Don’t Go Crazy Disinfecting Kids After School
Back in March, when COVID-19 was almost completely mysterious, I spent an insane amount of time disinfecting everything in my path. I processed the mail with lysol. I washed the products before they crossed the threshold of our house. I sterilized every toy my son could slobber on. It was a long, grueling sewer siege.
Two weeks ago, my son returned to kindergarten. His school has done everything possible to keep him healthy and safe while he is in their care. However, it’s hard not to admit that every day at school is a day filled with potential risks, and as a parent I didn’t understand how far I had to travel from the clearing rock to sanitize it after a day out in the wild.
Do I need to strip him naked in the garage before he enters the house? Do I need to wash his clothes immediately in the warmest water on Earth? Is it necessary to boil everything he touches, to almost surgical cleanliness? I decided to get expert opinion.
Stick to the basics
When it comes to cleanliness, there is no need to fly to the moon and back, according to Connie Steed, president of the Association for Infection Control and Epidemiology Professionals . If you stick to the basics, then the job is done.
“Cleanliness is next to godliness, but don’t do it to prevent COVID,” Steed says. “Keep it simple – doing basic hygiene to stop germs from spreading.”
The basics include hand washing, social distancing, covering your face, and protecting your hands from your eyes, nose, and mouth; These are preventative measures that reduce the potential spread of any germ, not just COVID-19.
“Germs can get on the surface and the germs can stay there for a while, but the transfer [mostly] is with the respiratory droplets,” Steed says.
So instead of wasting time boiling bed linen, we should make an effort to reinforce these proven containment controls.
Face masks
Stead recommends helping your child understand how to properly wear a mask and why it is important . Steed says he knows it won’t be easy, but encouragement and good behavior can help.
“Praise the kids for wearing masks,” she says. “Show pictures of other masked children, wear their favorite toys in masks.”
Steed also offers mask fun, allowing your child to choose a mask they are more likely to wear. And if you still want all-something to overdo it, it is best suited for the face plates.
“You need to clean your fabric topcoats regularly,” Steed says. “If the mask gets wet during the day — and it probably will for children — I would say it should be washed daily. It really depends on the child. You just need to wash it regularly. “
Another tip from Steve: stick to your own stuff. Be sure to label items such as face masks and water bottles so that your child can easily identify items that belong to him and not someone else’s.
Clean hands
Keeping tiny hands clean and not touching faces will continue to be tricky, Stead says, but the extra effort will be well worth the effort, Stead said.
“Anything that gets into their eyes, nose and mouth carries any germs,” she says.
If you have a thumb or a child who enjoys biting their nails, this can add another layer of difficulty, so keep getting creative with how to make washing your hands fun . While school should have handwashing facilities, Steed also recommends keeping hand sanitizer in your child’s backpack so that they have a supply of clean hands wherever they are during the day.
And finally …
The quarantine may end for some, but just because your child has left home doesn’t mean social distancing is a thing of the past.
“Drop by school,” Steed recommends. “Look at how they treat children in class. Are they sufficiently separated from other people? “
Also, make sure your child has received the latest vaccinations, especially for the flu .
“We can’t tell the difference between influenza and COVID,” Steed says. “Make sure vaccinations are done in a timely manner.”