Once they’re born, you still do your best to try and keep them safe, but a lot of what your baby comes in contact with is out of your hands. From the people who hold them, the things they touch to the very air around them, it seems like you’re fighting a losing battle to keep those pesky germs away from your baby. While it’s true that babies are more vulnerable to bacteria and viruses than adults, do you need to be on constant germ watch or could going overboard with the germ protection be doing your infant more harm than good. Have you seen those commercials with the little one whose mommy keeps him in a bubble while they are at the park for fear of his getting dirty? Is there a way of keeping your baby safe without going quite that far?
Some parents are afraid to even let other people hold their babies for fear of contaminating their infant with the other person’s germs. Honestly, unless you know that the person is sick, you’re probably okay letting them hold your baby. Of course, if you feel a little anxious about it, you’re certainly within your right to ask them to at least wash their hands, just to be extra careful.
With all the germ phobia out there, hand sanitizers are a billion dollar industry but if you ask any doctor, they’ll probably tell you they’re a waste of your money. Hand sanitizers were invented for use in hospitals because there are a myriad of different bacteria and viruses that physicians and other hospital staff come in contact will that you probably never will in your lifetime. That old stand by soap and water still works just fine.
In fact, until your baby’s belly button heals, doctors advise just using alcohol to swab the area and just warm tap water and your hand to bathe the baby with no soap at all for the first month or so.
If you do feel more secure using those hand sanitizers, like Purell or GermX you might worry that the alcohol in them or other chemicals might be harmful against your baby’s skin or might be absorbed into their body by people touching them. The fact is the alcohol evaporates pretty quickly as you rub your hands together. Once your hands are dry, there should be no problem. Just make sure to not use the hand sanitizers to clean your babies hands or any part of their bodies because though the alcohol that may seep into your blood before drying is minimal and won’t affect you, the same can’t be said be said for your baby’s small body and vulnerable skin.
It’s common for first time parents to go overboard in their battle to protect their infant from germs and then once the second one comes along, the war is pretty much down to just the basics. This mostly happens because with your first child, you’re learning as you go. Even as prepared as you think you may be, you feeling like you constantly have to fight every potential germ invasion. You focus all this attention on this first baby. Then once the second one comes along, you are now a parent of two children and have to split your focus. So while you may want to be as vigilant as you were with your first child, you simply don’t have the time anymore.
Guess what? That’s perfectly okay. You don’t have to boil the pacifier every time he drops it. You can take them outside and sit them down on the grass and it’s okay if they get dirty.
True, a newborn baby’s immune system is not as strong as yours or even that of an older baby. Ironically, the only way to get it strong is the thing parents fear the most, exposure to those germs.
Now this doesn’t mean being completely lax in germ protection, but building up that exposure gradually. Once your baby comes out the womb they are automatically covered with what are called ‘good germs’. These help their immune systems kick in and start the work of protecting your baby by strengthening their system. If you’re too vigilant about germs you could be doing more harm than good and weakening the immune systems by removing these good germs.
Really, if you’re breastfeeding your baby, they’ve already got a leg up on the battle against germs because the antibodies in your breast milk are more powerful and more beneficial for your baby’s immune system than anything else you could outwardly do for them.
Adults are more conscientious about sanitation than little kids so it would be best to keep newborns from being held or having physical contact with children. Kids are notorious for getting dirty, having runny noses etc. Being dirty might not make them sick because their systems are stronger, but if they’re holding and touching your baby, they just might pass those germs on to your infant so keep them at a distance for at least the first few months.
If you want, you can wash all their toys before introducing them in your baby’s crib and toss stuffed animals in the dry for a spin to sanitize them for your own peace of mind.
No one can deny that babies are vulnerable little beings, but you really don’t need to stress yourself out trying to keep your baby germ-free. They need some germs and you need to let them build up their own army to fight the germ war. This way you’ll know that he’ll be strong enough and ready in case that first sniffle comes along.
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