Discover how obsessive you are with hygiene

• April 20, 2024

Always wash your hands before touching the baby, continually mopping the floor ... Necessary or excessive precautions? Answer the questions about hygiene that we propose and know the advice of specialists.

It is easy to fall into obsession of the cleaning that takes the mother to sweep and clean the furniture and the floor continuously. So the result will be a clean environment, a house that shines, a very protected baby and a mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

However, the important thing is not to clean the house day and night, but to do it correctly. You have to try to understand what is the limit between a hygiene correct and the mania for cleanliness. Check, through 10 key questions, if you exaggerate or not when cleaning the house and take care of the baby of the germs .

Write down your answers!

1.- To wash your hands before breastfeeding ...

A. You use cotton wool soaked in a disinfectant solution. B. Clean them with a perfumed soap. C. You use a liquid soap with a dispenser, as usual.

2.- You have the flu. When you approach the child ...

A. You do not take any special precautions. You think that if he also gets sick his body will develop antibodies and, in this way, he will learn to defend himself beforehand. B. You stay as far away as possible from the child and ask your husband to take care of him. C. When you approach him you put a mouth cover to avoid the contagion .

3.- The soap for personal use of the baby you use is:

A. A delicate soap for your skin . B. A special neutral soap for babies that has a degree of acidity (pH) suitable for the skin of a newborn. C. A very fragrant soap; thus, the skin "smells fresh".

4.- To clean the little one you use:

A. A natural sponge. B. A cotton swab. C. You carve it with your hands.

5.- You wash your bathtub before introducing the baby in it:

A. Only under the stream of water. B. With a sponge soaked in alcohol. C. With a special sanitary detergent, rinsing it immediately with plenty of water.

6.- When you open the windows to ventilate ...

A. You leave them wide open for ten minutes. B. Try to open them as little as possible: the outside air is contaminated and full of bacteria that could infect you. C. You open them only when you use the broom and the shaker to clean furniture and floors, because a lot of dust is raised.

7.- To wash the clothes ...

A. You use boiling water and a normal detergent. B. You put it in the washing machine with warm water and add a bleach to the detergent. C. You regulate the wash cycle and temperature. Wash with hot water, if the clothes are very dirty.

8.- To clean cutlery and dishes ...

A. You put them in a sterilizer and take them out with tweezers. B. Wash with a normal detergent, then rinse well under running water. C. Clean them with an appropriate detergent and leave them in the drainer to put them back in place.

9.- The baby drops his favorite rattle on the kitchen floor. Your...

A. Clean it with a sponge soaked in water. B. Wash it with a normal detergent and rinse it. C. You wash it with water, bleach and detergent.

10.- For the floor of the house where the baby crawls you use the following precautions:

A. Mop once a day with water and vacuum the carpet once a week. B. You removed the carpet from the house and clean the floor every day with detergent and bleach dissolved in water; then, you rinse. C. Mop the floor every two days and vacuum the carpet three times a week.

Calculate your score and discover what hygiene measures you should follow!

1.- Cleaning of the hands: With the answers A and B you assign one and two points, while with the C you get three points. In their hands live millions of harmless bacteria: about 100 thousand per square centimeter of skin . But among them you could find germs that cause stomach flu . Disinfecting the hands is excessive and the bar of soap can be contaminated with germs that proliferate in contact with the air. The best solution is liquid soap with a dispenser, because the product is not in contact with the environment.

2.- If you have the flu: If you chose To put two points. It is true that, through contact with germs, the baby's organism reinforces its defenses natural But there is also the case that a massive attack of virus , as in the case of a flu , can weaken a baby of a few months. Making your partner replace you is not the ideal solution (a point): he too can be sick without knowing it, because the virus remains in incubation for a few days before manifesting obvious symptoms. The best answer is C (three points). Put on a mask and put it on every time you hold the baby. Also avoid coughing or sneezing near him.

3.- The soap: Adjudicate yourself a point if you answered A, three if you answered B and two if you answered C. A soap like the one used by our grandmothers is too aggressive for a baby's skin and tends to irritate her very easily. It is said that a soap is suitable for the skin of a newborn when it respects its physiological pH (the level of acidity). It is very important to choose a soap without perfume, because it can irritate the skin of the baby.

4.- To clean it: One point if you answered A. The natural sponge is a good nest of microbes. These reproduce quickly, especially if the sponge is left in a hot, humid place like the bathroom. The same goes for the cotton wipe (two stitches). The best solution, (put three points), is to wash the baby with your hands, using at most a cotton cloth.

5.- The bathtub: Enter three points if you answered C. Before bathing the baby it is necessary and indispensable to wash the bathtub with a detergent for bathrooms. We should never mix cleaning products because they could give off toxic vapors. Answer B gives you two points, because alcohol does not destroy most bacteria. Water is the least indicated solution and it gives you a point.

6. House air: Three points if you answered A. One for B or C. It is shown that in places that ventilate ten minutes every hour, the infections nasal and throat. Do not be afraid to open the window even if it's cold outside.

7.- The clothes: Two spots for A. Milk spots, eggs and dust disappear with warm water, those of fat and those of fruit with hot water and carving them constantly. If you use a washing machine, use the heavy load and warm water program. The bleaches give the clothes a whiter look because the fibers take on a white color, but do not destroy the bacteria. If you answered B, write a point. The best solution is to regulate the temperature of the wash cycle and also if it is washed by hand: put three points if you have answered C.

8.- Cutlery and dishes: One point for answer A, three for B and for C. In the first three months of life there are frequent infections intestines transmitted by dirty objects that the baby puts in his mouth; However, after six months the ablation Babies have enough defenses to protect themselves from certain virus Y bacteria, so it is not necessary to sterilize cutlery and dishes.

9.- In the kitchen: One point if you answered A, two for B and three if your answer was C. Water removes dirt but not germs. You get a better result with a common detergent. But to be sure of eliminating all the germs it is better to use a little dissolved lye in the water, following the instructions contained in the label of the product.

10.- Floors and carpet: Three points for B, one for A and one if you answered C. Dust should not obsess you, but one gram of dust contains more than one billion bacteria , including mites. The mites find in carpets an ideal nest to live and reproduce. If they are inhaled by the child, they easily irritate your nose, bronchi, and lungs, and predispose you to allergies respiratory It will be better not to use the broom to clean the carpets, as it removes dust and facilitates the dispersion of germs.

THE RESULT

Now add the points obtained in each answer and read your profile:

30 points: you're great. Always attentive to the hygiene of the baby and the house. You know what products you should use and you get excellent results, without exaggerating with the cleaning mania.

17 points or more: The hygiene It obsesses you, but your ability to get it leaves something to be desired. You have a lot of faith in the ancient remedies, which today are surpassed by more effective products. Use them.

10 points or more: The hygiene It is not your strong one. You must be more careful. Remember that not everything that glitters is really clean.

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