Are you an anti-bacterial queen?

Faith177

Person_one wrote: »

That's such a shame, true OCD is a terrible thing. Of course, no amount of cleaning would ever stop a child getting chicken pox, but logic doesn't come into it I suppose.

She's has been like it since she was a child after a teacher caught her not washing her hands and gave her a lecture about how germs can kill everyone including her mummy & daddy

Again we tried telling her about the chicken pox and cleaning not preventing it but she just couldn't accept it kept calling herself a terrible mother.

Person_one

Judi wrote: »

Probably but i'll stick to the way I do things thanks

Out of curiosity, if you know there's no reason to and that its more likely to be harmful than helpful, why?

I have endless sympathy for people with OCD like faith177's friend, but I find it harder to understand it when there's no compulsion or psychological issues causing it.

Voyager2002

SmlSave wrote: »

Just wondered how many mums clean everything and try to kill all those bacteria - especially new mums or mums-to-be?

I've just got my last bounty pack which includes Dettol wipes and informs me:

" their (my baby) immunity will be low for the first two to three months, so a germ free home is a must"

Is it just me but how is my child supposed to get any sort of immunity in a germ free house?

Plus they are trying to encourage me to buy anti-bacterial laundry detergent - which I'm sure is fine when me and baby are in our vacuum packed, anti-bacterial house but what should I do if I have to leave the house! :eek: ! Perhaps we should become agoraphobic to avoid all those nasty bacteria?

:rotfl: Can you tell that I get a little irate at companies trying to sell me anti-bacterial stuff? DH gets v.annoyed when I start shouting at the TV but it really does make my blood boil

I do so agree...

Apart from anything else, neither you nor the baby would be able to digest any food (and so would die) were it not for the benign bacteria living in all of our guts. The majority of "germs" living in your kitchen are helpful, so killing them would have a negative impact on your health. And worst of all, the over-use of anti-bacterial products help breed strains of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, and some of these cause serious diseases.

I hope that you will complain to whoever issued the "bounty bag".

System

Person_one wrote: »

Out of curiosity, if you know there's no reason to and that its more likely to be harmful than helpful, why?

I have endless sympathy for people with OCD like faith177's friend, but I find it harder to understand it when there's no compulsion or psychological issues causing it.

We all clean, its just that I prefer to have a product with anti bacterial in it. I'll stick to what I said before...

Theres enough germs in a normal day to day living outdoors without having to have them in the house as well.

I don't live in a sterile bubble by the way.

Errata

Anti-bac stuff is produced to make mothers feel guilty. Hot water and soap and bleach is probably more effective.

go_cat

I'm a bit of a germ freak I'm afraid... And insist on hand washing when coming in from school or outside and if raw chicken has been around I go into overdrive with the dettol


Im not as bothered in our house as its our germs it's other people e.g the ones who don't wash hands after going to the toilet and contaminate everything they touch:eek:

mrcow

Person_one wrote: »

We'd all be completely screwed if we didn't have enough 'germs' around us, on us and inside us.

In terms of cell numbers, we're made up of more bacterial cells than we are human.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-humans-carry-more-bacterial-cells-than-human-ones


Anyone who goes around trying to kill bacteria by spraying chemicals around their house is an idiot.

It's the equivalent of trying to heat up the atmosphere with a radiator.

I_try

The way to develop a healthy immune system is to be exposed to things. It is unavoidable unless you isolate yourself in a sterile bubble.

I don't believe in anything antibacterial, hot water and soap for self cleaning, normal laundry detergent, etc does the job. I grew up amongst a variety of pets and animals, and played in the mud, warmed my booted feet in the muck heap and so on, and am happy to have my little girl do the same. Her nursery was chosen over others because they let kids be kids and play in the garden, looking under rocks and making mud pies.

All the anti-bacterial obsessed family kids I've come across seem to be the ones with allergies, asthma, and various sensitivities.

fluffnutter

Get baby on the tit. That's the best way of building his/her immunity.

paulineb_2

I use anti bac on kitchen surfaces and try and use cleaning products that arent bleach heavy. But Im not obsessed with cleaning (Im not dirty btw, I just dont spend my life with cleaning spray in my hand). I have allergies, not caused by cleaning products, but some cleaning products dont agree with me, Ive had dermatitis on more than a few occasions, same with washing powder, I now use those eco balls, you dont get a soap smell off the clothes.

Ive also got pets. I remember when I was small we had a budgie and it was killed by fumes from a neighbour and her over zealous cleaning of the communal areas, think it was Vim that killed it.

I try and use eco products when I clean and one thing I never use is air freshener, its apparently not very good for the lungs.