Not without you, if at all.
Gel hand sanitizers are very effective at helping kill any germs we may pick up on our hands when we do venture out from home.
But the Canadian Paediatric Society warns against leaving hand sanitizers out where small children can reach them – they are, after all, poisonous.
While you can apply a small amount of sanitizer (smaller than the size of a dime) to your child’s hand and supervise to ensure they rub their hands together until dry, it’s important to make sure your child is never able to:
- ingest hand sanitizer
- lick or eat with their hands while sanitizer is still wet
- rub their eyes while sanitizer is still wet
Wherever possible, thorough hand-washing is best for our kiddos. That means washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before rinsing and drying, any time the child has touched a surface that may carry “outside the bubble” germs, or has used the bathroom, sneezed, or wiped their nose.
If you suspect your child has ingested hand sanitizer, the Canadian Paediatric Society advises that you NOT wait for symptoms to show up: call the Manitoba Poison Centre right away at 1-855-7-POISON (1-855-776-4766).