Are We Over Sanitizing? How Cleanliness Can Be Bad For Your Child

So, by a show of hands, who has heard of the recent Swedish study regarding the link between how parents clean off their baby’s fallen pacifier and the baby’s future allergic health? No one? Oh, I see your hand back there! What did you think about it?

Here’s what I think!

First, let’s talk about the study.

The Journal of Pediatrics published the Swedish study in early May of 2013. This small study followed 184 pacifier-sucking Swedish babies. When the babies’ pacifiers fell on the ground, 65 of those babies had parents who would pick it up, stick it in their mouth, suck off the dirt, disease, STDs, or whatever else was on the pacifier, and give it back to the baby. The other 119 babies had horrible parents who actually washed the pacifier off with water (no mention of soap) to get the dirt specks off. PREPOSTEROUS!

So, who wins in the battle of Pacifier Parent Suckers v. Pacifier Washer Offers?? PACIFIER PARENT SUCKERS TAKE IT FOR THE GOLD! Who knew, right? Apparently, the microbes that the child is exposed to through their parents’ saliva helps reduce their chance of suffering from eczema and asthma, both which are allergy-induced conditions. In this study, the children of the Pacifier Parent Suckers were less likely to develop eczema by age 18 and 36 months and less likely to develop asthma at 18 months.

I always heard that you want to expose your child to as little of your saliva as possible so that you don’t spread cavities, illness, etc. A dentist I took Cora to when she was 12-months-old even told us to limit mouth-kissing with her due to the potential cavity-to-Cora exposure (you don’t have to have teeth to retain the cavity bacteria). I always believed that parents who sucked on their child’s pacifier just did it to bring themselves back to the comfort of infant-hood. Ok, not really, but I DID believe that they were doing their child harm in a small way. This study really doesn’t change my mind at all, because (1) it is so small, and (2) there are other ways to expose your child to saliva-like microbes.

Some of these techniques will aid in decreasing your child’s chances of developing allergies:

1) Introduce probiotics through special drinks, yogurt, etc.

2) Let your child drink tap water, which has organisms that will help immune system learn to fight off allergies

3) Don’t sanitize our homes to the extent to which we are obsessed (the “why?” to this is explained below)

4) Eat boogers, because they are riddled with pathogens (and I always thought flicking was the better option!)

Let’s talk about #3. I DO believe that we are over sanitizing our homes and selves these days. ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAPS, HAND SANITIZER, ANTI-BACTERIAL FACE WASHES– Most everyone has these things on or below their sink (guarded by a child-proof lock, of course).

Dr. Oz states that due to the usage of the anti-bacterial soaps, our bodies are becoming unable to handle bacteria when attacked with it, because they haven’t been conditioned to do so. Linda Carroll of NBCNews.com reported that “It’s exposure to pathogens that allows the immune system to become fine-tuned as it learns to differentiate between harmful and harmless irritants.” The Triclosan antimicrobial chemical found in anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners can also be found in toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, and even clothes and toys. Although Triclosan has proven to be effective in fighting against gingivitis, it hasn’t only brought good news. Due to the growth of its use in the last 40 years, allergy-induced asthma has actually tripled! Surprisingly, one of the theories that it causes allergies (such as allergy-induced asthma or eczema) is because keeping the bacteria away from the body leaves your immune system in a state of boredom — it has nothing to do if you keep everything harmful away from it. Thus, like any good rebel, the dedicated bacteria “fighters” within the immune system start fighting the good bacteria in the body (a.k.a. auto-immune disease). Just like if you haven’t been exposed to karate training before and a karate black belt comes up and whoops you, you wouldn’t know how to handle it. Likewise, the immune system doesn’t know what to do when all of a sudden, bacteria it’s never been conditioned to fight against attacks the body. GOSH, I feel smart… do I sound smart?

I remember that my colleague, Capt. Vaught (a.k.a. Captain “I know everything”, but really, he does!), would NEVER use the sanitizer after using the port-a-johns in Afghanistan. He would scoff at me for using it (and so would my husband, Joel), but come on! It was a special occasion: I was in Afghanistan, for goodness-sake! I might as well party hard! Don’t let the Captain get to you, though. If you believe in animal studies, one suggests that you can reset your immune system as an adult if you expose yourself to certain types of bacteria. Phew! I’m inviting every ill-ridden neighbor and their dingy dogs to come party with me next Saturday night, and I urge you do the same.

The moral of the story is that you can and should clean your home and yourself — just don’t overdo it. Stay away from cleaners that have Triclosan, serve your kids tap water every now and again, and let them stuff their little sausage fingers up their noses to skewer their green, sticky boogers. Ready? Hands in, everybody. 1…2…3… GERMS HEAL!

Below is a list of products that contain Triclosan, along with retailers that do and do not sell products with Triclosan in them. Note that this list is not exhaustive. The last two links below have much more thorough lists.

Resources:

“Parents’ Saliva On Pacifiers Could Ward Off Baby’s Allergies” by Rob Stein of NPR

“Dr. Oz: Oversanitizing can lead to childhood asthma” by Dr. Oz of the Herald-Tribune

“Is it possible to be too clean? Researchers say yes” by Linda Carroll of NBCNews.com

“Can Eating Boogers Boost Kids’ Immunity to Illness?” by Stacey Winconek of MetroParent

“Triclosan: What Consumers Should Know” by FDA

“Triclosan: What You Can Do About It” by Food & Water Watch

“Products That Contain Triclosan” by Dr. Ben Kim