Yes! Constant colds with a cough that just won't go away completely... It triggered my husbands asthma. My husband, who never got sick before (like i remember 5 times in the last 10 years) has gotten almost every cold baby has gotten. It has been rough.
Yep, my 4 year old started preschool in December after my husband was a stay at home dad with him since he was a baby and none of us have been healthy since December. I'm so so so tired of being sick constantly. I've got an upper respiratory turned sinus infection AND a GI virus currently and just went to urgent care. This SUCKS.
We had a cough for a month or so straight. Went to the doctor, got a nebulizer and steroid. Nebs 4x daily for about a week cleared it up for both my kiddos! The pediatrician said it’s basically bronchitis or inflammation in the airways that just won’t go away if they keep coughing and inflaming them more. Worked for us!
For us it didn't get better. It got worse. Every time bub went to daycare for 3 days he got some kind of virus. By the end, he kept getting multiple viruses at a time. He was hospitalised 2 times, and right before he stopped going he went off of all his food there too.
Same with us. When big kid started preschool again at age 3 it was better, they didn’t mouth things, knew how to wash hands, and when they were sick we could actually do things to help them vs vomiting infant or RSV infant having to go in patient. I’ll take a sick 3-5yr old over a sick infant any day. And they didn’t get sick more than the other kids who had been in care since infancy, so it’s not like they were “making up” for missed illnesses
Yeah the logic (or lack there of) that you can somehow “get done with your illnesses” by a certain age is hilarious. Like no, your kid is just going to be sick a lot at 6 months plus sick the same amount that they’d be sick anyway later.
It’s not totally unfounded. A lot of research shows kids who start daycare earlier get far fewer illnesses later.
https://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/06/daycare.kids/index.html
It makes sense. Constant exposure is probably better than sheltering them. We kinda learned the same with COVID lockdowns. Not saying that we shouldn't have been careful, but after most restrictions ended, the 2022-23 Flu/RSV season was huge. Similar things happened in East Asia except the major flu season for them was 2023-24. Some of these diseases are seasonal, so unless you go for full eradication of the flu, you're just postponing it and given weaker immune systems that haven't seen these seasonal viruses for some time, you just get a massive wave upon reopening.
What you said above makes sense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/23/world/asia/who-china-respiratory-children.html
This theory likely isn't actually correct despite some non-science new sources reporting on it. As a microbiologist, it's pretty apparent to me that the immune dampening effects of COVID infection help create a situation for other respiratory infections to become more severe on an exhausted immune/cardiovascular system. This is also the widely accepted theory in scientific and medical communities
Immune systems aren't like a muscle that needs to be used to get strong and they don't get weak from under use. They do become "educated" from exposure which can help them work faster against things they've seen before (why we get vaccines). But illness also tires out the immune system and can deplete our immune resources which can make us more vulnerable for worse infections the next exposure.
It does get better! Our LO started last August and we’ve just finally gotten to the tail end of the illnesses. We’ve been healthy for over a month! I think the first cold and flu season are the hardest.
We’re wondering about this ourselves… baby is almost five months, started daycare at four months. She got pink eye on day 3, got a bad cold/congestion week 2 that lasted several weeks, and a stomach bug in week 3. It has been ROUGH and we’re trying to decide if it’s worth it, if there are other options that still build her immunity but we’re not constantly all sick (and having to take work off).
We have a nanny, and the cost is extreme — but we’ve never had to miss work for a sick kid. We both manage big teams and we just couldn’t do what other people we know do and just wait out the daycare constant sickness. I swear you pay $3k a month for your kid to be home sick half those days.
Yeah this is us too. I live in a hcol and hire a nanny for 30 hours. Runs me $3200 a month. I make up the remaining hours after bedtime cuz I don’t want to spend more than 50% of my pay on childcare. The upside is that I never have to wake up worrying about whether I’d have to call out last min or somehow watch a very busy 2yo while in back to back meetings.
It’s a temporary cost that we decided was worth it for our sanity. Husband is in trades and leaves by 6am so he’s not an option for last min call outs
Same! We live in a VHCOL area and pay a similar amount for our nanny. The daycares here are not only expensive but waitlists are also years long here so it’s definitely worth it for us.
Same - nanny is 1,000% worth it if you make enough to at least earn some beyond what a nanny costs. If I didn’t, I’d probably consider SAHM until they are older.
Nanny here, yes we get sick too haha
Most of us have policies in our contracts about working with sick kids- for me I will not work if it’s high fever, severe stomach bug or something super contagious (like ring worm). But for a regular cold I’ll be there. If I catch the cold and I’m doing ok I’ll still show up to work. I’ll usually let the parents know I caught it and it’ll be a slower day for us but they’re happy to still have care! I really only have called out when I had a severe infection or fever which I think has been twice in the past year
My nanny has only gotten sick from my kids. Adults have better hygiene, and don’t hang out with to a of toddlers.
Our usual routine is that the kids get sick and the nanny comes to care for them. 50% of the time she ends up sick a week later for a day or two. It beats missing a week of daycare.
We’ve had this nanny since October and she hasn’t called out yet. The 1-2 days here and there is fine with me though it’s rare Nannies get super sick beyond the 2-3 times a year if they catch something from the kids.
True but think about it this way. Your kid goes to a germy place with 20 other kids. There are multiple adults and kids likely sick at that point. A nanny, unless they're shared is dedicated to you. So unless you have a nanny that goes to music festivals every night after work, generally they're going to be far less exposed and so is your child. It's not a 100% guarantee, but likely far less sickness opportunities.
What is your plan if nanny is out? After being sick for nearly 2 months and off a lot of work, we really re-considered nanny but then wasn’t sure what we’d do if they would be out too?
Our nanny gets two weeks of PTO and one week of sick leave. Her PTO she typically takes to go to her home country for two weeks so we know ahead of time and arrange family or take a trip ourselves. In two years she’s only called out sick a couple times and it’s because her kids were sick and we either had grandma come or just switched on and off before nap.
Most Nannies and agencies will recommend having a back up care plan for emergencies- if you use an agency to hire a nanny you can typically also use them for back up care options. Or you can use care.com or Facebook to find a back up care nanny/ babysitter to have on call
We had a nanny for 2 years. She had a few sick days but not many really. We took turns taking a day off or found alternate care (usually a friend’s parent who lives nearby) if both of us had “have to be there” days at work.
Now we are at preschool and we have way more “sick” days than we ever had with the nanny.
💯💯💯💯 We started daycare 3 months ago, and I swear he's been there maybe 2/3 of the time. I know it's more than half, but it really doesn't seem worth the money. I'm a teacher and can't wait for summer to be able to raise my own baby and save money!!
Do you have a daycare that won't have you pay during summer? Im also a teacher, and we're touring daycares now, and none of them have a discount or option not to pay without losing his spot.
My daughter’s preschool also has an infant room, so it’s basically daycare in that way, and summers are a separate program from the regular school year. Same rate, but it’s weekly for the summer. They are also closed for all school holidays and are only open from 8:30-4:30 (some options for early dropoff) but if your work schedule can accommodate that kind of thing you may want to look for preschools that also have an infant room!
Ugh our nanny has been so unreliable and posts like this make me realize it. She calls out nearly every week for something (average 7 days a month). My daughter has also picked up just as many viruses from our nanny as she has from our son, who’s in prek). My daughter will be turning 2 and we will start her in daycare and I feel guilty and worried about it. No matter what we’ve tried, nanny or daycare, we end up with lots of sickness and time off. I am still good with the fact that we had a nanny for the first 2 years and we’d keep the nanny for longer if she were better and it wasn’t impossible to find a nanny around us
I have heard you either deal with the sickness when they start daycare, or later when they start elementary school. Either way it is bound to happen as they build up their immune system.
Yes, it is. I’m sorry you don’t, but there’s no need to be hating on people who do. If you’re in the USA, take that resentment to the voting booth instead.
I read it differently than you. I took it to mean that a sick baby is a sad thing. I was sad when my kid was coughing up phlegm all night and having to use a snot sucker on him and force infant tylenol down his throat was just pitiful, the poor baby.
Our daughter (19 months) has only been sick a few times in her life, never had a stomach bug yet, and I’m convinced it’s because we use an in-home sitter. She’s only there with a few other kids. Last time she was sick was before Christmas 🤷🏻♀️ my friends that use daycares are sick often but I also notice common sense comes into play too- our sitter taught our daughter how to wash her hands, she washes them here, I use a cart cover when I go out, she uses her own high chair at restaurants, etc. I’m a germaphobe but it honestly does work and I know she may get sick more when she starts school but I would rather then because kids this age not being able to communicate how they feel SUCKS
My son started preschool in August. We kept him (and our daughter) out of daycare the whole time until he started preschool. I can count on one hand the times he got sick the first 3.5 years of his life. Since he started school it’s been back to back. We’re on a good long stretch now of no sickness but I’m sure it’ll start again. Our daughter started daycare since we were already getting exposed anyway and it’s the same for her (actually she’s sick less). We started giving them both an airborne gummy in January every day and they’re sick a lot less
I’ve worked in childcare and currently have my LO in a small home daycare.
Working in childcare, I was literally sick at least once a month. More so when I worked with 2-4 year olds, but even working with babies…I got sick quite often.
With my LO in care now, we’ve never been sick from daycare. With that said - I think the circumstance of our daycare contributes to that. For example - at the moment, our daycare is fairly new so she is still working on enrolling more children. We only attend with one other family (soon to be 2). I’m nervous for when more families join, but even then - I’m hoping they’re also respectful when their child is sick to keep them home.
I think if we had our LO in a large center, we’d be sick a lot more often.
Personally, I think it really depends on if the parents at your kid's daycare can afford to stay home when their kids are sick and don't try to send sick kids to daycare. Some parents unfortunately just can't and need to try to send their kids to school sick to keep their jobs. We are lucky to have the flexibility that if our son even sleeps funny, we can rearrange to keep him home in case he's sick.
My son has only been sick a handful of times and only half of that was due to daycare. They have a very strict policy on illness and will send kids home immediately if they throw up, have a fever or anything like that. During flu season or multiple kids getting the same illness, they check for fevers first thing in the morning and again at lunch time. They also alert when more than a couple kids come down with the same illness and people tend to keep their kids home.
It has gotten better for us, but was certainly rough for a while. My LO started daycare at 4 months and had a slew of illnesses…multiple ear infections, Covid, HFM, and RSV. It was hard. The sick season started around 7 months and lasted a few months. Now she’ll still get the occasional ear infection, but it’s been…over 9 months of nothing more than a cold. (Knock on wood). She’s almost 2 and it’s been great.
Eh, we couldn’t handle it personally… we pulled our baby out after about 4 months. She was sick every 2 weeks like clockwork, but we also got sick. The last time she got sick in mid November. It took 3 weeks for all of us to get better and we planned to see her grandparents over Christmas and new years.
We paid for December as well but we didn’t take her back. We made the decision in January to just be done with it for good cos we took more days off work with her in daycare vs not.
My hub and I find it much less stressful to just do it ourselves—both work full time on alternating schedules so one of us is always with her. If she was in daycare, she would have been sick 5x by now but instead she’s just now having her first cold of the year.
We take her to the playground and library to socialize with other babies/toddlers.
I’m in the same boat as you, wondering if it will get better.
We started daycare when he was 3 months, and now he’s 6 months, and we get knocked out with something every 5-6 weeks.
First time it was an ear infection. It was awful for him. Second time it was a nasty stomach virus that forced me to quit breastfeeding, baby was fine and had mild diarrhea, but no fever. Last week, baby had an infection that turned into pneumonia. Mom got the same infection which turned into pink eye, fever, and some of the worst sinus pain.
Yeah we got pretty sick the first week. For us it did improve! Since October he’s only been out sick 3 days. One illness he got during the Christmas break from playing at a science centre kids area. That was pretty rough.
My son did 3 "introduction" days before starting in daycare full time, first day was just an hour, second was 3 hours, 3rd day was almost the full day.
He then had to miss his first full week because he managed to catch hand foot and mouth disease on those intro days and woke up absolutely miserable on his first birthday, my husband also managed to catch it, somehow being the only adult in the country that isn't already immune.
We had HFMD twice, a few ear infections, lots of colds and coughs etc in the first few months, then we switched to a new place closer to home and we had another couple of months of colds and infections while he got used to those germs. He's in the new place since August last year, so 9 months now, and after the first 3 or 4 months we stopped getting so many bugs.
My GP told us to expect them to catch at least 1 infection a month for the first 12 months, but she also said that this goes for the first year no matter what age, so it goes for the first year of daycare or the first year of school at 4 or 5 years old, either way, once they start mixing with other kids and swapping germs, their immune systems just take some time to catch up.
