Constant illness - was it like this before?
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Anonymous
| Frustrating but normal |
Anonymous
| Covid is definitely impacting our immune systems, no matter how much people care to deny it |
Anonymous
Not mine, nor my family’s. But if you are stuck in some anecdotally supported algorithm, then it would appear that way. |
Anonymous
I think you reevaluate what your specific child needs and is like. 1. You may need a nanny (especially as you are going to have 2 children in care, each getting sick) 2. Then you have your preschooler attend a half-day nursery school 3 mornings a week, where you child gets to socialize and learn from each other and do all the wonderful things, but isn't around kids as much (and make sure they are OUTSIDE for a good strong hour of that 3 hour time) so won't get as sick. And you will also have the nanny for your child to stay home when s/he is sick and can't go to nursery school. A really ill child needs to be with parents, but a child who is under the weather, has a low-grade fever and cold can certainly be with a nanny. I have directed childcare centers and preschool programs for years and years. We had one infant who got so many illnesses that affected her lungs, she had to be pulled out so that she didn't have permanent lung damage. ALL the other infants in that room got a few illnesses but never as much as she did, right at the same time as she was down with bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. etc. So your child might just courbe the one you gets sick more and harder than the other kids in the class. Of course, you should be doing things like sending a new, clean water bottle every day, take clean linens every week (and when he has a cold, you could send clean linens in halfway through the week for his cot so he isn't sleeping on germy linens) And ask the teachers what they do to make sure kids aren't passing too many illnesses on, like not sharing water bottles, washing their hands before and after they eat, after they use a tissue on their nose (and teacher should wash their hands after using tissues on a child's nose or theirs) not using the water table (but putting lots of hard sensory materials in there like flour, sand, shredded paper, beans, whatever so they get their sensory needs met) when lots of kids have snotty noses (kids are SUPPOSED to wash their hands begore and after using hte water table but honestly that is HARD HARD HARD to manage in a busy classroom and often doesn't get done). Also any water in the water table MUST BE emptied and the water table washed with FAntastik or something like it between uses. No letting the water sit and reusing it after nap! But the truth is, young children don't always sneeze into tissues, wash their hands perfectly, NOT hug and kiss when they have a cold, they will put stuff in their mouth and then hand it to the next child (yuck, and we tried to keep that from happening and talking about PRETENDING to drink from the cup but... 3s be 3s.) Post covid, we could ask teachers who don't feel 100% to wear a mask, but the truth is, the kids are giving it to each other more than a teacher is giving it to a child. |
Anonymous
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Yes, very normal.
Kids are teens now, but those early years, they got everything. |
Anonymous
| It was always like this. But some kids and families are more susceptible genetically and a small part is home hygiene. Washing hands, changing clothes. Getting enough sleep and water and vitamins all help. My now 4 year old had a hard first fall/winter at full day preschool at 3 after a nanny at home. We discovered she had enlarged adenoids too and ENT said we cam remove as they were prolonging every illness. Or wait until 4/4.5 to see if she grows out if it. And she did. Her mouth grew and the glands shrunk a bit too. I will say "knock on wood" my kids have missed pink eye, HFM and roseola as they had a nanny until 3 and we are militant about washing hands and no hands in mouths and not eating any toys at home. |
Anonymous
+1. it gets better as kids get older. |
Anonymous
| It can be rough over the winter months. It's going to get worse before it gets better with another baby. |
Anonymous
| I’ve noticed differences, too, even in my high schoolers who used to have pretty strong immune systems. COVID is known to decimate some immune functions. Mine unmasked for a few years but decided to go back to it this fall — they couldn’t keep up in school with the constant absences/illness. |
Anonymous
| I think it’s normal. My kids were little long before Covid and were so relentlessly sick in preschool I thought I would lose my job. It was horrible. It does get better though. |
Anonymous
| We were sick much more this fall/early winter than usual. 9 y/o DD needed an inhaler to get over a lingering cough, which she's never needed before. Could have just been RSV or something that hit harder than usual, or could be some lingering respiratory weakness from either COVID or years of masking causing a lower immune system. |
Anonymous
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yup sounds normal. They are little germ factories at that age.
I know it sucks as a parent, though. |
Anonymous
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It was always like this. Kids in daycare always had runny noses 100% of the time. Some kids are more prone to spiking fevers, or having prolonged coughs, when they’re sick so for some families it seems more miserable than for others but yes, when my oldest started preschool in 2017 he was sick the entire year. Kids and teachers never wore masks when sick ! Kids returned to preschool at 24 hours fever and vomit free. Their immune systems catch up to reality by elementary school and also they stop shoving dirty toys , or dirty hands, into their mouth around then too.
Oh and for kids who don’t go to preschool , they just get sick constantly in K instead. |
Anonymous
If you are that concerned, perhaps a good starting place is your paediatrician. Kids gonna get kid stuff. Is your kid a careful hand washer for their age? Are they one to stick stuff in their mouth or touch their face constantly? Facilities can clean and do all the processes and the like, but to some degree, it’s down to your kid, who may just be more susceptible or who may have some habits that can be mitigated. If you KNOW the teachers are lax, then consider masking your kid, if only to lessen them putting fingers and the like in their mouth or touching their face. Review hand washing with them, and tell them to wash their hands before all breaks. Send them with hand sanitizer in their lunch kit. You can do your part if it’s that important to you. |
Anonymous
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It’s kind of crazy the extent to which we’ve all accepted this as normal. It may be common, but it’s definitely not normal or ok. There are reasons we as a society have chosen to do nothing about this issue. And I do mean nothing - no improved air filtration, no sane parental leave (and rollbacks of wfh), no masking requirements for sick teachers or older kids, no subsidizing in-home care, no reducing classroom ratios, literally nothing whatsoever except for letting kids suffer constantly and pumping them full of Motrin and antibiotics over and over and over. This despite the fact that there are now mountains of evidence that viral infections (particularly Covid) can have long-lasting, sometimes permanent health effects. My own kid developed reactive airways (basically a precursor to asthma, for which there is no cure) after a bout with a nasty daycare virus.
The reason we’re doing nothing is because the burdens of all this fall disproportionately on women. OF COURSE there are exceptions, involved fathers, etc., but for the most part, we’re the ones who are expected to do early pickups and stay home nursing sick kids and sacrifice our careers, health, and sanity dealing with the fallout from the shitty options we’ve been given. Obviously none of this is going to change anytime soon and I live in reality. I know that the underlying reasons don’t really make a difference to my day-to-day. But honestly, we should all demand better. |