Photo courtesy of carlosluis at Flickr.com.
When you’re 2 years old, the world is full of tempting ways to get dirty. There’s a leaf pile in the backyard that needs to be jumped in, a sandbox that’s full of potential sand castles, and pets that are just itching to be rubbed. With all these temptations, is it any wonder that young children are always finding exciting ways to get their hands dirty?
Dirty hands are a sign of a healthy imagination, but they should also serve as a red flag for germs. Many childhood illnesses are passed around by contact, and children are exposed to a lot of bacteria and bugs. The easiest way to fend off disease is to teach your children to wash their hands regularly.
Throughout the day you accumulate germs on your hands from a variety of sources, such as direct contact with people, contaminated surfaces, foods, even animals and animal waste. If you don’t wash your hands frequently enough, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. And you can spread these germs to others by touching them or by touching surfaces that they also touch, such as doorknobs.
Soap and water are a simple and reliable way to scrub away dirt and germs. There are also alcohol based hand sanitizers that do a great job of killing bacteria without breeding antibiotic resistance. That said, if your child has sensitive skin, soap residue and alcohol may not be their favorite things in the world. You may want to try a gentle alternative that uses all natural oils, such as Clean Well Foaming Hand Soap.
Door knobs, guard rails, seat cushions and other surfaces can harbor millions of unseen bacteria and viruses. These germs are problematic, because young children are very tactile. They explore the world around them with their hands, then put those dirty fingers in their mouth. Even the world’s biggest bottle of sanitizer can’t keep children from finding something new to touch.
That’s why there are also passive defenses that protect kids from germs. For example, gloves are a great way to contain the mess. When gloves get dirty, they’re easy to strip off and toss in the wash machine. A mother from New Hampshire took this re-usable idea and went one step further. After reading about the shocking number of bacteria on shopping carts, she designed a sanitary shopping cart cover to protect her young baby.
Do you have any environmentally friendly tips on how to protect children against germs? Please share them below:
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