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3rd Trimester
MNgirl326
member
am I the only one not really worried about germs?
MNgirl326
member
Dh and I went out to lunch today and at the table next to us was a couple with 2 kids approx 3 years old.
Before the mother would even let the kids sit down she whipped out the baby wipes, wiped down the table, their chairs, the napkin holder the salt/pepper shaker and the ketchup bottle. Then she put down those disposable table mat things that stick to the table. Later in the meal when one of the kids tried to pull it up, she completely freaked out and said to leave it on the table otherwise they could get germs that could make them sick.
After this, DH and I went to Target where we saw two other moms wiping down their carts with wipes and then put their kids in those fabric cart cover things.
It makes me wonder if I am the only one who isn't quite worried about germs. Yes, I know they make you sick. Yes, I know that you have to be careful, but aren't people going a little over board?
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Re: am I the only one not really worried about germs?
lol-- that's us at the store and restaurants. Taking care of a sick toddler/baby is hard work so I try to prevent it as much as possible. Plus once he gets sick the rest of us get sick and that's really hard too. With kids it's not like they get sick every once in a while, they seriously get sick all the time because they always put their hands in their mouth or on their face. I just don't want to deal with it that often.
I am so not a germaphobe (Noah loves doggy kisses, lol), but there is NO way I would have put DS in a cart without a cover when he was little. Carts are so nasty! When he was little he'd try to chew on the cart so a cover was a must! When we're out to eat, I use the sticky placemats, but mostly it's because I don't want him making a giant mess all over the table (he doesn't use plates yet). Makes for easy clean-up. Plus, would you eat your food right off the table? I highly doubt it. Like I said, my son doesn't use a plate yet and heck no I'm not going to just put his food on the (very likely) dirty table. That's gross.
This is us to at restaurants and stores! I hate dealing with a sick toddler/baby too..they can't tell you what hurts and what meds they need. It makes really hard!
I like the cart covers but I definitely think anti-bacterial wipes plus the cover is overkill. I'm definitely not a germaphobe. I'm a little more cautious since I've been pregnant but still nowhere near wiping down everything I might touch.
To each their own. We all have our "things" that others don't quite get. Maybe I will change my mind once LO is here.
I totally get this, I just thought this lady was went a little overboard....I mean wiping down the salt shaker?? I just wonder if sometimes too much cleaning and wiping down can cause more children to be more sick.
A kiss he will never forget- Disney World 2014
That described us perfectly, as DD has gotten older I don't go to as much trouble wiping things down, but shopping carts are so dirty, lots of people put thier meat at the top of the basket where the kids sit and it just grosses me out, plus the first time your baby takes a good old sucking to that bar you will want to wipe it down every time. people are so dirty why not take a little extra precaution. And we used the placemats mainly because it cut the clean up time in half later because you could just roll it up and throw it away and didn't have to leave a huge mess at the table.
That sounds like my aunt :P With a hand sanitizer in the nursery with a RULE LIST posted on the door.....overkill!
I don't have a problem with the cart covers, because being a people greeter has shown me how FILTHY people really are, and they will sneeze/smoke/cough/itch crotch(or butt)/WIPE SNOT and then immediately touch the carts and go shopping. Gross. But for me it will be either cart cover OR wipes.
But with everyone being so SUPER paranoid like the lady you described, I am sad that my kids won't experience thing I LOVED in my childhood, like playgrounds with sand (too dirty and "unsafe" now) or play places or other "dangerous" places.
God made dirt, dirt don't hurt! (and every sickness builds the immune system)
**off to build my own damn sandbox**
Plus I laugh at them when I think of all the things the gel doesn't kill, anyway.
exactly-- to much will decrease the effectiveness of it. Any way what happens when kids start school?
My SIL drives me up the wall. Last fall when everyone was freaking about the HINI Flu she had us in our house and she had a burn on the back of both hands from overusing the alcohol gel. The next day my husband had to go over again and she yelled at him through the door not to touch the door handle.
When we took her 4 year old to a movie with ours she made us bring either wipes or antibacterial wipes to wipe her hands before she was allowed to eat the popcorn.
She seriusly overdoes it and her little one gets sick as often as ours do. It is ridiculous. And Amen about the comment about the antibacterial wipes. Those should be illegal.
We are with you! DH and I felt that if DS was never exposed to germs he would never develop an immune system. DS is now 3, has had 2 ear infections (that came with teething), and one bought with extreme vomitting. And he was in full time day care for over 2 years. We ate out a lot when DS was smaller, along with lots of shopping (lots of window shopping!) During heavy winter months (or if I noticed a lot of other people coughing etc) I would wipe down the cart but never anything else. We also did have one of those cart covers, but only used it in the earlier months when DS did not have the best sitting balance (or if I knew it was nearing nap time!)
Now when we play at those germ infested play lands...DS will use the instant hand sanitizer (that is at the doors) because all of the other kids do it! And he uses it on his hands when we leave the playland too! That's it!!
OMG, this exactly. And what happens when the kid goes to daycare or school and can't fight off the germs they get just by interacting with other children? One of my closest friends was a fanatic about wiping everything down and making sure whatever her DD touched was as sterile as could be. Sure enough, once she was put in daycare, her DD caught every bug out there, even rare ones that her pediatrician said she should have been able to fight off no problem. That first year in daycare, she was able to go maybe one week a month before getting sick again.
I am also not too concerned. I will be taking some precautions, like probably not letting LO teeth on the cart handle, but am certainly not going to go overboard like the people you described.
My SIL is one of the most germaphobic people I've ever seen. She is constantly sanitizing her house, freaking out about what her 1-year-old touches, makes her 8-year-old wash his hands CONSTANTLY, etc., and yet they are sick more than anyone I know. Maybe I'm naive, but I just feel like exposure to a few germs can really help the immune system.
You might be a clean person, but I know that some people use the restroom and don't wash their hands because I've seen it happen. It's an easy, very simple thing to wipe down a cart so that my child who puts EVERYTHING in his mouth does not get someone else's fecal matter or urine in his mouth.
I also worked food service, and again - while I know that not every restaurant is the same, the one I worked at would sometimes wipe tables down with cloths that were filthy. If you'd seen the water that those rags sat in all day, you'd give a table a wipe before you sat your child down to eat at it. Just sayin'
Big brother and sister are excited to meet the new baby! It's a GIRL!
~ G ~ 10/2008
~ E ~ 7/2010