It is almost impossible to keep one baby from getting sick when both Mama and the other baby is sick. Especially when they do this:
Of course I love that they are being sweet and kissing and hugging, but could they PLEASE not do it while one is sick and the other isn’t.
And really, wrapping your lips around your sick sisters nose probably isn’t that great of an idea - just an FYI. So now poor Heaten has caught our sickie ickies. Hopefully Daddy can fight it off or I might just crawl into a hole and cry. The cutest sick thing going on around here is the blowing of the nose. Shenzie somewhat knows how to blow, Heaten on the other hand, not so much. When you hold a tissue to his nose and ask him to blow he yells BLOW (which sounds like BOWWWWWW!) It is so funny and cute. The one upside (and it is a VERY little upside) to being sick is the fact that I can’t smell. Which means I can’t taste food which sucks big time, but it also means I can’t smell stink butt!!
My little sickies.
The babies have had their “loveys” Baby Bear and Baby Doggie since they were born. We’ve had our fair share of drama involving them and I won’t be at all sad when they retire to Baby Heaven. We introduced blankies a long time ago in an attempt to move them away from Bear and Doggie to the blankie, but neither baby has really become attached. Heaten cuddles his while sleeping, but the blankies rarely leave the crib. That is, until Elmo in Grouchland happened. Now Heaten wants to carry his blanket around just like Elmo does. But if he really paid attention to the movie and all poor Elmo has to go through to get his blankie back he might change is mind. So maybe, just maybe the blankies will become their new loveys and I can stop stitching up poor Baby Bear who is falling apart, and since we only have one (versus the 4 doggies we rotate) we need to make her last.
And moving on from Sick Land maybe you all could shed some light on the Hand Sanitizer issue. When the babies were in NICU we had to sanitize when we got there, after holding one baby before picking the other baby up, and when we left. We had a complete scrub in when we got there with orange soap and brushes (just like on TV), and then used hand sanitizer for the rest. When the babies came home we bought 3 HUGE bottles of the stuff (two of which are still around).
When the babies got a little older and I would take them out in grocery carts or whatnot I would sanitize their hands and even went as far as spraying down the entire cart, front and back with sanitizer just in case any germs lingered (my mom was SO embarrassed when I did this when out shopping with her). I bought an all natural, no alcohol, safe for children sanitizer (Clean Well). I felt safe using this sanitizer on them since it is all natural made from essential plant oils. As we all know babies/toddlers/kids hands end up in their mouths A LOT so I wasn’t too worried that they would lick their hands after me spraying them with the sanitizer.
A couple of weeks ago I read in my Parenting Magazine that unless the sanitizer contains at least 60% alcohol it is not killing germs. Ut oh. My sanitizer has zero alcohol which means it may not be working.
I found this kids sanitizer at Tar*get that I really like. Instead of leaving your hands dried out and smelling like a hospital it leaves them soft and sweet smelling. The babies love it. They especially love to lick their hands after I apply it which really freaks me out. I do wash their hands in the sink with all natural soap, but for a quick sanitize (and especially now that we are all sick) I use the sanitizer. So my questionis are:
How worried should I be that a little might get ingested?
What do you all use to keep the germies away?
Do you use sanitizer or good old fashioned soap and water? (Which is really a PITA to wash both babies hands all of the time when all they want to do is splash the water everywhere).
What about when you’re out and about - do you sanitize the cart or your kids?
November 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
This made me lugh out loud for several minutes…
“When you hold a tissue to his nose and ask him to blow he yells BLOW (which sounds like BOWWWWWW!)”
Lesley, if Heaten and Mason were in the same room, we would not be able to stop laughing.
I’m going to get the yummy hand sanitizer asap!
November 19th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I totally sanatize the cart most of the time. And I do use the good ole Germ X sanatizer around the house and after the kiddos have touch yucky stuff. I read that article in Parenting too. I do wash their hands with soap and water but to tell you the truth I don’t do it as often as I should because of the whole PITA issue. My mom looks at me like i’m crazy too.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
IMO, you can definitly go way overboard and stress yourself out about germs. We carry around a container of sanitizing wipes and wipe off after most outings, especially the grocery store, park or the gym. But throughout last year in all my efforts, the kids STILL got sick, so I try not to stress about doing it immediatly and we don’t use a lot of the hand sanitizer (I prefer wipes as they don’t leave a residue and they actually *get* the dirt off).
Other than than, good old soap and water I believe is the best medicine. Maybe try the sanitizing wipes, I find them in the section where they carry paper plates, plastic spoons and what not in the grocery store???
Sorrt the crazies are sick, it never ends does it?
November 19th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Honestly, I hate anything with alcohol in it because it is so drying. And the whole good bacteria/ bad bacteria thing scared me away from antibacterial everything. I try my hardest to keep them from touching anything that strangers have touched. I’ll use a store’s provided sanitizing wipes on the cart for Maison if I forget a blanket to cover it with. Mostly, we do good ol’ fashioned hand washing with regular hand soap. Although, I do end up washing mine a zillion times a day more than theirs, they get theirs wiped with a wet cloth more often than washed.
As far as injesting the stuff, I doubt they could get enough from their hands to do any damage, but I worry about the chemicals too. I always tell myself that I survived and I seriously doubt my parents gave much thought to what I put in my mouth (I drank motor oil once, thinking it was apple juice), and that usually helps me feel better.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I was never a germaphobe until my twins were in the NICU for a month. Ever since then, I am constantly washing and disinfecting everything that the twins come in contact with. It’s bordering on a “problem.”
That being said, I don’t spray down the shopping cart. I just make sure they keep their hands away from their faces/mouths, and then I Germ X their hands in the car. (Kate loves it, Carson hates it.)
I wish I had some brilliant advice for you, but, alas, I don’t. I hope you guys get back to feeling wonderful soon!
November 19th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I use cleanwell sanitizer often. I like it because it doesnt drip onto my kids clothes.. and it doesnt smell so strong.
Only thing is I use it to fast.
Im going to look into the Tiny Tillia! looks nice.
I like sanitizer vs. soap right now because w/ potty training Taite he requires his hands being washed so much its a pain in the butt! Especially out in public.. theres never any stools fo rhim to use and my back is so bad that to lean over holding him on a sink is very hard on it…
So sanitizer works for us
November 19th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Oh, man. I’m a bad momma. No sanatizing carts. No sanatizer. I’m just not a germaphobe. It doesn’t even cross my mind. When the babies first came home we did go through two or three large bottles of sanatizer for us and visitors but that didn’t last more than 6 months probably.
Jackson had one relatively bad cold last January and they have both had a random fever for 24 hours and sniffles maybe twice. And each of those times we were around another sick baby right before that happened.
I guess I have the attitude that the more germs they come in contact with the stronger their immune systems will be.
Hope you feel better soon! I think you SHOULD call in sick…make Daddy stay home from work one day.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Hey there girl, I am also not a big germaphobe and my kiddos have been sick a lot. I also strongly believe in soo much anti-bacterial stuff is bad for our immunity and tend to rely more on sanitizing wipes (when out) and hand soap only (when home). I never wipe down carts, rarely wipe off tables and honestly do not wipe their hands off immediatly and Liam is a big thumb sucker.
I personally would stay away from using too much of the saniter ON them. You can get the sanitizing wipes where they sell paper plates, plastic spoons and such and those are nice because they actually get the grime off (instead of just putting a layer of sanitizer on the grime).