Diaper Changing Etiquette--Are you committing diaper changing faux pas?

As an experienced mother of 2, I am amazed at how many parents and grandparents do not know how to properly change a baby's diaper. How you change baby's diaper at your own house is your business. If you like to change poopy diapers directly on your couch and don't mind if your toddler runs around with poop on his sock, that is up to you. However, when you are at someone else's house, there are some basic rules that you must follow in order to be sanitary and courteous.

1. Always change baby's diaper on the floor unless the host requests that you use another place. Do not change the diaper on the couch, bed, or kitchen counter. If possible, go into a different room to change the diaper so all of the birthday party guests don't have to witness it.

2. Always put a changing pad underneath baby's bottom. There must be a protective barrier between the baby's diaper/bottom and the carpet. I have had friends change poopy diapers directly on my carpet on numerous occasions. I don't care how good you think you are at containing the mess. It is rude and unsanitary. If you forgot to pack a changing pad, ask your host for a towel to use.

3. Use as many wipes as it takes to get baby's bottom perfectly clean. Be sure to check his legs, clothes, and bottoms of his feet for renegade poop. Change the baby's clothes if they are dirty.

4. Put the dirty diaper and used wipes directly into a trash bag. If you forgot to bring a trash bag with you, ask your host for a grocery bag before you start. I have had people set poopy wipes directly on my carpet and then ask for a trash bag when they were all done.

5. Ask your hostess where she would like you to dispose of your diaper trash. Don't just hide it in a remote trash can somewhere for your hostess to stumble upon a few days later when she is trying to figure out why her house stinks. She may want you to take it directly out to the trash can in the garage.

6. Always wash your hands when you are done changing a diaper. Poop can carry millions of germs that can make people sick. If a baby is sick or recovering from an intestinal illness, he will have millions of viruses in his poop. If you do a bad diaper changing job on that baby and get even a tiny spec of poop on your hands, sleeves, etc., you can spread the illness to the rest of the family. Even if it was just a wet diaper, you should wash your hands anyway.

Please follow these rules and you will be a welcomed guest at anyone's house.

--Annie Pryor, PhD

www.stopthestomachflu.com

Outbreak of stomach flu on a Cruise Ship

2/23/2010

I just read another news article about a stomach virus ruining yet another cruise. Why do they spread so easily on cruise ships? Everyone is in close quarters, swimming in the pool and eating from buffets? I really don't know.

I have never been on a cruise. I'm sure it would be really fun if you happen to get on a ship that does not have an outbreak of norovirus. Considering that I get sea sick as well, I am not planning to go on any cruises anytime soon.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/02/23/caribbean.cruise.illness/index.html?hpt=T2

Sunday 2/7/2010

Well, we've been home from my in-laws for 2 weeks and none of us got sick. It is very reassuring to think that these germs don't actually live forever. Well, I'm off to a Super Bowl party where all the food will be sitting out at room temperature for 5 hours! Yum!

Wednesday 2/3/2010

We are all still well, thank God. It has been 10 days since we came home from my in-laws house. No one in my family has been sick. I think we have escaped it. It seems that if a stomach flu house has been cleaned and you wait 3 weeks, it is safe to go there. My 2 year old daughter had her thumb in her mouth the entire time. So, I find it hard to believe she wouldn't have gotten sick if there was an infectious virus present. This was by no means a scientific experiment, of course. But it gives us something to go by.

Tuesday, 1/26/2010

So far so good. We had a nice weekend with my in-laws. I cleaned the bathrooms when we got there. We are all well so far. It is too early to claim victory, though. I threw away 4 bottles of salad dressing with expiration dates in 2007 and 2008 when no one was looking. I also wouldn't eat and wouldn't let my children eat the lemon pie that my mother-in-law made for us that contained raw eggs. But, overall, I don't think I offended anyone too badly.

