As early as possible, get your child into the habit of washing their hands often and thoroughly. All day long, your child is exposed to bacteria and viruses—when touching a playmate, sharing toys, or petting the cat. Once their hands pick up these germs, they can quickly infect themselves by:
Rubbing their eyes
Touching their nose
Placing their fingers in their mouth
The whole process can happen in seconds, and cause an infection that can last for days, weeks, or even longer.
We need to be mindful to wash our hands:
-Before eating (including snacks)
-After a trip to the bathroom
-Whenever they come in from playing outdoors
-After touching an animal like a family pet
-After sneezing or coughing if they cover their mouth
-When someone in the household is ill
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the following steps:
-Wet your child’s hands.
-Apply clean bar soap or liquid soap to the hands, and then place the bar on a rack where it can drain before the next hand washing.
-Rub hands vigorously together. Scrub every surface completely.
-Keep rubbing and scrubbing for 20 seconds to effectively remove the germs. (pro tip- teach your kids to sing a song for the duration of handwashing for them to scrub for the proper length of time)
A little known fact:
Experts suggest that by using antibacterial soaps, you may actually kill off normal bacteria and increase the chances that resistant bacteria may grow.
The best solution is to wash your child’s hands with warm water and ordinary soap that does not contain antibacterial substances
Rinse the hands completely, then dry them.
