It's cold and flu season. I have my kids scrub their hands when they get home every day. I have been doing this for yrs.
It's part of their routine now !
They hardly ever get sick !!!! ...They must use soap ...before they open the frig, etc...
They have been doing this for yrs, so I really don't have to remind them.
I should have used the word "wash" instead of scrub !! I buy organic hand soaps ! One reason is for chemicals on the skin and the other reason is because I wish I try not to put any chemicals down the drain. With that being said, I do not use antibacterial soaps and hardly ever use hand sanitizers !! I wash just curious to see how many others have their kids wash up regularly !!!
Washing hands is important but I'm not OCD about it.
I have had much bigger battles to deal with than washing hands.
I'm so glad my daughter is enjoying her college years now and not freaked out about every hand washed.
We took normal routines and just did not make it an OCD issue. We were rarely sick.
No, never. They wash their hands before they eat and after they go to the bathroom and if we go somewhere like Goodwill, I will give them a squirt of hand sanitizer when they get in the car. They are 14 and 11 and have not thrown up since they were babies. We don't do immunizations or flu shots either and don't get the flu or colds. Funny how I see on facebook constantly my friends kids who are constantly sick. I wonder if they are so busy killing germs everywhere that they and their kids can't build up immunity to them. JMO. Good luck.
Yep, every time. You never know what they have touched, and that is just common sense. One of the best things in the prevention of germs is handwashing, especially in the medical field.
No I don't, and they are almost never sick. I honestly think we are seeing more kids get sick more often because we never allow them to be exposed to anything. It is by being exposed to the occasional germs that we are able to strengthen our immune systems. We wash hands after using the restroom or before food prep, but other then that I am not concerned and I will never ever buy that awful hand sanitizer stuff.
I send my kids to the bathroom to wash hands after they go looking for and catching frogs.
I have NEVER had them wash hands getting home from school, truthfully I haven't even thought about doing that.
I don't sanitize the shopping cart.
I don't do hand sanitizer either! (GASP!)
My kids are healthy. They rarely get sick. Seriously....rarely!
L.
No. We wash our hands after using the restroom, before prepping food, and any other time we feel we need to. But no, not every time we walk into the house.
We do not get the flu shot in our house and we rarely get sick at all. When we do, it's 9 times out of 10 something the kids have brought home from school, which no amount of handwashing after them being exposed for 8 hours will cure.
Kids (and people in general) need to be exposed to some amount of germs to be able to fight them off.
No, if they were infected in school they have already become infected.
Oh the last major illness in our household was 18 years ago.
Lol. The only time my DD ever washes her hands is after using the restroom, and before meals if I remember to have her do so.
She has had one big fever in her life that lasted overnight... Then she got better by morning; and that is the sickest she has ever been. I was terrified after hearing stories about how sick kids, especially kids who have been at home their whole lives, get when starting school. My DD started this year, and even though the family has gone through 3 rounds of random bugs, she has not gotten sick at all.
I think for her, it's part luck and part strong immune system. I'm not into germ-sharing by any means, but I definitely don't bother trying to "protect" her from every little germ.
Growing up, my family only washed our hands when they were noticeably dirty... Otherwise, they got washed when we took baths. Of my 13 siblings, only ONE got sick more often than a minor cold or two... And that was because he was extremely premature and had a weakened immune system.
Kristen,
Let me just say one thing.
It's always a good practice to wash your hands when coming in from wherever you've been.
But know this-- MANY of those pesky viruses WILL catch up to them at some point. Especially if they end up working with kids or the public. Or in an office. Or go to college. Or have their own children....
I think anyone who works with children should play a game called "how many illnesses can I contract in one year". I'm not eschewing your strategy, just saying that many of those bugs *do* catch up to us at some point!
No I don't do that.
But yes it is cold/flu season.
In my locale, kids are getting sick already... thus far with Flu, Strep, hand/foot/mouth disease, and a real bad cold that seems like the Flu but is not. Oh and tummy issues too.
So well during sickness season... I try to remind my kids to wash hands. And the Teachers do too.
But I am not vigilant about it.
My kids have been okay.
Of course.
Wash? Yes.
