best infant toys development image
Laura M
What's the mixture? How much of clorox and what else?
Do you need to rinse the toys off after the clorox?
I know these may sound like stupid questions for some people, but I honestly don't know. I have just been boiling water and sanitizing that way.
Answer
I have been a child care provider in my home for 20 years plus I organize toy cleaning sessions for the nursery, toddler, and preschool rooms at our church. If you are just wanting to keep the toys clean that typically just your child uses at your home then one of the best and easiest ways to do this is to put them on the top shelf of your dishwasher and run them through a cycle. For toys that are not dishwasher safe or too large than you can just keep them washed with warm soapy water and rinsed well afterwards. Disinfection for normal home use really isn't needed, but if your child has been ill (especially with anything stomach related) or has had a playmate over who has put toys in her mouth or showed signs of illness than you may feel better to disinfect them. This is the method I use for my daycare toys and what we do at our church: First, wash hard surfaced items in warm soapy water (we use regular dish soap - Dawn) either in a dishpan or with a cloth. Use a scrub brush for exceptionally dirty items and on toys with crevices. After washing, rinse with lots of clear water to thoroughly remove soap residue. In a large container (I use either a dishpan or a mop bucket), put 1 gallon warm tap water. Add 1 Tablespoon household bleach to the water than add the toys to cover. Allow to sit in the bleach water a few minutes than remove and let air dry at least overnight. Discard the bleach water after use. It is not toxic to drain systems and can be dumped down the sink or toilet. Many people are nervous about leaving the bleach water solution on the toys, but bleach breaks down very quickly and returns to it's original state of salt and water and the chlorine evaporates, leaving no residue. For large toys not able to be immersed, place some of the bleach water in a spray bottle and spray on then let air dry. Most infant chew toys are top rack dishwasher safe and I wash all my infant toys this way as well as bring home the infant toys from church to wash through my dishwasher. We keep an empty dishpan on the shelf in each of the rooms where infants, toddlers, and preschoolers have care and classes. After a child has used a toy or has put one in their mouth, the care givers/teachers place the toy in the dishpan. Someone comes through once a week and either takes them home to run through their dishwasher or we have the instructions and supplies to do cleaning and disinfecting with soap, water, and bleach. ETA: I would just like to add that while bleach does make a good disinfectant, as with everything, you can get too much of a good thing. Excessive use of products such as disinfectants, anti-bacterial products, and hand sanitizers has been strongly linked to the development of bacteria and viruses that are resistant to normal treatment. There are good germs and bad germs. These products do not know the difference and kill both the good and the bad. If you feel you must disinfect, do so with caution and in moderation.
I have been a child care provider in my home for 20 years plus I organize toy cleaning sessions for the nursery, toddler, and preschool rooms at our church. If you are just wanting to keep the toys clean that typically just your child uses at your home then one of the best and easiest ways to do this is to put them on the top shelf of your dishwasher and run them through a cycle. For toys that are not dishwasher safe or too large than you can just keep them washed with warm soapy water and rinsed well afterwards. Disinfection for normal home use really isn't needed, but if your child has been ill (especially with anything stomach related) or has had a playmate over who has put toys in her mouth or showed signs of illness than you may feel better to disinfect them. This is the method I use for my daycare toys and what we do at our church: First, wash hard surfaced items in warm soapy water (we use regular dish soap - Dawn) either in a dishpan or with a cloth. Use a scrub brush for exceptionally dirty items and on toys with crevices. After washing, rinse with lots of clear water to thoroughly remove soap residue. In a large container (I use either a dishpan or a mop bucket), put 1 gallon warm tap water. Add 1 Tablespoon household bleach to the water than add the toys to cover. Allow to sit in the bleach water a few minutes than remove and let air dry at least overnight. Discard the bleach water after use. It is not toxic to drain systems and can be dumped down the sink or toilet. Many people are nervous about leaving the bleach water solution on the toys, but bleach breaks down very quickly and returns to it's original state of salt and water and the chlorine evaporates, leaving no residue. For large toys not able to be immersed, place some of the bleach water in a spray bottle and spray on then let air dry. Most infant chew toys are top rack dishwasher safe and I wash all my infant toys this way as well as bring home the infant toys from church to wash through my dishwasher. We keep an empty dishpan on the shelf in each of the rooms where infants, toddlers, and preschoolers have care and classes. After a child has used a toy or has put one in their mouth, the care givers/teachers place the toy in the dishpan. Someone comes through once a week and either takes them home to run through their dishwasher or we have the instructions and supplies to do cleaning and disinfecting with soap, water, and bleach. ETA: I would just like to add that while bleach does make a good disinfectant, as with everything, you can get too much of a good thing. Excessive use of products such as disinfectants, anti-bacterial products, and hand sanitizers has been strongly linked to the development of bacteria and viruses that are resistant to normal treatment. There are good germs and bad germs. These products do not know the difference and kill both the good and the bad. If you feel you must disinfect, do so with caution and in moderation.
