https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:20:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261927 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:58:03 +0000 Boheme 1261927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>4? I don't wear my hospital shoes or lab coat to pick DS up or in my house. I also avoid sick people, and take measures to prevent cross contamination while cooking. Everything else I'm kind of whatever about. I feel like casual exposure helps build immunities...I don't want a bubble baby. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261865 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:48:52 +0000 sarac 1261865@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>2, because I'm educated in the actual risks from germs. But that's it - I'm extremely non germphobic. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261809 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:41:19 +0000 sorrycharlie 1261809@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not sure how to put a number on it!</p> <p>LO rides in carts (I have a cart cover, but if I forget it I try to wipe it quickly first...what fun is a sick baby, anyway?). We have a dog. But I definitely avoid people who are sick. </p> <p>I don't think of that as germaphobe..I think of it as, why would I want to be sick, or deal with a sick baby? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261727 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:27:28 +0000 Beehive 1261727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think for LO I'm a 7 or 8, and for myself I'm maybe a 5 or 6. I'll wipe down restaurant high chairs and the part of the table he'll touch with a wipe before he sits down, I wipe his hands if he's been crawling on a floor that isn't "baby friendly" (like in an apartment where they don't take their shoes off), and I'm not thrilled about very communal play areas and very shared toys like Gymborees and play rooms (though I've eased up on that a little now that he's older). Oh, and he never has and never will play with the toys in doctor's offices!! </p> <p>For myself, I wash my hands after the subway and when I get home but don't always wash my hands just before I eat, and don't wash my hands constantly during the day when it's just me (like if I'm at the office), though I do more when I'm with LO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261678 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:19:16 +0000 Sammyfab 1261678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmm...since most people who said 3 seem to use more precautions than I do, then I must be a 1 or 2! I use hand sanitizer if it's readily available and will wash my hands if they're absolutely filthy or they've touched poop...</p> <p>But otherwise, we've never used shopping cart covers, I often forget to bring wipes to clean restaurant high chairs, I only clean toys if there is visible dirt, and we absolutely do not wash our hands every single time we come in from outside. I am a strong believer in building my immune system (and my LO's!) through exposure! :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261145 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:43:54 +0000 blackbird 1261145@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>3? </p> <p>I'm only a germaphobe about obviously sick people. I take appropriate caution with raw meat, poop, and I sanitize after Dh or I have been sick. I use a cover on carts because E likes to put her mouth on it and that's just nasty. I don't wash my hands terribly often unless I have to. Maybe this is why I rarely get sick :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261124 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:38:35 +0000 LuLu Mom 1261124@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe a 6? I'm an avid hand washer &amp; very careful with food but I figure a little dirt never hurt someone &amp; my daughter has to build immunity so she rides in carts &amp; what not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261107 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:35:57 +0000 swurlygurl 1261107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmmm... I would say 3 or 4 also.<br /> I'm not gross or dirty, but I don't stress the least bit about germs </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261084 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:32:07 +0000 MamaBehr 1261084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm sure that my husband would disagree, but I would rate myself at a 7. I always use a cover for carts and highchairs at restaurants, we always wash our hands the second we walk into the house, and my children know how to use antibacterial stuff like no one's business (my son calls it soap!). I was a germaphob as a kid though (I would wash my hands until they bled) and it only got worse when I had children of my own. </p> <p>My husband would say that I'm a 25 on a scale from 1-10 though! hahaha </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261081 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:31:36 +0000 Greentea 1261081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>9? I too am not bothered by outside dirt. I love camping and being outdoors. It is the public areas that freak me out with baby like at the clinic. I hate changing stations as well! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261060 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:26:11 +0000 autumnlove 1261060@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>3 or 4? My kids sit in carts, they play outside, we don't sterilize toys daily, we have a dog... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261041 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:22:12 +0000 Foodnerd81 1261041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>5 maybe? We live in the city, so farm germs aren't an issue but I would have much less of a problem with dirt and thins like that, than the germs you pick up on public transportation. </p> <p>When i have LO with me, I carry hand sanitizer with me and use it after public transportation if I can't wash my hands. I push elevator buttons with my elbow. I try not to hold into bars on the train if I can help it. And I wash my hands whenever I come in. But, it's cold and flu season and my baby is only 4 months old. </p> <p>I never use hand sanitizer on her and I don't change her outfit when we come in, other than coming home from the pediatrician. I am just more squeamish about city germs than dirt type germs I guess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261022 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:17:03 +0000 Anagram 1261022@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't care that much about avoiding the germs, because I figure that's impossible, but I am an avid handwasher and I avoid touching my nose or eyes unless I've just used hand sanitizer, and I always wash my hands when I get home before I touch LO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1261003 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:11:02 +0000 LovelyPlum 1261003@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>4? I just get wigged out by raw meat and sometimes the nasty stuff on the subway. Otherwise, not bad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1260973 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:02:32 +0000 Mae 1260973@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmmm….. 7? I'm extremely cautious about things like food safety (especially with raw meat, tons of hand washing, everything has to go in the dishwasher not just be washed in the sink, etc). I also make a point of washing my hands every time I walk in the door from being out in the world and I wash my hands if one of my animals licks me or if I have to take out the trash or something. </p> <p>But, I'm not a person who won't touch grocery carts or door handles or shake hands with people. And I don't carry hand sanitizer around with me. I sort of just figure I can go about my life while I'm out and about and I wash my hands when I get home or before I eat if we go out to a restaurant. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/germaphobe#post-1260965 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 08:58:38 +0000 Beyond2 1260965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being a major germaphobe) how would you rate yourself?</p> <p>I'm an 8. I'm a freak about people germs. As in my 15 month old son has never been in a shopping cart and when we go out we get an outfit change at least and sometimes a bath as soon as we get home. Now dirt on the other hand doesn't bother me. My son helps me feed the cows and has been known to pick up handfulls of old rotten hay and the occasional dried cow poop. This doesn't worry me nearly as much. </p>