Actually Andrew, you have a great point. I recently received a pamphlet from an organization started by Kelly Preston and others to promote using natural products to "clean" our houses instead of all the harsh chemicals we use now. I was flabbergasted to find all the uses of baking soda!! I am much more aware now and I try to use natural cleaners where I can.

I also used to buy anti bacterial soap and just about anything anti bacterial until I read some reports that this stuff actually did more harm than good. It helps to create a super-germ!! So we are now back to regular soap. I have the boys wash up after school and of course before they eat, but I don’t limit them, any of the three from getting down and dirty!! I always remember what the pediatrician said to me after my second son was born (non cah). She said to me, "I’ll see you about 1 or 2x’s a month."  I couldn’t figure out why she thought I would be in that often. Well, she said that with having an older brother, he would be exposing the little one to more germs and subsequently I would make more trips to the doctor. But she told me that the good thing about that would be that it would build up his immune system so by the time he got to first grade he wouldn’t be sick very often at all! It’s so true with my now 8 yr old. He hardly ever gets sick and my 4 yr old is also fighting more colds off much easier than he used to! Jackson, my CAH son, is exposed to many germs having two older brothers who are always outside playing baseball or just getting dirty. He is now 17 months old and although I did keep him away from people that were  really sick with strep throat and things like that , I never sheltered him from the grocery cart or any other type of public area. He has only been sick 3 or 4 times so far and one of those was  an ear infection.

 So Dawn, I would say that you have to do what you feel is comfortable for you. If you shelter your son now from germs that’s OK, but eventually he will get sick and that will help him build immunities!! It sucks but I guess it’s just part of being a kid and growing up.

Sandra