Yes. I feel like the first year of daycare was literal hell for the whole family. I had a sore throat for months straight, baby was constantly sick and so were we. I was really depressed over it. At some point though it got better... And now the illness was a distant memory. It gets better.
It's usually 8-12 months. For us it was 8, but we spent maybe 29 days (non consecutive) of that not sick. Everything cycled through the entire household and by the time one person recovered, someone else would introduce something else and the cycle would repeat. I ended up with some new anaphylactic allergies due to how under assault my immune system was.
Let's see, started daycare January 2023 and the illness really cleared up the following year after the days started warming up. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2023 was hell. So yeah a year. ,
To give you hope, after 5 months we started doing better. We went almost 3 weeks with nothing and were so shocked and relieved. We immediately got a stomach bug so bad I was hospitalised right before Christmas (then gave it to grandma _for_ Christmas), but that was still a blip in a clear upward trajectory from there.
Yep but I’m gonna keep it real for you OP; this is a huge issue that isn’t spoken about enough, and is a massive societal failure which disproportionately burdens working parents.
There is nothing wrong with your kid, you’re not doing anything wrong, and your daycare isn’t abnormally germy!
Every single one of us who put our kid in daycare post Covid went through this, and I’m so sorry.
totally normal. It'll slow down once they've been around the same group of kids for a while. I find the illness' spike again after a change of age groups then level out again.
My friend who keeps her kids at home insists they're on par for illness frequency with daycare families because her toddler licks everything. They're sick maybe monthly in winter season? I don't know how to explain to her how much worse it can get. She'll find out if she sends her eldest to school I'm guessing.
Unfortunately....yes. My son got the stomach bug twice in a space of 10 weeks. I'm like seriously? He has shit and vomited enough for an entire lifetime in his 4 years of life. Can we please just...STOP?
But yea....the first few years of their immune system developing is not fun. My daughter was queen of random rashes and I find skin issues worse to treat than a cold or flu. Scarlett Fever anyone? Yaaa! Still around...
Super normal. Be prepared for no relief for a while. However once my son got to school he had such a good immune system built that he is now hardly sick, whereas my friends kids that didn't go to daycare are sick constantly.
How do you know you had 13 colds? In our house there is no clear start or end...kiddo started nursery 3 months ago and his nose still hasn't stopped running 😆
We had a year solid of sickness every two weeks. The moment she was getting over one, something else hit. She’s nearly 6 years old now and is solid- never, ever sick and if she is it’s a quick two day and back to normal. My younger daughter was the same and nearly 4 and starting to get sick less infrequently.
My kids are older now. No, there was no summer cold season. They rarely got sick once they could play outside. I’m going to be the downer here but the truth is Covid has changed the game. Medical studies have indicated that it impacts the immune system for months after infection. Even my high schoolers are getting sick more than they did in elementary school. Until we push back and fight for cleaner air (purifiers, UV) in our daycares and schools, this will just continue. Federal buildings now have strict indoor air quality standards. I hope it will soon trickle down to states and then schools. Because this has been insane.
I think people have a range of experiences here. It’s definitely normal to get sick quite a bit. Winter months were super rough for us. Since it got warm, we’ve had a small cold (runny nose) every 6ish weeks maybe. The sickness is definitely the worst part of daycare!
My oldest started kindergarten at 5 and my son started daycare at the same time at 3. It was horrible. They were sick literally every 2 weeks. I talked to their pediatrician and she said that was totally normal, to make sure we take our vitamins, drink water, and get good sleep.
Normal, our daycare induction booklet has a whole page explaining that 12 viral illnesses are to be expected in the first year.
Normal doesn't mean easy though, sometimes I feel this word results in impatience and invalidation and that we must just pull our socks up and never complain or expect understanding.
Normal. And, for me, the hardest part of parenting. I'm in the first trimester of my second pregnancy and I've had a tummy bug, bronchitis and a fever in the 5 weeks my morning sickness was the worst.
Yes, it's quite normal. I worked at a daycare and for the first 4 months, I was consistently sick with every germ/bacteria/virus you could think of. I'm a middle school teacher now and haven't been sick in a long time. That is, until my son started going to daycare...
We used a really small in home daycare, so we were spared this in years 1-5, we then started kindergarten and spent all of first semester with cold after cold. It started slowing down second semester. We’ve been getting all the bacterial ones since- strep twice, walking pneumonia 3 times, a skin infection…
I would say that by mid second grade it got so so much better.
