Got Germs?

Playground, restaurant high chair, and petting zoos can all be seriously icky germy zones. Here's a few steps on how you can protect your child.

The playground: Your local jungle gym is more germ-infested than a public restroom. Restrooms tend to get disinfected often but playground equipment almost never gets cleaned. Harmful germs -such as those in the mucus that kids wipe from their noses can linger for days. Sandboxes are gross too. Squirrels and birds can leave behind fecal matter which can cause stomach illnesses and skin infections.

How to stay safe?
If you are tempted to clean ladders and handles with a disinfecting wipes, don't bother. Instead you can teach your child not to touch her or his mouth, nose or eyes when she's at the playground and clean her hand with an alcohol based hand gel before you leave the park. And if you have a backyard sandbox, keep it cover when you're not using it.

Ball Pits: Enclosed play areas containing plastic balls, which are popular at kid's gym and fast food restaurants are among the dirties places to let your child roam. Kids with leaky diapers play in them and the pits rarely get cleaned. Young children can also pass germs onto the ball with their hands and feet.

How to stay safe?
If you decide to visit the pit, you can have your child wash her hands thoroughly before and after playing.

Your pediatricians waiting room: Yup! Don't be fool by the antiseptic smell. With all of the sick little patients, the waiting room is a virtual petri dish. Then there's your busy doctor: If he forgets to wash her or his hands after seeing each patient, he could transmit viruses to your child. I am glad though that our pediatrician washes her hands before even getting close to my daughter.

How to stay safe?
Have your child wash her hands before going to the doctor so she'll be less likely to pass along a bug to other kids. If she's just getting checkup, as whether there's a a well child waiting area. Take along your own toys and books so she isn't tempted to play with the communal ones.

Water fountains: A typical drinking fountain contains more harmful germs than public toilet seat. Kids, tend to touch the spigot with their fingers or their mouth, passing germs to the next person who drinks. Cold an flu viruses can love on the metal for up to give hours.

Who to stay safe?
You can teach your child to keep his or her lips and fingers off the spigot and to let the water run for a a few seconds before supping. That helps wash away harmful organisms.

Shopping cart handles: Supermarket workers and shoppers are constantly touching these handles and a[reading germs. If the blood from raw meat reaches a handle, your child could ingest harmful bacteria.

How to stay safe?
Clean the handle with a disinfecting wipe before putting your child in the cart. If you buy a shopping cart cover, keep in mind that these can also carry germs (which survive longer on a fabric than on a plastic handle), so you should wash them regularly.

Public high chair: A restaurant maybe kid friendly but that doesn't mean that it is germ free. Chances are the chair you plop your toddler into hasn't been clean since the last child used it. Your home high chair may not be so clean either. Germs usually fester in corners and crannies you can't reach.

How to stay safe?
Take a long a disposable high chair cover to restaurants or use a disinfecting wipe to clean it. Wipe down your childs home high chair after every meal with disinfecting spray and a paper towel.

A few ways that you can follow but will surely make your child safe.

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