MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over

Eat Dirt

Mar 12, 2009 Books, Environment, Family and Friends, Parenting and More

I recall a friend telling me before I had my first child that with your first child you sanitize everything, that nothing gets put in babies mouth without a deep wash, and that bottles are boiled after each use. With the second child she said you stick everything in the dishwasher, and toys that fall on the floor are wiped clean with a pant leg or a wet wipe if you have one handy. By the third you rinse things in the sink, make sure there are no grimy bits and toys are handed back to baby after a stint on the floor.

I have never been a big proponent of  “sanitize everything”. We had a bottle sanitizer that we used for about three weeks, and after that bottles went into the dishwasher, or they were washed by hand if I was short on dishes. Toys, get laundered somewhat frequently when I think about it, or when baby goobers on them with peas – but I admit to picking up toys from the floor wiping them on my pants and handing them back to them (and this was with my first child and second- no discrimination!). I always felt that a little dirt couldn’t hurt them. The fact is – it is easy to monitor a baby but what happens when they are two? three? four? I know my nearly four year old often touches some pretty gross things, and puts gross stuff in his mouth when I am not looking (I have caught him chewing the side of those grocery carts shaped like Cars) – so if his immune system broke down at every germ – he would be sick all the time! When I was growing up my parents didn’t Purel their hands every step of the way, or disinfect my toys every 24 hours in case of a stray germ. Guess what, I am a healthy 30-something (seriously, I have to do math to figure my age out – every time!) and growing up I wasn’t sick any more than any other kid. I also don’t have any currently known allergies.

Today I see mom’s carry around hand sanitizer in their diaper bags and purses. Whipping them out at every cough, sneeze or breath. Anti-bacterial wipes are swiped across every surface their baby might dare touch, and then there are the blankets or cart draps that parents sit their kid in at the grocery store. They wash their floors, tables, toys, and even fabrics with anti-bacterial cleaners (yes- Febreeze now has Anti-bacterial spray); and they ensure that NO ONE touches their baby without a scrub down first. I may be slightly exhaggerating the situation, but I find some people are absolutely paranoid – and I kept thinking that all his “clean” can not be good for a growing child’s immune system.

It seems that I may be right, an article in the Ottawa Citizen – Honey, Eat Your Dirt points to new research that proves that cleanliness CAN lead to illness. Everything in moderation people! Even too much hygiene is a problem. According to the article, which references a new book titled Why Dirt is Good by Mary Ruebush, a baby’s immune system is “like a computer that is hasn’t been programmed. It needs to practise responding to bacteria and viruses and other things found in dirt to learn what it should fight and what it should ignore.” Further to this a New York Times article states recent studies and epidemiological observations “seem to explain why immune system disorders like multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and allergies have risen significantly in the United States and other developed countries.” So essentially kids raised in an ultraclean environment are not being given the chance to develop appropriate immune systems and will suffer later in life because of it.  Dr. Ruebush says that the current fetish for the many  (well-marketed) antibacterial products may just be a false sense of security and could “actually foster the development of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria.” (NYTimes)

So if you are a Hand Sanitizer-toting, germaphobic, anti-bacterial obsessed parent – what should you do? According to these articles just use less anti-bacterial products. Soap and water is all you need, and a little dirt . So, go – eat dirt. I dare ya.

Popularity: 72% [?]

Rate this:

3.2

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: family, Health, Immune system, kids, Ottawa Citizen, Why Dirt Is Good: How Our Obsession With Killing Germs Is Making Us Sick