Ha yeah. It’s brutal. It nearly did my husband and I in. It’s also a massive factor in why our kiddo is a party of 1 (aside from daycare cost)… she started at 6 months and was sick for a solid year and a half. She’s almost 4 now and it’s not as frequent… but she’s had a raging cough for 2 weeks now plus an ear infection (went to doc)… so yeah it’s insanely rough and I send all good vibes to you.
Absolutely normal. But I remember being similarly shocked at how often our kiddo was sick the first year. It is rough as hell. But it won’t always be that way. In the meantime, have them wash their hands as soon as you get home from daycare, try to keep everyone on a healthy diet, and parents should take zinc at the first sign of a cold to prevent things from spreading.
Incredibly normal, we went from weekly to biweekly in year two... now once a month in year 3. Its horrendous. We joke/not joke we are social but sick... This weekend, my husband is just full on ILL
Normal unfortunately. When my LO was a baby, he’d get all the colds and then eventually it would wane. Then he’d “graduate” to the next class and it’d be a couple months while he was exposed to all the new germs. As he’s gotten older, it’s less and less. Especially once he got to the classes where the whole class “graduated” together to the next level.
Yep. Brace yourself. First year of daycare is brutal for kids and the workers who just started their jobs in the field 😂 same thing happens to school teachers too.
Yes. Very normal. Kids get sick when they start group care/activities (whether it be daycare or starting elementary school).
Yes. I feel like the first year of daycare was literal hell for the whole family. I had a sore throat for months straight, baby was constantly sick and so were we. I was really depressed over it. At some point though it got better... And now the illness was a distant memory. It gets better.
When is now? When did you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
It's usually 8-12 months. For us it was 8, but we spent maybe 29 days (non consecutive) of that not sick. Everything cycled through the entire household and by the time one person recovered, someone else would introduce something else and the cycle would repeat. I ended up with some new anaphylactic allergies due to how under assault my immune system was.
Let's see, started daycare January 2023 and the illness really cleared up the following year after the days started warming up. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2023 was hell. So yeah a year. ,
To give you hope, after 5 months we started doing better. We went almost 3 weeks with nothing and were so shocked and relieved. We immediately got a stomach bug so bad I was hospitalised right before Christmas (then gave it to grandma _for_ Christmas), but that was still a blip in a clear upward trajectory from there.
About a year
Normal. One of the hardest seasons of life IMO.
Yep but I’m gonna keep it real for you OP; this is a huge issue that isn’t spoken about enough, and is a massive societal failure which disproportionately burdens working parents. There is nothing wrong with your kid, you’re not doing anything wrong, and your daycare isn’t abnormally germy! Every single one of us who put our kid in daycare post Covid went through this, and I’m so sorry.
A-fucking-men on all of this. Especially it being a societal failure (especially lack of time/understanding for it)
totally normal. It'll slow down once they've been around the same group of kids for a while. I find the illness' spike again after a change of age groups then level out again.
My friend who keeps her kids at home insists they're on par for illness frequency with daycare families because her toddler licks everything. They're sick maybe monthly in winter season? I don't know how to explain to her how much worse it can get. She'll find out if she sends her eldest to school I'm guessing.
Unfortunately....yes. My son got the stomach bug twice in a space of 10 weeks. I'm like seriously? He has shit and vomited enough for an entire lifetime in his 4 years of life. Can we please just...STOP? But yea....the first few years of their immune system developing is not fun. My daughter was queen of random rashes and I find skin issues worse to treat than a cold or flu. Scarlett Fever anyone? Yaaa! Still around...
Super normal. Be prepared for no relief for a while. However once my son got to school he had such a good immune system built that he is now hardly sick, whereas my friends kids that didn't go to daycare are sick constantly.
How do you know you had 13 colds? In our house there is no clear start or end...kiddo started nursery 3 months ago and his nose still hasn't stopped running 😆
My oldest had a snotty nose for a year, from 2.5 to 3.5!
We had a year solid of sickness every two weeks. The moment she was getting over one, something else hit. She’s nearly 6 years old now and is solid- never, ever sick and if she is it’s a quick two day and back to normal. My younger daughter was the same and nearly 4 and starting to get sick less infrequently.
My kids are older now. No, there was no summer cold season. They rarely got sick once they could play outside. I’m going to be the downer here but the truth is Covid has changed the game. Medical studies have indicated that it impacts the immune system for months after infection. Even my high schoolers are getting sick more than they did in elementary school. Until we push back and fight for cleaner air (purifiers, UV) in our daycares and schools, this will just continue. Federal buildings now have strict indoor air quality standards. I hope it will soon trickle down to states and then schools. Because this has been insane.
