Using different products for enhancing health is now the norm while parenting during coronavirus. The hand sanitizer has become a global best-selling product. We are recommended to keep clean hands at all times to facilitate the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. While using hand sanitizers cannot be a substitute for babies taking a bath it certainly is helpful. Here are times to use a hand sanitizer, and how often. You’ll find out that you and your kid can be just as safe if you don’t use so much of it. You’ll also cut costs, which is important with the economic condition becoming continuously crippled.
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Using Hand Sanitizers
What is the correct way to use a hand sanitizer while parenting during coronavirus? Place an amount about the size of a large pea in the palm of your hand and rub both hands together, all over your hands including the back of your hands and between the fingers until both are dry. Read the product label to know the correct amount to apply. It doesn’t matter how detailed you do it, you just need to get the product on every surface and let it dry out there. For your kid that would mean applying the right amount on your palms and rubbing both hands over their hands until you get it all over.
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Using Soap And Water
If your kid is old enough you can teach them to wash their hands with soap and water, and even teach them how to apply a hand sanitizer. So, what is the correct way to wash your hands with soap and water? A lot of people don’t do this correctly. Pick the soap up in one hand, wet the other with warm water from the faucet, make a lather, and wash both hands. Important places to wash are in-between the fingers, the tip of the fingers, and the back of the hands. You are to follow the same procedure when washing your kid’s hands while parenting during coronavirus.
Hand Sanitizers Do Not Eliminate All Types Of Germs
Hand sanitizers are great for reducing the risk of infection while parenting during coronavirus. However, they do not eliminate all types of germs, which is important to know so you don’t depend on them alone. Using soap and water, as well as following the traditional baby bathing tips should remain constant. Research has shown that soap and water are more effective at ridding the body of germs such as the norovirus, and a host of other germs. This means you need to also incorporate regular handwashing with soap and water to get a germ free hand for your kids. Although both hand sanitizers and soaps are to be used.
Do Not Use Hand Sanitizers On Dirty Hands
While parenting during coronavirus, keep in mind that hand sanitizers will not be effective when your kid’s hands are visibly dirty. They only work when hands come in contact with germs, but not very well for heavily soiled hands. It can help though and is better than using nothing at all if soap and water are not available. You should use soap and water to wash your kid’s hands instead of hand sanitizers after handling food (and before), after an outdoor activity, or even after playing with toys indoors for a while and especially if your child has been crawling on the floor.
With Harmful Chemicals
If your kid comes in contact with any harmful chemicals such as pesticides, or heavy metal while parenting during coronavirus your first instinct might be to use a hand sanitizer because it seems like the best option. The hype has certainly made hand sanitizers look like the ultimate cleaners. However, hand sanitizers might not be able to do the job for you. Stick to the traditional baby bathing tips, and if you’re not bathing your baby immediately, use soap and water. People who use this after coming in contact with such chemicals reported higher levels of pesticides in their bodies. If your kid comes in contact with any chemical use soap and water to thoroughly wash it off for effective results.
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Keep Hand Sanitizers Away From Kids
Most homes have hand sanitizers while parenting during coronavirus. You need to keep this product out of the reach of kids because swallowing it could lead to alcohol poisoning in the case of hand sanitizers that are alcohol based, which are the ones recommended for eliminating coronavirus. Kids tend to put things in their mouths, so there is a chance your kid might end up getting more than a mouthful. This isn’t a chance you should take. Children are even more likely to swallow products that are scented or brightly colored. Also, ensure to supervise your older kids whenever they use hand sanitizers to clean their hands.
Do Not Make Your Hand Sanitizers
Although hand sanitizers are increasingly becoming difficult to get due to the high demand as regards the coronavirus pandemic, the FDA advises against making your hand sanitizers. Hand sanitizers are drugs. They are over-the-counter regulated products and are classified as non-prescription drugs in the United States. Thus making it incorrectly could not only prove ineffective, but it could also lead to other serious issues such as skin burn. The FDA developed the guidance documents for pharmacists and other companies as regards to the pandemic. There are certain ratios of the different elements that make commercial hand sanitizer as effective as it is, and your homemade brew may not do the job you think it is.
Seeking Medical Intervention While Parenting During Coronavirus
The FDA has taken legal action against some hand sanitizer companies for making illegal claims about what their products can do. So if you notice any sort of reaction from your kid after using a hand sanitizer do not hesitate to seek medical intervention. It is also recommended that you make proper findings of the product you plan on using and stick to that product for the best results. Do not continually switch between this product and another product. Once you find a hand sanitizer that works fine stick to it as some may not be recommended for use at all. Alcohol-based are what is recommended for use against the coronavirus.
Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers
There are non-alcohol hand sanitizers and there are alcohol-based ones. The alcohol-based sanitizers are more effective at killing germs. It is also recommended to use the ones that have at least 60% alcohol as these are more effective than the ones with a lower concentration. Non-alcohol based hand sanitizers have been recommended in the past because alcohol is very drying to the skin. You should only use this as an alternative for when you can get to soap and water and then subsequently for minor disinfection (not heavy dirt). That way you can always reduce the chances of your kids getting an infection.
Hand Sanitizer Or Soap
While soap is far better than hand sanitizer, hand sanitizer can be used on the go. So how do you determine which of the two to use? If your kid gets a little dirty (not so much that requires a bath) always use soap and water to wash their hands while at home as an alternative to babies taking a bath. Although hand sanitizer kills microbes, while soap and water only remove them, the latter is far more effective at getting rid of them. When you should use hand sanitizers is when soap and water aren’t available. That means a bottle of hand sanitizer while parenting during coronavirus is a more viable option than nothing.
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