Did you know most sippy cups and children’s bath toys are a thriving place for bacteria and mold? And to consider that we lovingly hand it over to them each time it’s bath time! Now, another alarming report says that your baby’s favorite teething toy, Sophie the Giraffe may also be full of mold. Ouch? Yeah!
This popular and a favorite chew toy for most toddlers, seems to be the breeding ground for mold. According to this report, some parents have apparently claimed that they have found mold growing within the teether.
Most dentists do recommend that teething toddlers be given a chewy toys to soothe their sore gums. So did paediatric dentist, Dana Chianese. As per this report, her two boys would play with Sophie The Giraffe, till a while ago. So one day she decided to clean the toy and felt a musty smell. “I decided to cut into Sophie out of curiosity and discovered a science experiment living inside…Smelly, ugly mold living in my infant’s favorite chew toy,” she told Goodhousekeeping.com.
Apparently, she would always clean the toy based on the instructions, using hot, soapy water with a damp sponge and never submerging it into water. Despite that, the mold found its way into the toy. Now imagine your drooly infant happily sucking on to this cold house? Yes, it hurts!
So how do we make sure that the toys and teether we get for our babies, with sheer love, and sometimes ignorance, do not harm our loved little humans?
Teether troubles
Once you understand what leads to the growth of mold in these seemingly harmless toys, you’d immediately figure out (call it a parent’s intuition) how the toy needs to be cleaned. To add to that, here are some effective tips on keeping your child’s teether squeaky clean… at least for a while:
- Have no holes: Just plug them with hot glue, if the teether has any crevice, for whatever reason. Most teethers come with cleaning instructions to the effect of not submerging it in water. The idea is to avoid any dampness in it. What they miss out on is that babies drool.
- Boil, squeeze, and dry: Boil the toy, squeeze out the last drop of water using tongs and just let them dry properly before handing it over to your baby.
- Bleach the gunk: Soak the toys in bleach overnight, rinse them multiple times and let them dry. The bleach will evaporate and all you will have squeaky clean toys.
- Vinegar to the rescue: If bleach sounds too risky, you can replace it with vinegar. A portion of vinegar in water and soak the toys overnight in that solution. The next day, scrub out the loose mold off the toy, rinse it well and let it dry.
- Safe storage: To avoid mold in the first place, store the toys in a hygienic environment for storing your child’s bath toys. Invest in a toy rack that lets the water from the toys to drain out or allows the moisture in it to dry off.
Since mold grows in moist surfaces, it’s essential to keep the toys dry. But with a drooly baby, it isn’t really possible. The obvious solution is to clean all the toys that your baby chews on, regularly. Sounds like a lot of work, but it’s totally worth it! Of course, sometimes despite all the measures you take, there will remain a corner from where the gunk just doesn’t go. In such instances, just dump the toy.
Also Read: 5 Things to keep in mind before buying your baby’s first toy!
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Also read: Tooth care tips to keep your toddler’s teeth in tip-top shape