We have previously been talking about the essential hygiene habits of women during pregnancy and the baby when she was born. We have an issue that surely worries families, home hygiene when we have a baby.
The culture of excess hygiene
Many of us have grown up in a culture that extolled maximum hygiene and sought to eliminate all the "germs" that surrounded us based on aggressive chemicals.
And now it is hard for us to discern how to provide the necessary hygiene of the home when we have a baby. Let's try to reach some conclusions.
I still struggle sometimes with those habits of extreme cleanliness (and against my mother, who is one of those who use, if you neglect, even salfumán). There are things that I still can't stand: that they feel with street clothes in bed or that they touch me after touching a newspaper, oddities, I know, but at least I have not fallen for pretending to live in an aseptic bubble and A little dust doesn't take my sleep away.
Speaking of sleep, I prefer not to think about mites, I must also confess it. I imagine them walking through my face at night and they give me the seven evils. But the truth is that we are not allergic to mites or anything, and besides, boiling the bedding seems crazy.
Do you have exaggerated manias with home hygiene?, Have you controlled some ?, or are you one of those who still think that you have to have the house not only collected and comfortable, but also free of any bacteria?
When is it necessary to clean thoroughly?
There is a moment in the child's life that if we are going to feel the need to do a good cleaning thoroughly, and that's when he crawls and puts things in his mouth. Making it clear that it is a natural process in which the child comes into contact with the environment and puts his immune system into operation, if I understand that it is necessary to take a little more care that the soil is not very full of crap.
In those cases, anyway, to home hygiene I would opt for natural cleaning products such as vinegar or lemon, and, from time to time, use a stronger cleaning product always rinsing perfectly so as not to leave traces of chemicals.
Cleaning products should not be left within the reach of children or use them in their presence and if we wash any floor or object with them, always remove all remains and to avoid accidental ingestion even in small quantities.
If there were an accident, it should always be clear how to act to avoid more serious consequences.
Keep in mind that there are foci of infection that should be disinfected as well as possible: water, garbage cans, sink, telephone, computer keyboard (especially if we eat while we write) but it is not necessary to become obsessed with an absolute cleaning of the home and with eliminating all germs. Bacteria and humans have always lived together and, although hygiene is key to health, exceeding ourselves can also be negative.
Excess hygiene can be negative
It is currently questioned whether excessive hygiene can be harmful and be related to the increase in allergy problems and other diseases that involve a more weakened immune system. The theory is that, by depriving children of contact with the usual and harmless bacteria, their immune system is not allowed to train or is reacted exaggeratedly after aggressions that are not serious.
Sterilization
Baby bottles and pacifiers are objects that may be necessary, to some extent, to be sterilized during the first months of the baby's life, to avoid, first of all, the infections that can be caused by leaving traces of milk, not otherwise.
However, after six months, children put everything in their mouths and it is their natural way of experiencing the world, sterilization would not make much sense, especially if we maintain a good cleaning of hands and surfaces.
Toys and stuffed animals will be enough to wash them with soap and water. We can wash the stuffed animals every season and the toys simply wash if they are dirty, it is one thing not to sterilize and another to leave them black with rust.
That is to say, let's clean the house, let's eliminate the sticks of food from sleep, let's clean the surfaces that come into contact with food or waste, but let's learn that proper home hygiene It is not sterilization as usual.
