OMG, I can't believe how much Aly is getting sick already! She has been sick three times in the last 5 weeks. I feel like every time she gets well, within two days she is sick again. So it got me thinking, what the heck is going on???
First off I began thinking that they don't wash their hands at school before snack recess or lunch recess. But I knew it had to be more than just that. She had other friends in her class that have only been sick maybe once. Second I began thinking about the lovely school policy of not missing any days of school to win an Ipod and realize that sick germs are everywhere due to people sending their kids to school regardless if they are sick. Finally, it occurred to me that our primary problem has to be that Aly bites her nails.
Yes, she pretty much began biting her nails the moment the pacifier was finally discarded! So we went from one problem to another. I have to say, I think it is actually worse to have a thumb sucker, finger sucker, or nail biter because they are constantly putting germs in their mouths. O.k. don't get me wrong, I am not advocating the pacifier until ten years of age or anything, but I am just saying, at least you don't get as sick with that problem.
We have never quite figured out how to stop this problem. We know why she does it; boredom, nerves, and anxiety. It is how she copes. So one has to ask themselves, should we take her coping mechanism away? If we do, what will she replace it with next? How the heck would we break it anyway?????
I have actually considered sending two antibacterial hand wipes in her lunch each day in a ziplock bag. That way at least at those times she can clean her hands before eating. However, I need to do some research because I heard the other day that they are linking these antibacterial hand sanitizers to increase risk of cancer and females not being able to have children. Obviously I don't want that for my girls so I need to see where the research was conducted and what the findings were.
I have encouraged her to wash her hands but the way lunch is set up I don't even see how she can. They have to be led to the cafeteria by the teacher to eat their lunch. There is no time to wash hands. Also, I don't think Aly is very motivated to miss part of snack recess to go to the bathroom to wash her hands.
So, anybody have any ideas?
3 comments:
I know this sounds kind of funny but have you thought of asking her to wear gloves/mittens (in the morning at least) to "keep her hands warm?"
I am always the sanitizer queen, but germs always find a way!
Good luck, does she also bite her nails if they are polished?
yeah, we have tried the gloves, unless we tape them on they are off quickly. We have also tried polish on her nails as a reward for not biting but after we polished them she bit them anyway....hmmm....such a bummer. Thanks for the advice though, hopefully something will work eventually.
My daughter picks at her nails all the time. I don't think she bites them but I haven't had to cut her nails for the past 3 years!
Maybe you can try Soapopular, a water-based hand sanitizer. The hard part is that if she's always biting her nails then the sanitizer at lunch won't do much good. That's a tough one!
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