As a CF parent, something I initially struggled with was telling people not to touch Ellis without washing their hands or using some hand sanitizer. When someone sees a baby, they immediately want to grabs those cheeks and hands, and you feel bad turning them down when you know they mean well. In a perfect world, it would be so much easier as a CF parent if everyone around your child practice good infection control. But since it is not, I can take action and choose to spread awareness.
I want to share the guidelines that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation provides to practice infection control and minimize the spread of germs. Not only should we follow these steps around CFers, but they are great to put into action every day.
So, here they are:
1. Clean your hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol-based hand gel.
2. Use a tissue when coughing or sneezing, throw it away, then clean your hands.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
4. If you have a cold, you should keep at least 6 feet away from people with CF.
Pretty simple, right? Trust me, any CF parent would greatly appreciate you taking the initiative to follow these guidelines, keeping the health and safety of their child in mind.
One of my good friends struggled with the same thing because her baby was really, really, premature and therefore any sickness would be really terrible. She bought these "toys" that hang down from the carseat that the baby likes to play with but they also say messages like, "Please wash your hands" or "Please just look at me." I think they were well received. And, I agree, these are good practices to put into place for every child/baby. I really like how informative your blog is:)
ReplyDeleteThat toy sounds like a great find! Thank you for following.
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