Are we too afraid of germs??

[its_our_family]

In our church nursery they have decided that the toys need cleaned every week and not once a month. So, they have all the toys put up and a toddler has to ask for a toy to get one : Anyway, they don't want germs to spread so they want ppl to take them home a wash.

I thought a germ only lived 12-36 hours without a host. The toys get used 3x a week and have 48 hours in between them.

They have lysol wipes to be used on toys too (I really don't like this idea cause those things are gross!)

Anyway, we have disinfecting everything. Nothing is clean unless it has been disinfected!

Now I can understand in certain circumstances. But is it necessary to basically bleach everything you touch in order to stay clean?

They were interiviewing this guy on an early morning show that wrote a book called "the secret lives of bugs' and he said he keeps a bowl of bleach to dunk his sponge in every time he uses it.

Am I jsut weird in thinking that some germs are a good thing?

[simonee]

There are germs everywhere, children have to get used to them.

Bleach stinks, in more than one way.

I think they're overcleaning, and that they should spend most of that time with their kids instead.

[Potty Diva]

The children will most likely come down with colds and illnesses more often now.

We need some germs to help our immune system strengthen and fight off big bugs.

I used to work with a woman who did churuch childcare and they were sited for having their nursery TOO clean. The children they always had a cold or runny nose.

For myself, I clean Kaileys toys once a month or so, never with bleach. I just use hot water and mild dish soap. This is enough to clean them.

I do vacuum like crazy though

[kate42]

Yes, by eliminating all germs we do not build up a resistance to them.

[marilynmama]

As someone who has taken a lot of Microbiology, etc in school any Microbiologist will tell you people are way to germ phobic!

The majority of germs are good germs, there are actually very few that are pathogenic to humans (I mean just think of all the germs we come into contact daily and most of us are not sick very often, some hardly ever). And there are a lot of pathogenic germs that DO get into our bodies but never make us sick.

I hardly ever clean my kids toys (I dont even think about it until I can SEE the dirt on there and I do it more for asthetic reasons that health reasons....lol) I mean who has time to clean toys all the time! LOL

Me and my kids are rarely ever sick!

The best thing to do with sponges (besides change them out frequently) is to run them through the dishwasher and let them *completely* air dry (most bacteria can't survive dehydration like that, it destroys their cell walls)

But ya, I totally agree with you. This is a favorite topic of mine

Marilyn