"Scrub"? No. Lol
No, I don't have my kids wash their hands after school. Same as AKmom, we wash our hands when we use the restroom and before we prep food. We get the flu shot, and we are not often sick. We have very dry skin, and in a dry cold climate excessive hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers is brutal on our skin. Cracked, bleeding hands from excessive washing would probably open us up to more infections.
Ours do the same thing but they change their clothes as well and put them in the laundry room
Nah...mostly because we home school. But other things that are examples of going out of the house we don't wash our hands then either because chances are they have already touched their face while out. So it's still there. But of course we wash our hands after the bathroom or before eating kind of thing
Yes, I do too . And I give my kids a shower/bath every night including washing their hair. I know they sleep better because of it !
It's one of the easiest and most effective things we can all do to keep healthy.
It not only helps keep each of us healthy, but it prevents the spread of diseases to others.
I have my daughter wash her hands often, but not as a rule when she crosses the threshold. You do need a little germs to build up your immune system. I do like her to wash before eating, but only because it grosses me out to eat with dirty hands.
We hardly get sick too, whatever works.
I don't know if I would say, scrub, but I did have them wash their hands everyday. I instilled a good habit in them. It wasn't easy. My youngest was and is, a toucher. He would touch every stair banister, elevator stuff, chair and door in sight.
I do keep hand sanitizer in the van also. We use it traveling, a lot. Even after we use a public bathroom and wash our hands, we get back in and sanitize our hands.
This is the practice in my house and always has been. Everyone washes their hands upon entering the house. When you're out and about, you're touching door handles, shopping cart handles, steering wheels - everything you touch has been touched by numerous people - many of whom have coughed/sneezed into their hands or maybe not washed their hands after using the bathroom. Yuck! We do not touch anything until we wash our hands and I regularly disinfect the front door knob. My DD has asthma and any extra cold or sickness we can prevent is worth the little extra time it takes to wash up.
Yes....1st thing is go wash your hands!!!!!!
Every day. Every time we come in for the most part we wash our hands. It's habit.
Yeap, each and every time we leave the house they need to wash their hands when we get back home!
With my youngest, yes. When we come home from anything, the store,
the library (we wash @ lib bathroom).
But my SD won't ever wash up.
Oh well, I guess it's a toss up, trying to do the best keeping germs at bay.
I wipe down all surfaces, handles, light switches, door knobs etc to cut
down on germs. Hope doin this will help.
Still, it's a good thing to teach to our kids. Good advice to impart.
Updated
With my youngest, yes. When we come home from anything, the store,
the library (we wash @ lib bathroom).
But my SD won't ever wash up.
Oh well, I guess it's a toss up, trying to do the best keeping germs at bay.
I wipe down all surfaces, handles, light switches, door knobs etc to cut
down on germs. Hope doin this will help.
Still, it's a good thing to teach to our kids. Good advice to impart.
Yes. Everytime we come home from school, shopping, or where ever we have been. They must go straight to the bathroom and wash up. We do this year round not just during the winter. I think it helps immensely. I sometimes make my daughter change her clothes after school if I notice anyone sick at pick-up. She's still in preschool and next year she'll go to a private school with uniforms. I'll make her change then when she comes home.
No, but it's a good idea!
We, mom, dad, and kids, wash our hands every time we get back home(from the grocery store, gym, friends' place, dentist, doctor....etc). It is not exactly scrubbing just water and soap.
A. :)
It used to be the first words out of my mouth when my kids came home, but I was a little OCD about it. But no, they didn't get sick much once I obsessed over hand washing.
I'm glad I'm over it now, it's much less stressful.
When our son was really little I'd give him a bath as soon as we got home from daycare/school.
Now that he's older he uses the bathroom and washes his hands soon as he gets home.
YES! They have a snack right away, so it is a perfect transition.
Absolutely! And, when I get home from the grocery store, I wash my hands right away!
Yes, my son washes his hands right when he gets home from school. I always have a snack waiting for him, so he needs to get the school germs off. :)
I make all kids that enter my home, wash their hands. My kids are used to it too. They also use hand sanitizer when we leave a place and get into the van, even if the next place is home.
