Hygiene Practices and Policies

A child’s feeling of protection comes from a healthy environment

Teaching and ministering to preschoolers and children includes providing clean and orderly environments where the child can explore, create, learn, and play. Promoting good hygiene procedures is essential in order to provide protection from exposure to, and the spread of infectious diseases. Being aware of cleaning procedures and hygiene practices and policies protects and insures the health, safety, and emotional well being of preschoolers, children, their families and the church.

Because preschool and children’s rooms are used frequently and by different groups, the following hygiene standards are recommended. These standards insure that the toys and equipment in every room are ready for use at any time. Teachers and children are protected from disease and injury, and the church is protected in the event of an injury, accident, or spread of infectious diseases.

I.  General Procedures and Practices in Rooms

•  Both preschool and children’s teachers, paid or volunteer, are required to 
   attend an orientation and receive instructions in proper handwashing, uses 
   of gloves, and diapering techniques applicable to their age group.
•  Teachers will be instructed how to respond to emergency injuries and 
   illnesses as well as how to clean and disinfect materials, toys, equipment, 
   and rooms.
•  All teachers will wash their hands using the "Handwashing Procedures" 
   (in this document) when they enter a classroom.
•  Teachers of infants and one-year-olds will wear smocks while teaching.
•  Bleach water solution (recipe in this document) will be prepared for 
   disinfecting cribs, toys, and equipment during a session and at the end of 
   each session.
•  Bleach solution will be used to disinfect cribs, eating tables, areas where 
   food is handled, toileting areas, toys, and teaching materials.
•  All rooms are kept orderly and clean, disinfecting as needed throughout older 
   age group rooms.

Suggested Cleaning Procedures for Cribs, Equipment and Teaching Materials

•  Avoid the use of stuffed animals and fabric toys as they cannot be cleaned 
   after a child mouths one.
•  After removing sheet, clean crib rails and crib mattress by washing in warm 
   soapy water, rinsing in clear water, and disinfecting with bleach solution. Dry 
   chrome crib rails with disposable towel to prevent rusting. Let mattress air dry.
•  Throughout the session disinfect eating areas, toilet seats, and toileting 
   areas (using same method as described above) after each individual use.
•  Designate one crib for each individual baby during a session.
•  After each session, clean toys and teaching materials in babies through 
   three-year-old rooms, scrubbing materials in soapy water, rinsing in clear 
   water, disinfecting in bleach solution, and leaving to air-dry.
•  Clean and disinfect mouthed toys and materials after each child's use. Wash 
   in soapy water, rinse in clear water, and dip in bleach solution. Leave to air 
   dry.
•  Disinfect plastic dolls after each session. Dolls with hair should not be used, 
   as the hair cannot withstand the disinfecting solution.
•  Wash homeliving dress-up clothes, doll clothes or other fabric items regularly.
•  Avoid the use of hats, caps, and headscarves unless they can be disinfected 
   after each individual use.

 II.  Diapering and Toileting

•  Check diapers at 30-minute intervals.
•  Change babies in their own cribs.
•  Change older babies and twos on a vinyl mat on the floor in a designated 
   area of the room.
•  Disinfect the mat with bleach solution after each use.
•  All teachers are required to wear disposable gloves when changing diapers or 
   assisting with toileting needs.
•  Teachers should wash their hands after removing gloves.
•  Clean restroom surfaces (faucet handles and toilet seats) with bleach and 
   water solution or a chlorine-containing scouring powder or other nontoxic 
   bathroom surface disinfectant several times a day if possible, but at least once 
   a day and when soiled.

III. Handwashing

•  Handwashing is important in preventing the spread of infection and should be
   routinely practiced by teachers and taught to children 18 months and older.
•  Teachers and children should wash their hands after using the toilet, after 
   wiping their eyes or nose, before and after cleaning or touching an open 
   wound, and before serving food.

Handwashing Procedures

•  Use antibacterial soap and warm running water (if available) when washing 
   hands. If running water is not available, provide pans of soapy and rinse 
   water and a pan of bleach solution in the room. Rub hands vigorously for 
   10 to 15 seconds.
•  Wash all surfaces including backs of hands, wrists, between fingers, and 
   under fingernails. Rinse soap from hands.
•  Disinfect hands in bleach solution.
•  Dry hands with a disposable paper towel.
•  Turn water faucet off with a disposable towel (instead of using bare hands) 
    then dispose of towel in trash.

Sources: 
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases, The ABC’s of Safe and Health Child Care (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/abc)

Written by: Dixie Sweezy, Minister of Childhood Ed., Quail Springs Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, OK
Procedures written by: Sheri Babb, Preschool/Children’s Specialist, Baptist Resource Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Edited by: Sheri Babb, Oklahoma Baptist Convention & Sandra Tapp, South Carolina Baptist Convention