It’s 3AM and you wake up to the sound of a sick child’s footsteps running to your room or the bathroom. You instantly know you won’t be getting much sleep the rest of the night or much work done the next day. And coffee, movies, soup, and children’s pain reliever will be your best friends for the foreseeable future. Ugh. We know how you feel! But remember that you will get through it and a healthy child will return to you soon! In the meantime, we fully support any means necessary for survival when your child is sick.
Whether you have a sick child or a recently recovered child, have you ever asked yourself what to clean or how to disinfect your house in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, you can prevent your entire family from succumbing to the illness? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve done the research and have a handy list of things you should clean when your child is sick (or immediately following their recovery). Bookmark this because you’ll want to refer to it as a guide the next time you’re nursing your household back to health.
Top 12 things to clean and sanitize when your child is sick:
1. All bedding items.
Launder all bedding including sheets, mattress pads, comforters, pillow covers and cases. You’ll want to wash your own as well, especially if your little ‘patient’ made it into your bed at some point. This is something you may want to do throughout the sickness and especially once your child has recovered. Make sure to wash in hot water to get rid of all the germs!
2. Stuffed animals, loveys and toys.
Consider washing all of your little one’s stuffed animals, other softy ‘lovey’ type items and favorite toys. This is particularly important if your little one sleeps with these items (and if your little one still puts them in their mouth too!). Wash soft items in the gentle cycle with warm water or even hand wash and place them in the sunshine to thoroughly dry them.
For plastic or wooden toys, use a non-toxic cleaner (or make your own vinegar cleaner) and wipe down your child’s favorite toys. You might want to consider putting away less loved toys to reduce the amount of cleaning you have to do once your child is well again.
3. Hand towels & dish towels.
These two items should be washed in hot water regularly, sick kid or not. But especially when there are viruses or bacteria roaming throughout your home. You may want to consider using disposable paper towels while you’re fighting a sickness. We know this isn’t super eco-friendly, but it’s a temporary fix to prevent spreading germs through hand and dish towels.
4. The washing machine!
Yes, you read that right!! This is an often forgotten appliance we all neglect! Once you have finished washing all the soiled and germy soft items, run an empty cycle with hot water to make sure you kill any leftover bacteria and to prevent those bacteria from getting on other items (clothing, etc.) you put in the washing machine next. This is a great way to maintain the health and well-being of your washer for the long term too! (and the health of your family!).
If it has a button, clean it! Gather all the remotes and controllers, or anything else with a button and make sure to disinfect it thoroughly. We often forget about these items which can definitely harbor some serious germs. Don’t forget about laptops, tablets, and phones! PRO TIP: this is something you should do when the sickness first shows symptoms, but also after recovery because chances are your little one was using their tablet or watching TV while they were recovering and you’ll want to get rid of any germs once everyone is healthy!
Related articles:
- 10 Dirtiest Things in Your Home…and How to Clean Them!
- How to Keep a Clean Car with Kids: 7 Simple Tips
- Enhanced Cleaning Protocol: How We Are Keeping Baby Gear Rentals Safe
6. The dreaded bathroom!
Does anyone like the cleaning bathroom? We don’t think so. And especially bathrooms that have been contaminated by icky viruses and germs. But it’s a definite ‘must clean’ when your child is sick. And an even bigger must clean if the sickness is some sort of stomach bug!
7. Toothbrushes.
The safest way to ensure you aren’t spreading germs while brushing teeth is to get new toothbrushes. If you choose this option, do this AFTER your kiddo or anyone else in the household recovers. If you want to disinfect the toothbrush, you can do so by soaking in boiling water, putting it in the dishwasher, or even using a vinegar mixture! PS: this might be something you want to implement even when you have a healthy household!
8. Kitchen sponges.
Think about it: they sit in water, scrub food off dirty plates, wipe down countertops and everyone touches them. YUCK—these things get icky! In fact, kitchen sponges are one of the dirtiest things in your home (read about the other dirtiest items in your home too)! Even dirtier than a toilet! Under normal circumstances, you should be replacing kitchen sponges every one to two weeks. If you have a sick family member, do it ASAP. You can also give your sponge a deep clean by sticking it in the dishwasher or soaking it in water and putting it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. (Be careful when you take it out, it will be HOT!)
9. Door knobs & handles.
Thankfully, this is a super quick way to get rid of germs in your house and disinfect “high touch” areas. Grab a microfiber cloth or use eco-friendly paper towels, spray some eco-friendly and non-toxic cleaner on it, and go from door to door and room to room. It shouldn’t take you too long! If you want to get super fancy, you can also use a handheld steamer to really kill those bad germies!
