Daycare and Nonvaxed kiddos!

[nicholem]

I am a SAHM. But, due to financial needs, i may have to go back to work. In deciding about childcare, I am trying to figure out if I want a group place or a nanny. I have read that if you don't vax...don't take you kid to daycare. Any thoughts or experiences? BTW my kids are 10 months and 3. THANKS!!!!!

[jakesmama]

When our dd was 6 wks old I had to go back to work (I was a center director and she was in our infant room). DD spent 12 hours a day in care, unvaxed. Now she is at home with Grandma and a vaxed cousin.

While in care she was exposed to the following (all from vaxed babies btw):
*Pertussis
*RSV
*Chicken pox (the baby became symptomatic over the weekend so she wasn't necessarily exposed)
She didn't catch or pass on anything.
Now things that do go around whether one is vaxed or not is another story. Expect lots of colds, coughs, and other things. Let's just say K has an excellent immune system now! I have a vaxed 6 yo and he and his sister caught the same number of bugs so I'd say (from my own experience) that non-vaxed kiddos do just fine in child care.

[Marnica]

My 7 month old unvaxed son is in daycare. Do you BF? that confers alot of protection. He has only has a couple of colds/coughs which I was actually happy about since you ant your child to have a chance to build a strong healthy immune system by being challenged!

[nicholem]

Yes, I do BF and I plan on doing so for as long as I can! I LOVE IT!!! Thanks for your responses, it makes me feel a LITTLE better about taking them to daycare...although I really wish I could stay home with them.

[willsmom216]

I have a 22 month old unvaxed in child care. We just switched him to a center from a home at 15 months old. I still breastfeed and I think that helps a ton.... BUT we still get our fair share of colds etc...I just think it is him developing his immunity.

We have chicken pox right now (but we deliberately sought that out)

Good Luck!

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by nicholem

I have read that if you don't vax...don't take you kid to daycare.

Well I don't see why not?

I have two completely vaccine free grandkids and they have been with lots of kids from a very age on. Although they don't go to day care, but they go to many kids' classes, like music, foreign language Kindergarten, mommy groups, and the oldest is going to start regular Kindergarten this Fall.

We (his mom) have never worried about his vaccine status. And they are both very healthy in spite of it. Actually we think BECAUSE of being exposed to so much and so early.

[anewmama]

Well, I can see why, particularly if it's in a center.

My daughter was in a larger center from 4 months until 16.5 months. She was in the infant room and for most of the time, she had a runny nose. Constantly running. And she got sick what seemed like a lot, including possibly getting pneumonia and a staff infection. She got pink-eye twice and probably rotavirus (major tummy/diahrea bug going around). There are probably about 80 kids in the whole place but she was in the infant room. It's nerve wracking to see the Health Department warnings on the doors.

When she was 16.5 we moved her to a in-home daycare where there are max 8 kids but not always at the same time. Some days there are only 4. Her runny nose went away and she hasn't been sick. But due to in-home going on vacation, we took her back to the center for a week and 1 day. The 1 day was on a Tuesday. By Thursday she was sick and was sick for the next 5 days. Then she went to daycare for a week the following week. Chicken pox and Foot and mouth were posted even though they weren't there the week before.

With infants, it's a little different because no matter what, they are always sharing the same toys, drooling over them, mouthing them and what not. And despite them cleaning the place thoroughly at the end of each day, there were always bugs making their way around.

And the other side effect... WE got really sick from everything she brought home.

My DD is unvaxed though and though I haven't worried about her getting a VPD there, I worried more about all the other bugs.

If I were to do it again, I would have tried to find an in-home care place for her sooner. If you can find one, a good one, it's such a difference. I think my daughter would have stayed healthier if she had not been at that center.

[nicholem]

Thanks for your reply...it is VERY helpful!

[tanyalynn]

One of the benefits we've seen from not vaccinating is that I felt strongly motivated to figure out how to deal with illnesses, since my 4mo son would be in daycare and my older child had gotten sick a fair number of times while in daycare. I'd been figuring I may need to deal with a VAD, but I never did, just regular illnesses as far as I can tell.

My kids were always in a home-based daycare, so I can't compare, but part of the reason for that was the lower level of illnesses I expected to be circulating. Searching in H&H should yield good ideas on how to prevent illness and how to treat it, and that was huge for us, since my son's got some health things going on and he got sick a whole lot. Life could've been pretty grim and filled with pediatrician visits if I hadn't had a few things to do at home.

Oh, and fwiw, both kids seemed to get sick more severely after they started solids, I think it was the change in their gut flora.

[EVC]

I have read that if you don't vax...don't take you kid to daycare.

Huh. I have to disagree. My dd (just over 3 now) has been in a daycare center since she was 10 months old. She's about as healthy as a kid can be The first few months involed A LOT of coughs and runny noses, but that has nothing to do with vax status anyway