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Blackhorse
17-04-2009, 03:30 PM
Ok...here is my confession:

I do not wash my hands after touching my cats (they are house-cats) - in fact this would not even have occured to me before I started the registration process..
I do wash my hands when I clean out the cat litter tray but if I just pet the cat I don't go and wash my hands. I would be doing nothing else all day

I was raised around animals and nobody I know that has pets is washing their hands after touching them....

I do if I smell of dog after touching the neighbours dog but generally not with my own pets)

I will obviously have to wash my hands more often for childminding but to be honest, I would not want to see my daughter run to the bathroom every 5 minutes to wash her hands either....

In my opinion it is enough to wash hands for food preparation, eating, toilet, morning and evening anyways...if they get dirty from garden work for example

I am not saying this is right, but I don't feel that I run around with dirty hands iyswim and I also believe that obsessive washing and germ killing is not good for our health

could I have your thoughts on this please??

huggableshelly
17-04-2009, 03:33 PM
cant help with cats but when the mindees play with the hamster i insist on hand washing imediatly, if they return and play with him again they have to wash their hands again.

I encourage them to only wash their hands if they have really finished playing as the hand soap smell makes the hamster sneeze!

Daftbat
17-04-2009, 03:41 PM
I have a dog and i don't insist on hand washing after every touch but we do it before meals or activities.

I am constantly dealing with dog and the children and i wash my hands whenever i feel its necessary and definitely before food handling.

I think that having a pet can boost your immune system anyway and in general dogs and cats are not normally so dirty that you should handwash after every occassion that they are touched.

Mrs.L.C
17-04-2009, 03:48 PM
I totally agree with you. As long as hands are washed before eating and before preparing food etc, I cant see the harm

If you state what you have said above to ofsted, if they ask, then you should be ok.

I know a few childminders who have argued their case regarding wearing gloves for changing nappies and have been graded outstanding so I guess this is something similar

LOOPYLISA
17-04-2009, 03:49 PM
We have 3 cats and i don.t wash my hands after touching them,

We have recently bought 2 guinea pigs and we wash our hands everytime we handle them :thumbsup:

Sorry forgot to add i always wash my hands before handling food after touching animals or not :thumbsup:

flora
17-04-2009, 04:05 PM
Nicole I am with you :thumbsup:

I would never leave the bathroom with all the animals we have.

If they touch the rats we do go and wash right away, but I have to say with all the others we just wash before we eat after toilet etc etc.

Oh and obviously if they are visably dirty we wash them.

Oh and after handling dead mice :D

dd came in whilst I am eating my lunch today, swinging a dead mouse that the cats had left in the garden " I thinks it's really dead mummy"

No s**t sherlock and Daddy came to the rescue and disposed of it :laughing:

loocyloo
17-04-2009, 04:11 PM
Oh and after handling dead mice :D

dd came in whilst I am eating my lunch today, swinging a dead mouse that the cats had left in the garden " I thinks it's really dead mummy"



LOL:laughing: i had a 4 yr old come in last year, and say '' look at this lovely little mouse i found in the garden, can i take him home to show mummy, he is very good ? "


thats because it was DEAD! i didn't let him take it home, don't think his mother would have liked it !!!! cats!!!

( and yes, we did then wash our hands!!! :laughing: )

mummyroysof3
17-04-2009, 04:12 PM
i dont wash my hands every time i touch one of our cats either, after dealing with there food/cat tray obviously i do

charlotte x

Princess Sara
17-04-2009, 04:13 PM
dd came in whilst I am eating my lunch today, swinging a dead mouse that the cats had left in the garden " I thinks it's really dead mummy"


DS1 does this! Haha you could tell when it'd got cold enough for them to hibrinate because there was no longer a mouse by the patio door every morning ready for ds to run outside praising the cat for her lovely presents!

But with hand washing, I try to get ds1 to wash hands before/after the important things, but touching the rattys (live pet ones) and the cats are not on my important list. Mindees will probably have to when I finally register, so I might have to get ds1 in training for more hand washing. It will be relaxed though, when I remember to remind then iyswim.

mushpea
17-04-2009, 05:17 PM
i feel better now as we have a dog and don't wash hands after every stroke or touch but we do wash hands before eating, activitys etc
I dont wear gloves for nappy changing as i feel it is to clinical but i do wash my hands before and fter changing and before doing most other things too.