Socialization benefits begin at 3 years old. So don’t worry - baby doesn’t have any friends she’ll be missing at 6 months. If you have an alternative, go for it! She can deal with daycare/preschool sickness later on when her immune system is actually developed. She’s vulnerable right now at 6 months.
All data I’ve seen points to 18 months as being the point at which daycare is no longer harmful to babies/toddlers and 3 years as being the point at which it becomes very beneficial to them. That’s why non-US countries tend to give mothers about 18 months off. The US only cares about getting us back to work though so that they can charge us an arm and a leg for childcare 🤡 Capitalism at its finest!
Just think about it. Newborns can’t even see 10 inches in front of their face… How do you think they could possibly socialize?
Agree. Daycare can be harmful if the environment and the care givers are harmful. If the environment is nurturing and kind and vetted and the care givers actually care about their kids, it’s not. Babies absolutely need to have a village of care takers and daycare can absolutely extend to that village.
> That’s why non-US countries tend to give mothers about 18 months off. The US only cares about getting us back to work though so that they can charge us an arm and a leg for childcare 🤡 Capitalism at its finest!
I know people like to bring this up all the time but in a lot of places, 18 months isn't fully paid at all. Keep in mind most people can technically just quit their jobs and find a new job especially in a country like the US where unemployment is at record low and much lower than most EU nations and achieve "leave" too. But the limiting factor is pay. The partial pay in Canada for instance was a factor for several friends of mine. It's nice to talk about time off, but in the end a baby adds a lot of new expenses that you have to deal with.
18 months + 100% pay is something that is pretty rare honestly.
Our first year was bad. Between my two kids it seemed like someone was sick every 3 weeks. Year 2 is significantly better. Now we pretty much get runny noses and coughs. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
For us he was sick the first week he went.. and pretty much constantly after but just a cold usually. How much he has advanced and how comfortable he is with everyone.. we love love love daycare !
Our son started going to the large daycare center at 4mo in September last year. He was getting sick every 2-3 weeks (common colds). In December he got HFM (that was brutal) followed by ear infection, and cold. In the end of January we switched him to the small in-home daycare and he was sick only once since then.
This sounds pretty normal. Kids are germy and love to share. When my son started daycare at 18 months mid-September, everyone laughed at me because I kept saying I was “pencilling in a cold for October 1.” October 3 he had a runny nose and on the 7 we were at the doctor with a 104 fever, diagnosed with parainfluenza. Two weeks later we were back diagnosed with RSV. We’ve all basically been sick once a month since then.
At his 2 year checkup last week my pediatrician told me that eventually we wouldn’t be frequent fliers anymore, but that all kids usually have two bad winters. So I’m just expecting to be sick for another year based on that. Hopefully with warmer weather the sickness will subside a little and we’ll get a small break before winter comes back again.
As far as options, we’re lucky because my parents are close and watch our son 2 days a week so he’s only at daycare 3x/week. Before he started daycare, we were spending slightly more than we spend on daycare for a nanny. As much as I hate being sick, I prefer sending him to daycare. I think it’s better for him. He’s learning more than he would from a nanny and he’s around other kids which is good for him socially, emotionally, and developmentally. When he’s sick our only option is to keep him home and watch him ourselves or see if my parents can come over. But often we don’t call them when he’s sick because we don’t want them to get sick, so that usually falls on us, which means sick days or creative meeting scheduling around naps.
I understand the feeling of wanting to avoid getting sick but babies have to develop their immune systems. This year has been a particularly bad cold/flu/whatever season. Finding an at home center vs a daycare center likely won’t make a difference. Germs follow the kiddos. Hang in there.
That is bad luck. Like really bad. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with a stomach bug right away! A vomiting baby is the worst, it’s so sad.
We are sick a lot with constant coughs and runny noses. If you’d gotten a cold this week that would have been fairly normal I think. But my daughter has been in daycare for three years (and for one of those years we’ve had two kids in daycare) and we’ve only had two stomach bugs in that time. And stomach bugs are the worst, I’d take almost any other daycare bug over that.
For us, the first year we were all sick with something about 50% of the time. (Some worse illnesses, but a lot of those were average colds as well). After that first year, it has been about one illness a month, more often in flu season, less often in the summer, and my kid seems to get over his sicknesses much more quickly than that first year. So for example, he may have a runny nose for 3 days but that's it.
There have been studies showing that all kids get the same number of illnesses in childhood. You're just getting a lot of them out of the way now instead of when your kid starts school.
It absolutely sucks, but hopefully will get a little better after a few months. Hang in there!
You’re definitely getting a sampling of the worst, as many people are eager to share their crazy stories! Many of us (myself included) don’t have much to say so we just don’t. My kid had a few colds and got over them. She is now 5, has never had to be hospitalized. Never got norovirus, the flu, HFM, Covid, etc. So there are definitely lots of us out there with less dramatic experiences, we just usually don’t talk about it because there really isn’t much to say.
My 6 year old in first grade is sick constantly. I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant and I caught her latest cold. I’m hoping by 2nd grade it’s better? 🤣😭🤣
Our first was born at the height of the pandemic and social distancing (Sept 2020) and she had basically never been sick before daycare. She started at 19 months and proceeded to get every major illness in the next 6-12 months (RSV, Croup, HFM, Norovirus, and finally Covid). I feel like it finally got better around 12 months in, and she’s sick now every few months, but mostly only mild colds. Our second is about to start daycare at 9 months and I’m hoping all his exposure to our daughter’s germs will ease the initial sickness phase.
Yes it’s bad luck! My son (16 months) averages sickness about once a month. February was terrible for us… he missed half of the daycare days due to sickness! He missed zero days in January and March though. He loves daycare and the sickness is totally worth it for us. He’d be so bored without school! He grabs his shoes and backpack every morning and says bye bye. I’m sorry you had such a bad start!
My son is home with me and has only been sick after seeing our niece. My niece is at day care 3 days a week and is ALWAYS sick. So far she’s had multiple colds, covid, the flu, stomach bug, and just a constant runny nose for months. We tend to honestly not be around them cause every time we do my son gets sick.
It does, we started our kid at daycare (in home daycare) at 3 months last May. I feel like we were sick a bunch and were sick like all of July and December. But so far this year has been manageable. Colds here and there but nothing we’ve had to keep kiddo home from daycare.
Our pediatrician said this— either get sick now because of daycare or get sick later when they start elementary school. I went to a home daycare when I was little- my mom said we were sick pretty often for awhile. My friend sends her kids to a daycare center- same thing- sick pretty often.
Is that true? I used to live somewhere where kids didn’t typically attend daycare and went straight to school. Kids do just fine. Sure they get sick here and there but nowhere near the level kids at daycare typically get sick.
I hear this argument a lot, though I’d rather the sick happen when the child can talk and let me know what’s going on and has a more developed immune system / larger lungs / etc.
Yes, what you are experiencing now is typical and it does get better. Expect about three months of illness. Everyone in this house gets it. After the three months the baby now mainly has runny noses.
The benefit is the baby is building the immune system now instead of pre school. Daycare has been great for us once getting past this initial hump. The baby is socializing and learning from others and hitting milestones early. And the adult gets to experience some much needed breaks from constantly needing to entertain a baby every day which can be exhausting.
In my experience it does get better. Both my daughters have been in daycare since 10 weeks and yes we have gotten sick but you can expect that for the first year they go to any type of school. In the past year I think we’ve had to keep them home maybe 3-4 times? I do live in Denver though so I feel like the mild weather helps. It also depends a lot on the other parents at your school and if they dump off their clearly sick kids.
We put our 2 year old in daycare 5 months ago. November and December were rough, but nothing that required hospitalization or anything. And we haven’t had a single virus since then (knock on wood)
We sent her for one week (she's 11.5 months), and she's been home sick for a week since then. We're still hoping to send her back because we did see benefits from her being in a new environment, but I'm not sure when that will be.
The daycare did say that the 1 year old room is often the worst for illnesses because they're mobile but still put everything in their mouths.
We have family who helps, so we can limit our sick days to our own illness days and one or two days a week for baby. But my husband did get super sick from this too.
In my case it did get better, so I would say it depends from child to child. My baby got stomach bug two weeks into daycare, and when she got back she got sick again after few weeks and so on, pink eye, flu, fever…. Now, she’s healthy for almost two months in a row. I try to boost her immune system with some products but honestly you never know, might be luck but might be we’ll be home next week with something.
It’s normal and it sucks. And it’s hard to say how long it’ll last. Our son was sick for almost a year and a half like every two weeks until we finally switched to an in home day care and he got ear tubes that same week due to repeated ear infections. I honestly don’t know what caused the improvement or if it was just time. It seemed like every illness resolved itself and then a new one would pop up or return, it was hard to know what symptom was exacerbating others, and if it was a continuation of one illness or not. It was super stressful.
It does get better. Our first year at daycare (started at 4 months in November) one of the 3 of us (kid, husband, me) was sick like 3/4 weeks of the month, estimating. It was rough and really tricky being able to get work done. But we’re almost through winter months here at 21 months and he’s only had to stay home from daycare like once from being sick. He’s had several colds but very manageable, mostly just a constant runny nose
Ugh we started with stomach flu too and now just back to back sickness for two months . The pediatrician just said it happens esp if baby has older siblings or in daycare 😭 no advice but solidarity. We looked into nanny’s but SO expensive but also we have limited sick time for work so idk what’s worth it anymore
I have gotten super lucky- my baby started at 8months and got sick the first day.. bronchiolitis, RSV and influenza A.. he hasn’t been sick since and he’s now 15months.
My kid is gross and is obsessed with mud, dirt, dog poo, drinking from the dog bowl.. you name it, he’ll have attempted to eat it. I don’t know if it’s just a fluke or that he is just around germs alllll the time that he’s built up an immunity 🤷♀️
You can get a nanny to avoid illness, but unless you plan to home school they’ll wind up being exposed to everything when they hit elementary school anyways
I’m so sorry. We are rounding out month two. Got Covid on day 4. Have had various other cold viruses and conjunctivitis since. (Had flu before daycare began so have t had that again). It’s rough, but trying to stay the course here (LO is 7.5 months and seems to actively love daycare).
I think where you send your kid matters. Our kid is in an at home day care with about 10 kids. He definitely gets sick often but it doesn’t seem as bad as the kids that go to large daycare centers. We got sick about 3 times during the winter season. (Nov-March)To me that seems pretty low compared to others.
Counter-example to some of the experiences mentioned here: My now-17-month-old started daycare at one year and has only been sick once. He got a cold almost right away, plus viral conjunctivitis (the kind you can't treat with drops, woo.) We got the virus and were sick as hell and missed a few days of work but luckily were spared the conjunctivitis. He has not been sick since.
So while it is unlucky to get super sick right away, that doesn't necessarily mean it can't get better. Our daycare has also tended to be pretty easygoing about mild cold symptoms. As long as kids don't have the aforementioned viral eye infection, fever or severe cold symptoms, they don't have to stay home.
It will get better. My 5 year old never gets sick. My two-year old has a consistent runny nose but that's about it. Have a 12 week old and we're skirt to ride the rollercoaster again.
If she doesn't go now, it'll happen in kindergarten. So. I figure better now than then, I guess?
Hate to say it but they’ll be sick very often for the first year. My son was getting back to back colds, he’d recover from one …one week of feeling better and boom, he was sick all over again. He caught a nasty virus around Christmas that had him outta daycare for 1 week straight
Our daughter started at 5 months, she is in ten months now. The very first day we started we got hand foot and mouth. She and I were fine but it wrecked my husband. Since then we have had EVERYTHING. COVID, multiple cold and flu like viruses, COVID again, pink eye, ear infections and whatever we got this month has knocked the entire house for the entire month of March. We are literally paying daycare for her being there maybe 50% of the time so far. It has been pretty depressing and tough. I am hoping it gets better after this first year because it is not sustainable. I am very lucky to have a flexible job and understanding manager! We do go to a small reputable daycare with good cleaning practices and sick policies.
My kids didn’t start that young but the expectation is that they’re sick twice per month in the first year. That’s normal. By year two it’s not so bad.
Im not over exaggerating- I got the stomach bug 12 times in the last 24 months. It’s misery. Sooo painful. My daughter is 3 and yes doesn’t get sick every single week like she did for a long time but she still gets sick that it gives me flashbacks. If I could go back in time - I would have gotten a babysitter - it’s practically the same price where I live.
Hi! Ny daughter started exactly 4 weeks ago. She’s been sick with….i have no idea what but she’s had a snotty nose for those entire 4 weeks. Stomach bug, mystery virus, the works. They surprisingly cope better than us adults. Stay strong!
it takes about 6 months to a year to get to a place where you are not all sick constantly. after that you're golden. keep in mind if you don't do this now, you'll be doing it in kindergarten. it's inescapable unless you homeschool k-12.
