Have you ever wondered why little ones find objects on the floor to be mouthwatering?
I’ve asked myself this same question before. I was always taught that this was part of the psychological stage in which babies learn about the world around them. For all the first-time moms out there, I can just imagine what you're thinking when you see your baby eat something off of the floor for the first time. Before you get to alarmed, let me reassure you that it is very rare that your child is going to get some serious illness from doing this. After you've verified that the item was non-hazardous, how do you respond? Do you freak out? I know this looks and sounds disgusting but it is really harmless.
So how do these little ones manage to find every little crumb on the floor?
My guess is that they skim the floor looking for stuff that looks appealing to them. I've watched my eleven-month-old bypass every toy in his path, to get to an old cracker crumb that was laying on the other side of the room. He’s been eating crumbs off of the floor for months! After the fifth child...... I mean, after the third child, you start to realize that crumbs found on the floor are essential for the immune system. If you really think about it, you must ask yourself a few questions. Can you really stop your baby from putting EVERYTHING in their mouth? Is this realistic when you have 5 kids? Are crumbs really going to jeopardize my child's health? No..... no...and no.
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Recently, I had the opportunity to read an article by the author of What to Expect when you're expecting . It mentioned that experts are starting to have new theories regarding the behaviors of babies and their obsession with placing everything in their mouths. The article went on to explain how doctors were beginning to think that this process was just nature’s way of strengthening a child’s immune system. You must admit; our immune system is pretty amazing!!! When we are exposed to a new germ, our immune system will not only fight it off, it will remember that microbe the next time we encounter it. This highly intelligent system learns to adapt and regulates itself when we expose it to everyday germs. We are depriving our children from the opportunity to build a strong immune system when we heavily clean and sanitize everything. Allow your children to get dirty and play in dirt. Speaking of dirt, Logan has been secretly eating dirt from outside since he was a year old. He thinks I don't know, but mama sees everything. My dirt eating child is as healthy as can be and is now three years old. He still sneaks in a bite of dirt when he thinks I'm not looking.?
Do you remember that saying as a kid? “God made dirt, dirt doesn’t hurt!”
Well that motto stands true in our house! It even applies to crumbs on the floor. I’m not saying that we just let our house go and we don’t clean. We clean but it's nowhere near as immaculate as some homes. Our house is also baby proofed, so we have no problem allowing our little ones to wonder around. After you’ve already had a few, your kind of more lenient on the youngest. Jameson is the toughest and the bravest out of the bunch. Don’t judge me wrong here! My husband and I are all about safety first in this house. We try to keep the house as clean as possible but sometimes that’s just not realistic. Vacuuming and sweeping is usually done at the end of the day in this house; so that leaves most of the day where crumbs are left on the floor. That’s okay because that’s when the floor snacker comes by and takes care of it for me.... Joking! I don't intentionally leave things on the floor for him. But really? If there is a crumb he will find it. The floor is skimmed every morning when I wake up for any small objects that have been left on the floor by the older ones. If the idea that your baby eats crumbs off of the floor bothers you or you just like to have an immaculate house, you can always purchase a robotic floor snacker that will literally pick up every crumb off of the floor without any extra work from you. All you must do is make sure it's charged, turn it on and it will do the rest. This self-regulated vacuum works for hard wood floors and thin carpets. Never worry about your baby eating anything off of the floor again!
As for me and my house, we will embrace it!
I would love for others to share their thoughts and stories regarding this! Also, what types of odd things have your kids found on the floor? This can get interesting.Let me know in the comment box below. Thanks for reading!