10. Light switches!
After you’ve gone through the house and done all the door handles and knobs, do the same thing for light switches! Another “high touch” area where germs can live when your child is sick.
11. Baby gear including car seats, strollers and high chairs.
Even when your child is sick you still need to get them places and function to some level of normalcy. Maybe you have to drive your ill child to a doctors appointment, walk to the pharmacy, or feed them soda crackers in their high chair. You’ll want to deep clean ALL these items so the germs don’t stick around and possibly infect others in your household. If you just need a rest after chasing your child around with tissues all day, and you don’t have enough energy to clean even more stuff, call in the experts instead! Hint…that’s us!! BabyQuip Cleaning can clean and sanitize all the icky germs, bacteria and viruses away.
12. Last but not least, countertops.
It goes without saying that your countertops attract and house all the bacteria, dust, germs, and viruses. Everything lands on flat countertops! You definitely want to make sure you are cleaning your countertops thoroughly throughout the entire time when your child is sick. And once everyone is recovered, do a deep cleaning of your countertops to make sure you get rid of any leftover germs.
Phew! Just sharing that advice made us tired! We know this isn’t the fun stuff required of a parent but it’s the necessary stuff when your child is sick. And remember, your little one will recover and you’ll get back to normal soon. But for now, focus on helping them feel better, all the extra cuddles, all the extra coffee, and cleaning as soon you can.
Kaylee Garcia is the mama to one sweet boy and one sweet girl, and wife to an awesome husband. Kaylee and her son (he’s only 4!) have completed over 20 trips via air travel (thank you, Alaska Airlines!) on over 40+ airplane rides! They love sharing travel tips with other families since they’ve learned a lot in the last 4 years. Kaylee enjoys spending time with family, researching baby gear, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks for this.
I am wondering if using an enzyme spray would be as good as washing the stuffed animals or at least on the ones for sure can’t be washed? I am also thinking I should clean the remote…even though no one is sick at the time…it has never been cleaned…
I agree – the washing machine! I never thought about this as a final step! Thank you for the great list.
i wish i could attache a picture here because we took apart our washing machine not to long ago to clean it and what’s in there is horrifying, seriously so gross. it would have been cool to get the gunk tested to see what was actually in there. it was black and thick and disgusting.
Wow! That’s quite a list, a great list! Going to clean the washing machine now. Cleaning the car is also a great tip, often overlooked.
Cleaning the car too! A great tip from one of the comments!
This is so helpful! Definitely a new checklist. I never thought of washing machine either and while I regular wash or replace dish cloths and sponges, I never thought to do it in response to a sick little.
I’d never thought about cleaning the washing machine after using it to wash the soiled bedding, etc. Now it seems so obvious!!
Lots of great tips – thanks!
Never thought to clean the washing machine, yikes! Another good tip, change out the ac filter after to keep the home’s air clean and fresh.
I will say that one of the things I hadnt really thought of are the light switches, but it makes complete sense. My husband and I also try to be diligent about washing our hands or sanitizing after taking care of our little one and avoid kissing him near his mouth, nose and hands. Easier said than done because its so natural to show love but we dont want to share our germs ; )
So good, thanks you for writing good article.
Cleaning with kids is so rough. Thanks for the tips!
I recently learned that a carseat is dirtier than the toilet. Thats now a monlthy cleaning for me even if everyone is healthy.
I always wash her snuggle blanket but never the other stuffed animals! And there’s like a TON!
Good reminder on those common use items that I often forget.
#4 The Washing Machine! This! I just learned this last year when my youngest was having skin sensitivity issues. Having a cleaned out washer is super important. Have you seen how gross these things are???? I have. Don’t look. No, look. But then never look again.
I love the washing machine tip!
I also like to clean the inside of the car. I like to wipe down the cup holders and seats. I clean the car seats all the time but if you have to pick a sick kid up from school sometimes we forget to sanitize the seats and what not where they sit.
AFter I read this I’m surprised my kids are still alive. I’ve literally never washed any of their stuffed animals eek.
OMG, i never thought about all the gunk and
germs living in the washing machine. I’m
seriously sick to my stomach. Going to wash
the washer rigth away even though no one is sick.
You know them kids dirty dirty and being sick just makes um more dirty. Dirty hands go everywhere. I still kiss them faces when the snot runnin like hoses tho.
I do pretty much all these things when my kids are sick except the remotes, I need to remember that! I feel like it seems so daunting when you list it all out tlike this lol!!!