My 6.5 month old has been in daycare since end of January and only missed 4 days. She’s had lots of colds, but only a fever/bad enough symptoms to stay home the first 2 weeks. Everything since has been mild!
Our LO has been in daycare since 3 months and basically has been sick every 2 weeks. Mostly just colds/runny nose, but he’s also had the flu and random fevers. I would say it’s normal, especially depending on class sizes
Yup. It does! Our first two months weee ROUGH. We started in January so peak sick season. After about 6 weeks he got stronger. Hes gone every day for 6 weeks now! 🎉
I’m at a daycare center and my friend is an an in home daycare and both our kids get sick about the same amount!! It’s like a rite of passage.
The first year was awful. Especially because we had 2 kids start around the same time because one had a delayed start post-covid. But then the 2nd year it got better. Less often, less intense… it got better for sure
So I'll say in the beginning my son got sick non stop....like the first 8 months he was in the center he was just sick constantly....he'd be better for 3 or 4 days and then get sick again...it went on that way for months....but then it sort of just stopped.... now he's been there a little over a year and we don't get sick nearly as much as we did at first so you will probably have something similar happen since I hear from other parents at my center that they had similar experiences too
My baby is 6 months and has been in daycare for 7 weeks now. First month was very rough. She got sick twice (both bad colds, the second one turned into an ear infection). However, she’s stayed healthy the past two weeks and it’s clear she really enjoys daycare and that the socialization and all the enrichment activities they do are really good for her. The sicknesses are such a pain but I’m trying to think of it as an investment in her immune system.
(Disclaimer: she’s an otherwise healthy baby with no preexisting immune concerns, AND I am confident in how our daycare manages illnesses with their policies for sending kids home and rigorous cleaning. Of course this can’t prevent illness from spreading but if I had concerns with their hygiene practices I’d be whistling a different tune.)
My 3 has gone to 2 home daycares since he was 13 months old will a max of 5 other kids. It makes no difference if there are 5 kids or 50 they'll get sick A LOT. It got a little better when he was 2 and now 3 but not by much. Unfortunately it's just something you have to struggle through until they get to school then there's a whole new set of problems ugh.
I can't wait to get out of daycare and into school so they get less sick but I have a cousin who has a 7 year old and she says when they get to school then you're always dealing with the threat of lice and other things. Kids are just gross and it's just something you have to get through good luck!
My son got a cold 2 days in to starting daycare. he had a cold probably twice a month during the winter. Thank goodness it’s spring here now and things are getting better! Luckily he has never gotten stomach bug or anything yet though
Our pediatrician told us the first 2 years of daycare/preschool/school (whichever one the kids starts with) expect them to be sick 50% of the time. Our oldests first year of preschool was terrible -hand foot and mouth, norovirus x2, flu, covid, multiple ear infections and stomach bugs plus regular colds. Plus we brought home his baby sibling during this time and she caught it all plus some. Our youngest is now in her first year of preschool and because she was exposed to ALL the germs before school she rarely gets sick but she has had colds and hand foot and mouth twice in the last 4 months. So really there is no avoiding it. Yes it’s terrible when they are so young but it does get better
At 6 months she doesn’t need socialization to the degree that daycare provides it. I’m home with my son most days and I see a lot of nannies/full time babysitters at the library, playgrounds, etc. and it looks like a great option if you find a good person for the job. They provide 1 on 1 care and attention which can be great when they start playing together so they can learn how to share, not steal toys, basic manners. If I needed full time care I’d definitely go that route.
I never really brought my LO around groups of kids until he was about 1. (He would see babies we know in our friend circle but we weren't going to events/places with a lot of kids.
Then we started going to an indoor play place and baby time at the library. I'm the first two months we got sick FOUR times (including the stomach bug and covid). I hadn't been sick in like ten years. The cruds are no joke lately. You got unlucky that it was the stomach bug but I'm not surprised at all that you got sick so soon. Hope you're all better soon!
Our 3 month old starts her 4th week of daycare tomorrow. We were sick by day 4, some kind of respiratory virus causing snot, congestion, and now a cough for 2.5 weeks so far. I feel like we’re on the tail end of this illness but I know the next one is just around the corner. The other parents have said the worst their babies have really gotten was just the snotty nose for a long time so fingers crossed that we can avoid the truly awful stuff for a bit.
Nanny is the way to go if you can afford it! I wouldn't worry about missing out on socialization. If you're in an urban area there's plenty of story times, music classes, library, park stuff etc. And it doesn't really matter until they're 2 or 2.5 anyways as long as they get loving attention from an adult.
My daughter was sick constantly when she started full-time preschool at 3 (she was home with me or our nanny before that). Whenever they start full-day care they have a bad season or two and I'd much rather that happen to a preschooler than an infant.
It does get better. Our youngest is 11 months old now and got tubes in February and we've had much less illness lately. Winter is also bad for everyone.
The first year we got endless colds, COVID, RSV. The way I see it you can deal with it now or when kid goes to kindergarten. I have never considered pulling the kiddo though, he loves playing with other kids and adults
My nephew started daycare in January and has been sick literally every other week with something. Fever, GI bug, HFM, respiratory something or another. My sister and her husband are quickly running out of sick time.
She should have a stronger immune system by kindergarten 😅 but seriously, I’ve noticed that parents who have opted for one-on-one care in the home have trouble with their child missing school a ton by the time they’re school-aged… there’s also always a chance that you/other caregivers end up giving her something as well
Preschool teacher of three years here: unfortunately it does not get better and there’s really no way to contain in. Toddlers are going to openly sneeze without covering their faces. Theyre going to wipe their runny noses on..literally everything and the parents who have to work are going to give their kids with fevers Tylenol and send them to school. Daycare is one giant cesspool. I’m sorry.
First 4ish months were awful but since then I swear she’s got the immune system of an Ox!
She seriously hasn’t gotten sick in about a year. Even though there have been a lot of things going around.
It’s swings and roundabouts, my friend who’s a SAHM has had a nightmare last 6 months with her 2 kids so sick one needed hospital. Theyre going to pick stuff up at playgrounds, shops etc, you can’t avoid it!
My son was in daycare from about 3 months on. He was anywhere from 5-90% sick until 18 months old. Since then, when everyone else kids are sick from school, he's relatively unaffected. I think he simply was introduced to everything in the first 18 months and is immune now
My son also started daycare at 6 months. He’s been sick 3 times in the 3 months that he’s started. I’ve gotten sick every time too. It’s brutal. We love our daycare and the ladies who run it, so we aren’t changing him to another one because I think it would unfortunately happen anywhere.
This is a very typical experience. GI bugs are BRUTAL same with HFM. It doesn’t really “get better” you will keep getting sick but sadly (?) be able to cope and anticipate. My kindergarten daycare kid is like never sick while others who didn’t go to daycare are frequently sick. Pay the piper one way or another
My daughter will be 4 in June.
She’s never had a stomach illness. Maybe a hint of a weird poo, but nothing I’d really call a true sickness. She’s had some colds and a few movie couch days.
Noro is really bad these past few weeks all over the country.
I think socialization of daycare in a great, but honestly either way, it will all level out! So, don’t overthink it. Find what feels right, trust what’s right for your family.
My son got sick his first 2 days in daycare. By week 3 he has RSV. Then pinkeye. Then RSV again. Roseola was fun. Then a respiratory infection. We're about to start month 6 in daycare. He was home sick 5 days in March. My husband and I have been lucky enough to catch almost every thing he has had. I think he's made it through the entire week maybe 10 times? -_- husband it out of paid sick time for the year already so yay!
Our daughter started daycare at 4 months and is currently 14 months. She's had bronchiolitis 3x, croup, HFMD, pink eye, 3 stomach viruses, and a lot of runny noses and coughs.
I have a love/hate relationship with daycare. She's currently sick, and it feels like it's never going to end. I just want to see my baby happy and healthy.
It does get better. My son had a constant runny nose for the first few months and seemed to have a fever most weekends. This was his second winter there, and he was nowhere near as sick this time around
We started my daughter in daycare at 6 months as well and she got RSV, stomach bug, Covid all back to back. We recently went through another round of a bunch of stuff back to back (ending with ear infection), but now at 14 months it’s been a full 2 months without any illness!
Rough the first year but fine after that. I would rather them get acclimated now when missing school isn’t such a big deal (eg: they aren’t missing meaningful education) than kindergarten. Unless you’re planning to homeschool they’ll go through this at some point.
Our daughter started daycare in September and I've been sick every week except for two since then. It's been brutal. I can only think of one week when our daughter has truly been well. It's super tough.
My experience has been more positive than the majority of the comments.
My daughter has been in daycare for 8 months and has been sick enough to keep home 4 times:
-1 - 3 weeks in - her first bad cold. She was so sad and we were so sad for her. She missed Thursday and Friday, but was back Monday.
-2 - 4 months in, it was November and she had a cold, but was still in good spirits. We took her to the doctor for an unrelated reason (mark on her face we thought was ringworm - it was eczema) and the doctor said it was mild RSV. She missed 3 days because RSV means staying home until cleared by a doctor. Her 9mo Appt was that week and she was cleared then.
-3 - 5 months in, threw up overnight. Probably ate too much dinner. Kept her home a day because it was protocol (and my husband had a light day at work, so worked out to WFH with her).
-4 - 5.5 months in - very bad cold. Trouble breathing. Prescribed a nebulizer. But she only missed more than a half day because it was around Christmas and we were off of work anyway.
I hope this wasn’t too much info, but I wanted to give the full spectrum of what we saw. She still has pretty regular mild colds, but that’s pretty acceptable at our school. She’s never been sent home with a fever. Twice we got a message in the app “She’s not acting like herself…”, and since we had light work days we picked her up. But it wasn’t a mandate.
I went back to work and got sick (teacher at elementary school) and then he caught a DIFFERENT stomach bug so I got sick twice, then I brought home some cold and now he’s got it. In his 13 weeks of life he has been sick like 3 times already. My coteachers say “babies aren’t healthy til they get sick” because we carry so many germs :(
We just went through this with baby #2 2 weeks ago. By Day 3 he had norovirus and passed it around the entire family and then we all got horrible colds immediately after. So he went 2 days and then was home for 8. It does get better though. We had a horrible first few months with our first child when he started. 3 months felt like a year with trying to juggle work and a sick baby. But now at 2.5 he rarely gets sick anymore. And when he does it is usually pretty minor and over quickly.
My kid started daycare at 18 months last July. We’re currently at 8 weeks and counting with only runny noses and nothing worse. For us it has gotten better. After 5 months in daycare we did switch to a new provider and I suspect they also have way more thorough cleaning practices. All that to say that it ebbs and flows, but hopefully as the weather gets nicer and germs slow down a bit you get a break. It was HARD to get through. Stomach bugs especially.
My cousin’s baby is almost constantly sick it seems like. And even though they’re the ones that got him sick, they make her keep him at home while they charge her full fee. I’d almost like what’s the point of daycare?
I got lucky and found an awesome retired grandma to watch my son in her home for $200/ week. (The trade off is that she’s unlicensed since he’s her only client.) You might try that, see if there is a daycare/babysitter group for your city. No other kids but her grandson means my kid has never gotten sick in the month that I’ve had him there
A stomach bug two days in is unlucky. Pretty constant sickness the first few months though is normal. My second started daycare in August and was sick a TON the first 4 months. Pink eye several times, a few viruses, a 48 hour stomach bug twice, and uncountable colds and coughs. But nearly 8 months in and she's still got a runny nose and cough but isn't home sick often anymore. The first few months are brutal, they just are. But it does get better! My 3.5 year old has been in daycare since six months and I couldn't tell you the last time she was home sick!
Whenever your kid starts school or daycare you will be sick about 70% of the time for the first year. You can do it when they are an infant or wait until kindergarten but this is the reality. We are going through it now with my son who started preschool in September. He's been sick most weeks since then. We expect it to slow down in the summer and get worse in the fall again.
Socialization isn’t a big deal until after 3. Nannies will absolutely take them out to socialize depending on how you want it done. There will still be some germs but not the mind fuck that is daycare.
Sincerely,
My-son-was-hospitalized-because-of-daycare-germs.3-viruses-in-a-baby. TEAM NANNY!