Friday, 1/22/2010

We are going to visit my in-laws today and will be staying for the weekend. I can't postpone the visit any longer. Everyone is mad at me and thinks I'm crazy. It has been 3.5 weeks since the last person vomited at their house. The house has been lightly cleaned once since then. I say "lightly" because their cleaning lady is 70 years old. How good of a job could she possibly do? I am bring latex gloves and cleaning supplies. I am going to try to discretely clean the bathrooms without them knowing. My mother-in-law told me that they still have a big bag of M&M's left over from Christmas. Even though, everyone has been eating out of it all during Christmas, it is not empty and she is saving it for my kids. How sweet. I had no choice but to tell her to throw it away before we get there along with any bags of chips or bins of nuts that everyone was reaching their dirty hands into while they were sick. I am nervous about this trip. I think there is still a significant risk. Norovirus has been shown to live on kitchen countertops for 1 week. But they stopped the test after that so we don't know how long they really live. This will be a good experiment. My 2-year-old daughter always has her thumb in her mouth. So, if there is a live virus present, she'll find it. I hate when my family is the subject in an experiment. I will post again after our trip and let you know how we are doing. I will also let you know how many times I offended my in-laws. They are really the sweetest, most loving, generous people in the world. I love them and wish I didn't offend them so much. (I also have a habit of throwing their expired food away before they feed it to my children.) I feel very confident that they are NEVER going to read my website so I can write about this.

Wednesday, 12/30/2009

Two other members of my husband's sister's family (who were visiting my in-laws) are sick. That makes 3 out of 5. I am so sorry for them but I am so glad we did not go visit.

Monday, 12/28/2009

We are NOT going to my in-laws.

Well, unfortunately, the one member of my husband's sister's family (who was visiting my in-laws) started having vomiting and diarrhea today. It had been 36-48 hours after arriving at my in-laws house. This pretty much proves that they and their house were still contagious. Poor little boy. I hope the other family members don't get it. But there is NO WAY we are going to visit them now. Even my husband agrees with that. I am very sorry that it turned out this way. We did not get to visit them at Christmas last year either--because they all had the stomach flu. Maybe next year...

Saturday, 12/26/2009

Stomach Flu Experiment

It has been 1 week since my husband's family got the stomach flu. We are supposed to go there on Dec. 30. I don't want to go. My husband's sister and her family are going to go visit them today and stay for a few days. This will be my test. If none of them get the stomach flu while they are there, and IF they have the cleaning lady come before we get there, then I will risk it and go. I am only going against my better judgement because it is Christmas.

Friday, 12/18/2009

My In-laws have the stomach flu.

I am sorry to say that husbands parents are currently sick with vomiting and diarrhea. They came down with it exactly 36 hours after babysiting my 2 year old nephew who had the stomach flu. They are very loving and selfless people. They were willing to take care of him so his parents did not have to take the day off work even though they knew they would probably catch the illness. My nephew's parents and sister are also sick. I feel so bad for them. They get the stomach flu 4 times a year for some reason.

I am nervous because we are supposed to go visit them for Christmas on Dec. 30. That will be less than 2 weeks since their illness. I know that will be too soon and it is not safe. But it is Christmas and my husband and his family will be mad at me if we don't come. They have no idea that they will still be contagious and that their house will still be contagious. I don't know what to do.

Wednesday, 12/16/2009

Restaurant and Cafeteria workers can easily start outbreaks of vomiting/diarrhea illnesses.

This is a great article in USA today about how school cafeterias are not inspected properly and most do not have rules saying contagious workers should not prepare food. Apparently, a cafeteria worker had the stomach flu all weekend and then went to work on Monday. She chopped lettuce for the kids lunch and got 60 people sick.

If you work at a restaurant or cafeteria where you are handling food for other people, please don't go to work while you are contagious with a vomiting/diarrhea illness. You need to be well for at least 48 hours (72 hours would be better) before going back to work. If your boss won't let you take time off, send me an e-mail and I'll contact your boss for you. Make sure you wear clean gloves when you are handling food. You don't want to be the one responsible for starting an outbreak.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-12-15-school-lunches-health-inspections_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip