Is dd going to be sick all of the time from daycare?

[chipper26]

My dd's pediatrician said today that children my dd's age (18 mos.) average 8-10 colds a year. What? She's home with me right now but will be going to daycare in the fall after she turns 2. What is your experience with daycare? Do kids get sick A LOT more b/c of it.

We do go places to be exposed to other kids, etc, but I do takes some precautions like wipes or washing her hands after the playground or a busy place with lots of kids.

Is my dd's immune system less strong b/c she hasn't been exposed to as much as other kids? She's only had about 2-3 colds/sickness bouts her whole life. I was thinking it's b/c we've been breastfeeding all of this time and that's helped a lot. Plus, I've been a fanatic about healthy food and getting her enough sleep. I've also attributed it to luck.

Anyway, have your toddlers been sick a lot? Do you attribute it to luck, bad luck, lifestyle, staying home or daycare, etc.? I'm just wondering what's in store for dd.

[Picard]

DS (20 months) has had two colds and one childhood illness (Roseola). He caught both colds while being at medical care centers for unrelated stuff. He still BFs. I do think that it has to do with lifestyle. I am somewhat on the paranoid side with regards to him catching colds or the flu, and I take the usual precautions like washing hands after having been outside touching common surfaces.

I am in a position to stay home with him and I prefer that over him going to daycare. I do think that kids in daycare get sick more. I also find it hard to believe that toddlers get so many colds on average! While the Swine flu was raging through our city, I took extra precautions and just stuck to activities where there were not too many people around. Ultimately, I think that it is a trade off. When your child is in daycare, your child is exposed to other kids all the time and they learn social interaction perhaps a lot quicker than when they are at home.

[GeeDee]

It all depends on your child really... some are just prone to catch stuff easier then others.

[MissE]

DS has been in daycare since he was 18 months old. He was sick for a year STRAIGHT after he started. Really, we were only healthy during school breaks. Other than that we had bronchitis, snotty noses, coughs but nothing really serious. Now (he's 33 months old) it's a lot better and the best of all is that DD (17mo) went through everything with DS so I'm hoping we're done with the constant sickness.

[NaturallyPeachey]

My pediatrician said to me the last time we were there it's either now or in kindergarten.

We eat few processed foods and DS (20 months) gets a probiotic, Vit. D and fish oil every day. I'm also religious about wipes and hand washing because DS is a finger sucker. We started part time day care this past fall and this winter he has been sick often with something ranging from mild colds to stomach viruses. He was home with me for the first year of his life and we did lots of playgroups and outings during that time. He's just being exposed to so many more kids and germs now I'm hoping next winter will be better. I do think some kids are more prone to getting sick than others. My MIL always tells me how DH was sick as a kid all the time so who knows if that has anything to do with it.

[meemee]

as pp said its so much about the indiv body make up.

when dd was in dc from 2 to 4 she had continuous runny nose all winter. nothing else. at ages 2 and 3 she had a runny nose from nov to feb/march. then by the time she was 4 she has never had a cold. she is 7 now and still hasnt had even one cold since her last one when seh was 3.

when we were little and being brought up the same - my bro was continually sick. i never was. rarely.

[AndrewsMother]

I believe that it has to do more with the individual child. My son is almost four, and I can count on one hand how many times we have missed school/work/church/some other event because of illnesses acquired at childcare. However, he has caught quite a few bugs from E.R. visits.

A clean center, and a strictly enforced sick policy are key to preventing the spread of illness.


I have a friend who is a SAHM, and her children are always sick.

[ASusan]

As I recall, the first few months were the worst. Mostly colds, although he did get HFM during that time.

He's been fine for the past 6-8 months, maybe one cold in there. It's tough for me to differentiate between a runny nose associated with a cold and an allergy one.

like PP said, individual differences, and it's likely to happen when they enter K, if not now.

[GardenStream]

I think it really depends on the child. I thought my DS was going to sick constantly once he started going to day care. He started going about 6 months ago and the worst I have seen is a runny nose for a week. We aren't all that vigilent about hand washing either.

[MeepyCat]

Kids often get sick a lot right when they start daycare, but after a while, it stops. And, as a PP pointed out, if they don't go through this earlier, they often go through it in kindy.

[RunningMomTegan]

My son hasn't caught anything TERRIBLE from daycare. He has a runny nose sometimes, but I think that's part of the season. He got a GI bug once since he's been at daycare, but he got one when he was staying with my mom the first year, too!

The one thing that works in our favor at his daycare is that about half the kids are only there part-time/only there for socialization so when kids are sick, they stay home. That, in my opinion, is the biggest factor in whether sickness runs rampant.

[marispel]

My DS was home with us (well a nanny too since I WFH) until he 14 months old. He had 3 little colds before starting DC. 3 days after starting DC he caught a cold. Since then he constantly has a runny nose...as do all the kids in DC. He has also had 3 ear infections back to back to back. PLUS..my DH and I also catch the colds.

On our last visit to the Ped. our Dr. said that he will be the healthiest kindergartener. He is building his immunity system now (& so are we).