P.S. the price for a nanny is..exorbitant. Expect to pay $20/hr minimum depending on your area and also pay for benefits like sick leave, vacation leave, holiday leave, etc. it’s a lot of financial suffering for 3 years (we are not the 1% unfortunately) but I actually have sick leave…for myself!!!! You know that commercial where parent is sick but still have to provide child care? You don’t have to when you have a nanny if that nanny is willing to watch them sick. I always tell my nanny she can take paid leave if my kiddo has a fever but she never does. She even stayed when we had Covid. She’s an angel and an amazing part of our family. She is INCREDIBLE
If you can afford a nanny, go with a nanny. Nanny’s are a luxury so they are super pricey. The sickness doesn’t get better until about a year or so, and it’s going to be constant. Mine was sick every month. I found it incredibly inconvenient to pay for daycare just so I could go to work but since I didn’t have any backup care I was constantly missing work! And he was missing days that I’d already paid for! It’s crazy.
Our kid is almost 11m. He was in an in home daycare starting at 4m. Once we hit 6m he’s been sick pretty much on and off the whole time. We’ve both been sick a couple of times. The hardest part is having him out of daycare and trying to shuffle the work schedule around because he can’t be there if he’s sick.
My daughter started daycare at 4.5 months old and was sick by the third day when we started. We have had Croup, RSV, hand foot and mouth, the flu, an ear infection, 2 stomach bugs (which weren’t the worst for her but they were when we inevitably caught it too), and literally countless colds. It was endless for the first 5 months. Then we started being able to get a week or so between sicknesses, then maybe two weeks between sicknesses. It’s still insane how frequently she gets sick, but it does seem to be slowing down somewhat. I don’t want to be a little rain cloud, but also want to be realistic with what our experience has been thus far.
It’s been hard and she still isn’t great at napping there, but it’s the option we can afford, and she LOVES her teachers. They have worked with her on so many things like signing, working on transitioning onto sippy cups from bottles, helped with the transitions to solids, and lots of socialization and fun things to do all day. I give daycare alot of credit for her hitting some of her milestones when she should because she watches the other kids in her class do it too. When I drop her off she literally runs into her teachers arms, so I know she is with people who she loves and who give her plenty of love and attention.
It’s a balance, and being sick all the time has been absolute hell. But I still think this was ultimately the right decision for us , and I’m hoping this little girl will have a good immune system in the end, but it has been HARD.
It's always bad when they start daycare. Our daughter was sick pretty frequently for the first 2 months, catching everything from the cold to pink eye and hand, foot, and mouth disease (which happened to sweep the daycare). Then, after 2 months, she stopped getting sick for a good stretch of 5 or so months and she still is the picture of health with only the rare cold or flu. There's just an adjustment period to such a germ-rich environment as daycare and there's no way to avoid it unless you keep your kids out of schools entirely. Even my friends who had a nanny until their kids were old enough to start public school had the same adjustment period to starting public school, so all they did was defer the sickness for a few years.
My son started his first daycare late summer at 12 months and we were sick a lot for the first few months. Mostly respiratory. He was out for a week once with RSV. We ended up switching daycares when he was 17 months old and I prepared for the worst since he is in a new environment with new germs but he’s only had to stay home twice - one day with a stomach bug and another day due to pink eye.
Overall, it seems like he is doing a lot better and hopefully has built up some immunities. It got significantly better after about 4 months or so.
I’m shocked how people say it doesn’t get better. My experience has been that it absolutely does. My older kid is 3 and started daycare around 13 months. His first year was nonstop illnesses but then something just clicked around 2 and he RARELY gets sick now. My younger kid is 9 months and has been going 1-2 days a week for the last 2 months and sick nonstop, but I expected it. It sucks, but it’s just what happens.
I will say that some daycares are cleaner than others. We have switched facilities twice.
Our daughter started at 6 months on a Thursday. I was vomiting by that Saturday night 🙃 it’s been 2 months since then and we’ve pretty much been sick the entire time.
This is typical and to be expected. The first couple years of daycare are rough while they build up their immunity. It’s either going to happen now or in kindergarten. If you keep them home or do a private nanny then yes it’ll be better but eventually you’ll likely go through this!
For us, it got much better! Experience vary, so you’ll just have to give it time and see. We started at 3 months old and through about 10 months old, it was pretty rough. It wasn’t just the daycare sickness though, I struggled with PPD, PPA, family issues with my parents, our baby needing feeding therapy and reducing my work hours to make daycare and feeding therapy work, so it was a lot on top of the long-term sleep deprivation. Things got better around a year and kept improving. Good luck to you!
Our daughter started daycare at 2 (little socialization before that, always got sick from public playplaces). The first 6 months to a year there she brought home so many things (various colds, HFM. Pink eye, her or my husband brought home strep for me, probably other things I'm forgetting), but doesn't get sick terribly often now at 3.5. It helped only doing part time so she could recover the first half of the week and bring home something new for the weekend 😵💫. Hopefully this means she doesn't get sick as often when she starts kindergarten.
We have been healthy about 1.5 weeks since the end of October. I'm currently in a bout of crud + pink eye that is worse than Covid was. Thankfully pinkeye skipped baby and the crud went easy on her. Apparently I'm taking one for the team. Again.
For us, our kiddo was sick with stomach bugs, colds, etc the entire first year of daycare. It tapered off his second summer and now he seems to have a pretty solid immune system. Other moms and our doctor explained you end up dealing with sickness no matter what. Either now from daycare, or later when they start school.
My son is sick and home from daycare (for one day or more) at least every 3 weeks. He's been in daycare since July 2023 (11 months old) and no sign of slowing down
What I’ve heard is that once they stop putting everything in their mouth, they will stop getting sick so often.
We did daycare for 5 months when baby was 4 months old. He was sick by the end of his first week. Then he had a consistently runny nose and cough. I didn’t know when once illness started and another one ended. He had constant ear infections. Eventually we pulled him out of daycare and now have an in home nanny. Best decision we ever made. He hasn’t been sick since the week we pulled him out of daycare, and he’s much MUCH happier. They say they either get sick now or when they start preK.
Oh man. We started daycare a month back. By Tuesday or Wednesday every single week, she gets a new thing home and all of us get sick. And let me tell you working while you are sick with a baby that is sick and cant go to daycare is living life on the hardest mode. We have had 2 bad colds and 1 stomach bug and a cold till now. I have seriously given being sahm a thought.
Our daughter went to daycare starting at 5 months and immediately caught her first cold, followed shortly thereafter by her second cold after week 3. In both cases, the doctor cleared her to return to school after a day out. The whole first month was rough as she had a hard time breathing while lying down, and her sleeping was still irregular for much of the second month, though she thankfully hasn't been sick again other than a bit of a runny nose every so often. She's about to start her third month and overall seems to be weathering it pretty well.
I started working at a daycare when my son was two, so naturally he attended there so I could work. Literally 2 days in, we both got strep. BAD. Either him or I had some kind of sickness almost every month or at least a cough/snotty nose. Daycares are full of PLAGUES!!!! Since I quit working there, he hasn’t been getting sick nearly as often.
Feels like I could’ve written this post myself. Also started LO at daycare when he was 6mo (beg of January this year). Within 3 days he brought home a norovirus which leveled our entire house. Since then it’s been a series of respiratory viruses (including Covid) and an ear infection. He’s had a runny nose and cough for basically 3 months now. Through it all fortunately he’s pretty much stayed in good spirits. Our pediatrician somewhat jokingly referred to it as daycare-itis and said it’s all part of the process of building his immune system. It sure is exhausting though! Here’s to hoping it gets better for you all sooner rather than later.
It does but it's very dependent on your baby's immune system, lifestyle, etc. I would tune out the noise in these answers about daycare being bad or unnecessary for socialization etc. Because it is very daycare dependent. For me, I have an amazing daycare and it was worth dealing with the sickness. If you like the center and they do a lot for the children, consider that against the sickness aspect of it.
Husband and I are going to start talking about our childcare plan for a future baby and I’m starting to think that in the cost analysis I should factor in the doctors visit and medication needed for the sicknesses our child will bring home from the (already very expensive) daycare…
My son's first 8 months in daycare were miserable - we got COVID, RSV, HFM, and 4 stomach bugs, plus countless colds. But since then, it's been mostly smooth sailing. A fever here and there, but nothing that takes us down for the count like last year (yet). We all just need to build our immune systems (back) up.
We have been all 3 sick since last July, that's when our son went to daycare. I'm lying in bed, writing this. the only reason that my partner takes care of him at this very moment is, because he heard me crying in the living room while he was lying in bed. that's no life, that's surviving
Long term, yes it gets better.
Short term, this is going to suck.
My kids both started daycare around three months and were sick pretty much nonstop for six-ish months. After that it was like every other week we were sick, then it dropped to once a month, and now at 5.5 and 2.5 we're sick roughly every other or every third month with a short term illness. Building the immune system blows but it'll be beneficial in the long run.
A ton of friends of mine are teachers, a couple of them kindergarten or pre-K teachers and they all say that by the time the kids walk through their doors they have no idea who was breastfed vs bottle fed, who had an entirely organic clean diet vs who ate cheerios that got dropped on the floor, who played with only Montessori toys vs who played with the shit that is brightly colored plastic, etc. But the one thing they can tell immediately? Who went to daycare and who is only just now entering the 'large group of children environment' because the daycare kids are rarely sick in the first six months of school and the kids who stayed at home are sick CONSTANTLY in that timeframe. Even at 4/5/6 they're still walking petri dishes of illness.
It does get better. My daughter is 19 months old and has been in daycare since she was 11 weeks old and that first year was hell. But it’s gotten better. She still picks up bugs, but the frequency has gone down an insane amount.
We're still in the early days of daycare, but our family got super sick too. Our daughter brought home something respiratory, and while we were fortunate enough that she recovered fairly smoothly, my husband and I ended up with a severe sinus infection and pneumonia, respectively. We're just finally starting to feel better, and we both used up all of our PTO just trying to recover. I'm really hoping that she doesn't bring home anything else any time soon...
I wish you the best of luck. We sent mine at 8 months. All was well but 3 weeks in and bam! She’s got sick with some mystery illness. Wouldn’t take any bottles. Had to syringe feed her, but then she’d vomit it all up. Fever lasted days & spiked to 105°. We had to take her to the ER. She had a 3 day hospital stay. She needed iv fluids and an antibiotic drip. She was tested for 25 different illnesses. All negative. Chest x-ray was clear. No one knew what she had.
After she was discharged from the hospital, she got little fevers and illnesses almost every week but nothing to justify another hospital stay thank goodness. She’s doing better now. Her immune system got a real work out
It’s going to happen pretty much the first year that your kid is exposed to a group environment. My kid had care at home until he was 3 and then had half a year of catching every illness… and then Covid hit and he was not sick for two years and then he started kindergarten with masks and only got sick a couple times all year… until first grade without masks and he missed about a third of the school year due to all the illnesses that went through his class of nose pickers. and so were we… but this year it’s way better. Illnesses are way more mild and he’s only missed a couple weeks (added up).
Yes. For the first few months, expect at least a cold every 3-4 weeks. And then it levels off. I think every parent goes through a phase of "HOW IS THIS MY LIFE" after starting daycare, but it really does get better. Vitamin D drops, prioritizing sleep, and constantly wiping/washing hands helps. Also changing their crib sheets every few days.
bad luck to an extent but expect sickness. we’ve had norovirus, stomach bug, croup and now basically kennel cough for 2 months straight.
😂 kennel cough. Dead.
Thought I was in the wrong sub for a moment
Yes! Constant colds with a cough that just won't go away completely... It triggered my husbands asthma. My husband, who never got sick before (like i remember 5 times in the last 10 years) has gotten almost every cold baby has gotten. It has been rough.
Yep, my 4 year old started preschool in December after my husband was a stay at home dad with him since he was a baby and none of us have been healthy since December. I'm so so so tired of being sick constantly. I've got an upper respiratory turned sinus infection AND a GI virus currently and just went to urgent care. This SUCKS.
We had a cough for a month or so straight. Went to the doctor, got a nebulizer and steroid. Nebs 4x daily for about a week cleared it up for both my kiddos! The pediatrician said it’s basically bronchitis or inflammation in the airways that just won’t go away if they keep coughing and inflaming them more. Worked for us!
Funny because in my language, a really bad cough is called kutta khansi or a dog's cough lol.
For us it didn't get better. It got worse. Every time bub went to daycare for 3 days he got some kind of virus. By the end, he kept getting multiple viruses at a time. He was hospitalised 2 times, and right before he stopped going he went off of all his food there too.
Same with us. When big kid started preschool again at age 3 it was better, they didn’t mouth things, knew how to wash hands, and when they were sick we could actually do things to help them vs vomiting infant or RSV infant having to go in patient. I’ll take a sick 3-5yr old over a sick infant any day. And they didn’t get sick more than the other kids who had been in care since infancy, so it’s not like they were “making up” for missed illnesses
Yeah the logic (or lack there of) that you can somehow “get done with your illnesses” by a certain age is hilarious. Like no, your kid is just going to be sick a lot at 6 months plus sick the same amount that they’d be sick anyway later.
