Every day we are bombarded by so many viruses and bacteria and the state of affairs of our children's schools magnify these circumstances greatly!
The BEST thing we can do to protect ourselves against germs is to keep our immune systems healthy, but before we get into that, let’s discuss how we can reduce the amount of germs we come into contact with daily.
Some of the best ways ways to accomplish this during the school year are simply teaching our children proper hand hygiene techniques, and getting into the habit of taking off their shoes and completely changing into a new pair of clothes as soon as they get home from school.
HAND-HYGIENE
🧼 Soap and water is the best way for us to clean our hands and stop the spread of germs.
1 - When hand-washing allow the child to use whichever temp they are comfortable with. There hasn't been much evidence to be found that "hotter is better", and washing frequently with hot water can actually cause skin to dry and crack more frequently increasing the chances of germs and pathogens entering the body.
2 - Encourage to wash for at least 20 seconds.
Having children sing to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel: "This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands, this is the way we wash our hands when we're killing germs" 2x gets the job done!
What about all those various times a day when washing our hands in a sink is NOT an option?
🧴Hand sanitizer can serve as a portable sanitizing agent that can help prevent the spread of germs/infection when our kids are in school and washing their hands over a sink with soap/water isn’t the first available option.
Which is best? Whether spray, gel, or foam doesn't seem to make a difference, but the CDC says that a good hand sanitizer should contain at least 60% alcohol in order to help avoid the spread of germs.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE - Whether soap or sanitizer, you need to be careful about the type/brand you use! --There has been little evidence that "Antibacterial" is any better than "regular soap" in the fight against germs and any of these products containing "Triclosan" can do more harm than good! Triclosan is a common chemical found in antibacterial soaps/hand sanitizers and it actually decreases your body’s immune response and even makes your body’s bacteria more resistant to antibiotics. 🙄
Once you've found a brand you are comfortable with, stock up! Place them in your kids backpack, lunch box and even for them to leave on their desk. You can even get ones that can clip on to the outside of a backpack or lunch box that way, your child doesn’t have to go searching for it when he or she needs it.
👕👚 HAVE YOUR CHILDREN CHANGE AS SOON AS THEY COME HOME 👖🥾
🥿👟 Shoes allow microorganisms to travel very easily. If your shoes are more than a month old they have 93% percent chance of having fecal bacteria on them! (💩😳)
Having a place where all shoes go and making sure they do not pass the entry way or better yet the front door is a great step. Shoes are kinda like hands, great vehicles for the spread of germs.
👚Considering having your children change completely out of their school clothes and into clean ones immediately when they get home from school is ideal as well. (I know mommas, that DOES mean more laundry -- 👕👖🗑x2! 🤪) but if it means keeping all members of this household healthy, I'm game!
We want to keep everyone healthy this school year and following these guidelines will help in reducing our loved ones contact with germs! Remember, we are all in this together! Back to school 2020 we've got this!
(Citations that you can post in the comments of this post:
Cold vs. Hot Water hand-washing:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.today.com/today/amp/tdna112239
Antibacterial vs "Regular soap":
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/299500#No-significant-difference-in-soaps-when-used-for-handwashing )