sanitation question?...

[jingwen]

Hi again!

I just have two questions pertaining to sanitation and babies..

1. How old should a baby be to swim in a community pool? My main concern is of course the chemicals and the chlorine?

2. Do you let you baby crawl on the floors of public places....i.e department stores? (i We are taking my ds on a weekend getaway and i was wondering if its safe to let him crawl in the hotel bedroom floor.

Thanks for any input or advice.

[marsupialearthmom]

(i We are taking my ds on a weekend getaway and i was wondering if its safe to let him crawl in the hotel bedroom floor.

I'm not sure about the answer to your first question, but in regards to your second question, I don't let my babies crawl on the floor of department stores, but that is mainly because I carry them in my sling and they are happy there. I really would prefer that they not crawl, though, on a public floor, but actually now that I think about it, I do, for instance, let them crawl on the floor at church, and that's probably pretty dirty sometimes. I remember when my little boy was about six months old letting him play on the floor at a hotel.

[Chelly2003]

The floor of the hotel room, might be cleaner than the BED anyway........
I'd say let DS crawl around if the floor is not OBVIOUSLY dirty. Keep your eye on him and don't let anything get popped in the mouth.

I would let my children do that, but not on the floor of a department store or any other HIGH TRAFFIC area like that.

Chelly

[Dodo]

It would never even occur to me to not let a creeper on the floor of a hotel room.

As for public places, I worry more about the kid getting walked on than anything else.

I took my baby swimming as of five months at a salt-water pool. That's how I dealt with the chlorine issue. Is that an option for you?

[LunaMom]

I wouldn't want to have my baby crawl on a very public floor of questionable cleanliness. What CK'sMama said about the things people track in on their shoes...that's why my family never wears shoes into the house, and why we ask all guests to remove theirs. My dd isn't a baby any longer, but we all sit and play on the floor, don't we? And friends' babies visit all the time. Honestly, whenever I visit a home where people leave on their outdoor shoes all day inside the house (my inlaws come to mind), I can't help but think about all the bad stuff on their floors!

As far as the pool chemicals go, good question! My dd was over a year before we ever went near a pool anyway, so I can't really answer...

[menudo]

I took my son in a public pool at a few months of age, never thought about it til coming to MDC. It's up to the parent, there are risks in everything. DS loved it and it neve raffected him adversely.

[USAmma]

I only protected dd as a newborn. Once she started crawling I let her crawl unless it was visibly dirty. I just washed her hands a lot. I think that up to a point exposure to dirty/germs will make a stronger immune system and less chance of allergies/asthma.

Darshani

[carmen veranda]

There is quite a bit of proof about the dirty babies and stronger immune systems. But it is hard to say how much is too much or too little. My house is messier than I would like it, but I feel like they are "our" germs. I am not sure I would let a baby crawl on my kitchen floor right now if she didn't live with me!!! tee hee

The pool is such a bugaboo!! I took baby, but I worried and limited her exposure to the water, gradually increading times in the water. It is so weird though, we have a filter on the shower and tub, and then soak in the pool.

[marsupialearthmom]

I think that up to a point exposure to dirty/germs will make a stronger immune system

Yes, I think you are right, Darshani! And with breastfed babies, many of the germs are less of a concern than they would be with
a bottle-fed baby, because of the way breastmilk has anitbodies made to meet the particular needs of baby that day.

I'm embarassed to admit it, though, that with my first child I was even nervous about letting her crawl on the floor in our own house (germs from the cats lol!!) and I actually put her in her playpen quite a bit because of that. *blush*

[momatheart23]

Ck's Mama, I had to laugh when I read your post because I am that kind of mama, I let my son crawl just about anywhere when he was little. He would stick his hands in his mouth and all. I don't know, for me it comes down to he is breastfed, has a stong immune system,( I am fully a believer in exposing him to germs to build his immune system), and not causing too much stress about it all. I got rid of all the toxic cleaners in my house, I am working on alot of the stuff, but I know we are not going to take our shoes off everytime in the house, even though I always take mine off because I like being barefoot. I figure I can do so much, but I am not going to let myself worry too much about it because that causes added stress which can do just as much damage as the chemicals would have.

[Clarity]

I don't let her crawl with a lot of visible dirt...but a hotel room would be fine for me. And as for lead poisoning strictly from tracking in, I've only heard of thst from areas with a lot of contaminating industry that are trucking around lead contaminated material or spewing particulate matter into the air. You can always do a swab of the floor to check.

But in general, germs are your friend.

[kater07]

DS got to swim in a friend's pool when he was less than 2 months old. He's been in our hot tub 4 or five times in his 7 months.

As for the floor thing...well, I think I'd put down a blanket, but he'd just crawl right off it.

keep your eye on him and as long as the floor isn't obviously nasty...

HTH,

Katie