Clean Kids: Hygiene Tips for ... Video Transcript

Participants

Herschel Lessin MD, David R. Marks MD, Daniel Neuspiel MD

Summary

Every parent knows at least one thing about keeping children clean: it's not easy. But cleanliness is about more getting rid of smudges and checking behind the ears. Join our panel of experts as they discuss important hygiene principles you should know to keep your kids from getting sick -- including how too much cleaning can be unhealthy.

Webcast Transcript

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Hi, and welcome to our webcast.  I'm Dr. David Marks.
The topic of this webcast is kids and hygiene.  My little 3-year-old daughter's nickname is Piglet because she always is a mess.  Joining us to talk about how much we should clean our kids, are two guests.  First is Dr. Dan Neuspiel.  He's associate chairman of pediatrics at Beth Israel Medical Center.  Welcome.

DANIEL NEUSPIEL, MD:  Thank you.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Next to him is Dr. Herschel Lessin.  He's a pediatrician at the Children's Medical Group in Poughkeepsie, New York.  Thanks for being here.

HERSCHEL LESSIN, MD:  Thanks for having me.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  All right, so how obsessed should I be with cleaning up my little Piglet?

DANIEL NEUSPIEL, MD:  I've found in my practice, David, that there are many parents who feel that the more they bathe their children, the better.  But in fact, there are many children who have sensitive skin and who may react badly to being bathed too often, by having irritated skin, something we call atopic dermatitis.  It's probably better not to bathe kids, certainly, more than once a day, and many kids may only tolerate being bathed once or twice a week.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Tell me what atopic dermatitis is.

HERSCHEL LESSIN, MD:  Atopic dermatitis is commonly known as eczema.  It's sort of like hyper-irritable skin.  It's skin that itches where normal skin wouldn't itch.  And the kids scratch it, and then it gets more irritated, and then it itches more.  It can be quite a problem.  And it's very often aggravated by too frequent washing.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Are there any other conditions where it can be detrimental to the kid to try to wash them up too much?

HERSCHEL LESSIN, MD:  If they hate it, and you're struggling all the time.  When you have a kid who hates to be washed, and it's particularly a younger infant who isn't really rolling around in the dirt too much, younger than your Piglet.  How dirty do little babies get, after all?  You just have to bathe the diaper area, and you don't need to do a bath every night, unless something's there.  So if they hate it, I don't think you have to bathe all the time.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  What hygiene issues should we be concerned about, as parents?

DANIEL NEUSPIEL, MD:  One of the most important things, David, is hand-washing.  Hand washing is really the most important way to prevent transmission of infection, both at home and in school and in daycare centers.  And it's important for children, parents and all people who work with children.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  We often tell our kids to wash their hands before dinner and, of course, after going to the bathroom.  Are there any other times when they should be washing up?

HERSCHEL LESSIN, MD:  Certainly if they've gone outside to play.  If they've played with other kids and have been all over them, as kids are wont to be.  Those are times you ought to wash your hands.  I think it's particularly important for adults to wash their hands if they have cold symptoms or are ill, if they're working in a daycare center or if they're around a lot of kids.  Because that's really the best thing to prevent transmission of infectious disease, is good hand-washing.