I am not an overly obsessive germ freak. I mean, how could I be when I have 2 kids (soon to be 3) in preschool/school who are exposed regularly to every germ that there is it seems? However, I do think that extra protection through certain vaccines and avoiding certain places is always a great idea. It's why we vaccinate. It's why I have always avoided big indoor crowded places with my kids. It's why my daughters have been to the mall one time in their entire lives and my son has never been to the mall period. It's why I can count on one hand how many times that I have taken them grocery shopping with me. I'm all about kids being kids. Kids playing in dirt. Kids spending their days outside and not on electronics. Kids fishing and helping with livestock. We embrace the secluded farm/county life fully. We have had cow shit blow up into our faces while we were pulling a calf. We have watched our kids finger paint in deer blood while we were cleaning a deer that we killed. Okay, I'm kidding about that one but you get my point. We don't mind the dirtiness of farming but when it comes to avoiding strangers and the viruses that they could be carrying, I'm all about that life too. I don't make people shower before they hold my babies and I don't refuse to have company over that we are close to but I do require company that plans to be around our newborns to have certain vaccines and I do have hand sanitizer sitting around every where for people to use before they hold our babies. This has never been an issue for us because our family is close and respectful. They'd never risk a baby's healthy.
With our baby that's on the way the odds are huge that he or she will be here and be less than a month old during Andlee's birthday party. That does take extra consideration by me as a mom. I want Andlee to have the party that she deserves with all of her friends there but I also have to keep the baby in mind so my plan is simple. I will baby wear or mom will keep baby inside. People won't be able to hold the baby unless it's a special circumstance like my brother and 2 of my best friends that are from out of town that might not of met the baby yet and have all had vaccines. In that case they can go inside where it's secluded and hold the baby. It'll be a pool party so everyone else will be outside. I want to be involved in Andee's celebration and have fun with her so my mom will keep the baby inside away from the party during the times when I'm with Ann. It's not close family holding the baby that concerns me since they will have already met the baby most likely and have been vaccinated. It's the other kids and extra people that will be there that I'm picky about so it's just simplest to not let anyone pass the baby around and to keep the baby away from the crowd.
Germs are inevitable. They will find their way in to your home, on your clothes and on your shoes. They are there at the doctors office when you take your baby for well visits. They are passed around from kid to kid when you have older children in school. They are even all over the hospital that you birth your new baby at. A completely germ free and 100% sterile life is pretty impossible but there are many rational ways to decrease exposure without living in a bubble. I understand that but I can still do some things to help prevent exposure.
Here are those things:
-Vaccines! We do selective vaccinations for our children but the ones that are a must for anyone who plans to be around our babies are the flu shot and Tdap vaccine.
-Limited Public Outings! We still occasionally went places like doctors appointments, out to eat, our parents houses, church (once the baby was older), the movies (we'd go during the day in a small town so it was always basically an empty theater), ect. Places that were either controlled, clean atmospheres or somewhere that I could baby wear so the baby had no close exposure to people that we didn't know. We also spent a lot of time outside in those early months. It got us out of the house but also was away from public places. We did not go places with big crowds or a lot of people. We stayed at home 90% of the time. Our family and friends were so great! They would randomly bring us groceries and cooked meals. My mom would check in daily and see what errands I needed ran. Plus Brian worked outside of the home so he could pick up anything that we needed. I rarely had to leave home but let's face it there are times when you just need to get out. We didn't turn those times down. We just found safer ways to get out and to still have fun.
-Hand sanitizer! I always have bottles sitting around our house and in my purse. It's not just something that I do when I have a small child around, it's something that I always do. It's a quick and effective way to clean hands and arms.
-Air Purifier with Disinfectant! We have 2 Rainbow brand air purifiers. One is huge and one is small. They are some of the best on the market. Like, we spent over $6000 on the big one. Rainbow also sells a green disinfectant that you put into the purifier and run it 24/7. It's the same stuff that hospitals run through their filtration systems and it's really effective to kill germs. Like I said, nothing is 100% effective but I still highly recommend this product. You can get it at any Rainbow store.
-Baby wearing and car seat covers! If we are going to be around people or in public I either baby wear or keep the baby in the car seat with a cover/blanket over it. It keeps people from getting close to the baby or touching the baby and it helps shield some germs.
So, I felt like more of a germ freak than I thought as I got deeper into this post ha. But my point is that there are a lot of practical ways to lessen the risk of sicknesses without being a nut job who lives in a plastic bubble. The reality of it is that kids are going to get sick. It's going to happen and we just have to accept that. We can't lose our minds over it and we can't live in fear of it.
I hope these tips were helpful to y'all. I've never had an infant while having school aged bigs so this is going to be new for me. I am nervous but I am also trying to stay practical and thoughtful of the older siblings who will still want to go out to do things on the weekends sometimes.
Post a Comment