Daycare sickness dilemma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daycare is not for infants. Infants don't need socialization. That is for ages 2-3+.

As someone who knew this but daycare was all we could afford when we had our first child and had to use it, this comment is unhelpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to say that daycare has been great for us. Babies get sick in every childcare situation. A lot of kids who don’t go to daycare young just get everything in preschool and kindergarten. There’s no right or wrong way but daycare is great for a lot of families.

I really think this is a lie that daycare parents tells themselves. It's not the same. Older kids don't put absolutely everything in their mouths. Older kids know to aim when puking, can blow their noses, and are hardier when sick. Bigger kids can put themselves back to sleep and don't have to be rocked all night. And kids really don't get sick as often in other childcare. Not even close.

This is what my mom, who was a SAHM, told me. She said we were all really sick in kindergarten, day care just gets it over with earlier. But maybe she was lying to make me feel better about my kids going to day care?

[Anonymous]

I feel you so hard, OP. I posted about this very thing when I was in the thick of it with my then-3 year old. He had 13 viral illnesses in seven months, one of which landed him in the hospital. This is what I said then:

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.

….If it makes you feel better, OP - things did get better when he turned four and we switched schools. He still gets sick maybe every other month, but not every other week like he had been. Solidarity!

[Anonymous]

I have bad news. I always heard that if your child goes to daycare they build immunity to all sorts of things and won't be sick in elementary school. My daughter went to daycare and was sick a ton, and now she's in elementary school and is sick a ton. It just never ends.

[Anonymous]

Yeah kids kid sick. They should get sick. You want them to be sick. Never being sick is not a good thing. Sure it's an inconveniece to you but it's a good thing. So are germs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child needed ear tubes then they would have gotten those ear infections no matter what. Also, eczema is not contagious and did not come from daycare. Styles are also not contagious.

The blatant misinformation that now regularly gets posted here is shocking. All part of an agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daycare is not for infants. Infants don't need socialization. That is for ages 2-3+.

Daycare is for anychild needing care during the day if no other adult is home to care for them. Children of all ages need socialization, it may kook different at 5 months than at 3 years old, but it's need. Keeping your child in the house all day with mom, grandma or nanny because of germs ( outside of rare medical need) isn't good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had 2 under 2 and had to put both in daycare after I went back to work. Out of the two years, my older one had 8 ear infections and had to have her ear tubes inserted. My younger one went through 3 times of hand foot mouth and what's worse was my husband and I AND my mother got hfm from caring for her. Last but not least, we have experienced almost every child virus including RSV, eczema, diarrhea, fever, stye, pink eye etc etc

Both of them started daycare 6 months and 3 months respectively and we had two very rough winters. Our kids got sent home frequently, and they also got sick from going to daycare at the first place. It seems I'm paying for getting sick myself and inconveniencing myself for having to pick up and caring for sick kids during work days.

Guess what? This is our last week with our daycare, and sure enough, both got sent home the exact same afternoon, with the policy of 24-hour fever free, they have to miss tomorrow's school, which means I have to watch my kids and work.......

For those looking for daycare options, if possible, home daycare or nanny share is the way to go. Daycare is good for socialization, but the sicknesses never end and daycare will never be clean enough for kids to not get sick.

This is why I am a SAHM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child needed ear tubes then they would have gotten those ear infections no matter what. Also, eczema is not contagious and did not come from daycare. Styles are also not contagious.

Nope. We had a terrible string of illness and ear infections with our kid in daycare. Our pediatrician told us that we either needed to get our kid tubes or pull them from daycare. We switched to a nanny and the ear infections stopped. They were secondary to all the viruses going around daycare. Our kid is 12 now and never needed tubes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child needed ear tubes then they would have gotten those ear infections no matter what. Also, eczema is not contagious and did not come from daycare. Styles are also not contagious.

Nope. We had a terrible string of illness and ear infections with our kid in daycare. Our pediatrician told us that we either needed to get our kid tubes or pull them from daycare. We switched to a nanny and the ear infections stopped. They were secondary to all the viruses going around daycare. Our kid is 12 now and never needed tubes.

Right, in other words, they are not catching ear infections at daycare. They are secondary to other infections due to the kids anatomy. So whether or not you go to daycare does not change your anatomy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child needed ear tubes then they would have gotten those ear infections no matter what. Also, eczema is not contagious and did not come from daycare. Styles are also not contagious.

The blatant misinformation that now regularly gets posted here is shocking. All part of an agenda.

Lol I hope you’re referring to the op saying her child got eczema from daycare. Because yes that’s misinformation and yes it’s an agenda. What’s yours?

[Anonymous]

Not every kid super sick.

My DC was in day care from 6 months to 5 yrs old.

-Had HFM.
-Went home sick 2x.
- a few days missed for colds

[Anonymous]

My youngest is 10 and I promise you won't care about this in a few years. Use whatever care situation is convenient for your family. There are plus and minuses for all. Kids get sick no matter what. I remember around 18 months being a particularly difficult stretch of time when it felt like it never ended. Even now with older elementary kids I cringe thinking about back to school and winter illnesses. It's not fun. But the sooner you accept it and deal with your anxiety, the better.

Oh, one of mine was a premie, and started in a big day care center at 5 months. It was fine.

[Anonymous]

If you can, breastfeed. It will help them get sick less often and for less long when they do.

None of this is easy, though. I agree with the posters saying get a nanny or nanny share or even a small home day care if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can, breastfeed. It will help them get sick less often and for less long when they do.

None of this is easy, though. I agree with the posters saying get a nanny or nanny share or even a small home day care if possible.

Nope, not true.