Babies and Germs!

I relax by realizing that germs are a part of life and exposing my children to them on a normal basis will actually make them healthier.

I never asked people to disinfect their skin before touching my child. If their hands were visibly filthy, they usually went and washed them without my having to ask.

whoaaaa! Wait a minute...this is not your 1st child! So what did you do before OR are you reacting to the media blitz/thought implantation/brain washing from the GermX people? LOL! Seriously, why would you feel the need to do this now?

Please, please do not request self-sanitation! Yes, it's rude.....& if the other person is filthy dirty, then shame on them for asking to hold the baby.

& as a heads-up, many people are allergic (or super sensitive) to hand sanitizers. Doesn't matter which brand I use....I break out horribly with them! Give me plain soap & water, please.

Remember, germs are everywhere, on us and in the air, you can't protect her from everything and shouldn't or she'll never develop the proper antibodies to fight things off. My sister was germ-phobic, and my nephew paid for it, he had viral infections all the time the first three and a half years of his life. His pediatrician told her to knock it off with cleaning everything with antibacterial cleaners and using the hand sanitizer all the time.

if you're still concerned I would buckle her into her stroller where she can still see everything and everyone, or hold her in your arms and if someone reaches out for her just move slightly so they can't. If anyone says anything reply that you have to get going, and smile so they don't see you as being rude.

As far as hand sanitizer it really doesn't work as well as hand washing with soap, impractical in your situation, so until your baby is crawling around and touching things on her own in a couple of months just keep her in the stroller or holding her.

I know that I am probably going to be in the minority with my thinking here and don't want to be bashed about how I feel....But I really feel like we are a germaphobic people. I have 7 children and I really feel like the reason that they are so healthy is because I let their immune systems be exposed to the germs that are there and let their bodies naturally deal with the toxins. I can't keep them away from everything, partly because I have so many children, and partly because if I did they would never go anywhere. If you are so worried about the germs and people holding your baby, then just politely say "No, I am sorry buy I don't want you to hold her right now" or something to that effect. After all she is your child and you have a say in who gets to hold her or not. I will say though, if me or my children are sick I do keep them at home and get them better before they go back to school. And I will try and avoid going to other people's houses who are sick. But going out of my way to use the hand santizers is a waste of time. Now I guess I should clarify that I do make my children wash before eating and after using the restroom, but seriously if we were to all go wash after touching anything.....we would never leave the bathroom.
J.---SAHM of 7

GrammaRocks has given you accurate information. Your baby MUST be exposed to a certain amount of dirt and germs in order for her immune system to develop and work properly. She'll probably get sick once in awhile; that's part of the process. By the time she gets into school, she'll be able to fight off most minor infections.

And kids who are raised in overly-clean environments have a much greater incidence of asthma and other auto-immune illnesses. Our immune systems want work to do, and if they can't have the germs they need to learn correct function, they attack the body in other ways.

Flu and colds are simply a bigger problem for many people, and science has just been uncovering genetic differences that make some of us much more susceptible, through no fault of our own. Some people develop alternate means of killing or suppressing viruses and seldom get sick, with or without flu vaccinations. Some of us are sitting ducks for every virus that comes along.

So you will want to be as careful as possible during flu season that people are not showing signs of illness. You can comment, jokingly or seriously, that you are concerned about your baby getting sick, so you're not handing her over to other adoring adults (or allowing kisses, whatever.) Other grownups should be able to understand that request.

But it's not really reasonable to have everybody use hand sanitizer first (and plain soap and water ARE at least as effective). Hands are a major means of transmission, but far from the only one. If somebody has the courteous habit of coughing or sneezing into a sleeve, you're not going to be able to get that sleeve clean before you hand your baby over. So just come up with a good, courteous, but firm policy, and don't hesitate to say it. With an apologetic smile, and perhaps a touch of gratitude that they find your baby so appealing.

Not exposing them to germs is not healthy. Our bodies are made to process germs and build defenses. The more we try to disinfect, the more we breed stronger germs, and the more we weaken our immune systems. Of course, you don't want to let some crazy sneezing obviously sick person hold your little one, but you can relax as much as you feel comfortable.

Personally, I think people should always ask, and shouldn't be disappointed if someone says no. Hold onto her if you prefer, but you can relax about the germ stuff. It's actually good for them to be exposed to "regular" every day germs.

I am on BOTH sides of the fence on this. Babies to need to be exposed to germs, to be sure, but people all around are ignorant! People wipe their butts, don't bother to wash their hands and then offer their finger up for a baby to chew on!
Clueless idiots are hacking up a lung and then kissing our babies on the mouth! One lady sneezed on my baby's head!

I don't ever put my arms out to hold a baby unless I ask the mom first and tell her that I have washed my hands and haven't had sickness in my family. Kudos to Peg and GrammaRocks who gave you great advice without being condescending and rude!!!

Sweetie, I guarantee that your kids come into contact with more things than probably any of the parents are that are wanting to hold your baby. Do you not let your kids touch their youngest sibling?

Tough question - regular holding is fine, but I had a friend stick her finger in my (then) baby's mouth so she could suck on it, and she had long painted fingernails and I was totally grossed out. So I guess it depends on the asker. If I know them I might hand baby over, but if I barely know them I would just say something like "she has been in the car seat all day and I want to hold her". But it is true that more exposure to germs is actually good for strengthening the immune system since it can only begin to build anti-bodies to the germs is encounters. Since you have school aged kids, every germ out there is probably already finding its way to your home, so if you are tired you can hand over the baby-weight to someone else for a minute. The solution would be to carry her in a sling or a baby bjorn so that it is just simpler to keep her than hand her over. Folks may still try to touch her, but at least you are right there.

Sue H has said it all. Read her post again.

