Chapter 3: Health Promotion and Protection
3.3 Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting
3.3.0
3.3.0.2: Cleaning and Sanitizing Toys
Toys that cannot be cleaned and sanitized should not be used. Toys that children have placed in their mouths or that are otherwise contaminated by body secretion or excretion should be set aside until they are cleaned by hand with water and detergent, rinsed, sanitized, and air-dried or in a mechanical dishwasher that meets the requirements of Standard 4.9.0.11 through Standard 4.9.0.13. Play with plastic or play foods, play dishes and utensils, should be closely supervised to prevent shared mouthing of these toys.
Machine washable cloth toys should be used by one individual at a time. These toys should be laundered before being used by another child.
Indoor toys should not be shared between groups of infants or toddlers unless they are washed and sanitized before being moved from one group to the other.
RATIONALE
Contamination of hands, toys and other objects in child care areas has played a role in the transmission of diseases in child care settings (1). All toys can spread disease when children put the toys in their mouths, touch the toys after putting their hands in their mouths during play or eating, or after toileting with inadequate hand hygiene. Using a mechanical dishwasher is an acceptable labor-saving approach for sanitizing plastic toys as long as the dishwasher can wash and sanitize the surfaces and dishes and cutlery are not washed at the same time (1).COMMENTS
Small toys with hard surfaces can be set aside for cleaning by putting them into a dish pan labeled “soiled toys.” This dish pan can contain soapy water to begin removal of soil, or it can be a dry container used to bring the soiled toys to a toy cleaning area later in the day. Having enough toys to rotate through cleaning makes this method of preferred cleaning possible.TYPE OF FACILITY
Center, Large Family Child Care HomeRELATED STANDARDS
3.3.0.1 Routine Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting4.9.0.11 Dishwashing in Centers
4.9.0.12 Dishwashing in Small and Large Family Child Care Homes
4.9.0.13 Method for Washing Dishes by Hand
Appendix K: Routine Schedule for Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting
REFERENCES
- Grenier, D., D. Leduc, eds. 2008. Preventing infections. In Well beings. 3rd ed. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Paediatric Society