We all do it.... we get busy, have our hands full, are talking on the phone ... and we end up walking into our houses with our shoes on. Across our beautiful floors and essentially tracking the entire world in with us. 
I always think back to NYC and LA (no offense guys), and how dirty the sidewalks are there. From animal waste to garbage sitting and waiting for pickup - our shoes touch all of this.  If you have pets in these places I shudder to think of the stuff they bring in. 
Here are a "few" issues ... affecting floors, your flooring and the potential spread of infectious diseases to your baby:

Step 1: Infected person coughs or sneezes, producing respiratory droplets that contain bacteria or viruses that land on surfaces in their location.

Step 2: Bacteria or virus is now transferred onto various surfaces, including the floor.

Step 3: Person walks on the floor, and bacteria or virus is now transferred onto their shoes. Risk of virus spreads as they walk around from the soles of shoes or aerosolizing back into the air.

Step 4: Person returns home, further spreading the virus.

Step 5: Person takes off their shoes. Bacteria or virus has now transferred onto their hands.

Step 6: Person, not knowing the virus is on their hands, touches their face, increasing the likelihood they become infected.

As the largest horizontal surface in a building, the floor is a breeding ground for all types of germs and contaminants. Appropriate cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting guidelines and regular floor maintenance are key components to successful infection-risk mitigation.
When people enter a building, unless they can visibly see a dirty floor, they may not think about the floors as a source of germs that can make them sick. But there is research that shows floors are covered with germs that can be a potential source of infection.
Even if we don’t directly touch the floors, most of us don’t consider what may be on our shoes or socks. We most likely do not think to wash our hands with soap and water every time we put on or remove our shoes.
By washing your hands and minimizing your interaction with floors, you can decrease your risk of infection and the risk of spreading infection to others.
We need to be better educated on which germs can survive on floors and how they spread.
A study published by Deshpande and colleagues in the American Journal of Infection Control focused on what bacteria might live on floors of hospitals. The researchers used swabs and then cultured the samples from 120 floor sites among four Cleveland-area hospitals. The bacteria they found that could lead to hospital-acquired infections included:

• 22% of the floor sites were positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which can cause skin infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia and is resistant to many common antibiotics.
• 33% of the floor sites were positive for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), which can cause urinary tract infections and wound infections, a real concern. And in addition, it is resistant to vancomycin, an important antibiotic.
• 72% of floor sites were positive for Clostridium difficile (C. diff), which causes severe diarrhea. This study found that C. difficile was not only found on floors in isolation rooms where people with this infection are kept but also in other rooms where people did not have this infection. This shows that C. difficile is able to spread between rooms and can survive on floors
• 24% of high-touch objects that were in contact with the floor were contaminated with more than one bacterium.
• 57% of contaminated objects in contact with the floor transferred bacteria to hands. 

(Cross, 2022)

With all of that being said.... Squishy Mats are a safe place; soft, sanitary, portable, washable & BLEACHABLE. I cannot express the magic of this feature. Whether the dog gets to it, the baby throws up on it, you drench it at the pool, load it full of sand at the beach - IT DOESN'T MATTER. 

To answer the question, "Can bare floors hurt your baby?" The answer is yes. While children need a certain amount of bacteria in their lives they don't need Typhoid Fever.

You will always need a place to sit on the floor, always need a place to change a diaper.... always need a place to sit kids with their Play-Doh (trust me - cleanup is brilliant; 1 ) fold mat  2) drop gunk into garbage 3) wash mat w/ bleach). Squishy Mats are a product that has so many uses you will lose track. They grow with your child and therefor their use evolves making them an investment, not a product you will toss when Baby hits 1. 

Give us a try - if you aren't 100% satisfied we will refund you!