New Mothers pay more attention to Hygiene

Amritsar, July 28 (Punjab Post Bureau) – In recent times, maintenance of hygiene has become all the more crucial because harmful germs have evolved, and have become more resistant to drugs. Children, with an underdeveloped immune system, cannot react appropriately to such new and stronger germs. Right from the day a new bundle of joy arrives in this world, mothers develop an obsession to keep their babies happy and healthy. With the constantly changing times and numerous infections & illnesses hovering in the environment, mothers have become over cautious and well aware of the first signs of any illness lingering around her children so that she can nip it in the bud.

Whether it is about washing your hands before feeding your baby, after handling raw food, after changing a nappy or going to the toilet yourself, visitors playing with your toddler or letting your child take the pet out for a walk, as parents, we all end up feeling apprehensive about our children’s health and hygiene. This fear has cropped up owing to quite a few serious concerns.

Dr. Tarsem Singh, Child Specialist, Fortis Escorts hospital, Amritsar says, “As parents, it is our primary duty to protect children from illnesses. This can be done by adhering to well-laid out, simple safety and preventive measures. There is a growing need for an all-inclusive hygiene routine that includes basic habits like hand-washing and having a bath with an anti-bacterial soap at least twice a day. Studies have proved that washing your hands, is one of the simplest and effective way to prevent diarrhoea, cold, fever, typhoid and cholera.”

From eating candies, noodles and other junk food to drinking water from a friend’s bottle, we can’t really put a cap to what our child consumes while in school or while playing with his friends. The news of food adulteration, high levels of lead and other chemicals in foods making headlines, the thought never leaves a mother’s mind that her child is more likely to fall prey to stomach-related diseases due to consuming food or liquid from contaminated sources.

            Similarly, children often tend to avoid telling parents about injuries encountered while playing outside or running around in the house, for fear of being scolded by us. Prone as they are to injuries all the time, if left untreated, some injuries can turn into major infections. And no one is more bothered by this fact than a mother.

If you’ve chosen deliberately to not keep a pet at home and your child turns out to be an animal lover, he is highly likely to pet and play with stray dogs or cats outside. In such cases, there’s a significant risk of your child contracting contagious infections from strays. And that’s one of the most important reasons to ensure that children always wash their hands thoroughly with an anti-bacterial soap before touching anything else in the house.

While one can remind children and ensure that they wash their hands and stay hygienic, but that is only when you are together at home. Once the child is outdoors, all those instructions come to nought because outside the hygienic confines of your home, children are exposed to many more germs every day. What’s worse is that a lot of the germs today have evolved to become more threatening than the germs during our times. So, the germs on the football, bat or even the swings of today are more dangerous and resistant than the ones we were exposed to while playing.

“According to a UNICEF study, washing hands with soap, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by 40% and respiratory infections by 30%. Of course, parents must get their kids immunised as well”, added Dr. Tarsem. Other than this, have a clean home. Pay particular attention to the surfaces that are most likely to harbour germs and bacteria such as areas that have a lot of contact with food, bodies and hands, such as bathrooms, kitchen benches, tables, crockery, cutlery and glassware.

Be sure to regularly give your children toys that are cleaned with a good disinfectant. Wipe hard plastic toys down and make sure you rinse them thoroughly, or put plush toys through the washing machine. Encourage an enjoyable bath time by making it an integral part of everyday family life. Teach children about bacteria and fungi using picture books and express that by allowing objects and themselves to become dirty and not getting cleaned will cause bacteria to multiply and cause mould.^[1] With a little practice and some basic instructions, common sense and a routine, these tasks become easier and can provide valuable one to one time for you and your child as well ensure their health and safety.