Keep a dirty house!

[tracilicious]

I still do that. You can really tell the quality of a restaurant by the taste of its tables.

Do you wash your hands after you go to the bathroom? Of course you do. Why? To prevent the spread of germs so that you (and those around you) get sick less. Hygiene practices are what has made modern society so much healthier than, say, medieval England.

For reals, I'm not a germaphobe. I'm all for many people holding a baby, letting them play on floors, in the mud, whatever. But I guarantee you that no one in this thread would go into a public bathroom, set their crawling baby down on the floor and then let him stick his hands in his mouth. But I'm willing to bet that the germ factor on a shopping cart handle rivals the bathroom floor.

Now, I didn't always use a cart cover, and no one died from the lack of one, but some preventative hygienic baby measures will mean your little one gets sick less often. And honestly, as far as building a strong immune system goes, whether you breastfeed or not and the quality of foods a child eats after babyhood will have a much bigger impact.

The cart covers also make the baby much more comfortable. Trust me, if you are in a grocery store alone with a little baby, you want the baby to be comfortable.