It’s everyone’s least favourite time of the year – flu season. We know that all of you want to avoid the flu from spreading. The best way to stop the spread of germs is to wash your hands and your children’s hands.
You use your hands all day – to open doors, to eat food, type on the computer, or to play with toys. You can’t avoid it.
When?
According to the Canadian Child Care Federation, you should wash your hands before cooking, eating, feeding and giving medication to a child. In addition, wash your hands after changing a diaper, using the washroom, taking care of a sick child, handling pets, blowing your nose or your child’s nose, or preparing food.
Your children should also wash their hands before eating or handling food, as well as water play. They should also wash their hands after a diaper change, using the washroom, playing outdoors, playing with pets, sneezing, coughing, or blowing their nose.
How?
Proper Handwashing is not tough. You should wet your hands, scrub them carefully with a plain, mild soap, rinse your hands and then dry them. When washing a baby’s hands, use soap and a warm, wet, fresh towel. Rinse the baby’s hands with a fresh, warm, wet towel. Dry their hands.
Handwashing using plain soap and water is the most effective way to reduce the spread of germs. Sometimes when water and soap are not available, like on a long car trip or a walk in the park, you can use premoistened hand wipes or alcohol-based hand rinses. Just make sure to keep hand rinses out of reach of children.
Toys
Toys need to be washed regularly as well to stay germ-free, especially if they are being shared with other children.
Toys can be cleaned with water and soap and rinsed well before another child uses them. Plastic machine-washable toys can be washed in the dishwasher while cloth ones can be washed in the washing machine. If a toy is only hand-washable, use soap and water or a diluted bleach solution to clean the toy.
At Childventures we make sure your child washes their hands between activities, before and after meals, and ask that you make sure they wash their hands before entering the classroom. In addition, the toys and games your children use throughout the day are thoroughly cleaned.
