Did you know that your child’s favorite rubber ducky could be a secret hideout for filth and germs?
The Today Show is doing a series called Secret Filth Exposed and one of the most recent episodes was called, Rubber ‘Yuckies’ Harbor Secret Filth.
Philip Tierno, a microbiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, tested bath toys from several different homes and found fecal contamination, strep, and staph!
Have you ever squirted a bath toy and saw black stuff come out of it? I know I have and it was super gross. The biggest germ culprits are bath toys with holes in the bottom. Bacteria from your child’s body can get trapped inside of the toy and grow inside of it.
Some of the contamination can also come from bath toys being within 20 feet of a toilet while it is being flushed.
Pretty gross…
It’s important to keep your child’s bath toys clean. Experts recommended that parents disinfect them regularly with alcohol or peroxide. Also, be sure to let them air dry and keep them in a closed bin or closet away from those flushing toilet germs!
Now if you would excuse me, I’m going to go and disinfect my son’s bath toys…
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
that's disgusting, especially because I've seen that nasty black stuff come out while I'm trying to get the water out of the toys!!
I never knew what that black stuff was, so it's good to know! I do disinfect the bath toys, but not often enough I suppose. It's usually about once a month. Bathrooms are yucky places, period. Thanks for sharing!
@Double Duty Mommy – It is disgusting. I cringe when I think about my son bathing in germs…
@Aimee – You are right. Bathrooms are party central for germs!
We've pretty much done away with the squirt type toys.. opting instead for pouring ones – and I disinfect them by dishwashing them all on high heat! I just collect all the tub toys once a week and put them in the top drawer of the dishwasher … hit the sanitize setting and go
I really need to do this. I don't do it regularly
I try to avoid bath toys that have those holes…I've noticed that black stuff, too, and it grosses me out! We keep our toys in the linen closet when we're not using them, but I've never disinfected them. I definitely need to get on that!
Wow that is gross! I am definitely going to try and be on top of that when my baby comes!
awww geessh! thanks for sharin. good thing my kid doesnt like these kinds of stuff.
OH MY GOSH that's SO GROSS!!! I don't even want to decontaminate, I just want to throw them away! EWWWWW!!!!!!
OK, I think I'm going to be sick…that is the worst thing that I have read but thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm going to cleanse her toys and put the in a baggy when they dry and put them under the sink cabinet.
Keep passing the good stuff.
Yuck, good to know!
I saw that too which is why I am glad I have always made bath time about getting clean quickly rather than a play event. PHEW!
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Yeah the yucky stuff that comes out of bath toys!ewwww. We now have the safety ducks ( they test the temp of the water ….but even better, there is no hole in the bottom for the water to get in….and inevitably get trapped and fester )
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Yuck!
Our sink and bathtub are in a different room than the toilet.
I’ve seen the black sludge in rubber ducks before…..that’s why we don’t allow ducks in the tub! For bath toys, we have 3 sturdy paper cups that I replace when they need it. The kids LOVE them.
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