I was relatively casual with Meredith when she was a baby. Once she was crawling around she and the dog shared their chew toys with each other, and that didn't bother me -- but that's because it was our dog, and I figured that the household germs wouldn't cause a problem. (Actually she was sick less often than any of the other babies and children I knew, so it certainly didn't hurt her.)
But sharing with or being licked in the face by other animals was out, as was chewing on anything not specifically meant for chewing on and reasonably clean. I certainly wouldn't have let her chew on a container of hand-sanitizer or a cell phone, for exactly the reasons you pointed out. There wouldn't have been any need to, because I always brought toys along whenever we went anywhere, so she always had something safe to play with and chew on. If a toy fell on a relatively clean surface I wiped it thoroughly before I gave it back to her; if the ground was really dirty, she didn't get it back until it could be washed with soap and water.
I've never understood why some parents go out without any toys, and then when their babies get restless they let them chew on anything that's handy, like germy keys or whatever else is in their purse. Good for you for at least trying to educate those parents.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-08-26 02:48 am (UTC)But sharing with or being licked in the face by other animals was out, as was chewing on anything not specifically meant for chewing on and reasonably clean. I certainly wouldn't have let her chew on a container of hand-sanitizer or a cell phone, for exactly the reasons you pointed out. There wouldn't have been any need to, because I always brought toys along whenever we went anywhere, so she always had something safe to play with and chew on. If a toy fell on a relatively clean surface I wiped it thoroughly before I gave it back to her; if the ground was really dirty, she didn't get it back until it could be washed with soap and water.
I've never understood why some parents go out without any toys, and then when their babies get restless they let them chew on anything that's handy, like germy keys or whatever else is in their purse. Good for you for at least trying to educate those parents.