Hand Sanitizer

Chastity,
Do not use antibacterial hand sanitizer on her! There was an email circulating recently that I thought to be an urban legend. In the email, a young child got alcohol poisoning from licking sanitizer off his/her hand and became seriously ill. As it turns out, the story was TRUE! I always refer to snopes.com in determining if an email is an urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

If you google out keywords on this, you will find other articles on the subject. Keep this stuff far away from her reach!!

i wouldnt say you could never use it on her but not always either, try to limit the amount, a little bit wil be fine if your at the store and she touches something disgusting or something, but dont use it in place of soap, after meals and throughout the day i would use soap. also i would keep an eye on her after she puts it on, just until it dries and what not, try to get her not to put it in her mouth..jmo

I'd be very careful. I heard about a child who allegedly got drunk because of hand sanitizer. However, this child was in a daycare(4 years old i believe) and licked it off his hands instead of rubbing them together. I do use it occasionally on my 21 month old daughter, but I rub her hands together for her until it is dry. She has been fine with it, but I only use it when I am in a hurry and don't have time to do soap and water. Another way to quickly clean hands is to just use baby wipes since you probably always have them on hand anyway. I use them constantly!

My three year old licks the sanitizer before it drys, so I just make her wash her hands more. I think anything in moderation is okay. Don't use sanitizer as a replacement for her washing her hands, just as a supplement.

Hi C.,

I am not a Dr. But imho, I would not use hand sanitizer on such a young child. Let's not forget that sanitizers not only kill bad bacterias but that they also kill some good bacteria. I (again imho) would just wash her hands often with regular soap (not antibacterial), Good Luck,
B.

I'm also not an MD, but that extra common sense that motherhood has given me tells me not to put hand sanitizer on my 1 year old daughter. I wash her hands before each meal (I use the Method brand hand wash) and after she's played on the floor, playmat, etc. If you don't feel it's right, I'd say go with your instincts...