Hand gel for the children

[Orangejabberwocky]

Hi there,

 

I have a 3 year old starting in September and he has an immune deficiency, which basically means he's prone to picking up all the coughs and colds which go around any early years setting. I have just been thinking of ways to minimise the risk for him. There are a few things that we do in general as a setting and I wondered if anyone currently allows the children to have supervised access to hand gel. I was thinking perhaps on entering our setting and again after washing their hands before they eat.

 

I will be keen to hear your thoughts or experiences.

 

Many thanks

[Cait]

Why would they need it after washing their hands?

 

I think stepping up the frequency of washing resources and being vigilant about quickly washing items that have been sneezed on, or in a child's mouth. Has Mum got any ideas? She presumably will have some thoughts

[Fredbear]

Hi we have had two children with an immune deficiency, not sure hand gel is required if children wash hands correctly.

Extra vigilance in this area maybe needed, making sure children wipe noses, cough away from others etc.

We were very quick to inform their parents of any infectious diseases such as flu, chicken pox, measles, whooping cough etc.

Both children were on low doses of antibiotics to support them, especially during the winter months.

Have you got permission to speak to the HV, they might be able to advise.

[Guest]

My husband used to work in a job where he regularly went into hospitals and even operating theatres so he was required to use the gel on a regular basis. His hands very quickly became dried out by the gel and one of the surgeons told him they have to use loads of creams to counteract it. It's worth thinking about if very sensitive skin is going to be using it.

[Guest]

I work with a child with cystic fribrosis and her specialist nurse recommended

We used the hand gel for a number of reasons.

[korkycat]

We routinely hand gel everyone who enters setting children, carers, visitors etc. Not been a problem except one child with when she had outbreak of excema on hands. Seems to keep spread of D & V down and well worth it when you see the state of some children's hands when they arrive!

 

korkycat

[Stargrower]

Gosh, we only use hand gel after we or the children have handled our animals. Other than that, we just wash hands - children with regular soap and adults with anti-bac soap.

[Wildflowers]

We use a non-alcoholic foam, which the children use. It doesn't dry out the hands.

[Cait]

We use it after wiping noses mainly. Children don't use it at all

[Stargrower]

Oh yes, we use it then too! But never for children.

[Panders]

I wouldn't let the children use it unless we were outside and needed to "wash" quickly, only our adults use gels. Any surface which is regularly used by humans - i.e. door handles, door plates, toilet handles, lift buttons etc should be wiped with Dettox. We use a foam soap with the children which is a Tescos make which hasn't caused any problems with skin, we have been using it for about 6 months.

 

I have a steamer too which I take in and "blitz" the lego bricks with, can't say I would want to do it every week though! As you say, you can only minimise any risk while he is with you can't you, he could walk out of your setting and go into a shopping centre and pick something up straight away.

[Cait]

You can put duplo/lego into a pillowcase, tie the top and put it through the washing machine with a towel or two. Then just tip it out and let it dry in the sunshine. Been doing ours like that every term for years

[finleysmaid]

we do our in the dishwasher!

[lashes2508]

anti bac gel should not be used for children as it does not help them build up their own natural immunity - hence why we seem to have so much more illness - we had a child with CF and yes it that case it was different , i suggest you speak to parent , health visitor regarding hygiene and teach all the children to cough into their elbows not hands , ensure used tissues are disposed of quickly - i expect you do this already

[Orangejabberwocky]

Thanks for all your comment, yes we do all of the above and luckily we have free flow outside constantly too. I agree that children need to build up immunity it is only that we have a different situation where this child needs to be protected as much as possible. We may need a disinfectant bucket to hand when things get chewed and sneezed on! Great idea about the dishwasher we will be doing that with the toys

[Guest]

Hate hand gel, it causes more problems then it solves,

[Melcatfish]

I am also in the anti hand gel brigade however I am in a school nursery and all our classrooms have dispensers which children are supposed to use to dispense the foam mentioned above. I feel quite strongly that the overuse of this sort of sanitising product is at least partly to blame for the huge rise in allergies and illnesses. Children can't possibly build up their immune systems if they are never allowed to get dirty or come into contact with germs! Obviously children with medical issues linked to their immune system are an exception and I would suggest you look into the alcohol free foam as it is kinder to skin but for the vast majority I suspect they could benefit from getting nice and mucky in the garden and wash with soap and water not some chemical sanitiser, needless to say I usher ours into the washrooms to use the soap rather than encourage use of the foam unless there is a compelling reason to think the foam is necessary.

 

Mel

x

[Wildflowers]

We come in from the woods and all children wash hands, under supervision. Then they lie down for a rest (our group is small)

whilst one of us prepares lunch. When they come to eat it would take too long for all to wash their hands again. (We thought

it was unnecessary, but were informed that hands should be washed before eating.) During the remaining two hours of the

session the children go to the loo about twice, using foam afterwards (unless having wiped themselves on their own after a poo).

If they didn't use the foam (non-alcoholic) they would wash their hands an additional three times, or more if using e.g. clay.

That would also mean 48 hand towels to wash each day (we use cloth), in addition to the ones used before morning snack and

by us adults. Because of the time it takes to wash hands and the many hand towels needed we use foam. Can anyone recommend

a more natural one, with less chemicals?

[Wildflowers]

Oh, I forgot - the also use the foam after blowing noses and sneezing in hands, by mistake.

(They've been taught to sneeze in the bend of the arm.)

[lashes2508]

personally this seems over excessive - we use baby wipes before eating depending on how many children we have in or we use wash basins - we have a bowl of hand water for after painting which is regularly changed - ofsted did frown on this but it is impractical not to have it .we only ever use gel on outings .

WF- Could the children not wash their hands whilst lunch is prepared ?

 

Could you not make your own handwash from natural products - roots of soap wort ?

The natural soap company have lots but here is recipe for your own

DIY Foaming Hand Soap

Print

Prep time

1 min

Total time

1 min

Incredibly simple, natural and frugal homemade foaming hand soap that cleans without chemicals or antibacterial agents.

Author: Wellness Mama

Recipe type: Household

Ingredients

• Water (distilled or boiled is best but not needed if it will be used within a few weeks)
• Liquid Castille Soap (I love this organic rose soap since it provides a light natural scent butMountain Rose Herbs also sells a inexpensive unscented organic version)
• ½ tsp liquid oil like olive or almond
• Essential oils of choice for scent (optional)

Instructions

1. Fill the soap dispenser to about 1 inch of the top (leaving room for the bulky foaming pump and the soap to be added).
2. Add at least 2 tablespoons of liquid castille soap to the water mixture (NOTE: do not add the soap first or it will create bubbles when the water is added.
3. Add the oil (optional but it helps preserve the life of the dispenser) and any essential oils if you are using them.
4. Close and lightly swish to mix.
5. Use as you would any regular foaming soap.

[Wildflowers]

Thanks Lashes. I feel it's excessive too, but they have to wash their hands when coming inside because our setting involves mud.

 

It's a natural sanitising foam the children can take themselves that I'm looking for, which isn't rinsed off, to avoid lining up by the

and basins and individual towels. (We had a non-alcoholic, but chemical, which is no longer available.)

[lashes2508]

ah sorry could not be more help WF - maybe someone else may know of something - good luck

[Wildflowers]

ah sorry could not be more help WF - maybe someone else may know of something - good luck

 

We need soap anyway. A good idea is to make our own, with the children!