Guest Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Hi all, I've been asked to find out whether it is okay for us to use a squirt of that anti bacterial gel at snack time, rather than getting all the children to wash their hands (which takes up a lot of time). We have considered the rolling snack bar thing but rejected it at the moment, so there are quite a few children to get through hand washing simultaneously at snack time. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Upsy Daisy Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 (edited) Have you ever accidentally put your fingers in your mouth when you've used the stuff? It tastes vile so that alone may cause some issues. Apart from that I suppose it depends what is on their hands. If they've all been to the toilet at some point so their hands have been washed fairly recently and they've been doing relativley clean activities since I can't see an issue. You just need to remind staff that the gel kills germs on physically clean hands, it doesn't clean them. Would you need written permission to use it like you would need to for other creams etc? Edited October 30, 2009 by Upsy Daisy
HappyMaz Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 There has been a lot of dicsussion on the Forum about this fairly recently. Have a look at this one! I agree with Upsy Daisy - the stuff tastes foul. If your children are eating with their hands I would imagine it is possible that the taste could transfer to the food. Why don't you try it and see? Maz
Guest Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 I agree with Upsy Daisy if they have recently washed their hands then it should be ok, however, I was told that anti bac gel does just that - its anti bac's it doesnt clean! And it tastes foul!!!
JacquieL Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 I know hand washing can be an issue and take time, but I think it is something children need to learn to do, and to understand why they need to do it. Soap and water is cheap and effective. I also worry about the overuse of these gels and what this may mean for resistance to bacteria in the future.
Guest Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Thanks to everyone who's answered. Your responses have confirmed my initial reaction, which was that it's important to do the whole 'wash hands before you eat' thing and that this 'time saving' idea is not a good one. I hadn't thought about the taste but of course, absolutely right! The other issue is, if you have a cut on your hand, they can sting like no one's business. Thanks once again for helping me make a decision - what would we do without this forum!?
Beauvink Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Hi Hand washing is far better, especially if you have access to water and soap! Just in case any of you forum users are interested I have found a brilliant website with posters, activities, links to EYFS etc., http://hygiene4health.com
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Thanks for the link and a very warm welcome to the forum!
Guest Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 In our setting we use the hand gell at the snack bar. Ofsted where ok with this as we do not have access to running water in the main hall, the toliets are situated out of the main hall so we can not allow unsupervised access. The gell can sting and any children with excema will not be allowed to use it. However all staff carry this gell for use outdoors as our outside play area is away from the setting. You only need a little of the gell, if you put too much on it slides of your hands and cleans the floor!
Guest Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 We too do not have easy access to toilets. We are fortunate in that the committee understand us and so fork out for lots of packs of baby wipes (sensitive ones). Children are encouraged to count to 10 and wipe hands thoroughly.Those with allergies get a wet paper towel provided by a staff member. We were advised not to use the gel on children (think it was a nurse?)
dottyp Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 We also used to use wet wipes at snack time but have just purchased (with Ecers funding) a fab 'child size' mobile sink. It's has a stainless steel bowl and infra red water control (so no pumps or taps to worry about). The children love it and are happy to wash their hands even when they haven't been asked to do so! It's a cold fill system with adjustable heat temp. It was from the mobile sink co and although expensive well worth the money. dottyp
Guest Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks everyone, we have sinks within easy reach so no problem there. Like the sound of that infra red mobile sink though!
HappyMaz Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 (edited) Is this the kind of thing, dottyp? Maz Edited October 31, 2009 by HappyMaz To add in photo!
