Preventing illness when in daycare

[2happymamas]

DD, 16 months, started daycare for the first time this past week. She will be there 2 to 3 days per week. I knew she would probbly get sick more often, but she already has green snot pouring out of her nose and she only went 2.5 days last week!

Other that nursing, which she is still doing, what are some tips to prevent some of the illnesses?

[One_Girl]

Frequent handwashing and wiping down the cart before putting her in it may help, but I think you need to just expect that a baby sharing an environment with other small children will get sick. I stayed home with my dd during her first year of life, carried her everywhere, and nursed her and she still got five colds and two ear infections and her doctor told me that she was happy with how healthy my dd was.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Not sure there's anything you can do. My son has been at 3 different places. Each time, there was an almost instant round of illnesses. This is the first winter that he wasn't constantly ill all winter. Maybe he's finally got that immune system people talk about!

[Rosehip]

Originally Posted by RollerCoasterMama

Not sure there's anything you can do. My son has been at 3 different places. Each time, there was an almost instant round of illnesses. This is the first winter that he wasn't constantly ill all winter. Maybe he's finally got that immune system people talk about!

I agree.

[moonyoungi]

Yes...other than trying to keep her immune system up with good nutrition and nursing, I don't know what to tell you.
Kids get sick at daycare. I think it does get better somewhat over time.

[GuildJenn]

If you find a cure, patent it and you will be rich.

When your child is old enough (not for a few years) you can talk to her about good hygiene and stuff. But meanwhile - it's not going to help much. We did start wiping hands before going home and washing hands and changing clothes as soon as we got home but I think that was more for me than of any real benefit.

Remember too that it's not really the length of time your child is there - a few touches and touching her face is all she needs. So don't feel like if you just get there a bit earlier she won't catch things. Enjoy the days she is not home sick.

[Peppermint Poppies]

I feel for you!

We started daycare 3 weeks ago. The first week DS(3) and DD(1) were there for 4 hrs on Monday and 5 hrs on Wednesday. The second and third week, they (and I, and DH) were so sick that they couldn't go to daycare at all. I was so cranky that a few hours led to 2 weeks of illness for the whole family! Plus the cost of daycare when they're not there ~ $700 for the 2 weeks they were both sick. It makes my hair stand to end to think about it.

[gmvh]

We may be in the complete minority here, but my children started attending childcare when they were 3y6m, are now 5y7m, and they have not really gotten sick. A lot of our friends attend a Montessori school and they're always getting puking illnesses. The Y my children attend cleans and cleans and cleans. I will give you that my children are older, nursed until they were just shy of four but my daughter still has her hands in her mouth all. the. time. When they were in the four year old room, they would line the children up and one of the staff would literally wash each persons hands for them before lunch. They also have the bathrooms set up in such a way that the children cannot get out without washing their hands - a staff member is there monitoring it. I'm not sure whether it helps but we've had little to no illness here and there's been some yucky stuff posted in the building. Good luck, I think a strong immune system will develop!

[r&mmommy]

I think the best thing you can do is find out what your child care's sanitation policies are. They should be sanitizing toys and surfaces regularly, having the children and care givers wash their hands frequently, and keeping sick children and staff HOME.
Good Luck!!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Ohhh, can I show this thread to my boss please? I got the "Your kids are sick to often, maybe you should talk to their doctor" threat a couple months ago. Yea, thanks for your sympathy lady, because having sick babies wasnt bad enough.

I dont like antibacterial soap, but I bought it for the winter, and the anti wipes for things like the shopping cart and those stooopid racing car shopping carts my kids love so freaking much. Hand sanitzer, and the clorox wipes. I will not use this stuff in the summer/fall months, and I try to plan for illnesses as much as possible. I mean, have you actually ever WATCHED kids in a daycare setting? Its no wonder they are always sick! They put the mouths/hands on EVERYTHING, including eachother! and then it habitually goes into their mouths.

[poorlittlefish]

This might not totally help you but what has worked for us is chosing a small, home based daycare. My nephews and several of my friends have their children is large center care. They are sick constantly. I am not sure it has anything to do with the cleanliness but more just the sheer number of other children that they come into contact with. My home daycare is very clean and there are only 4 children there. That said, I supplement my daughter with Vit. D and a good multi. She stayed home 1 day this past winter which for MN, is a big deal.

Goodl uck!

[Hannah'sMommy]

Our DD (8.5 months) goes to a small home based daycare, along with only 4 other kids right now. And, they all came down with colds starting last Thursday and Friday. Of course, DH and I got it too The babysitter is really good about cleaning things too, washingtoys and spraying sanitizer evenings, naptimes, etc. But, it's just something that happens. DD has had I think 4 colds now and 2 double ear infections. I just take it as it's part of having a baby, and it just builds her immune system. It sucks, I feel so bad when she's sick, we all lose sleep... but, they have to start building their immune systems at some point, whether it's when they are 5 months, 18 months, 2 years, etc.

[sewchris2642]

My belief is that it's better children are exposed to germs early when their systems are better equipped to handle it and get the immunities out of the way before school age when absences have greater impact. And regardless of whether or not later children go to dc, they will also get sick because the older siblings will bring all kinds of germs home from school. And adults bring home germs from work. It's an inescapable part of our world. And could have nothing to do with starting dc.

[lunarlady]

My DD got sick a lot the first 8 months or so she was in care, but is very rarely sick now. I think they just get an immune system that is super strong from all the exposure. But it does suck at first. Hang in there!