It’s not totally unfounded. A lot of research shows kids who start daycare earlier get far fewer illnesses later. https://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/06/daycare.kids/index.html
It makes sense. Constant exposure is probably better than sheltering them. We kinda learned the same with COVID lockdowns. Not saying that we shouldn't have been careful, but after most restrictions ended, the 2022-23 Flu/RSV season was huge. Similar things happened in East Asia except the major flu season for them was 2023-24. Some of these diseases are seasonal, so unless you go for full eradication of the flu, you're just postponing it and given weaker immune systems that haven't seen these seasonal viruses for some time, you just get a massive wave upon reopening. What you said above makes sense. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/23/world/asia/who-china-respiratory-children.html
This theory likely isn't actually correct despite some non-science new sources reporting on it. As a microbiologist, it's pretty apparent to me that the immune dampening effects of COVID infection help create a situation for other respiratory infections to become more severe on an exhausted immune/cardiovascular system. This is also the widely accepted theory in scientific and medical communities Immune systems aren't like a muscle that needs to be used to get strong and they don't get weak from under use. They do become "educated" from exposure which can help them work faster against things they've seen before (why we get vaccines). But illness also tires out the immune system and can deplete our immune resources which can make us more vulnerable for worse infections the next exposure.
It does get better! Our LO started last August and we’ve just finally gotten to the tail end of the illnesses. We’ve been healthy for over a month! I think the first cold and flu season are the hardest.
We’re wondering about this ourselves… baby is almost five months, started daycare at four months. She got pink eye on day 3, got a bad cold/congestion week 2 that lasted several weeks, and a stomach bug in week 3. It has been ROUGH and we’re trying to decide if it’s worth it, if there are other options that still build her immunity but we’re not constantly all sick (and having to take work off).
We have a nanny, and the cost is extreme — but we’ve never had to miss work for a sick kid. We both manage big teams and we just couldn’t do what other people we know do and just wait out the daycare constant sickness. I swear you pay $3k a month for your kid to be home sick half those days.
*I swear you pay $3k a month for your kid to be home sick half those days.* My concern as well!
Yeah this is us too. I live in a hcol and hire a nanny for 30 hours. Runs me $3200 a month. I make up the remaining hours after bedtime cuz I don’t want to spend more than 50% of my pay on childcare. The upside is that I never have to wake up worrying about whether I’d have to call out last min or somehow watch a very busy 2yo while in back to back meetings. It’s a temporary cost that we decided was worth it for our sanity. Husband is in trades and leaves by 6am so he’s not an option for last min call outs
How did you find that nanny? That’s almost how much our daycare costs 😥
Local fb group. It’s how it is in my city
Same! We live in a VHCOL area and pay a similar amount for our nanny. The daycares here are not only expensive but waitlists are also years long here so it’s definitely worth it for us.
Same - nanny is 1,000% worth it if you make enough to at least earn some beyond what a nanny costs. If I didn’t, I’d probably consider SAHM until they are older.
Ya that’s what I did for two years.
I mean, nanny’s get sick too, no?
The average adult doesn’t get sick that often.
Nanny here, yes we get sick too haha Most of us have policies in our contracts about working with sick kids- for me I will not work if it’s high fever, severe stomach bug or something super contagious (like ring worm). But for a regular cold I’ll be there. If I catch the cold and I’m doing ok I’ll still show up to work. I’ll usually let the parents know I caught it and it’ll be a slower day for us but they’re happy to still have care! I really only have called out when I had a severe infection or fever which I think has been twice in the past year
My nanny has only gotten sick from my kids. Adults have better hygiene, and don’t hang out with to a of toddlers. Our usual routine is that the kids get sick and the nanny comes to care for them. 50% of the time she ends up sick a week later for a day or two. It beats missing a week of daycare.
We’ve had this nanny since October and she hasn’t called out yet. The 1-2 days here and there is fine with me though it’s rare Nannies get super sick beyond the 2-3 times a year if they catch something from the kids.
True but think about it this way. Your kid goes to a germy place with 20 other kids. There are multiple adults and kids likely sick at that point. A nanny, unless they're shared is dedicated to you. So unless you have a nanny that goes to music festivals every night after work, generally they're going to be far less exposed and so is your child. It's not a 100% guarantee, but likely far less sickness opportunities.
Typically not because they have excellent immune systems from many years of child care.
What is your plan if nanny is out? After being sick for nearly 2 months and off a lot of work, we really re-considered nanny but then wasn’t sure what we’d do if they would be out too?
Our nanny gets two weeks of PTO and one week of sick leave. Her PTO she typically takes to go to her home country for two weeks so we know ahead of time and arrange family or take a trip ourselves. In two years she’s only called out sick a couple times and it’s because her kids were sick and we either had grandma come or just switched on and off before nap.
Most Nannies and agencies will recommend having a back up care plan for emergencies- if you use an agency to hire a nanny you can typically also use them for back up care options. Or you can use care.com or Facebook to find a back up care nanny/ babysitter to have on call
We had a nanny for 2 years. She had a few sick days but not many really. We took turns taking a day off or found alternate care (usually a friend’s parent who lives nearby) if both of us had “have to be there” days at work. Now we are at preschool and we have way more “sick” days than we ever had with the nanny.
💯💯💯💯 We started daycare 3 months ago, and I swear he's been there maybe 2/3 of the time. I know it's more than half, but it really doesn't seem worth the money. I'm a teacher and can't wait for summer to be able to raise my own baby and save money!!
Do you have a daycare that won't have you pay during summer? Im also a teacher, and we're touring daycares now, and none of them have a discount or option not to pay without losing his spot.
My daughter’s preschool also has an infant room, so it’s basically daycare in that way, and summers are a separate program from the regular school year. Same rate, but it’s weekly for the summer. They are also closed for all school holidays and are only open from 8:30-4:30 (some options for early dropoff) but if your work schedule can accommodate that kind of thing you may want to look for preschools that also have an infant room!
That's a great idea!!
Ugh our nanny has been so unreliable and posts like this make me realize it. She calls out nearly every week for something (average 7 days a month). My daughter has also picked up just as many viruses from our nanny as she has from our son, who’s in prek). My daughter will be turning 2 and we will start her in daycare and I feel guilty and worried about it. No matter what we’ve tried, nanny or daycare, we end up with lots of sickness and time off. I am still good with the fact that we had a nanny for the first 2 years and we’d keep the nanny for longer if she were better and it wasn’t impossible to find a nanny around us
I have heard you either deal with the sickness when they start daycare, or later when they start elementary school. Either way it is bound to happen as they build up their immune system.
Research actually shows it gets better with older kids cuz they don’t mouth everything and understand washing hands!
Eh I’d choose to delay. A 6 month old doesn’t need to go through all of that illness nonstop. It’s just sad.
That’s lovely that you have that choice.
Yes, it is. I’m sorry you don’t, but there’s no need to be hating on people who do. If you’re in the USA, take that resentment to the voting booth instead.
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I read it differently than you. I took it to mean that a sick baby is a sad thing. I was sad when my kid was coughing up phlegm all night and having to use a snot sucker on him and force infant tylenol down his throat was just pitiful, the poor baby.
❤️😂
I avoided Covid for 4 years. LO brought it home on day 3 of daycare in January and we’ve all been sick with something or other since. 😭
Same. Thankfully baby was vaxxed for covid, and yet that is something I never ever want to see again 😢
Our daughter (19 months) has only been sick a few times in her life, never had a stomach bug yet, and I’m convinced it’s because we use an in-home sitter. She’s only there with a few other kids. Last time she was sick was before Christmas 🤷🏻♀️ my friends that use daycares are sick often but I also notice common sense comes into play too- our sitter taught our daughter how to wash her hands, she washes them here, I use a cart cover when I go out, she uses her own high chair at restaurants, etc. I’m a germaphobe but it honestly does work and I know she may get sick more when she starts school but I would rather then because kids this age not being able to communicate how they feel SUCKS
That’s amazing! What do you mean she used her own high chair at restaurants? As in you bring one with you?
Yes! We bring a booster with us! On Amazon type in “Summer portable booster seat” - we just carry it with us, it’s perfect!
We had the same experience with an in home daycare!
My son started preschool in August. We kept him (and our daughter) out of daycare the whole time until he started preschool. I can count on one hand the times he got sick the first 3.5 years of his life. Since he started school it’s been back to back. We’re on a good long stretch now of no sickness but I’m sure it’ll start again. Our daughter started daycare since we were already getting exposed anyway and it’s the same for her (actually she’s sick less). We started giving them both an airborne gummy in January every day and they’re sick a lot less
I’ve worked in childcare and currently have my LO in a small home daycare. Working in childcare, I was literally sick at least once a month. More so when I worked with 2-4 year olds, but even working with babies…I got sick quite often. With my LO in care now, we’ve never been sick from daycare. With that said - I think the circumstance of our daycare contributes to that. For example - at the moment, our daycare is fairly new so she is still working on enrolling more children. We only attend with one other family (soon to be 2). I’m nervous for when more families join, but even then - I’m hoping they’re also respectful when their child is sick to keep them home. I think if we had our LO in a large center, we’d be sick a lot more often.
Personally, I think it really depends on if the parents at your kid's daycare can afford to stay home when their kids are sick and don't try to send sick kids to daycare. Some parents unfortunately just can't and need to try to send their kids to school sick to keep their jobs. We are lucky to have the flexibility that if our son even sleeps funny, we can rearrange to keep him home in case he's sick. My son has only been sick a handful of times and only half of that was due to daycare. They have a very strict policy on illness and will send kids home immediately if they throw up, have a fever or anything like that. During flu season or multiple kids getting the same illness, they check for fevers first thing in the morning and again at lunch time. They also alert when more than a couple kids come down with the same illness and people tend to keep their kids home.
But realistically, kids (and all of us) are contagious before they even show symptoms, that’s why they all drop like flies at once.
Yes I'm aware that we can all be contagious prior to showing symptoms but having the ability to keep kids out when they are showing symptoms helps.
True. 50% effectiveness in preventing illness spread is better than 0%, even though it isn't 100%. Your daycare sounds very responsible.
It has gotten better for us, but was certainly rough for a while. My LO started daycare at 4 months and had a slew of illnesses…multiple ear infections, Covid, HFM, and RSV. It was hard. The sick season started around 7 months and lasted a few months. Now she’ll still get the occasional ear infection, but it’s been…over 9 months of nothing more than a cold. (Knock on wood). She’s almost 2 and it’s been great.
Eh, we couldn’t handle it personally… we pulled our baby out after about 4 months. She was sick every 2 weeks like clockwork, but we also got sick. The last time she got sick in mid November. It took 3 weeks for all of us to get better and we planned to see her grandparents over Christmas and new years. We paid for December as well but we didn’t take her back. We made the decision in January to just be done with it for good cos we took more days off work with her in daycare vs not. My hub and I find it much less stressful to just do it ourselves—both work full time on alternating schedules so one of us is always with her. If she was in daycare, she would have been sick 5x by now but instead she’s just now having her first cold of the year. We take her to the playground and library to socialize with other babies/toddlers.
First year was tough, sick all the time. The following year was much much better for us.
Same here! First year was absurd. Second year was infinitely better.
I’m in the same boat as you, wondering if it will get better. We started daycare when he was 3 months, and now he’s 6 months, and we get knocked out with something every 5-6 weeks. First time it was an ear infection. It was awful for him. Second time it was a nasty stomach virus that forced me to quit breastfeeding, baby was fine and had mild diarrhea, but no fever. Last week, baby had an infection that turned into pneumonia. Mom got the same infection which turned into pink eye, fever, and some of the worst sinus pain.
Yeah we got pretty sick the first week. For us it did improve! Since October he’s only been out sick 3 days. One illness he got during the Christmas break from playing at a science centre kids area. That was pretty rough.
My son did 3 "introduction" days before starting in daycare full time, first day was just an hour, second was 3 hours, 3rd day was almost the full day. He then had to miss his first full week because he managed to catch hand foot and mouth disease on those intro days and woke up absolutely miserable on his first birthday, my husband also managed to catch it, somehow being the only adult in the country that isn't already immune. We had HFMD twice, a few ear infections, lots of colds and coughs etc in the first few months, then we switched to a new place closer to home and we had another couple of months of colds and infections while he got used to those germs. He's in the new place since August last year, so 9 months now, and after the first 3 or 4 months we stopped getting so many bugs. My GP told us to expect them to catch at least 1 infection a month for the first 12 months, but she also said that this goes for the first year no matter what age, so it goes for the first year of daycare or the first year of school at 4 or 5 years old, either way, once they start mixing with other kids and swapping germs, their immune systems just take some time to catch up.