Guest Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 We have just gone back to handwashing rather than using the gel -the main reason being that it is about teaching children good life skills as much as anything else. We do have good access to sinks etc. though. Just a thought...Zoe. xxx
Guest Posted November 10, 2009 Posted November 10, 2009 We do both, we are lucky enough to have sinks and pump handwash and then when the children are sitting at the snack table we go round with the 'special squirt'. Even when they say they have washed their hands they love using it (some are obviously very used to it at home ) and they all enjoy rubbing it into their hands until it disappears. Rachel This also appeared when I went off on a tangent on one of the replies
Guest Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 One of the suggested problems with antibacterial products is the addition of the chemical Triclosan. The safety of triclosan has been questioned in regard to environmental and human health. If you do a Google search on it there are all sorts of scary articles. This may be why the PLA policy book says antibacterial soap should not be used with young children. It gets you thinking!!!
lynned55 Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 (edited) We dont have easy acess to sinks which is why a couple of years ago we swithched to handwashing gel prior to snack and staff often use it after blowing noss (childrens) However yesterday I got an email from our EY's warning of a child who had been taken to hospital by a parent afetr playgroup as they had become unwell (no idea of symptoms displayed) the hospital concluded that the child had eaten a blob of gel that was on it;s fingertips and that as the gel had contained 70% alchohol this had made them ill and they are now recomending we do not use alchohol based gels (unfortunately this is most of them) I do wonder how big a blob they must have eaten to have made themselves so ill to be taken to hospital. It was stressed that it was caused by the amount on the hands when used not that the child had had access to a bottle of it unsupervised. Edited November 11, 2009 by lynned55
Beau Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 Thanks Lynned55, I hadn't heard of that before. I had a quick scout around the internet and found this. Certainly something that needs to be strictly controlled if used!
Upsy Daisy Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 I have a friend who is a matron and they are currently rethinkingthe dispensers in their hospital because of alcoholic patients drinking the gel. This should have crossed my mind in relation to children using it but for some reason it never occurred to me.
lynned55 Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Well I checked all the bottles we had and no more then the normal warnings of seek medical advise if taken etc,etc, But then so does loads of other stuff.
Guest Spiral Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Hello, just thought I'd add in this - it was sent to me by a friend and does originate from the US - but is pretty scary! Spiral. This is a parent and grandparent MUST read!! Family Friends too! Yesterday, my youngest daughter, Halle who is just 4 years old,was rushed to the ER by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent in her classroom. He was called to her school by the school secretary who said that she was 'VERY VERY SICK'! He told me that when he arrived at her classroom, Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them. He immediately scooped her up and rushed her to the closest ER, and then called me. When he got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal, nothing was out of the ordinary. When I arrived at the ER, the doctor there told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was transferring her to Saint Francis Hospital for further tests. Right as we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher arrived at the ER and told us that after questioning Halle 's classmates, She had found out that our little girl had licked liquid hand sanitizer off of her hands !!! Hand sanitizer, of all things. But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and flavors and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things into their mouths. When we arrived at the Saint Francis' Hospital ER, we told the ER Doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, and yes we did get weird looks, but they did it. The results showed her blood alcohol level was 85% -- six hours after we first took her.. There's no telling what it would have been if we would have requested it at the first ER. Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken the liquid hand sanitizers out of all the lower grade classes, but what's to stop middle and high schoolers from ingesting this stuff? After doing research on the Internet, we found out that it only takes about 3 squirts of the stuff ingested to be fatal to a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high, it would be like someone her size drinking120 proof liquor. So PLEASE PLEASE don't disregard this because we don't ever want another family to go through what ours has gone through.. Please send this to everyone you know that have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or cousins.. It doesn't matter what age. This could affect anyone of them ... This can also be verified on truth or fiction, see below... http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hand-sanitizer.htm
Guest Posted November 30, 2009 Posted November 30, 2009 Hi all, I've been asked to find out whether it is okay for us to use a squirt of that anti bacterial gel at snack time, rather than getting all the children to wash their hands (which takes up a lot of time). We have considered the rolling snack bar thing but rejected it at the moment, so there are quite a few children to get through hand washing simultaneously at snack time. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Just wanted to say that you need to be careful using the anti bacterial sprays with some children. Some of the sprays contain alcohol which if you have Muslim children in your class may not be acceptable and may not go down too well with parents! Something to be aware of.
Recommended Posts