How do you keep your infant from crying while shopping?
Tacymevol
I have an 11 month old infant who has a difficult time keeping entertained while I shop. The only way I can doing any shopping is if I know exactly what I want, purchase it, and then leave immediately. Whenever I need some time to browse, my 11 month old begins to fuss and eventually begins to cry. I've always fed and changed her before our outings so those reasons go out the window. Is there anyway that I can keep my daughter entertained better while I'm doing errands? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Answer
Hi
I totally feel your pain..... First remember this don't worry about those childless people (or even parents themselves) who'll give you dirty looks if you baby so much as cries while you are trying to shop.. They'll get over it and ig they donn't eventually they'll go somewhere else. Some people seem to think they were perfect angels when they were young (yeah right!)
Babies are going to cry... even if there is nothing wrong.
Babies cry to relieve stress too. Not just when they are hungry or need to be changed or tired.
Alot of time shopping in the morning not too long after the baby has gotten up and been fed. Not too close to nap time though : )
Sometime I bring cheerios and juice. Or I let them bring a toy... Once they get sick of that I give them my keys...
Also I saw another person mention letting them hold things that you put in your basket.... I do that too!
Have you tried those soft books? some of them have teething toys on them and some have different textures... like crinklly paper in them or something squeaky in them
If a pacifier works for you then go for it! I refused to give my kids a pacifier after 6 months old... it can hinder speech development. I see some mom's with 2 and 3 year olds that still have "binkies" and they think it's cute that the kid can talk even with the paci in their mouth.... Little do they know it's training the kid to talk like that... all garbled and such
But if it's the only thing that will work then it's up to you.
The only other thing I can think of is what I did when my daughter (I have 2 kids) was getting into the "difficult" stage
I just refused to take her with me..... If I ran out of milk.. too bad
We'd just have to wait for daddy to get home.. or I would just call him and have him get some on the way home.
Then when I had real grocery shopping to do... not just milk and eggs, I would have my husband take care of her while I shopped.
oh, I just remembered... do you have any musical toys? (what kinda question is that?) Or ones that have lights and stuff?
That always seemed to work for my 19 month old son.
He would be crying and just suddenly stop when he heard his toy. He would completely forget about WHY he was crying : )
Hope this helps!
Hi
I totally feel your pain..... First remember this don't worry about those childless people (or even parents themselves) who'll give you dirty looks if you baby so much as cries while you are trying to shop.. They'll get over it and ig they donn't eventually they'll go somewhere else. Some people seem to think they were perfect angels when they were young (yeah right!)
Babies are going to cry... even if there is nothing wrong.
Babies cry to relieve stress too. Not just when they are hungry or need to be changed or tired.
Alot of time shopping in the morning not too long after the baby has gotten up and been fed. Not too close to nap time though : )
Sometime I bring cheerios and juice. Or I let them bring a toy... Once they get sick of that I give them my keys...
Also I saw another person mention letting them hold things that you put in your basket.... I do that too!
Have you tried those soft books? some of them have teething toys on them and some have different textures... like crinklly paper in them or something squeaky in them
If a pacifier works for you then go for it! I refused to give my kids a pacifier after 6 months old... it can hinder speech development. I see some mom's with 2 and 3 year olds that still have "binkies" and they think it's cute that the kid can talk even with the paci in their mouth.... Little do they know it's training the kid to talk like that... all garbled and such
But if it's the only thing that will work then it's up to you.
The only other thing I can think of is what I did when my daughter (I have 2 kids) was getting into the "difficult" stage
I just refused to take her with me..... If I ran out of milk.. too bad
We'd just have to wait for daddy to get home.. or I would just call him and have him get some on the way home.
Then when I had real grocery shopping to do... not just milk and eggs, I would have my husband take care of her while I shopped.
oh, I just remembered... do you have any musical toys? (what kinda question is that?) Or ones that have lights and stuff?
That always seemed to work for my 19 month old son.
He would be crying and just suddenly stop when he heard his toy. He would completely forget about WHY he was crying : )
Hope this helps!
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