How to protect your baby from germs in Singapore

Hand washing, up-to-date immunisations and keeping a newborn away from anyone unwell do more than any cleaning product. Wash hands before touching the baby, sterilise feeding equipment, wipe the surfaces people actually touch, and follow the National Childhood Immunisation Schedule. Some exposure to everyday germs is part of growing up.

What are germs, and which ones matter?

Four broad groups, and only some of them are relevant to a healthy baby at home.

Bacteria are single-celled and mostly harmless. A minority cause illness. Viruses are smaller, need a host to replicate, and are responsible for most of what your child will catch: colds, flu, hand foot and mouth disease, gastroenteritis. Antibiotics do nothing against them. Fungi like damp, which in Singapore means bathrooms and the back of a wardrobe. Protozoa mostly travel in contaminated water, which is not a concern with Singapore's tap supply.

A newborn's immune system is still learning, and the first few weeks warrant more care than the months that follow. That is not an argument for a sterile home. Everyday exposure is how the system develops, and babies putting things in their mouths is a developmental stage rather than a hygiene failure. Our piece on why babies mouth everything covers that.

How do you protect a newborn in the first weeks?

Narrow the list to what works.

• Everyone washes their hands before holding the baby. No exceptions for grandparents.
• Nobody with a cough, cold, fever or rash comes near. Say it before the visit, not at the door.
• No kissing the baby's face, which is how cold sores and other viruses travel.
• Keep the first month quiet. Confinement makes this easy, and the instinct to show off a newborn at a family gathering is worth resisting for a few weeks.
• Breastfeeding, if you are doing it, passes on antibodies.

A temperature of 38°C or higher in a baby under three months is a reason to go to a doctor the same day, regardless of how well the baby otherwise seems.

Cleaning and disinfecting at home

Focus on surfaces hands actually touch, rather than on floor area.

High-touch list: door handles, light switches, taps, the fridge handle, the changing mat, the high chair tray, remote controls, phone screens, and the arms of the sofa. Soap and water first to remove dirt, then a disinfectant if you want one, used according to its label including the contact time.

Singapore's humidity adds a second job. Bathrooms, the washing machine drum, air-conditioner filters and the gap behind furniture all grow mould given the chance. Squeegee the shower, run the aircon dry function, and clean the filters on the schedule in the manual rather than when you remember.

We make an all-purpose disinfectant based on hypochlorous acid, for cleaning and disinfecting hard household surfaces such as counters, door handles and taps. Follow the label, keep it off skin, and keep it off anything your baby puts in her mouth. Even so, wiping the right surfaces with ordinary soap and water beats wiping the wrong ones with anything. Our guides to disinfecting baby toys and floor cleaners for a crawling baby go into the specifics.

Food, bottles and sterilising

The CDC's guidance on infant feeding items is clear that new bottles, teats and pump parts should be sanitised before first use, and that everything needs cleaning after every use.

For babies under three months, those born prematurely, or any baby with a weakened immune system, the CDC advises sanitising feeding items daily. Boiling, steam sterilisers and dishwashers with a hot cycle all work. Air dry on a clean rack rather than towelling.

On food, the American Academy of Pediatrics gives the familiar list. Wash hands before preparing food, cook through, keep raw and cooked separate, wash boards and surfaces after raw meat, refrigerate leftovers promptly. In this heat, "promptly" means within two hours and sooner if the food has been on a table outdoors.

Germ protection when you go out

Crowds matter more than surfaces for respiratory viruses. With a very young baby, an off-peak trip to a park beats a Saturday afternoon at a mall.

Hand, foot and mouth disease, and other local bugs

HFMD is the one that defines childcare life in Singapore. The Ministry of Health and HealthHub both publish guidance, and preschools report cases and sometimes close for cleaning.

It spreads through saliva, fluid from the blisters, and stool, which is why hand washing after diaper changes and before meals matters so much. Symptoms are fever, mouth ulcers and a rash on the palms, soles and sometimes the buttocks. There is no specific treatment; keep fluids up and keep the child home until a doctor clears them. Children can shed the virus for weeks after the rash has gone, so hand hygiene continues after they return.

Dengue is the other local one, and prevention is about the mosquito rather than about germs on hands. Our dengue guide covers the symptoms and the standing water checks.

Immunisation in Singapore

This is the highest-value item on the whole page.

The National Childhood Immunisation Schedule covers, among others, hepatitis B, BCG, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. Vaccination against diphtheria and measles is a legal requirement here. Polyclinics deliver the schedule at subsidised rates, and records appear in HealthHub so you can check what is due.

Missed appointments are recoverable. Ring the polyclinic rather than waiting for the next scheduled visit, because catch-up schedules exist for exactly this.

When should you call a doctor?

Go the same day for a temperature of 38°C or higher in a baby under 3 months, 39°C or higher in a baby aged 3–6 months, or a child who is floppy, unusually drowsy or difficult to rouse.

Also go for breathing that looks laboured, with the ribs or the dip at the base of the throat pulling in; fewer than half the usual wet diapers; vomiting that stops fluids going down; a rash that does not fade when you press it; or a fever that has lasted more than three days. Our guide to bathing a newborn covers the cord care that occasionally turns into an infection worth showing someone.