Protecting Babies from Germs

Like most moms, Amanda Vinson has many details to attend to before she can get out the door with her seven month old son Cole…

: You sitting there nicely? Yes you are!

As is typical of babies, Cole tends to put most things within his grasp straight into his mouth—and that keeps Amanda on guard against potential infections, especially when she takes Cole on errands with her.

And I was doing my little ATM card and he decided the pen on the stylice—you know where…whatever it is on the ATM machine was what he wanted to put in his mouth

How much danger is a child in when exposed to everyday germs? Or will exposing them be a way to strengthen their immune systems? Parents often hear conflicting advice from experts….

And so parents are very understandably confused; are my kids clean enough. Or are they too clean and how do I protect them without over-protecting them…

Doctor Harley Rotbart, an expert on children's infectious diseases, says it's not over-doing it to wash up after coming in contact with what he calls "germ hot zones". High on his list are daycare centers. Amanda uses one a few hours a week and suspects a few of Cole's colds may have started here:

So choosing a daycare center that enforces safe hygiene policies is crucial. Don't be afraid to ask the staff how often diapering stations are sanitized, whether the children are made to wash up before and after eating, and how frequently the toys are cleaned. It's also advised that you visit a prospective daycare and observe the habits of the staff firsthand…

You want to see if they're wearing gloves as they're changing dirty diapers. You want to see that they're taking those gloves off, throwing them away and washing their hands well.

Another "germ hot zone" — doctor offices. Though many pediatric offices now have separate waiting areas for sick and well patients, sometimes delineating the two isn't all that easy…

So doctor's offices are a good place to keep your kids on your lap, and not let them explore…

Some situations create more of a challenge for parents than others…

…Or like when we were on a plane a couple of weeks ago a lot of the toys ended up on the floor of the plane which …that was a big… my husband and I are constantly pulling out new toys and putting old toys back in the bag.

Understanding that dangerous germs routinely travel from surfaces to hands to face, where they can enter the body through the mouth, nose or eyes is useful ammunition in the battle against infectious disease.

You can't hand sanitize after every contact, you can't get to the sink after every contact. But when you are done with a significant number of surface contacts, you are done with the supermarket, you come home from the airport, you finished at the doctor's office, that's a good time to wash your hands.

For WebMD, I'm Damon Meharg