The alcohol based hand sanitizers work by dehydrating germs. This is not a mechanism that they can easily evolve a defense to, so there is not a danger of reducing sensitivity. Triclosan based "antibacterial" soaps, on the other hand, need to be in contact with germs for 20 mins in order to kill them, and persist on surfaces. On surfaces (sinks, handles, etc), these compounds could easily provoke bacterial resistence. Since triclosan works the same way the beta-lactam antibiotics (pennicillins) do, this could be big trouble. It makes sense to switch to the alcohol based hand sanitizers in a hospital environment. In my private practice, I do handwashing with whatever soap the parents have, and carry a bottle of alcohol based hand sanitizer for use if the baby or mom has yeast, staph, or any other visible rash or infection. I use nylon gloves if touching the nipple area or the baby's mouth. And I wash my hands before I leave the home as well as when I arrive, and in between as needed. I clean my scale and pumps with disinfecting wipes, and use a clean cloth diaper to line the scale for each baby. So far, this strategy has worked well. When I visit a baby in NICU, I use the surgical scrub brushes and iodine based soaps provided there. -- Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC New York City mailto:[log in to unmask] *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html