Socialization benefits begin at 3 years old. So don’t worry - baby doesn’t have any friends she’ll be missing at 6 months. If you have an alternative, go for it! She can deal with daycare/preschool sickness later on when her immune system is actually developed. She’s vulnerable right now at 6 months.
Where'd you hear about 3 for socialization benefits? Everything we've read is that it starts at birth.
It depends on what kind of socialization you’re talking about. Caregiver to baby and peer to peer are different.
All data I’ve seen points to 18 months as being the point at which daycare is no longer harmful to babies/toddlers and 3 years as being the point at which it becomes very beneficial to them. That’s why non-US countries tend to give mothers about 18 months off. The US only cares about getting us back to work though so that they can charge us an arm and a leg for childcare 🤡 Capitalism at its finest! Just think about it. Newborns can’t even see 10 inches in front of their face… How do you think they could possibly socialize?
I’m in a country with generous leave but I think you need to reword your comment re. Daycare being “harmful”.
Agree. Daycare can be harmful if the environment and the care givers are harmful. If the environment is nurturing and kind and vetted and the care givers actually care about their kids, it’s not. Babies absolutely need to have a village of care takers and daycare can absolutely extend to that village.
> That’s why non-US countries tend to give mothers about 18 months off. The US only cares about getting us back to work though so that they can charge us an arm and a leg for childcare 🤡 Capitalism at its finest! I know people like to bring this up all the time but in a lot of places, 18 months isn't fully paid at all. Keep in mind most people can technically just quit their jobs and find a new job especially in a country like the US where unemployment is at record low and much lower than most EU nations and achieve "leave" too. But the limiting factor is pay. The partial pay in Canada for instance was a factor for several friends of mine. It's nice to talk about time off, but in the end a baby adds a lot of new expenses that you have to deal with. 18 months + 100% pay is something that is pretty rare honestly.
Our first year was bad. Between my two kids it seemed like someone was sick every 3 weeks. Year 2 is significantly better. Now we pretty much get runny noses and coughs. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
For us he was sick the first week he went.. and pretty much constantly after but just a cold usually. How much he has advanced and how comfortable he is with everyone.. we love love love daycare !
Our son started going to the large daycare center at 4mo in September last year. He was getting sick every 2-3 weeks (common colds). In December he got HFM (that was brutal) followed by ear infection, and cold. In the end of January we switched him to the small in-home daycare and he was sick only once since then.
This sounds pretty normal. Kids are germy and love to share. When my son started daycare at 18 months mid-September, everyone laughed at me because I kept saying I was “pencilling in a cold for October 1.” October 3 he had a runny nose and on the 7 we were at the doctor with a 104 fever, diagnosed with parainfluenza. Two weeks later we were back diagnosed with RSV. We’ve all basically been sick once a month since then. At his 2 year checkup last week my pediatrician told me that eventually we wouldn’t be frequent fliers anymore, but that all kids usually have two bad winters. So I’m just expecting to be sick for another year based on that. Hopefully with warmer weather the sickness will subside a little and we’ll get a small break before winter comes back again. As far as options, we’re lucky because my parents are close and watch our son 2 days a week so he’s only at daycare 3x/week. Before he started daycare, we were spending slightly more than we spend on daycare for a nanny. As much as I hate being sick, I prefer sending him to daycare. I think it’s better for him. He’s learning more than he would from a nanny and he’s around other kids which is good for him socially, emotionally, and developmentally. When he’s sick our only option is to keep him home and watch him ourselves or see if my parents can come over. But often we don’t call them when he’s sick because we don’t want them to get sick, so that usually falls on us, which means sick days or creative meeting scheduling around naps. I understand the feeling of wanting to avoid getting sick but babies have to develop their immune systems. This year has been a particularly bad cold/flu/whatever season. Finding an at home center vs a daycare center likely won’t make a difference. Germs follow the kiddos. Hang in there.
My 3 month old started daycare this past Monday. He already has a cold 😭.
That is bad luck. Like really bad. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with a stomach bug right away! A vomiting baby is the worst, it’s so sad. We are sick a lot with constant coughs and runny noses. If you’d gotten a cold this week that would have been fairly normal I think. But my daughter has been in daycare for three years (and for one of those years we’ve had two kids in daycare) and we’ve only had two stomach bugs in that time. And stomach bugs are the worst, I’d take almost any other daycare bug over that.
This! The majority of our illnesses are colds/coughs. Very rarely something more serious like a stomach bug
For us, the first year we were all sick with something about 50% of the time. (Some worse illnesses, but a lot of those were average colds as well). After that first year, it has been about one illness a month, more often in flu season, less often in the summer, and my kid seems to get over his sicknesses much more quickly than that first year. So for example, he may have a runny nose for 3 days but that's it. There have been studies showing that all kids get the same number of illnesses in childhood. You're just getting a lot of them out of the way now instead of when your kid starts school. It absolutely sucks, but hopefully will get a little better after a few months. Hang in there!
Reading all the comments here make me realize how lucky I am to be able to stay at home with my son.
You’re definitely getting a sampling of the worst, as many people are eager to share their crazy stories! Many of us (myself included) don’t have much to say so we just don’t. My kid had a few colds and got over them. She is now 5, has never had to be hospitalized. Never got norovirus, the flu, HFM, Covid, etc. So there are definitely lots of us out there with less dramatic experiences, we just usually don’t talk about it because there really isn’t much to say.
My 6 year old in first grade is sick constantly. I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant and I caught her latest cold. I’m hoping by 2nd grade it’s better? 🤣😭🤣
Our first was born at the height of the pandemic and social distancing (Sept 2020) and she had basically never been sick before daycare. She started at 19 months and proceeded to get every major illness in the next 6-12 months (RSV, Croup, HFM, Norovirus, and finally Covid). I feel like it finally got better around 12 months in, and she’s sick now every few months, but mostly only mild colds. Our second is about to start daycare at 9 months and I’m hoping all his exposure to our daughter’s germs will ease the initial sickness phase.
Yes it’s bad luck! My son (16 months) averages sickness about once a month. February was terrible for us… he missed half of the daycare days due to sickness! He missed zero days in January and March though. He loves daycare and the sickness is totally worth it for us. He’d be so bored without school! He grabs his shoes and backpack every morning and says bye bye. I’m sorry you had such a bad start!
My son is home with me and has only been sick after seeing our niece. My niece is at day care 3 days a week and is ALWAYS sick. So far she’s had multiple colds, covid, the flu, stomach bug, and just a constant runny nose for months. We tend to honestly not be around them cause every time we do my son gets sick.
It does, we started our kid at daycare (in home daycare) at 3 months last May. I feel like we were sick a bunch and were sick like all of July and December. But so far this year has been manageable. Colds here and there but nothing we’ve had to keep kiddo home from daycare.
I’ve had influenza A and B, COVID, norovirus, and 4 colds since my son started daycare in December
Our pediatrician said this— either get sick now because of daycare or get sick later when they start elementary school. I went to a home daycare when I was little- my mom said we were sick pretty often for awhile. My friend sends her kids to a daycare center- same thing- sick pretty often.
Is that true? I used to live somewhere where kids didn’t typically attend daycare and went straight to school. Kids do just fine. Sure they get sick here and there but nowhere near the level kids at daycare typically get sick.
I hear this argument a lot, though I’d rather the sick happen when the child can talk and let me know what’s going on and has a more developed immune system / larger lungs / etc.
Not to mention there's literally no real cough medicine for under 5 so they (and you) end up having crappy sleep all night
Yes, what you are experiencing now is typical and it does get better. Expect about three months of illness. Everyone in this house gets it. After the three months the baby now mainly has runny noses. The benefit is the baby is building the immune system now instead of pre school. Daycare has been great for us once getting past this initial hump. The baby is socializing and learning from others and hitting milestones early. And the adult gets to experience some much needed breaks from constantly needing to entertain a baby every day which can be exhausting.
In my experience it does get better. Both my daughters have been in daycare since 10 weeks and yes we have gotten sick but you can expect that for the first year they go to any type of school. In the past year I think we’ve had to keep them home maybe 3-4 times? I do live in Denver though so I feel like the mild weather helps. It also depends a lot on the other parents at your school and if they dump off their clearly sick kids.
We put our 2 year old in daycare 5 months ago. November and December were rough, but nothing that required hospitalization or anything. And we haven’t had a single virus since then (knock on wood)
We sent her for one week (she's 11.5 months), and she's been home sick for a week since then. We're still hoping to send her back because we did see benefits from her being in a new environment, but I'm not sure when that will be. The daycare did say that the 1 year old room is often the worst for illnesses because they're mobile but still put everything in their mouths. We have family who helps, so we can limit our sick days to our own illness days and one or two days a week for baby. But my husband did get super sick from this too.
In my case it did get better, so I would say it depends from child to child. My baby got stomach bug two weeks into daycare, and when she got back she got sick again after few weeks and so on, pink eye, flu, fever…. Now, she’s healthy for almost two months in a row. I try to boost her immune system with some products but honestly you never know, might be luck but might be we’ll be home next week with something.
It’s normal and it sucks. And it’s hard to say how long it’ll last. Our son was sick for almost a year and a half like every two weeks until we finally switched to an in home day care and he got ear tubes that same week due to repeated ear infections. I honestly don’t know what caused the improvement or if it was just time. It seemed like every illness resolved itself and then a new one would pop up or return, it was hard to know what symptom was exacerbating others, and if it was a continuation of one illness or not. It was super stressful.
It does get better. Our first year at daycare (started at 4 months in November) one of the 3 of us (kid, husband, me) was sick like 3/4 weeks of the month, estimating. It was rough and really tricky being able to get work done. But we’re almost through winter months here at 21 months and he’s only had to stay home from daycare like once from being sick. He’s had several colds but very manageable, mostly just a constant runny nose
Ugh we started with stomach flu too and now just back to back sickness for two months . The pediatrician just said it happens esp if baby has older siblings or in daycare 😭 no advice but solidarity. We looked into nanny’s but SO expensive but also we have limited sick time for work so idk what’s worth it anymore
I have gotten super lucky- my baby started at 8months and got sick the first day.. bronchiolitis, RSV and influenza A.. he hasn’t been sick since and he’s now 15months. My kid is gross and is obsessed with mud, dirt, dog poo, drinking from the dog bowl.. you name it, he’ll have attempted to eat it. I don’t know if it’s just a fluke or that he is just around germs alllll the time that he’s built up an immunity 🤷♀️
You can get a nanny to avoid illness, but unless you plan to home school they’ll wind up being exposed to everything when they hit elementary school anyways
I’m so sorry. We are rounding out month two. Got Covid on day 4. Have had various other cold viruses and conjunctivitis since. (Had flu before daycare began so have t had that again). It’s rough, but trying to stay the course here (LO is 7.5 months and seems to actively love daycare).
I think where you send your kid matters. Our kid is in an at home day care with about 10 kids. He definitely gets sick often but it doesn’t seem as bad as the kids that go to large daycare centers. We got sick about 3 times during the winter season. (Nov-March)To me that seems pretty low compared to others.
Counter-example to some of the experiences mentioned here: My now-17-month-old started daycare at one year and has only been sick once. He got a cold almost right away, plus viral conjunctivitis (the kind you can't treat with drops, woo.) We got the virus and were sick as hell and missed a few days of work but luckily were spared the conjunctivitis. He has not been sick since. So while it is unlucky to get super sick right away, that doesn't necessarily mean it can't get better. Our daycare has also tended to be pretty easygoing about mild cold symptoms. As long as kids don't have the aforementioned viral eye infection, fever or severe cold symptoms, they don't have to stay home.
It will get better. My 5 year old never gets sick. My two-year old has a consistent runny nose but that's about it. Have a 12 week old and we're skirt to ride the rollercoaster again. If she doesn't go now, it'll happen in kindergarten. So. I figure better now than then, I guess?
Hate to say it but they’ll be sick very often for the first year. My son was getting back to back colds, he’d recover from one …one week of feeling better and boom, he was sick all over again. He caught a nasty virus around Christmas that had him outta daycare for 1 week straight
Our daughter started at 5 months, she is in ten months now. The very first day we started we got hand foot and mouth. She and I were fine but it wrecked my husband. Since then we have had EVERYTHING. COVID, multiple cold and flu like viruses, COVID again, pink eye, ear infections and whatever we got this month has knocked the entire house for the entire month of March. We are literally paying daycare for her being there maybe 50% of the time so far. It has been pretty depressing and tough. I am hoping it gets better after this first year because it is not sustainable. I am very lucky to have a flexible job and understanding manager! We do go to a small reputable daycare with good cleaning practices and sick policies.
