In terms of building resistance, preschool does a good job. My 4-year-old was sick twice in 3.5 years, but has been sick several times since starting school. I’d much rather deal with a sick preschooler than a sick infant.

With child #1 we didn’t try to shield her from germs, we wanted her to build immunity from germs! We have the same approach with #2.

The market for baby stuff is so saturated with gadgets you have to ask yourself, do we REALLY need this???

I’ve not had head lice, but I imagine it’s like that. Soap and water doesn’t do a complete job, it requires special treatment.

Cleaning your teeth with your toothbrush is a cleaning procedure. The hospital sticking something in your body requires sterilization, per my nurse-wife’s definitions. In case you’re wondering, yes, there are UV toothbrush sterilizers now. I’ve read a few articles over the years about how scary and disgusting a toothbrush can get due to its being damp much of the day. And then there’s the “aerosol effect” where vapor (invisible to the eye) from a toilet flush travels 6 to 8 feet.
http://www.violight.com/
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97sep/water.htm

I could see our church nursery getting one.

Me? I’m not that paranoid about dirt… I don’t LIKE DS picking up food off the ground and eating it. But as long as I know it is actually food and not something else, I’m not too concerned.

He doesn’t use a pacifier much, but when he does I’m not too concerned about it falling on the ground then put back into his back. I guess I figure, as long as he is crawling around on hands and knees which his face close to the ground, and then putting those same hands into his mouth (without being wiped off first) — well, what sense is it to worry about something that was on the ground being put in his mouth?

Oh, he also picks up his toys off the same ground and puts them in his mouth. Now, if something ended up in the toilet, or a mud puddle or something, I’d confiscate it/clean off his hands right away before he could get them back in his mouth. But it has to be pretty big dirt/ick factor to get my attention that way.

I love the idea of the high pitched screams – you should get a patent for it before all the big companies steal your idea!