I Call Myself the Anti-“Lysol Mom”

Let me explain myself. I’m not anti (the product) Lysol. It can be very harsh and I prefer more natural cleaners but that is not what this is about. I call myself the anti-“Lysol mom” because I DON’T clean all the time. My house is purposely kept slightly dirty, and my son is encouraged to get as dirty as he wants (which is usually very dirty). This is because I want him to have exposure to germs.

Fear of Germs

Growing up I remember many kids had what I referred to as “Lysol moms”. These are the germ phobic, ultra clean moms sanitize everything. This came out of a fear of their child getting sick from whatever bacteria they might come in contact with. The solution these moms had was to kill all the bacteria to protect their children. It seemed to make sense and they thought they were doing the best for their children, but growing up, these kids were always getting sick and many had bad allergies. It seemed counter intuitive, but historically it made sense.

***Quick History Lesson:

When people first started to mass migrate into cities, they were packed into small living quarters that were often very dirty. There would be hundreds of people living in this mess. If an illness arose, it would spread like wildfire because of these conditions and the poverty at that time. As people began to get richer, they wanted to have more space. Environments became walled off from each other. Today they have become so segregated that you can tell where bacterium were collected by what kinds you have (i.e. oral bacteria from the sink).

The Kids Were Always Sick

Now I know the reason these kids were sick was a lack of exposure to germs. Growing up in a sterile environment doesn’t allow your immune system to fully mature. The immune system needs stimulation to learn to adapt and regulate itself. If everything in a child’s environment is too sanitary, this is prevented.

This is similar to the overuse of antibiotics that happens today. People are more aware of this issue now as it was creating resistant bacterium. The overuse of antibiotics in young children also negatively affects their immune system by weakening their bodies natural ability to fight infection. Just like the “all too clean” environment, taking away the NEED to work, the immune system will lose the ABILITY to.

Hygiene Hypothesis

Enter the “hygiene hypothesis”, which states that some early exposure to various germs and microorganisms is beneficial to the development of the immune system, resulting in fewer allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases.

It has been proven many times that children that are raised in households with pets are less likely to be allergic to pets. This is because that exposure in early life allows them to develop the appropriate immune responses. Here are a couple studies that  demonstrate the “hygiene hypothesis”.

Germs and Farm Kids

One looked at Amish children that grew up on small farms vs. Hutterite children on large industrial farms. This study shows that the Amish children’s environment was far richer in microbes and dust. They also had incredibly low asthma rates when compared to the Hutterite children whose environment did not allow for as much exposure.

Germs and Pacifiers

The other study was conducted on over 300,000 Swedish children. It looked at how the parents reacted to a pacifier being dropped on the floor, if the child received a new, sterile one or if it was licked/dusted off and given back. This study found that the children whose pacifiers were returned not sanitized had fewer allergies, less asthma, and less eczema! These are fascinating results to me.

So How does that Relate to Me?

Ok, so what does all this mean to you and your child? It means that exposing your little one to small levels of bacteria, viruses, and even parasites are like small investments in their future immunity. Let your kid get dirty, take them outside into nature, skip a bath, and let them eat dirt! The more exposure they get, the healthier their immune system will grow to be.

How I Allow Germs in my Life

My son gets a bath 1-2 times per week. Even if he didn’t have sensitive, dry skin I wouldn’t want to bath him more than that. We get outside as much as possible and hike all spring, summer, and fall. If he gets really dirty, I simply rinse the mud off with water and no soap. We go to farms and petting zoos to expose him to different types of animals. He pets them, feeds them, and walks around their muddy pens. Of course, he loves every second of it as well!All of this allows for less stress and less work for me! Give yourself a break and skip the kid’s bath tonight. Let your kids wear an outfit more than once before it goes into the laundry. This not only saves you the time, it helps dear Mother Nature by reducing water usage!

Personally the time I would need to spend doing all the cleaning, I’d much rather spend with my son. And if I don’t have to for his safety, then why do it? Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t clean, but I also don’t like using harsh chemicals either. I prefer green cleaning techniques.

What are your feelings on germs? Do you like a super clean home or are you a dirty mom like me?!?