Washing your hands is an indispensable hygiene habit for both children and adults. Since we are very young we teach our children the importance of washing your hands well, do it frequently and incorporate it into your daily routines.
It is a simple gesture that helps prevent the transmission of infections and diseases, therefore, in addition to being a good habit of hygiene is important for the health of children. Nor do we have to become obsessed, because the germs surround us and are even beneficial, but the hands must be washed.
Why it is important that you wash your hands
The children do not stop, they touch everything. They touch the floor, the walls, the earth, surfaces that can be dirty, pets, street bins, go to pubic toilets, sometimes they even touch gum stuck on the public roads ... Anyway, there are sources of pollution everywhere. .
For their part, children often put their hands in their mouths, touch other children, even eat with their hands, and having dirty hands can be transmitted millions of bacteria or viruses that cause diseases.
Even when a child sneezes, for example, another child can touch that saliva, turn his hand to his mouth and get it.
According to UNICEF, just washing your hands with soap before eating or after using the bathroom could reduce the deaths of children due to diarrhea. In addition to helping reduce the incidence of respiratory infections such as pneumonia, which today is the leading cause of death among children under five.
So important is that a World Handwashing Day has been established, a campaign promoted by UNICEF, which is celebrated this month, on October 15.
How to wash your hands
The first thing is to facilitate things, placing a ladder or stool so they can reach the sink and open the tap. It is preferable to buy a liquid soap with a dispenser so that they can place a couple of droplets in the palm of the hand. Ideally, disposable dispenser, and watch out for dispensers in public places, as they can accommodate bacteria.
Washing should last between 40 and 60 seconds. First they should wet their hands, place two drops of soap and start rubbing their hands together. Do not forget to clean the upper part of the hand, between the fingers, the big toe of both hands making a rotation movement. If there is dirt under the nails, you have to clean them with a nail brush that is soft (there are special ones for children).
Once they are well soaped you have to rinse your hands well to remove the remains of dirt and dead cells. Then dry thoroughly with a towel, or if you are away from home, preferably with a single-use paper towel.
An option for when we are away from home are the disinfectant antibacterial gels. They clean their hands without soap and water, protecting them from transmissions.
When to clean the child's hands
The child has to Wash hands frequently, or do it if the child is small.
Little by little we will teach him how to do it so that he will learn and acquire the habit. It is a gesture that you must incorporate into your daily life before eating, before and after going to the bathroom, after touching the ground, having touched the saliva of an animal, before touching a baby, after having been in public places such as a transport, a nursery, public toilets…. And of course, provided they are dirty.
Photos | aka Kath and Texas1st on Flickr In Babies and more | Remember to wash your hands (and wash our hands), why do your children have to wash their hands?
