5 Ways To Encourage Good Hygiene With Gilda

1. Hand Washing

We have been hearing it so much lately: wash your hands. But how, when and how often should we be encouraging our children to wash their hands?

Firstly, good hand washing technique is hugely important in effectively stopping the spread of germs. The British National Health Service put together this helpful song to help children remember how to clean their hands in a fun and thorough way every time!

But when should we be doing it? Aside from the obvious before and after meals and after using the toilet, The Australian Health and Medical Research Council suggest we should wash our hands before and after:

• preparing food
• handling play-do, slime, clay or other damp materials
• playing in a sandpit
• handling animals

after gardening or handling soil or when they are visibly dirty.

Gilda Says:

This is an example of a quote that could contain some advice from Gilda.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book.

2. Hand drying

It is often overlooked, but properly drying our hands is just as important as washing them. According to The Australian Health and Medical Research Council, germs are up to 1000 times more likely to spread on damp hands, so make sure to dry them off!

We should encourage our children to use disposable paper towels to make sure their hands are dry after every wash. You can also use a cloth towel but this should be washed regularly, hung to dry between uses and ideally you should have a separate towel for every person.

Gilda Says:

This is an example of a quote that could contain some advice from Gilda.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book.

3. Proper first-aid

Children get bumps and scrapes – it’s unavoidable – but sometimes it’s just more fun to keep playing than to go and get a band-aid.

Aside from risk of infection, open wounds are a large risk of communicable diseases for anyone who comes in contact with any blood left behind so it’s important to let our children know that if they have an open wound they should immediately let an adult know so it can be properly washed and dressed before the go back out and play.

Gilda Says:

This is an example of a quote that could contain some advice from Gilda.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book.

4. Mouthing

Children love sticking things in their mouths. Mouthing or oral discovery is an important part of a child’s psychological development, but we should keep an eye on what they are putting in there and when.

Obviously sometimes children sticking dirty objects in their mouths can’t be avoided, but we should attempt to discourage this in public areas with a lot of potential contaminants. When it comes to our children’s toys it is recommended that we clean them regularly and attempt to buy washable toys only during this stage of childhood.

As your child moves from the toddler to kindy age they should start to grow out of wanting to put objects in their mouth.

Gilda Says:

This is an example of a quote that could contain some advice from Gilda.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book.

5. Food hygiene

Food hygiene is important at any age, but especially for children who are just learning to be able to feed themselves. Food contamination can have some nasty results, including Gastroenteritis (gastro), Influenza (the flu) and even Hepatitis A.

Aside from washing our hands before and after eating, some other important things we should make sure we are keeping in mind are:

• we should always use clean cutlery and crockery
• our table should be cleaned before and after we eat at it
• we shouldn’t put our hands in or near other peoples food
• we shouldn’t share utensils like spoons, forks or cups
• we should turn away from any food if we need to cough or sneeze

Gilda Says:

This is an example of a quote that could contain some advice from Gilda.

Lorem ipsum, or lipsum as it is sometimes known, is dummy text used in laying out print, graphic or web designs. The passage is attributed to an unknown typesetter in the 15th century who is thought to have scrambled parts of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum for use in a type specimen book.

References:

How to Wash Your Hands NHS Song – The National Health Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9VjeIWLnEg

Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services – The National Health and Medical Research Council: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/staying-healthy-preventing-infectious-diseases-early-childhood-education-and-care-services#block-views-block-file-attachments-content-block-1

Queensland Health: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/public-health/schools/prevention

further reading:

If you would like more information about children’s hygiene take a look at:

Daily Hygiene – Raising Children https://raisingchildren.net.au/preschoolers/health-daily-care/hygiene/personal-hygiene

Children’s Health Queensland: https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/