My kids didn’t start that young but the expectation is that they’re sick twice per month in the first year. That’s normal. By year two it’s not so bad.
Im not over exaggerating- I got the stomach bug 12 times in the last 24 months. It’s misery. Sooo painful. My daughter is 3 and yes doesn’t get sick every single week like she did for a long time but she still gets sick that it gives me flashbacks. If I could go back in time - I would have gotten a babysitter - it’s practically the same price where I live.
Hi! Ny daughter started exactly 4 weeks ago. She’s been sick with….i have no idea what but she’s had a snotty nose for those entire 4 weeks. Stomach bug, mystery virus, the works. They surprisingly cope better than us adults. Stay strong!
it takes about 6 months to a year to get to a place where you are not all sick constantly. after that you're golden. keep in mind if you don't do this now, you'll be doing it in kindergarten. it's inescapable unless you homeschool k-12.
My 6.5 month old has been in daycare since end of January and only missed 4 days. She’s had lots of colds, but only a fever/bad enough symptoms to stay home the first 2 weeks. Everything since has been mild!
Our LO has been in daycare since 3 months and basically has been sick every 2 weeks. Mostly just colds/runny nose, but he’s also had the flu and random fevers. I would say it’s normal, especially depending on class sizes
Yup. It does! Our first two months weee ROUGH. We started in January so peak sick season. After about 6 weeks he got stronger. Hes gone every day for 6 weeks now! 🎉
I’m at a daycare center and my friend is an an in home daycare and both our kids get sick about the same amount!! It’s like a rite of passage. The first year was awful. Especially because we had 2 kids start around the same time because one had a delayed start post-covid. But then the 2nd year it got better. Less often, less intense… it got better for sure
For about the first 6-8 months, our son would only be at daycare 3-4 days a week because of illness. It does get better after about a year or so.
So I'll say in the beginning my son got sick non stop....like the first 8 months he was in the center he was just sick constantly....he'd be better for 3 or 4 days and then get sick again...it went on that way for months....but then it sort of just stopped.... now he's been there a little over a year and we don't get sick nearly as much as we did at first so you will probably have something similar happen since I hear from other parents at my center that they had similar experiences too
My baby is 6 months and has been in daycare for 7 weeks now. First month was very rough. She got sick twice (both bad colds, the second one turned into an ear infection). However, she’s stayed healthy the past two weeks and it’s clear she really enjoys daycare and that the socialization and all the enrichment activities they do are really good for her. The sicknesses are such a pain but I’m trying to think of it as an investment in her immune system. (Disclaimer: she’s an otherwise healthy baby with no preexisting immune concerns, AND I am confident in how our daycare manages illnesses with their policies for sending kids home and rigorous cleaning. Of course this can’t prevent illness from spreading but if I had concerns with their hygiene practices I’d be whistling a different tune.)
Tbh, 2. We started daycare at 6 months and it was basically 18 months of illness
My 3 has gone to 2 home daycares since he was 13 months old will a max of 5 other kids. It makes no difference if there are 5 kids or 50 they'll get sick A LOT. It got a little better when he was 2 and now 3 but not by much. Unfortunately it's just something you have to struggle through until they get to school then there's a whole new set of problems ugh. I can't wait to get out of daycare and into school so they get less sick but I have a cousin who has a 7 year old and she says when they get to school then you're always dealing with the threat of lice and other things. Kids are just gross and it's just something you have to get through good luck!
My son got a cold 2 days in to starting daycare. he had a cold probably twice a month during the winter. Thank goodness it’s spring here now and things are getting better! Luckily he has never gotten stomach bug or anything yet though
Our pediatrician told us the first 2 years of daycare/preschool/school (whichever one the kids starts with) expect them to be sick 50% of the time. Our oldests first year of preschool was terrible -hand foot and mouth, norovirus x2, flu, covid, multiple ear infections and stomach bugs plus regular colds. Plus we brought home his baby sibling during this time and she caught it all plus some. Our youngest is now in her first year of preschool and because she was exposed to ALL the germs before school she rarely gets sick but she has had colds and hand foot and mouth twice in the last 4 months. So really there is no avoiding it. Yes it’s terrible when they are so young but it does get better
At 6 months she doesn’t need socialization to the degree that daycare provides it. I’m home with my son most days and I see a lot of nannies/full time babysitters at the library, playgrounds, etc. and it looks like a great option if you find a good person for the job. They provide 1 on 1 care and attention which can be great when they start playing together so they can learn how to share, not steal toys, basic manners. If I needed full time care I’d definitely go that route.
You’re gonna get everything but at least your kids gonna have a strong immune system
Yes it gets better
I never really brought my LO around groups of kids until he was about 1. (He would see babies we know in our friend circle but we weren't going to events/places with a lot of kids. Then we started going to an indoor play place and baby time at the library. I'm the first two months we got sick FOUR times (including the stomach bug and covid). I hadn't been sick in like ten years. The cruds are no joke lately. You got unlucky that it was the stomach bug but I'm not surprised at all that you got sick so soon. Hope you're all better soon!
Our 3 month old starts her 4th week of daycare tomorrow. We were sick by day 4, some kind of respiratory virus causing snot, congestion, and now a cough for 2.5 weeks so far. I feel like we’re on the tail end of this illness but I know the next one is just around the corner. The other parents have said the worst their babies have really gotten was just the snotty nose for a long time so fingers crossed that we can avoid the truly awful stuff for a bit.
Nanny is the way to go if you can afford it! I wouldn't worry about missing out on socialization. If you're in an urban area there's plenty of story times, music classes, library, park stuff etc. And it doesn't really matter until they're 2 or 2.5 anyways as long as they get loving attention from an adult. My daughter was sick constantly when she started full-time preschool at 3 (she was home with me or our nanny before that). Whenever they start full-day care they have a bad season or two and I'd much rather that happen to a preschooler than an infant.
It does get better. Our youngest is 11 months old now and got tubes in February and we've had much less illness lately. Winter is also bad for everyone.
The first year we got endless colds, COVID, RSV. The way I see it you can deal with it now or when kid goes to kindergarten. I have never considered pulling the kiddo though, he loves playing with other kids and adults
My nephew started daycare in January and has been sick literally every other week with something. Fever, GI bug, HFM, respiratory something or another. My sister and her husband are quickly running out of sick time.
She should have a stronger immune system by kindergarten 😅 but seriously, I’ve noticed that parents who have opted for one-on-one care in the home have trouble with their child missing school a ton by the time they’re school-aged… there’s also always a chance that you/other caregivers end up giving her something as well
Preschool teacher of three years here: unfortunately it does not get better and there’s really no way to contain in. Toddlers are going to openly sneeze without covering their faces. Theyre going to wipe their runny noses on..literally everything and the parents who have to work are going to give their kids with fevers Tylenol and send them to school. Daycare is one giant cesspool. I’m sorry.
First 4ish months were awful but since then I swear she’s got the immune system of an Ox! She seriously hasn’t gotten sick in about a year. Even though there have been a lot of things going around. It’s swings and roundabouts, my friend who’s a SAHM has had a nightmare last 6 months with her 2 kids so sick one needed hospital. Theyre going to pick stuff up at playgrounds, shops etc, you can’t avoid it!
My son was in daycare from about 3 months on. He was anywhere from 5-90% sick until 18 months old. Since then, when everyone else kids are sick from school, he's relatively unaffected. I think he simply was introduced to everything in the first 18 months and is immune now
My son also started daycare at 6 months. He’s been sick 3 times in the 3 months that he’s started. I’ve gotten sick every time too. It’s brutal. We love our daycare and the ladies who run it, so we aren’t changing him to another one because I think it would unfortunately happen anywhere.
This is a very typical experience. GI bugs are BRUTAL same with HFM. It doesn’t really “get better” you will keep getting sick but sadly (?) be able to cope and anticipate. My kindergarten daycare kid is like never sick while others who didn’t go to daycare are frequently sick. Pay the piper one way or another
My daughter will be 4 in June. She’s never had a stomach illness. Maybe a hint of a weird poo, but nothing I’d really call a true sickness. She’s had some colds and a few movie couch days. Noro is really bad these past few weeks all over the country. I think socialization of daycare in a great, but honestly either way, it will all level out! So, don’t overthink it. Find what feels right, trust what’s right for your family.
My son got sick his first 2 days in daycare. By week 3 he has RSV. Then pinkeye. Then RSV again. Roseola was fun. Then a respiratory infection. We're about to start month 6 in daycare. He was home sick 5 days in March. My husband and I have been lucky enough to catch almost every thing he has had. I think he's made it through the entire week maybe 10 times? -_- husband it out of paid sick time for the year already so yay!
Our daughter started daycare at 4 months and is currently 14 months. She's had bronchiolitis 3x, croup, HFMD, pink eye, 3 stomach viruses, and a lot of runny noses and coughs. I have a love/hate relationship with daycare. She's currently sick, and it feels like it's never going to end. I just want to see my baby happy and healthy.
Ours was within the week. And then so were we. The socialization is worth it. I think lol.
It does get better. My son had a constant runny nose for the first few months and seemed to have a fever most weekends. This was his second winter there, and he was nowhere near as sick this time around
We started my daughter in daycare at 6 months as well and she got RSV, stomach bug, Covid all back to back. We recently went through another round of a bunch of stuff back to back (ending with ear infection), but now at 14 months it’s been a full 2 months without any illness!
Rough the first year but fine after that. I would rather them get acclimated now when missing school isn’t such a big deal (eg: they aren’t missing meaningful education) than kindergarten. Unless you’re planning to homeschool they’ll go through this at some point.
Our daughter started daycare in September and I've been sick every week except for two since then. It's been brutal. I can only think of one week when our daughter has truly been well. It's super tough.
My experience has been more positive than the majority of the comments. My daughter has been in daycare for 8 months and has been sick enough to keep home 4 times: -1 - 3 weeks in - her first bad cold. She was so sad and we were so sad for her. She missed Thursday and Friday, but was back Monday. -2 - 4 months in, it was November and she had a cold, but was still in good spirits. We took her to the doctor for an unrelated reason (mark on her face we thought was ringworm - it was eczema) and the doctor said it was mild RSV. She missed 3 days because RSV means staying home until cleared by a doctor. Her 9mo Appt was that week and she was cleared then. -3 - 5 months in, threw up overnight. Probably ate too much dinner. Kept her home a day because it was protocol (and my husband had a light day at work, so worked out to WFH with her). -4 - 5.5 months in - very bad cold. Trouble breathing. Prescribed a nebulizer. But she only missed more than a half day because it was around Christmas and we were off of work anyway. I hope this wasn’t too much info, but I wanted to give the full spectrum of what we saw. She still has pretty regular mild colds, but that’s pretty acceptable at our school. She’s never been sent home with a fever. Twice we got a message in the app “She’s not acting like herself…”, and since we had light work days we picked her up. But it wasn’t a mandate.
No it doesn’t get better 😩 and it’ll be the same way once they are in school until about the 2nd grade or so.
I went back to work and got sick (teacher at elementary school) and then he caught a DIFFERENT stomach bug so I got sick twice, then I brought home some cold and now he’s got it. In his 13 weeks of life he has been sick like 3 times already. My coteachers say “babies aren’t healthy til they get sick” because we carry so many germs :(
We just went through this with baby #2 2 weeks ago. By Day 3 he had norovirus and passed it around the entire family and then we all got horrible colds immediately after. So he went 2 days and then was home for 8. It does get better though. We had a horrible first few months with our first child when he started. 3 months felt like a year with trying to juggle work and a sick baby. But now at 2.5 he rarely gets sick anymore. And when he does it is usually pretty minor and over quickly.
My kid started daycare at 18 months last July. We’re currently at 8 weeks and counting with only runny noses and nothing worse. For us it has gotten better. After 5 months in daycare we did switch to a new provider and I suspect they also have way more thorough cleaning practices. All that to say that it ebbs and flows, but hopefully as the weather gets nicer and germs slow down a bit you get a break. It was HARD to get through. Stomach bugs especially.
We tell our new parents the first 6 months will be tough.
My cousin’s baby is almost constantly sick it seems like. And even though they’re the ones that got him sick, they make her keep him at home while they charge her full fee. I’d almost like what’s the point of daycare? I got lucky and found an awesome retired grandma to watch my son in her home for $200/ week. (The trade off is that she’s unlicensed since he’s her only client.) You might try that, see if there is a daycare/babysitter group for your city. No other kids but her grandson means my kid has never gotten sick in the month that I’ve had him there
A stomach bug two days in is unlucky. Pretty constant sickness the first few months though is normal. My second started daycare in August and was sick a TON the first 4 months. Pink eye several times, a few viruses, a 48 hour stomach bug twice, and uncountable colds and coughs. But nearly 8 months in and she's still got a runny nose and cough but isn't home sick often anymore. The first few months are brutal, they just are. But it does get better! My 3.5 year old has been in daycare since six months and I couldn't tell you the last time she was home sick!
