The predominant pathways for fecal‐oral transmission of bacteria for infants may differ from adults and these have not been studied. We conducted direct observation of 23 caregiver‐infant pairs for a total of 130 hours and recorded WASH related behaviors. We identified “potential key vectors” for fecal‐oral transmission of bacteria and enumerated Escherichia coli, Total coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae and total aerobic counts. In addition to infant's fingers, food, and drinking water, three infants actively ingested soil 11.3 ±9.2 times (mean ±SD) and two ingested chicken feces 2± 1.4 times in 6 hours. Infants’ hands were rarely washed and never with soap unless as part of a bath. Drinking water was contaminated with E. coli in 12/22 (54.5 %) households, while no infant food samples tested positive for E coli. Quantitatively, a year old infant ingesting 1 gram chicken feces in a day, 20 grams of soil from a laundry area of the kitchen yard and 400 ml of contaminated water consumes 4,700,000 to 23,000,000, 440 to 4,240 and 400 to 1,200 E. coli counts, respectively, from these sources. These findings suggest that predominant pathways for fecal‐oral transmission of bacteria among infants include direct ingestion of soil and chicken. Behavior change education should include breaking socio‐cultural beliefs that soil ingestion is beneficial for infant health, which are common throughout the world.Grant Funding Source : Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom