Tips For Keeping Your Home Germ Free!

Thank you Johnson & Johnson for sponsoring this post.

Flora is on the move (not crawling yet, but scooting and rolling everywhere) and putting everything in her mouth. Now, more than ever, I’m super conscious of keeping our home germ free. With an active toddler, shedding dog and busy lifestyle it seems tough but I’ve been trying to implement a few tactics to keep illness away. We were already hit with one summer cold and I’m determined to not let that happen again!

I’ve partnered again with Johnson & Johnson on this post — a brand that’s made public health a priority since its early days through the development of products and educational materials to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Back in 1916, Johnson & Johnson created the Household Hand Book, which educated consumers on how to recognize disease symptoms, when to call the doctor and how to use their products to keep your home clean in order to prevent the spreading of germs.

 

Image courtesy: Johnson & Johnson Archives

So – what steps are we taking to keep our home germ + illness free in 2018?

Make hand washing a priority & habit.

It goes without saying that we wash hands a lot around here, but teaching Piper the importance of washing her hands before we had Flora was a huge help.  We try to make the process fun – she sings (most often the ABC’s), gets the soap and turns on the water independently which makes the task more fun for her and makes her feel like a ‘big girl’.  Hand washing is one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses. We always wash our hands as soon as we get home from an outing, play with friends and before we eat.

Clean household items.

I try to clean things that everyone touches in our house when I do my weekly (or bi-weekly) cleaning — i.e. door knobs, baby gate, remotes, fridge handles, faucets etc.

Clean your PHONE.

Think about the places you set your phone on any given day. Then your toddler touches it. Your infant grabs for it. You hold it up to your face! Use a disinfectant wipe every night to clean the front and back.

Watch out for your diaper bag.

Most likely you set your diaper bag in some pretty not-so-clean spots (i.e. the bathroom floor) – so try not to set it on the bed where your kids snuggle up. Keep it on the floor and it’s also a good idea to use a disinfectant wipe on the bottom when you can remember.

Have a ‘zone’ for kids backpacks, diaper bag + shoes.

Keep what germs do get brought into the house as far away from your everyday living + eating spots as you can.

It’s hard to imagine but there was a time when surgeons operated in their street clothes without washing their hands! Johnson & Johnson recognized this potentially dangerous health hazard and created sterile surgical products and today, Johnson & Johnson continues to innovate in order to meet unmet patient, consumer, community and global public health needs.

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.