Back-to-School Disinfecting Guide: How to Keep Your Kids Safe and Healthy

Back to school is primed to be a challenging time for your child (and you!), but you can help make it feel a little more routine with repetition. Depending on your child’s age and potential discomfort around the new school rules, “playing school” a few times can help normalize certain behaviors before they go back.

Here are a few scenarios to run through with your child so they know how to keep themselves safe from unneccessary germs and illnesses.

The best defense, as they say, is a good offense. First, check your child for signs of illness, including cold or flu symptoms, ranging from cough to runny nose to fever to gastrointestinal issues including nausea and/or vomiting. If your child exhibits symptoms, contact your pediatrician for guidance.

If your child is healthy, gear up your kiddo each day for sanitary success by bringing dedicated items to school:

• A dedicated (not to be shared), labeled, reusable water bottle
• An extra face covering (or two) with their name written inside
• A lanyard or container like a disposable paper lunch bag in which they can safely place their mask during snack or other meals
• Hand wipes, hand spray, or hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol for disinfection, depending on your child’s age. Be sure to check with the FDA recalled products list to ensure your sanitizer does not contain toxic methanol.

Make sure to talk to your child about how things may be different this year to keep germs at bay, even though it seems like the pandemic is over. Help them understand what to expect as they go back to in-person school and how to keep themselves clean and healthy during the school day.

• Classrooms might look and feel different, with desks spaced apart and changes to things like free play, circle time, and sharing. This is so germs can't jump from one person to another very easily.
• Teachers may act differently, like standing further away, not giving high fives, etc. This is so students and teachers don't share any germs they don't know they have.
• Activities may be different, like where lunch is eaten and what games are allowed at recess. This is because lunch is when masks are off so schools may not want as many students eating at the same time.
• Friendships might include new rules, like reminders for everyone to keep their hands and bodies to themselves. Remind your kids to sanitize their hands (and their friends' hands — that's one thing they can share) before playing with friends or touching. You can also practice the elbow bump.

In addition to arming your kiddo with ways to stay safer, you’ll want to implement additional cleaning and disinfecting plans and supplies for your home, especially for when kids get home from school.

Some after school cleaning suggestions include:

• Removing shoes at designated area before going too far into the house — shoe soles can have up to 421,000 bacteria and 90 percent of those bacteria can transfer directly to a clean tile floor on first contact. Yuck!
• Hanging up jackets in designated area or place into the washer if dirty or stained — don't throw them on the floor in case any bacteria or germs transfer to your floor as well.
• Hanging up backpacks and wiping them down with disinfectant wipes or spraying them with disinfectant spray. Then let them air dry. Most backpacks sit on the floors of school which, once again, can harbor bacteria and germs.
• Removing water bottles and any lunch items and placing them directly in the sink or dishwasher
• Hanging up masks — Designate a drop spot for your child’s face covering so it can be washed daily/switched out with fresh coverings. Regularly inspect cloth face coverings to ensure they are not worn or damaged. Wash masks according to the material. When in doubt, hand wash in warm soapy water.
• Washing hands before sitting down to do homework, watch TV, or have a snack.