Baby Products (Tiny Hands and Sniffle Buddies) come in handy (10/09)
I guess newborn baby etiquette isn’t something that the general public knows about. I thought it was common sense to wash your hands before touching a baby. I thought everyone knew that babies are born with immature immune systems, making them susceptible to any germ they come in contact with. To make matters worse the minute someone touches a baby’s hand it generally goes right into her mouth! Would you shake a person’s hand and then lick your own? I don’t think so! I guess if you don’t have a baby you don’t know this stuff. After our first baby was born my husband and I were amazed at how many people would come up to her and touch her hands and even her face without asking first. And even when they did ask it was always awkward for us to say, "no, wash your hands first!" You don’t want to be rude, but you also don’t want your baby to get sick. We found a simple solution to the problem. "My Tiny Hands", a small, red, stop-sign shaped rubber sign that simply and politely reads, "Please wash your hands before touching mine" dangles from her carrier or her stroller. I can’t count the number of moms who have seen our little sign and have asked, "how can I get one of those?, that is brilliant!" Now whenever someone approaches my baby they read the sign and are informed. If somehow they don’t see it, when they go in to touch her I just point out the sign and make a little joke of it and the awkward moment is avoided rather the person says, "oh, how clever!" My Tiny Hands signs can be purchased for around $8 at www.mytinyhands.com
As with most inventions, our Sniffle Buddies® came about as an attempt to solve a problem. Had it been possible to wish the problem away, we certainly would have voted for that, but no matter how much we tended, wished, and sometimes overlooked in a momentary "can’t catch every one", cringing kind of way…the problem persisted.
What was the unspeakable problem?…It’s a child’s unbelievably consistent, nearly instinctual habit of wiping their runny nose on themselves. They’re particularly fond of wiping it on their sleeves or wrists, but will gladly branch out to their shirts or yours. Yep…it’s just WRONG!
We, as most conscientious parents, spent many futile hours chasing our toddlers and pre-schoolers with sanitary tissues, moist wipes & handkerchiefs, coached, instructed, explained, demanded, begged, & bribed…but it was with limited success. Just when we’d have a day that seems like all that henpecked attention was working… you’d look up and it’s on their sleeve or face. Yuck…
And…after all that energy to be tidy they didn’t get to play like they wanted, their noses are sore, we didn’t get much of anything else done, and they still ended up wearing their drips. So…ok…if they’re going to wear it, then let’s get something more sanitary than their sleeve or arm, something handy (so they’ll actually use it), soft, removable, and easy to use. Our search brought up nothing.
A sports wristband was the first answer while we came up with other ideas. We were hoping for something that was softer, more absorbent, and ideally – antibacterial. The Sniffle Buddies® prototype was a step in the right direction and handy, but we kept researching.
This journey has also been a lesson in eco-friendliness. We have learned all sorts of simple and more complicated facts like not putting the pizza boxes in the recycle trash due to the oil contamination, food and paper put in landfills don’t decompose easily, and a startling quote that suggested if every household replaced just one box of 100 sheet virgin fiber facial tissue with 100% recycled ones, they would save 103,000 trees"! (www.greenpeace.com) Just imagine how many tissues children use at this age while they’re learning to tend themselves and then where does the tissue usually end up?
Our research directed us to bamboo. The bamboo velour is really soft & absorbent and the source is a renewable crop. It’s especially appealing due to the natural antibacterial & anti-fungal properties. It doesn’t need a chemical to create those qualities…it’s natural.
Today’s version of Sniffle Buddies® is 70% Organic bamboo, 28% Organic Cotton, and 2% poly for stretch. The antibacterial & anti-fungal properties are documented to last thru 50 washings according to the Japan Textile Inspection Association. And…best of all… our kids actually use them consistently and adults find them handy too for sports and allergies!
Now our worlds are filled with statements like "Mommy, we need our Sniffle Buddies®", "I can wipe my nose myself", and "Hey, I need one of those…do you make them for big people?" And, indeed…we do!