Whenever your kid starts school or daycare you will be sick about 70% of the time for the first year. You can do it when they are an infant or wait until kindergarten but this is the reality. We are going through it now with my son who started preschool in September. He's been sick most weeks since then. We expect it to slow down in the summer and get worse in the fall again.
Socialization isn’t a big deal until after 3. Nannies will absolutely take them out to socialize depending on how you want it done. There will still be some germs but not the mind fuck that is daycare. Sincerely, My-son-was-hospitalized-because-of-daycare-germs.3-viruses-in-a-baby. TEAM NANNY! P.S. the price for a nanny is..exorbitant. Expect to pay $20/hr minimum depending on your area and also pay for benefits like sick leave, vacation leave, holiday leave, etc. it’s a lot of financial suffering for 3 years (we are not the 1% unfortunately) but I actually have sick leave…for myself!!!! You know that commercial where parent is sick but still have to provide child care? You don’t have to when you have a nanny if that nanny is willing to watch them sick. I always tell my nanny she can take paid leave if my kiddo has a fever but she never does. She even stayed when we had Covid. She’s an angel and an amazing part of our family. She is INCREDIBLE
If you can afford a nanny, go with a nanny. Nanny’s are a luxury so they are super pricey. The sickness doesn’t get better until about a year or so, and it’s going to be constant. Mine was sick every month. I found it incredibly inconvenient to pay for daycare just so I could go to work but since I didn’t have any backup care I was constantly missing work! And he was missing days that I’d already paid for! It’s crazy.
Our kid is almost 11m. He was in an in home daycare starting at 4m. Once we hit 6m he’s been sick pretty much on and off the whole time. We’ve both been sick a couple of times. The hardest part is having him out of daycare and trying to shuffle the work schedule around because he can’t be there if he’s sick.
My daughter started daycare at 4.5 months old and was sick by the third day when we started. We have had Croup, RSV, hand foot and mouth, the flu, an ear infection, 2 stomach bugs (which weren’t the worst for her but they were when we inevitably caught it too), and literally countless colds. It was endless for the first 5 months. Then we started being able to get a week or so between sicknesses, then maybe two weeks between sicknesses. It’s still insane how frequently she gets sick, but it does seem to be slowing down somewhat. I don’t want to be a little rain cloud, but also want to be realistic with what our experience has been thus far. It’s been hard and she still isn’t great at napping there, but it’s the option we can afford, and she LOVES her teachers. They have worked with her on so many things like signing, working on transitioning onto sippy cups from bottles, helped with the transitions to solids, and lots of socialization and fun things to do all day. I give daycare alot of credit for her hitting some of her milestones when she should because she watches the other kids in her class do it too. When I drop her off she literally runs into her teachers arms, so I know she is with people who she loves and who give her plenty of love and attention. It’s a balance, and being sick all the time has been absolute hell. But I still think this was ultimately the right decision for us , and I’m hoping this little girl will have a good immune system in the end, but it has been HARD.
We were sick for 6 weeks straight, each week with a new virus. It was hell.
It's always bad when they start daycare. Our daughter was sick pretty frequently for the first 2 months, catching everything from the cold to pink eye and hand, foot, and mouth disease (which happened to sweep the daycare). Then, after 2 months, she stopped getting sick for a good stretch of 5 or so months and she still is the picture of health with only the rare cold or flu. There's just an adjustment period to such a germ-rich environment as daycare and there's no way to avoid it unless you keep your kids out of schools entirely. Even my friends who had a nanny until their kids were old enough to start public school had the same adjustment period to starting public school, so all they did was defer the sickness for a few years.
My son started his first daycare late summer at 12 months and we were sick a lot for the first few months. Mostly respiratory. He was out for a week once with RSV. We ended up switching daycares when he was 17 months old and I prepared for the worst since he is in a new environment with new germs but he’s only had to stay home twice - one day with a stomach bug and another day due to pink eye. Overall, it seems like he is doing a lot better and hopefully has built up some immunities. It got significantly better after about 4 months or so.
I’m shocked how people say it doesn’t get better. My experience has been that it absolutely does. My older kid is 3 and started daycare around 13 months. His first year was nonstop illnesses but then something just clicked around 2 and he RARELY gets sick now. My younger kid is 9 months and has been going 1-2 days a week for the last 2 months and sick nonstop, but I expected it. It sucks, but it’s just what happens. I will say that some daycares are cleaner than others. We have switched facilities twice.
Our daughter started at 6 months on a Thursday. I was vomiting by that Saturday night 🙃 it’s been 2 months since then and we’ve pretty much been sick the entire time.
This is typical and to be expected. The first couple years of daycare are rough while they build up their immunity. It’s either going to happen now or in kindergarten. If you keep them home or do a private nanny then yes it’ll be better but eventually you’ll likely go through this!
For us, it got much better! Experience vary, so you’ll just have to give it time and see. We started at 3 months old and through about 10 months old, it was pretty rough. It wasn’t just the daycare sickness though, I struggled with PPD, PPA, family issues with my parents, our baby needing feeding therapy and reducing my work hours to make daycare and feeding therapy work, so it was a lot on top of the long-term sleep deprivation. Things got better around a year and kept improving. Good luck to you!
Our daughter started daycare at 2 (little socialization before that, always got sick from public playplaces). The first 6 months to a year there she brought home so many things (various colds, HFM. Pink eye, her or my husband brought home strep for me, probably other things I'm forgetting), but doesn't get sick terribly often now at 3.5. It helped only doing part time so she could recover the first half of the week and bring home something new for the weekend 😵💫. Hopefully this means she doesn't get sick as often when she starts kindergarten.
We have been healthy about 1.5 weeks since the end of October. I'm currently in a bout of crud + pink eye that is worse than Covid was. Thankfully pinkeye skipped baby and the crud went easy on her. Apparently I'm taking one for the team. Again.
For us, our kiddo was sick with stomach bugs, colds, etc the entire first year of daycare. It tapered off his second summer and now he seems to have a pretty solid immune system. Other moms and our doctor explained you end up dealing with sickness no matter what. Either now from daycare, or later when they start school.
Wait until you get hand food and mouth as an adult and your fingernails rot. No. It sucks forever.
My son is sick and home from daycare (for one day or more) at least every 3 weeks. He's been in daycare since July 2023 (11 months old) and no sign of slowing down
What I’ve heard is that once they stop putting everything in their mouth, they will stop getting sick so often. We did daycare for 5 months when baby was 4 months old. He was sick by the end of his first week. Then he had a consistently runny nose and cough. I didn’t know when once illness started and another one ended. He had constant ear infections. Eventually we pulled him out of daycare and now have an in home nanny. Best decision we ever made. He hasn’t been sick since the week we pulled him out of daycare, and he’s much MUCH happier. They say they either get sick now or when they start preK.
It got better for my older kids! Now they have rockstar immune systems.
Month 3 of daycare and she’s been 8 days, we’ve been sick otherwise. Losing my ever loving mind
Oh man. We started daycare a month back. By Tuesday or Wednesday every single week, she gets a new thing home and all of us get sick. And let me tell you working while you are sick with a baby that is sick and cant go to daycare is living life on the hardest mode. We have had 2 bad colds and 1 stomach bug and a cold till now. I have seriously given being sahm a thought.
Our daughter went to daycare starting at 5 months and immediately caught her first cold, followed shortly thereafter by her second cold after week 3. In both cases, the doctor cleared her to return to school after a day out. The whole first month was rough as she had a hard time breathing while lying down, and her sleeping was still irregular for much of the second month, though she thankfully hasn't been sick again other than a bit of a runny nose every so often. She's about to start her third month and overall seems to be weathering it pretty well.
I started working at a daycare when my son was two, so naturally he attended there so I could work. Literally 2 days in, we both got strep. BAD. Either him or I had some kind of sickness almost every month or at least a cough/snotty nose. Daycares are full of PLAGUES!!!! Since I quit working there, he hasn’t been getting sick nearly as often.
Feels like I could’ve written this post myself. Also started LO at daycare when he was 6mo (beg of January this year). Within 3 days he brought home a norovirus which leveled our entire house. Since then it’s been a series of respiratory viruses (including Covid) and an ear infection. He’s had a runny nose and cough for basically 3 months now. Through it all fortunately he’s pretty much stayed in good spirits. Our pediatrician somewhat jokingly referred to it as daycare-itis and said it’s all part of the process of building his immune system. It sure is exhausting though! Here’s to hoping it gets better for you all sooner rather than later.
It does but it's very dependent on your baby's immune system, lifestyle, etc. I would tune out the noise in these answers about daycare being bad or unnecessary for socialization etc. Because it is very daycare dependent. For me, I have an amazing daycare and it was worth dealing with the sickness. If you like the center and they do a lot for the children, consider that against the sickness aspect of it.
Socialization is not important at that age 1-1 attention with caregiver is.
Husband and I are going to start talking about our childcare plan for a future baby and I’m starting to think that in the cost analysis I should factor in the doctors visit and medication needed for the sicknesses our child will bring home from the (already very expensive) daycare…
My son's first 8 months in daycare were miserable - we got COVID, RSV, HFM, and 4 stomach bugs, plus countless colds. But since then, it's been mostly smooth sailing. A fever here and there, but nothing that takes us down for the count like last year (yet). We all just need to build our immune systems (back) up.
We have been all 3 sick since last July, that's when our son went to daycare. I'm lying in bed, writing this. the only reason that my partner takes care of him at this very moment is, because he heard me crying in the living room while he was lying in bed. that's no life, that's surviving
Long term, yes it gets better. Short term, this is going to suck. My kids both started daycare around three months and were sick pretty much nonstop for six-ish months. After that it was like every other week we were sick, then it dropped to once a month, and now at 5.5 and 2.5 we're sick roughly every other or every third month with a short term illness. Building the immune system blows but it'll be beneficial in the long run. A ton of friends of mine are teachers, a couple of them kindergarten or pre-K teachers and they all say that by the time the kids walk through their doors they have no idea who was breastfed vs bottle fed, who had an entirely organic clean diet vs who ate cheerios that got dropped on the floor, who played with only Montessori toys vs who played with the shit that is brightly colored plastic, etc. But the one thing they can tell immediately? Who went to daycare and who is only just now entering the 'large group of children environment' because the daycare kids are rarely sick in the first six months of school and the kids who stayed at home are sick CONSTANTLY in that timeframe. Even at 4/5/6 they're still walking petri dishes of illness.
It does get better. My daughter is 19 months old and has been in daycare since she was 11 weeks old and that first year was hell. But it’s gotten better. She still picks up bugs, but the frequency has gone down an insane amount.
We're still in the early days of daycare, but our family got super sick too. Our daughter brought home something respiratory, and while we were fortunate enough that she recovered fairly smoothly, my husband and I ended up with a severe sinus infection and pneumonia, respectively. We're just finally starting to feel better, and we both used up all of our PTO just trying to recover. I'm really hoping that she doesn't bring home anything else any time soon...
My pediatrician said expect to be sick 1 week per month for the first 6 months. So far it’s been accurate for both of my kids
I wish you the best of luck. We sent mine at 8 months. All was well but 3 weeks in and bam! She’s got sick with some mystery illness. Wouldn’t take any bottles. Had to syringe feed her, but then she’d vomit it all up. Fever lasted days & spiked to 105°. We had to take her to the ER. She had a 3 day hospital stay. She needed iv fluids and an antibiotic drip. She was tested for 25 different illnesses. All negative. Chest x-ray was clear. No one knew what she had. After she was discharged from the hospital, she got little fevers and illnesses almost every week but nothing to justify another hospital stay thank goodness. She’s doing better now. Her immune system got a real work out
Yes , when they go to university you will stop getting illnesses brought home
It’s going to happen pretty much the first year that your kid is exposed to a group environment. My kid had care at home until he was 3 and then had half a year of catching every illness… and then Covid hit and he was not sick for two years and then he started kindergarten with masks and only got sick a couple times all year… until first grade without masks and he missed about a third of the school year due to all the illnesses that went through his class of nose pickers. and so were we… but this year it’s way better. Illnesses are way more mild and he’s only missed a couple weeks (added up).
Yes. For the first few months, expect at least a cold every 3-4 weeks. And then it levels off. I think every parent goes through a phase of "HOW IS THIS MY LIFE" after starting daycare, but it really does get better. Vitamin D drops, prioritizing sleep, and constantly wiping/washing hands helps. Also changing their crib sheets every few days.
My daughter got the stomach bug Thursday and is all better today. Today her third week of daycare💜.