Good luck to you and yours.

I was never worried. I nursed them all so they had every immunity I had. I think my first and second I had them out in the grocery store less than a week old. They lived, all four lived. Actually none of them ever had any serious illness.

I was the same... I think in the hospital I had people wash hands and then after that it didn't even occur to me. We all need some germs to build our immune systems. I even have a picture of a 4 year old holding my son at about 2 months old and gasp! I'm sure he didn't sanitize before hand. :-)

I kind of think our society has become a bit too sanitizer crazy. I'm a mom who doesn't even carry the stuff. If you wash your hands after the bathroom that's good enough for me. I like what Henry's Momma said that your kids are probably bringing it home anyway. :-)

I never asked anyone to sanitise before holding my babies. It just didn't occur to me. Nothing bad ever happened. So I suppose my answer is, I would relax now if I were you!

Its time to relax! :)

Nickie---I agree that you shouldn't try to protect her from everything. Her body needs to be exposed in order to build those necessary immunities. You know, she needs to be exposed period so that her immune system gets in the necessary practice to know HOW to work.

In the meantime, be sure that she is eating a well-balanced diet, and that means, if breast fed, that you are eating that well-balanced diet. Mostly fruits, veggies, whole grains nuts and seeds. These plant foods contain the nutrients in them that feeds, fuels and arms the immune system to be able to work at peak efficiency...both strong to fight germs and balanced so that allergies are minimized, if non-existant.

What you eat while pregnant and breastfeeding will predict your child's health status as well as food preferences as they get older. Let me know if I can help in any other way...in terms of what an optimal diet does for a strong and balanced immune system. Good luck...D.

I'm not a germ phobic type of person (not saying you are), I still do the 5 second rule and all my kids do too, and then there are times that it's past 5 seconds and I still eat the food that drops, LOL
I love babies too, but I've also learned to asked to hold them, instead of assume it's alright with the parent. I let people hold my babies, however, my youngest and oldest didn't care for strangers, especially my youngest, heck he didn't even let grandma and papa hold him, just mom and dad. I tease my middle son, because he went to any large breasted woman, LOL.
Most adults that are sick will say, Sorry, I'm not getting close to you because I'm sick... just what I notice and I do myself. I think most people are aware of germs and babies and don't want to see a child sick.
However, if you don't want people holding your child, say something. If the person looks dirty, then no I wouldn't let them hold my child.

I was pretty relaxed after newborn stage - so...maybe a month? I don't know, I guess I would figure unless she's hacking and sneezing that may be...awkward (not necessarily offensive, but may be strange) and if she's carrying sick germs - you're kids are probably going to come home with them anyway.

If you don't want people handling her, I'd put her in a stroller.

But, like the others said, trying to avoid all germs is counterproductive.

That's a good question. I'm still feeling my way through it. I don't know if it's as much about germs as just plain grossness. People are nasty. I don't deal with sanitizers at all--nothing like soap and water--but I am appalled by the number of incidents I see daily of people not washing their doggone hands...even after using the toilet. Yeah, a good amount of germ is necessary and even unavoidable, but must I be exposed to at least one of every germ that you've got??!! My baby likes to chew on my elbows. Even thogh they're elbows, I make sure that they are clean because he should not have to eat the toilet that I bumped earlier in the day or the railing that I leaned on.

And who are these people who want to hold your baby?? If you have no personal connection to the baby, why on earth do you need to pull into your essence??

Of course, babies are going to be exposed to things, but we don't have to shove those things at them. My goodness!

Hello! I am a mother of three, I have a 5 year old, 2 year old and 9 month old. I totally understand what you are talking about and going through. If someone ask me if they can hold my child I say sure but can u please wash your hands or put sanitzer on first? I tell them that I ask everyone to do that before they hold my child. I do feel kind of ackward sometimes but hey it's my child and if they don't like it then they don't have to hold him. I also carry a small thing of hand sanitizer with me so I can just pop it out and give it to someone to use. I wash my hands everytime I hold anyone's
baby. Plus their immune systems aren't as strong as ours. My second son had meningitis at three months and was in the hospital for 10 days on really strong antibiotics and my youngest had rsv this past feb. And was in the hospital for 3'days and had to be put on oxygen because he couldn't
breath! Thank God i got him to the hospital in time. My in laws drive me
nuts cause they know that my son gets sick very easily and yet they just
pick him up with out using hand sanitizer and I have to keep my cool not to
yell at them. A lot of people will say to try and expose them now to germs
because it will make their immune system stronger later but I don't agree
with that my kids ended up in the hospital because they were exposed to things to early ( and that is because my son was bringingthings home from
school) and it's not fair to my kids to have to suffer. U are doing the right
thing. Oh and as car as letting your kids be exposed to things, I read in a book that most high chairs are has dirty as a public toilet seat and why is that because they never get cleaned and you know what I have no idea if these people wash their hands after going to the bathroom or doing anything.

That's how I was with my first daughter but I have learned that it's actually not that big of a deal. She was never hit with any life threatening diseases or anything crazy so I think it's more of you being a little overprotective but that in no way makes you a bad mom. I think your watching out for your child and that's good but it's also good for her to be exposed to the world and I'm sure the person that wanted to hold her did not mean any harm. I'm one of those people that always want to hold other peoples babies. I love babies and they are so cute so don't get upset if someone wants to hold your beautiful baby. Just as long as they are not sticking their fingers in your babies mouth or anything for that matter and your standing right there. I did the whole hand sanitizing thing with my first daughter too so I know what you feel. But 3 kids later, not such a big deal. I think I'm a bit of a brat tho because if I know someone is a little irresponsible with their children, I wouldn't let them touch mine. But o well I'm a little weird I guess. Well anyways, Good luck!