I've Been Preaching This For Years

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- Little Madison Sukenik crawls around her Fort Lauderdale home, grabbing everything in sight, putting much of it in her mouth. A piece of French toast that has fallen on the floor, a ball that her dog, Nugget, just chewed on, a shoe -- all get chomped on.

So are her parents freaked out? Running for the antibacterial mouthwash?

No -- Michelle and Mark Sukenik are more than happy to let 14-month-old Madison crawl around the house, restaurants, even her doctor's office, and put her fingers and other objects into her mouth. In fact, Mark is a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist and he says exposure to germs will build up her immunity.

Now some immunology experts are beginning to agree that germs that many parents bleach and disinfect out of existence might help children.