Everything that I've read says...yes, your LO will constantly be sick after starting DC.

[rozziemama]

my 14 m.o. DS has been in daycare since he was 12 WEEKS old, and the pediatrician let me know that we can expect him to catch a different cold EVERY TWO WEEKS. I have to say, it is probably the truth. There are only 5 little ones at this family daycare, it's a great place, but someone always has a runny nose or cough.
When I freaked out about it the pediatrician told me with a smile that he was "working on his immune system."
But I guess after a year of it, I think it's true.
He got sick with an actual fever/more serious illness twice in his first year of life - but otherwise it's just been a cold/runny nose. Nothing more.
Now that he's 14 months, I actually do wonder if he is stronger.
We were just away with friends for a week, and there were 5 little ones running around, two with pretty bad colds, and he didn't get it.
We still BF twice a day, and I try to take other precautions, like washing his hands when he comes home, and he does take a multivitamin with Vit C, he eats A LOT of yogurt and other priobiotic stuff, good amount of fruit & veggies, etc.
Honestly the worst part about it is when DH or I catch the cold. Our immune systems are run down from lack of sleep most of the time, and we can often be knocked out of commission by one of these daycare colds!

[Tilia]

My DD has been in daycare for about a year, age 3-4. She is sick a ton, but nothing serious. She has a runny nose and a light cough often. She has had a fever about 6 times, one stomach bug, H1N1, roseola, and a couple chest cold.

Before daycare, she only got sick a couple times a year.

[sarah1122]

My ds started daycare two days a week when he was 11 months. He'd never had so much as a sniffle before that...

...but he caught a cold after his first week there. He (and I as a result) were sick on and off for the first two months, but it seems to have stopped. Make sure you choose a place with parents who are conscious about keeping their children home and be sure to do the same with your babe.

[rozziemama]

Originally Posted by sarah1122

My ds started daycare two days a week when he was 11 months. He'd never had so much as a sniffle before that...

...but he caught a cold after his first week there. He (and I as a result) were sick on and off for the first two months, but it seems to have stopped. Make sure you choose a place with parents who are conscious about keeping their children home and be sure to do the same with your babe.

This is really the root of it all, if you ask me. The official policy is children who have fevers stay home... and the daycare provider will take a kids temp if s/he seems to have a fever, and send them home.
But I think otherwise its hard. It's a bigger - almost a policy - issue... parents with kids in daycare are usually working full time at places that have limited sick/vacation days, so I think if the kid just has a bad cold they don't want to waste a day home - what if s/he gets a fever after that, then they'll really have to stay home.
So the colds are spread, unfortunately.
It sucks. We are lucky to have two pretty flexible jobs that are very family friendly, but even so, I've caught myself in that position once or twice when I stop and say "WTF. I am deciding between staying home with my sick baby and handing in that stupid report???" It's an awful thing.
Wow. Sorry for taking this on a tangent.

[betsyj]

My ds started daycare last October and we were all sick until May. It was awful. He caught roseola, HFM disease, scabies, pink eye, colds, RSV, blah blah blah. It was a sucky few months.

This year he has yet to catch anything, and neither have we. It is much better this year so I tihnk his immune system caught up. He is still bf'ing too.

[JL83]

My DD was in daycare from 18 months to 3yo.

She only got sick a couple times. She got a couple colds that kept her home for maybe 1 or 2 days, and she got a stomach bug once. That was it.

BUT, before she started there we did alot of stuff with other kids and we have never been into wiping or cleaning her all the time. So she was exposed to alot of germs before daycare.

The center also had a pretty strict (actually, very strict compared to what I hear from other people) sick kid policy. They had no problems segregating a sick kid to the office and calling all the contact numbers to get the kid picked up quickly. During our time there quite a few families were there for a month or two and left because they felt the sick policy was too strict.

[luv-my-boys]

I think a lot of things come into play. One of them being how healthy your child's immune system is, obviously BF is giving them a boost imo. but it also depends on the other children there. Are their parents keeping them home when they should be and are the staff diligent about calling parents to pick them up. Another thing is the cleanliness of the place. I dont mean spraying lysol on everything but how conscientous they are about things like washing the childrens hands before eating, sanitizing toys if they are mouthed and such. Its a tricky thing. In one preschool the majority of moms were SAHM and therefore there were never "sick" kids there. In the current preschool we have our youngest in a large portion of the parents work or go to school so in a lot of ways they depend on the preschool for "daycare" so we often see children trying to "get by" but the director is really good at keeping at watch at drop off.

[jadedqueen123]

DD is home with me but we have went to story time at the library, church nursery and playgroup and the child center at the Y. Without fail she gets sick after church nursery school. The room is tiny that the toddlers are in and I believe this contributes to it. She is just recovering from a nasty stomach bug which is the worst illness she has had so far. She is still nursing and other than a few colds was pretty healthy until we started church. Not sure if I will keep exposing her there or just keep her upstairs with me during service. I am getting pretty tired of her getting ill every time we go!