Can baby be too clean?

When it comes to small babies, the message is clear - cleanliness is best. But as your child grows, you can worry less about her picking up food from the floor or the dog slobbering over her. There's a theory that living in a spotless environment may not always the best thing for your child.
How are dirt and allergies linked?

From the 1970s to the 1990s, there was a leap in the number of children with allergies, particularly in developed countries like the UK.One study found that the rise might be due to falling family sizes and cleaner homes. Both these factors stopped young children being exposed to as many germs as children in previous generations.This, in turn, may have given children's still-developing immune systems less practice at fighting off intruders. But because the immune system still wanted to be used, it became primed to see harmless substances, such as dust and pollen, as dangerous invaders. This, according to the theory, led to increases in allergies andasthma.
Is there any proof?
The link between hygiene and allergies seems to be backed up by a range of research studies:Children who grow up on a farm are less likely to develop asthma and other allergies.Children who grow up on a farm and whose mums were also living on a farm when they were pregnant, have even greater protection against asthma, hay fever and eczema.Early exposure to other children seems to have a protective effect. Babies who have one or two older siblings, or who attended nursery from a very young age, have a lower risk of asthma.Children run less risk of becoming sensitive to some allergens if there is acat or dog in the house when they are a baby. Having a dog around the house protects your baby from becoming sensitised to pollen. A cat offers protection from becoming sensitised to house dust mites.Preschoolers who have often had nose or throat infections are less likely to develop asthma.Farm animals, pets, siblings and children at nurseries all have one rather unpleasant factor in common. That factor is contact with trace amounts of endotoxin, a fancy word for poo. It's possible that any decrease in asthma and allergies as a child grows is actually down to the contact she has had with bacteria. Poo is loaded with them.
Isn't my baby too young to cope with germs?
It depends how old your baby is. While your baby's only a few weeks old, her immune system isn't mature, so it's best to be extra careful about cleanliness. For example, ask visitors to wash their hands before they hold your newborn.
By the time your baby is a couple of months old, you won't need to be as vigilant. As your baby grows, her immune system strengthens. Her immune system is most likely to be influenced during the first few years of her life.
Are allergies still on the rise?
The factor, or combination of factors, that caused the rise of asthma and allergy-related problems in the UK may now have passed. The rates of asthma, eczema and hay fever in young children appear to have stabilised over the past decade in developed countries like ours.
However, rates for these problems are still on the increase in developing countries.The hygiene theory could explain some of the rise and fall in worldwide allergy rates, but it is not the only explanation.Some say it is down to the use of medicines such as paracetamol. Others put it down to changes in our diet. They point to a lack of vitamin D, as well as to changes in the friendly bacteria that colonise our guts.
No single theory has yet been proved correct, so until then, don't stress too much about the bugs your baby may be picking up at nursery or from your family pet. You never know, they may actually do her good in the long run.