Putting DS in daycare for the 1st time.. was yours always sick?

[Crazybean]

I know the first year in daycare many kids catch everything going around on a weekly basis. Did you find this to be true? I'm worried about the winter months this year because I have a newborn. Once the baby is a little older (like 6 months or so) I 'd feel better about dealing with illnesses.

Right now I'm weighing the options- daycare is cheaper than our babysitter and keeping 3 year old DS home potentially exposes him to less things that can be passed to baby. (I know germs are everywhere).

Next semester, both baby and DS will be home with babysitter because then babysitter will be cheaper than daycare so it is worth it for one semester?

[bella99]

My daughter started daycare when she was 3 months old and yes, she had a number of colds in the first year. It was never worse than that and she never got a fever from any of them. My daughter has a happy disposition, so even though she had a harder time at night while sleeping, she was still in a very good mood during all her colds.

Now at 21 months old, it's been months since she's had any kind of cold or other illness (knock on wood).

My husband and I are not particularly careful about germ exposure. We practice good hygiene of course, but we also believe that germ exposure is an important part of developing a health and strong immune system.

Some studies even suggest that child who attend daycare have less school absences in the first year of attending school.

[Qbear'smama]

Yes, DD was almost 2 when she started at a large daycare/preschool and she had a runny nose from November til May, a few bouts of throwing up for a day or two (viruses, we thought) and a few minor fevers, nothing serious but she definitely had back-to-back colds and coughs the whole winter that year and most of the kids in her class seemed to be the same. Prior to that she was in a private home care situation with 2 other LOs and she was way less sick. The number of kids at a bigger place and the way little ones are just make it more likely for him to catch everything going around and there's always something going around. Mind you, at your DS's age there may be less blatant sneezing and coughing on each other, sharing drinks, wiping noses with hands etc. (younger toddlers so don't care about that kind of thing!) so it could be better...?

[journeymom]

Yes, after dd started preschool when she was 4 y.o., all of us started getting colds. Prior to that dh and I both had gone several years without getting seasonal colds or the flu. She started preschool and bam! we all got colds, including her little brother. That's OK. It made us all stronger.

Edited to add,

I'm worried about the winter months this year because I have a newborn. Once the baby is a little older (like 6 months or so) I 'd feel better about dealing with illnesses.

One the one hand, unless your baby is exceptionally delicate, even for a baby, then you really don't need to worry. Babies get colds. But one the other hand, pertussis/whooping cough is on the rise again, at least here in California. Whether you vaccinate or not, that's something to consider.

[meemee]

dd didnt start dc till she was 2.

however she had croup when she was 3 months old. cold at 4 months. we went out a lot. summer nothing. winter colds again. thrush discovered at 1 month.

she did have a few illnesses till she started dc. she had colds, fever (ALWAYS after well baby visits). at 2 she crossed a hump. every year from age 2 to 4 she had a runny nose in winter - oct to feb/march. sometimes she had a cold mostly as a cough, sometimes not.

from the age of 5 to now NOTHING. not. one. illness. (touch wood) in these last 3 years. not one cold. not one runny nose.

i have never gotten sick from her.

[AllisonR]

BTDT, twice. DS, started daycare and was literally sick with this cold or that every other week, all winter long. Come spring it got better. After 6-9 months, I'd say he was back to normal.

Then DD was born. By that time DS had been in daycare over a year. So he brought home the occasional germ, but IMO he acted as a filter, so it got to DD, but in less poluted form. KWIM? She was used to his germs as a sibling, so him giving her the cold was less than a total stranger giving it to her. Just my opinion there. Also my opinion - but DD was BF, DS was not, so she got sick much less than him anyway. When she started daycare, around 1 yo, she also got sick a lot in the beginning. But I would say it was not as bad as when DS started. I think because she was breast fed, and because she had already been exposed, via DS, to the germs before she started.

[ChristyMarie]

DS seemed to be sick the entire first winter he did preschool. By default, so was I. Kids are petri dishes.

Second year, he hardly got sick.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

DS seemed to be sick the entire first winter he did preschool. By default, so was I. Kids are petri dishes.

THIS. With both my kids, who happen to be 14 months apart. Therefore I have been sick darned near all winter long for 3 season straight. And I normally NEVER get sick.

Im hoping once they start kindy, they will hardly ever get sick, having built up their immune systems so much from such a young age.

[GuildJenn]

Yes my son got sick a lot the first year and even into the second, but it all came out ok.

I'm having a baby in February and just as a precaution I think we're going to teach my son to kiss the baby's feet, not hands, and we'll also have him wash hands and change to play clothes when he comes in...doesn't mean that my son won't himself get a couple of things and then pass them along but it will cut down on some germ transmission. I'm sort of hoping that if he gets something I get it, so there are antibodies in the milk.

To be brutally honest, as long as the baby is healthy otherwise I might be glad...it might cut down on the crazy first year for THAT child.

[Mosaic]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

DS seemed to be sick the entire first winter he did preschool. By default, so was I. Kids are petri dishes.

Second year, he hardly got sick.

Agreed. DD started daycare when she was 1, and I didn't work a 5-day week for at least the first 2 months because DD had a fever and was sent home. (FWIW, she runs hot when she's sick, even if she's acting normally.) Runny nose the first six months, at least. Earaches, roseola, colds, you name it. And whatever she got, she got over in a few days and I'd be sick for a week or two. She even gave me Hand, foot, and mouth!

It sucked, and I'll be honest that I sent her to daycare with a gross runny nose because hey, I HAVE to work and she obviously got it from school anyway! And yes, DD was breastfed the entire time.

I think part of it depends on the center. We're at a different center now where they are much better about general hygeine, hand washing, and sending sick kids home. Granted, DD's immune system is the bomb now, but many of her classmates were new to daycare and didn't get sick nearly as much as DD did at her old school. It also helps that 3yo children don't share slobbery toys as frequently.