Would you use child care at the gym IF. . .

[lellian]

1) There was a sign posted that as of June 14th they had an out break of Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease

2) They use only one certified child care provider for every 4 babies in a designated "baby only area" but still in the general child care room

3) EBF DD hasn't even had a cold yet at 5 1/2 months and has been the model of perfect health

DH signed us up for a fabulous gym only a mile from home thinking it would be good for me to have some time to myself. He travels for work ALL THE TIME so I have DD with me 24/7. No biggie, I love being with her. We go for walks almost daily but the heat index is dangerously high so our outdoor time has been very limited. It would be SOOOOO nice to have a little time to work out. HOWEVER, my instincts say I'm not ready to put her in "child care" of any sort just yet and risk her health or compromise her immune system. I guess I'm wondering if I'm over thinking this and should use the "free" child care so I can take care of me for 60 minutes a day especially during those really long weeks when daddy is away. The HFM Disease thing though. . .this stuff is common at any child care facility, isn't it?

TIA mamas.

[Hoopin' Mama]

I would not. If you go to story time and stuff like that, you are likely exposed to a lot of things already. But I would not want to bother introducing more sickness. Not because I'm afraid of it, simply because it's just no fun.

But then, I've never used the gym daycare. It just doesn't appeal to me.

And yes, HFM does occur at daycare facilities. OUr preschool has it once or twice a year.

[luv-my-boys]

I think I'd want to ask questions about how they handled the HFM situation. Even though it is somewhat common I still want to know how they handled it, like sanitation wise. Did they clean and disenfect the area? do they routinely clean the area, and I dont just mean vacuuming (yep I actually had our gym tell me that, no sanitizing toys (she said this while I watched a kid mouth a toy) Also what to they mean outbreak? over what period of time. For instance 1 or even 2 kids dosent an outbreak make imo but several children over a course of time leads me to believe they arnt doing enough to keep the area clean and seperated (if its over a wide age range).

[cristeen]

Honestly, we got HFM without any childcare situation - from another child who's never been in childcare. He gave it to his mom, who gave it to me, and I gave it to my little. If you're in contact with other people at all, you're risking disease. Period. You can't live in a bubble. And really, that was 2 weeks ago - there will always have been something going through at some point in the recent past. I just don't believe in living scared.

If your LO is BF, chances are good that if she gets sick it will be mild. And she will get sick at some point. It can't be helped.

As for the 4:1 ratio, that's standard in childcare settings for babies under 18 mos.

[lolar2]

I might wait a couple of weeks or something, but I'm hardly an epidemiologist. Does the gym have a pool offering Mommy-and-Me swim classes? That could be nice. I liked doing that with DS (he was 16 months but could have gone from birth) because he was so much lighter to carry in the water. It wasn't a hard-driving workout for me but it did give me some exercise. I've heard of Mommy-and-Me yoga classes too. You might also be able to wear the baby on your back while walking on the track, if that's allowed. I'm just trying to think of ways you can use the gym until you feel better about the child care.

[nola79]

Originally Posted by cristeen

As for the 4:1 ratio, that's standard in childcare settings for babies under 18 mos.

I would check it out and see how you like the feel of it before making a decision. Maybe go without your LO and ask some questions and see what the atmosphere is like. Guess I'm another vote for not living scared as far as the HFM aspect.
For the record, I have used childcare of some sort for both of mine. Full time daycare for work for ds and gym childcare for dd, and they hardly ever get sick.

[lach]

Childhood illnesses like HFM are just an occupational hazard of being a child. HFM sucks, but it happens in places that young children congregate. Colds aren't a huge deal to me: one of my kids got every germ within a mile of her, the other is almost never sick. Agree with the poster who says you can't put them in a bubble forever.

1:4 sounds fine to me. At the gym daycare I go to, at least 1/2 the babies in the baby room are usually asleep in their carseat or stroller... parents bring them in at naptime on purpose. The others are rolling around the floor, either playing with toys or being played with. If they're grumpy being held or pushed in a stroller. This is in a special under 1 area so there aren't any older kids tripping over them. I don't know exactly what their baby:caretaker ratio is, but I'd guess it's between 1:4 and 1:6 and I love it because I feel the babies get so much attention.

