PDA

View Full Version : Ewwwww......GROSS!



brubeck
09-19-2003, 07:39 PM
Okay I know kids do stuff that's disgusting and you are just supposed to take it in stride but this one really got to me.

Amy loves her toothbrushes. She has a collection, all chewed on, and she picks them up every so often and 'brushes'. I run them through the dishwasher once a week or so and rinse them in hot water after every use.

As I have said on the potty thread, I am training Amy. I am now leaving her for naps with the potty and she is using it (yeah!). Today I heard the water running in her bathroom and I snuck up to make sure everything was okay. She was just coming from the toilet with the potty bowl. She had obviously just dumped pee in the toilet. She rinsed out the bowl in the sink, then proceeded to fill it with water. Okay, fine. Then she grabs her toothbrush and before I can do anything she dips it into the bowl of water and starts brushing.

At this point the damage is done and I am alternating between laughing and being disgusted. I opt for the former but now that it's been an hour or so I'm thinking more about the latter. Please someone tell me she isn't going to get a nasty disease from this!

megsmom
09-20-2003, 09:07 PM
My toddler has eaten a few bites of sand and dirt in her day and has never been sick from it so it's likely that Amy is fine. Especially since she had rinsed. :) Not to gross you out further, but plenty of times toddlers hands go into their mouths before they are washed so it's likely bacteria her mouth has seen before. And the average floor where toddlers spend lots of time and occasionally eat from, not so clean either.

I guess I only bring out Meg's before bed and in the morning when I'm brushing mine. She would want to run around with hers if I let her, and I worry that she'll trip and ram it down her throat. It's great that your little one loves brushing her teeth, though. Plenty of kids hate it.

Jen
mom to Meghan 7/13/01
and #2 EDD 11/12/03

brubeck
09-21-2003, 03:47 PM
Actually it's not that I keep the toothbrush out, it's that she has learned how to open the medicine cabinet and get it! I have since emptied the medicine cabinet, but since I had some old toothbrushes (the kind where the bristles got all mushed) I left them in there for her to play with. Her current toothbrush is locked away, or she'd chew on it/use it and the bristles would be mushed within a week!

You have a good point, which is probably why I didn't immediately make her rinse with Listerine and such, but just thinking about the whole thing makes me shudder........

lukkykatt
09-21-2003, 05:49 PM
Now that DS is potty trained, he has started this new habit of sucking on his fingers (don't know what Freud would say about that!). When he is in the bathroom, I am forever yelling out "don't put your fingers in your mouth while you are in the bathroom!" It is more or less the same thing, and he seems to be fine. I however, am shell-shocked - having a toddler in charge of their own hygiene (even with supervision) is pretty icky!

cara1
09-22-2003, 11:59 AM
Yeah, I'd be grossed out too. But one word of reassurance...Neutrophils!

brubeck
09-24-2003, 06:23 PM
Well Amy is nothing if not creative. She is no longer using her toothbrush and potty bowl at the same time. but her Little People have found a new swimming pool. :)

luvbeinmama
09-24-2003, 06:26 PM
Girl, you need a toilet lock! YUCK!