This is my my medicine cabinet, and notice that there are TWO tubes of toothpaste. One on the middle shelf, and one on the bottom. That's right, each of us in our family has our own tube of toothpaste. It's one way we have found to cut down on spreading germs. There's nothing worse than having one person in the family with a nasty chest cold or stomach flu, have them use the tube of toothpaste, then have another family member use it. Tada! Another sick person.
It may seem like we are over reacting to germs, but our kids have been in the hospital 14 times (12 of those were for asthma.) We had to try something new along the way. So the first thing that goes in the trash when the kids are sick is the toothbrush. Otherwise you can re-infect yourself. Blech.
Then we each have our own tube of toothpaste. Many times you can spread an infection before you even realize that you are sick. have you ever woken up with a fever or start throwing up in the middle of the night and think, "oh great?!" So, this is one way of protecting yourself from everyone else's germs. Tubes of toothpaste aren't that expensive, they're certainly less than it would cost for a trip to the pediatrican.
So, try it and see if it works in your family! I'm all for less sick days! If anyone else has tried something that works in their family and seems to cut down on sick days, let me know.