How to care for toys: life hacks every parent should know

Toys play an important role in a child's life. They have a direct impact on the development of the baby’s emotional world. With the help of toys, children express their feelings, explore the world around them, learn to communicate and get to know themselves. Walking on the street, while in kindergarten or visiting grandma, while traveling by subway or car, and even at night in the same crib, that is, accompanying the baby everywhere, a doll or car becomes his constant companion and comrade.

And the toy is a faithful assistant to parents. It can calm a child down, distract him, cheer him up, make him think, fantasize and just relax.

Given the importance and necessity of toys for a child, regular and careful care should be provided for them. Because children, when in contact with bright objects for games, not only touch them with their hands, but also taste them. Many dangerous infectious diseases are transmitted through the fecal-oral and contact routes. Therefore, caring for children's toys allows you to avoid health problems. In kindergartens, the care of play items falls on the shoulders of the service staff. Sanitary standards and regulations require mandatory daily disinfection.

In nursery groups, disinfection is carried out twice a day, and in older groups - once a day. At home, the responsibility for caring for play items for their children falls on the shoulders of parents. Therefore, we will tell you how to care for toys at home.

How often to clean toys

It all depends on how often your child plays with them. Here are the general rules:

• Rubber and hard plastic toys are the easiest to care for. If they are used daily, clean and disinfect them once a week.
• Wash soft toys with which the child sleeps and often interacts in the washing machine once a week. The rest can be washed once every two weeks (or even less often if they are just sitting in a box). We'll talk about those that can't be washed below.
• Wipe electronic toys with a disinfectant wipe once a week.
• Small toys that are most often put in the mouth and thrown on the floor require special attention. Wash them every day or every other day.

Also don’t forget: when a child is sick, toys need to be cleaned more often. And after recovery, be sure to disinfect them again.

Take note