[lifeguard]

Part of it would depend on the set up of the gym. My current gym doesn't have childcare at all but at previous gym's I've been to they have. At one the childcare was upstairs while the gym was downstairs - I don't think I would have been comfortable with that. But at my last gym the childcare was right off the main gym area with a windowed door - I could see ds anytime I wanted to.

As for hfm, I agree with pp to ask how they dealt with it. Anytime you have areas with lots of children there are going to be outbreaks of different things.

With the 1:4 ratio - if you figure out when the quieter times are you can be more likely to have a lower ratio if that is what you like.

[tzs]

i'd totally do it. man, i'd love to have a gym membership with a daycare....sigh.

hand/foot/mouth is totally common in daycares, it can be very mild, and yeah, an "outbreak" can be only one child. we had an "outbreak" in my 2 year-old class and only one kid got it. even with all the toy mouthing.

and the 1:4 ratio is the standard. 1:6 once they turn 2, i think.

IMO, germs are a good thing. i SAH with dd and since she's not in daycare i actually "worry" about her getting enough germs. and by "worry" i just mean i let her gum on pretty much any public surface she wants. i had a baby cousin who was raised in a bubble and was the sickest 5 year old in kindergarden.

[lellian]

Thanks for your replies, mamas. I guess being a first time mama I don't know enough about HFM. I looked on line when I got home, and it sounded HORRIBLE, but I also didn't realize it was that common. The lady in charge of the child care told me to come in any time and hang out with DD to see how they run things, that I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted. She said they sanitize toys every night, but that there isn't a time when someone (a child or a worker) doesn't have a minor cough.

I don't want DD to live in a bubble. I'm just new to this, and without vaccinating my DH thinks this puts her more at risk.

We are going to go over to the gym tonight to play in the pool, so I'll have the opportunity to ask more questions. But really, it kinda sounds like from your responses that HFM is just a cold virus. Am I over thinking?

TIA

[jennybear]

Sure.

Enjoy!

[Calee]

I would do it....

Since you are a SAHM, could you ask when their least busy times of day are, and go then? If there were less kids in there, maybe you would feel more comfortable.

[PancakesMancakes]

Yes, I'd go. An hour isn't going to hurt & you'll feel great after a workout

[hartfelt]

i would not. no way.

[tzs]

Originally Posted by hartfelt

i would not. no way.

how come?
just curious.

[MeepyCat]

I agree that HFM sounds horrible, but it is an occupational hazard of being a kid. And it's not a vaccine preventable illness - you could vax your baby to the gills and make no difference.

The gym daycare you've described sounds great, and I would not hesitate to use it myself. If my partner was out of town as much as it sounds like yours is, I might not even work out - baby in nice gym childcare, and mama gets an uninterrupted shower.

[Pookietooth]

I think I would probably, just so the baby gets used to someone other than you. My ds at seven still has terrible separation anxiety and I can't leave him with anyone without a struggle, so I wish I'd put him into some sort of daycare situation regularly from the beginning, even just for an hour or two here and there.

[lach]

Originally Posted by MeepyCat

The gym daycare you've described sounds great, and I would not hesitate to use it myself. If my partner was out of town as much as it sounds like yours is, I might not even work out - baby in nice gym childcare, and mama gets an uninterrupted shower.

(I may have perhaps done this. Quite a bit this summer. I busted my knee and can't work out, and the Y has such lovely air conditioning. And my kids like to play with all the toys and the other kids, and I like to sit in the lobby and read. And I'm paying my membership fee, darn it, and can't work out even if I want to... so I may as well get some babysitting in return for my money! And did I mention the air conditioning?)

[tzs]

Originally Posted by lach

(I may have perhaps done this. Quite a bit this summer. I busted my knee and can't work out, and the Y has such lovely air conditioning. And my kids like to play with all the toys and the other kids, and I like to sit in the lobby and read. And I'm paying my membership fee, darn it, and can't work out even if I want to... so I may as well get some babysitting in return for my money! And did I mention the air conditioning?)

ha ha!
you know....i hate working out but it may be worth joining a gym for the air conditioning....

[nextcommercial]

I'd probably give it a try. Get the free two week membership first.

I'd be much less likely if it were mid to late fall, because illnesses are more common. But, since it's summer, I'd check it out. You don't have to sign up if you don't feel comfortable dropping her off. That's why those free trials are so nice.

I wouldn't join a gym unless they allowed month to month, and the option to freeze your account if you'd like to take a few months off.