ORKSIE
17-04-2009, 07:07 PM
I think that so long as hands are washed before meals and touching DEAD animals we will be ok:rolleyes: :D

westbrom44
17-04-2009, 07:17 PM
A childminder has very clean hands anyway, if they are like me. I seem to be washing my hands all of the time, with one thing and another. I try to remember to use handcream every time too as my hands get very dry and sore.

teacake2
18-04-2009, 11:17 AM
Am I the only one who does this?, I don't do it when there are no mindees here but it just seems a natural thing for me to do, I do use wipes though and have always got a box of them ready to use. I also get the mindees to wipe their hands after touching the cats (only pets at the moment, but 5 of them so this might be the reason). I don't really know why I do it, it is just something that I have always done when the little ones are here. Perhaps I need some therapy from all of you on the forum for my little problem:eek: :eek: :eek:
Teacake2

TheBTeam
18-04-2009, 02:37 PM
I think that so long as hands are washed before meals and touching DEAD animals we will be ok:rolleyes: :D

Sorry this made me laugh, think you are better washing your hands after touching the dead animals, there won't be much your hands can give to an already dead animal:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

westbrom44
18-04-2009, 02:47 PM
Am I the only one who does this?, I don't do it when there are no mindees here but it just seems a natural thing for me to do, I do use wipes though and have always got a box of them ready to use. I also get the mindees to wipe their hands after touching the cats (only pets at the moment, but 5 of them so this might be the reason). I don't really know why I do it, it is just something that I have always done when the little ones are here. Perhaps I need some therapy from all of you on the forum for my little problem:eek: :eek: :eek:
Teacake2
Dont tell anyone, but yes I do! I dont stroke my dog much during a working day, as he is usually seperate. If I take him for a walk I wash my hands when I get back, after taking his lead off and giving him his chew.
I know I have a problem as I wash my hands after doing anything!

Demonjill
18-04-2009, 11:16 PM
OMG if I counted how many times I stroked my cat in a day and then having to wash my hands after I would be as well to be stroking it in the bathroom beside the sink with the tap running lol:laughing: :laughing:
As alot of peeps have said as long as hands are washed before eating.:thumbsup:

ORKSIE
18-04-2009, 11:22 PM
Sorry this made me laugh, think you are better washing your hands after touching the dead animals, there won't be much your hands can give to an already dead animal:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

:ROFL1: :ROFL1: :ROFL1: I really did laff out loud!!

Mouse
19-04-2009, 09:11 AM
I do think you have to be careful with too much handwashing!

As well as after the toilet, before food, after messy play etc, I get the children to wash their hands after coughing, sneezing, blowing noses. One little boy takes it to the extreme. He was out with his mum one day and she sneezed. He was almost hysterical as she didn't wash her hands :laughing:

I just think that if you are constantly telling children to wash their hands, they'll all end up with OCD! I don't remember all this handwashing when I was young and I've lived to tell the tale :rolleyes:

Our cat has very little contact with the children, but if they do touch her I don't make them wash their hands. I do however, wipe the baby toys if the cat sniffs them.

Heaven Scent
19-04-2009, 11:43 AM
i don't get children to wash their hands after coughing and sneezing but if when I worked in a nursery and children especially little boys put their hands down their underwear I did get them to go straight to wash their hands - its usually a security habbit but one that they need to break so I always felt the fact that they would have to wash their hands if they did it was a good deterrent and usually broke the habbit pretty quicky - cruel aren't I - been lucky since minding - not had an issue with this yet - infact I haven't come across it for a long while. If a child had a messy sneeze I would get them to wipe their hands with a wipe or wash them but only if it was a mess.

nokidshere
19-04-2009, 09:32 PM
little boys put their hands down their underwear I did get them to go straight to wash their hands - its usually a security habbit but one that they need to break so I always felt the fact that they would have to wash their hands if they did it was a good deterrent and usually broke the habbit pretty quicky

There are probably less germs "down there" than there are in the average nursery room :D