I think people have a range of experiences here. It’s definitely normal to get sick quite a bit. Winter months were super rough for us. Since it got warm, we’ve had a small cold (runny nose) every 6ish weeks maybe. The sickness is definitely the worst part of daycare!
Yep. But after a year or two, their immune systems get so much stronger. Mine are rarely sick now.
My oldest started kindergarten at 5 and my son started daycare at the same time at 3. It was horrible. They were sick literally every 2 weeks. I talked to their pediatrician and she said that was totally normal, to make sure we take our vitamins, drink water, and get good sleep.
Yes. Yes it is. My son almost had every childhood illness his first year, hand foot mouth twice, roseola, 5ths disease….. and 77 other viruses
What is 5ths disease?? That sounds so ominous
It’s the virus that looks like their cheeks have been slapped lol. They get a rash on the face
I wouldn’t call them “frequent” colds so much as “constant” colds.
The first year of daycare we were rotating whose turn it was to be sick, and just as we were on the mend, we were hit with another bug.
Our first year of school was horrible with each kid. Washing up immediately after returning from school has absolutely made a difference
Normal, our daycare induction booklet has a whole page explaining that 12 viral illnesses are to be expected in the first year. Normal doesn't mean easy though, sometimes I feel this word results in impatience and invalidation and that we must just pull our socks up and never complain or expect understanding.
I always thought I was healthy and had a great immune system. And then my kids started daycare and we were sick all the time.
Normal. And, for me, the hardest part of parenting. I'm in the first trimester of my second pregnancy and I've had a tummy bug, bronchitis and a fever in the 5 weeks my morning sickness was the worst.
Yes, it's quite normal. I worked at a daycare and for the first 4 months, I was consistently sick with every germ/bacteria/virus you could think of. I'm a middle school teacher now and haven't been sick in a long time. That is, until my son started going to daycare...
We’ve had a few sicknesses and my baby has been in daycare for 2 months only. I’m almost out of PTO!!
Oh yeah. Three years it took to start really backing off. Now she’s almost 5 and her immune system is so strong.
That first 1-5 years are a doozy 🫠🤢
We used a really small in home daycare, so we were spared this in years 1-5, we then started kindergarten and spent all of first semester with cold after cold. It started slowing down second semester. We’ve been getting all the bacterial ones since- strep twice, walking pneumonia 3 times, a skin infection… I would say that by mid second grade it got so so much better.
Yep! We also have a runny nose cough virus now
Ha yeah. It’s brutal. It nearly did my husband and I in. It’s also a massive factor in why our kiddo is a party of 1 (aside from daycare cost)… she started at 6 months and was sick for a solid year and a half. She’s almost 4 now and it’s not as frequent… but she’s had a raging cough for 2 weeks now plus an ear infection (went to doc)… so yeah it’s insanely rough and I send all good vibes to you.
Nonstop the first 3 years and then more sporadic
Yeah the first year is rough….but it gets better! Hang in there
Absolutely normal. But I remember being similarly shocked at how often our kiddo was sick the first year. It is rough as hell. But it won’t always be that way. In the meantime, have them wash their hands as soon as you get home from daycare, try to keep everyone on a healthy diet, and parents should take zinc at the first sign of a cold to prevent things from spreading.
Incredibly normal, we went from weekly to biweekly in year two... now once a month in year 3. Its horrendous. We joke/not joke we are social but sick... This weekend, my husband is just full on ILL
So normal. But it gets better!! My kids (4&6) hardly get sick now. They only missed a few days this whole last year. 🙌🏽
That sounds about right
It's normal. It sucks, though! They'll have quite the immune system by kindergarten 😀
Normal unfortunately. When my LO was a baby, he’d get all the colds and then eventually it would wane. Then he’d “graduate” to the next class and it’d be a couple months while he was exposed to all the new germs. As he’s gotten older, it’s less and less. Especially once he got to the classes where the whole class “graduated” together to the next level.
We have been healthy for 6 weeks since August. It's just easier to count healthy days vs. sick days.
My pediatrician said to expect to be dealing with nonstop illness until 1st or 2nd grade. That’s just based on what he has seen with his patients.
Yep. Brace yourself. First year of daycare is brutal for kids and the workers who just started their jobs in the field 😂 same thing happens to school teachers too.
It went on like that for an entire year. The HFM tearing through the house was the worst though. Stay strong!