The Washington Post - 19.03.2020

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the washington post

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thursday, march

19

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2020

the most soap bubbles on their

hands and between their fingers.

Using fun soap, such as those

with characters on them, or even

soaps that change color when

used long enough, will help en-

courage kids. “We want to teach

them to wash all parts of their

hands,” Meade says. (I remember

watching my son put soap on his

palm, rinse it off, then proclaim

“Done!” when he was small.)

Washing all parts of their hands

means the fronts, the backs,

between the fingers, their nails

and even their wrists.

The other very important

thing is to not make this seem

like a chore. Have fun, sing

along, talk to them, Meade says,

about being “germ-busting su-

perheroes” and explain that’s

how they can save the world.

Sometimes, they are so small,

it’s actually uncomfortable to

reach the sink and wash their

hands, so make sure they have a

step stool so they can reach the

faucets and water. Hand sanitiz-

er also works, but the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention

recommends washing hands

with soap and water above all

else. Sanitizer can be used when

soap and water are not available,

but kids still have to get to all the

hidden germy spots, so many of

the lessons here still apply.

And on that note: This is a good

time to remember how many

germs can live under nails, so

keep them trimmed and clean,

too.

Meade admits that yes, even a

pediatrician like herself has to

work on this at home. She has a

5-year-old stepson who is “quite

reluctant to hand-wash.”

Time to pull out the superhero

cape and your best version of

“Happy Birthday.”

[email protected]

BY AMY JOYCE

We have by now all heard the
best way to prevent catching the
coronavirus is by making sure to
properly wash our hands. Easy,
right?
Well, for small children, and
their parents, hand-washing is
not exactly the easiest task. It h as
to be taught. It’s especially im-
portant now, of course, because
even though children don’t seem
to be getting hit hard by this
virus yet, they are major germ
carriers. So teaching them to
wash their hands helps not only
them, but also everyone who
comes in contact with them.
“A lot of us don’t think about
it,” says Elizabeth Meade, a pedi-
atrician and national spokes-
woman for the American Acade-
my of Pediatrics based in Seattle.
It’s so second nature to so many
of us, parents often forget that
it’s a skill they need to teach.
“The most important thing is to
start early with kids, when
th ey’re toddlers,” Meade says.
So how do we teach these
amazingly wonderful and abso-
lutely germ-filled little people
how (and why) to wash their
hands regularly? We make it fun,
and let them know this is a
regular part of our lives: Look!
Parents do it, too!
It’s important to “make it a
habit, a standard,” Meade says.
Explain that we always wash
before we eat, after using the
bathroom and after playing with
animals, for example.
It’s not easy to get those little
uncoordinated hands to scrub all
those germs away (coronavirus
and others). The best thing t o use
is warm water, which has been
proven to kill germs more than
cold, Meade says. Soap up, and
sing either “Happy Birthday” or
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” for
20 seconds, at least, while rub-
bing your hands together, cover-
ing every surface with suds. You
can even make a game out of it,
she suggests, to see who can get

‘Make it a habit’: How to teach kids to correctly wash their hands

Family

Five steps to clean hands Lather with soap

by rubbing them together

Scrub for at

least 20 seconds

In between

your fingers

Rubbing

palm to palm

Don’t forget

your thumbs

Dry your hands

using a clean towel

2

345

“Happy

Birthday”

X2

Source: World Health Organization DANIELA SANTAMARINA/THE WASHINGTON POST

=

1

Wet your hands with

running lukewarm water

Rinse well under clean,

running water

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