’ve touched dirt etc. He’s only had one cold that lasted a day, despite him constantly shoving everything in his mouth(!)

He needs germs to help his immune system. Not enough exposure to infection in early years has led to an increase in childhood leukaemia.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.news-medical.net/amp/health/Leukemia-and-Childhood-Infection-Hypothesis.aspx

I agree with pp about not letting babies crawl around in shops or anywhere elsewhere where they're going to get in people's way. Stick to open spaces like parks or child-centred places like soft play.

Regularly washing baby and children's hands is important but so is exposure to gems to build up the body's immunity.

Think about all the places in the world a baby grows up in. A few germs caught from other babies hes most likely going to be fine. I wouldn't put my Dd on a shop floor to crawl as she would be a trip hazard etc more so than worrying about it from a germs perspective.

Children who are exposed to general bugs when they are younger miss less school when they are older. This can often be seen in the Nursery and Reception years when the children who have been at home with a SAHP pick every cough and cold up whereas those who went to nursery at a younger age have a more robust/experienced immune system.

If you don't want to hand sanitizer you could take a collapsible bowl and a flask of warm water out with you and liquid soap. I generally keep this set upin the back of the car if we're going some where really mucky or horse riding because I'm not a fan of alcohol gel and prefer to wash my hands properly to get the mud off.

I 100% would not let my baby crawl around a shop floor. Not really because of germs, but because its really annoying for everyone else.

I do think you may need to relax a bit though. Immune systems NEED germs to build and become strong. My 16mo loves licking stones atm....

I have a similar aged baby, her hands get wiped after a meal and then washed in the bath. She's fine.

I wouldn't let her crawl around a shop, but that's because it wouldn't be safe for her and would be annoying for everyone else. Not because of germs.

When my dd was small I used to take her to a parent and toddler group every Thursday. Every Saturday, without fail, she would be unwell.

It wasn't much fun at times, but they have to build their immune system up one way or another, don't they? They will come into contact with all sorts of germs sooner or later, and their bodies have to deal with it.

Don’t get all Howard Hughes on him: exposure to a bit of dirt isn’t just ok it’s actively necessary.

I only wash my toddlers hands with soap I've he's been outside (and in the bath at night). Reading some of these posts maybe I'm not doing it enough....

Unfortunately, for the most part children are disgusting. Nothing you have described sounds particularly abnormal behaviour.

The crawling on the floor is normal behaviour, but isn’t one I particularly encourage in behaviour just in case it causes an accident.

When it comes to equipment and toys in public play places (soft play, toddler groups, nursery, school) I find it’s really best not to think too much about it. Yes there is a risk that they will get ill but at the same time it fun for children and they get a lot out of being able to play with other children.

This is a part of parenting that you just have to deal with really. There isn’t really a way to avoid the constantly childhood illnesses like colds and sick bugs.

Unless you never let them out in public ever again. Including nursery/ school.

This is how children develop healthy immune systems. He will be absolutely fine.

If you freak out about every bit of dirt he has contact with and start disinfecting everything you will weaken his immune system and do much more harm than good.

Both of mine are disgusting. DD found a cheerio under the sofa and ate it before I got chance to stop her. Once caught DS chewing the pram wheel. Church hall stay and plays are just germ fests, it's no wonder they've not reopened here.

I wouldn't put either of them down in a shop though because they might cause an accident or there might be something sharp on the floor that could hurt hands or knees.

Hey I have a 14m old too, well 14.5 now.

I certainly think about this kinda stuff often, like when he’s putting things in his mouth/someone gives him a snack without washing/wiping his hands. I don’t often do much about it though unless it’s obviously gross.

To be honest I’m not hyper clean myself, I do standard toilet/personal hygiene but I don’t antibac everything everyday because my immune system usually tackles most things. I’d like DSs to too.