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Thoughts on Bounce Houses--Am I crazy?
Maybe I am being too obsessive compulsive with germs, but I hate these places. To me they are giant inflatable petri dishes crawling with germs. I always pass up on going to places like this because they just don't seem clean at all. Keira has been exposed to germs plenty and I don't keep her in a bubble, but those places in particular just give me a nasty vibe. She has been to museums, playgrounds, etc. but for some reason bounce houses give me that feeling. I also don't do mall playgrounds for the same reason.
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Re: Thoughts on Bounce Houses--Am I crazy?
I could have written this post so I don't think you are crazy!
I went one time and Ben was too little to even play anywhere but this little playhouse type thing with a slide and he ended up getting Hand Foot Mouth. Now I am really scared of them. People say it is the same as going to a playground, except playgrounds are outside where the sun can disinfect them. We avoid places like this.
LOL! I don't think they are any germier than outside playgrounds. In fact, I read once that outdoor playgrounds are the dirtiest, germiest places there are because no one ever cleans them, whereas indoor play places probably get washed down and disinfected every night.
They all gross me out to some extent, indoor or outdoor, but I guess this is how they build their immune systems!
ETA: this time of year, I keep a pack of Wet Ones in the car and disinfect his hands every time we leave any public place where he's been playing. I just try not to think of the germs on the rest of his body LOL - yuck.
This is my thought. I'm not an extreme germaphobe though. Although ball pits are cringe-worthy for me. I feel like those are probably never cleaned, just because it'd be hard to do. But the couple of times Holly has played in them, she's loved them. So I just sit and watch and bite my tongue and cringe on the inside. :-) I just make a point to wipe her down with a antibacterial wipe when we're done, just as I do any with public play area.
Almost all our of 3 year old friends have had bounce parties, so we've been to lots of parties in the last few months.
I don't see an issue with them. We just make sure that we wash or hand sanitize before we go in the party room to eat.
Your kids can't live in a bubble and I'm not passing up on these fun events due to my own paranoia. Of course, we've been extremely lucky though b/c both of mine have been blessed with really good immune systems so far. But if you keep them in a bubble until kindergarten, they are going to get everything in the book that first year.
My Sweet Girls
there is one about an hour from me, and i remember going to their website to check it out and seeing that they are sprayed down w/a germicide that's long lasting. i can't remember if it's every day or if its weekly, but they are disinfected.
so knowing that, i wouldn't be that grossed out to go to one, unless it was visibly nasty looking. like pp said, i would just make sure that ds wasn't sick to begin with and that i washed his hands or used wipes to clean them as soon as he was done playing. i really want to go to one, i think ds would have a blast!
This! We went to Monkey Joe's and Caleb loved it. It seemed like it was well maintained and they had tons of signs about the disinfecting processes they use.
We don't go for this reason too! I am afraid the big kids will cause him to stumble and then he will be stuck lying there being trampled. I have no desire to take him to these things. I really dread the day HE becomes interested in going. Hopefully by then he will be one of the bigger kids.
Ha! Good thing ya'll don't come to Triad birthday parties, cuz you'd be missing out! I don't have any concerns with those places whatsoever, and have even had a bounce house at our home before.
Sometimes I get a little skeeved out about fast food places' playgrounds, if they seem particularly grimy. But I still let him play and just make sure to wash his hands good. And ball pits too, but again, I don't refuse to let him play.
Eli LOVES playgrounds, bounce houses and the like and I take him all the time. No worries!
The idea of the germs at them doesn't bother me cuz there are just as many germs and such at museums, playplaces, parks, etc. Now i may feel differenlty if my child had a really week immune system or some kind of illness that might affect their ability to fight off germs but that would a lot of places to watch out for.
I guess we all have our paranoias, because fast food play areas are what grosses me out. Honestly, we so rarely ever eat fast food that Liam's never actually played in one, but I just don't consider fast food restaurants in general to be clean, so I imagine their play areas not to be clean either.
In reality, I don't think any of the places mentioned are any more or less germy than museums, outdoor playgrounds, etc. I'm sure many of Liam's illnesses have been caught in these places, but I just can't keep him home all winter, we'd both go crazy! I know for sure he caught hand, foot & mouth at the museum of life & science last Xmas, and that was his worst illness to date, but I still take him there all the time. It happens!
The only fast food ones we have ever played in have been at CFA with our play group. I was told they they close them down and clean them at night but who knows.
We were there yesterday and a little girl had a poop accident and they shut it down and wiped down the entire thing. I was pretty impressed. I mean, it stayed contained in her pants, but they didn't take any chances.
Catching up on sports news...
I love you jenhum! And I do the same thing (hovering is just too hard!)
This is my take on it too (and I sit to pee as does Natalie as I can't figure out how I would hold her up over a toilet so she could pee). I take it in stride.
This thought has never crossed my mind. I don't really consider myself a germaphobe though. We do use hand sanitizer a lot, but probably not near as much as we should when we're out and about.
The past two weeks, when we pick R up at church nursery.....they always ask parents what they can pray for about the child and the parents have said, "My LO has been sick all week with a fever and feeling well...etc." We're always standing behind them (waiting in line to pick our child up) thinking, "Great, thanks for bringing him/her to church!" Geez. Anyways, so yeah they can get sick just about anywhere.