Why doesn’t daycare require separate toys during the flu/cold season?

[Anonymous]

As a daycare mom who has dealt with a ton of illnesses I feel for you, OP, but what you're asking is not even in the realm of realistic. Daycares do disinfect toys, but it's really not possible to track which babies are playing with which toys at any given moment. Our daycare does make an effort to separate toys after they've been in a baby's mouth (I've seen the teachers take such a toy and move it to the side to be washed) but it's just not possible to track every single toy like that. Hell, last week at drop off there was only one other baby in the room when I got there (so not at all chaotic), and both me an the teacher were watching my 11 month old as she crawled to the smaller baby, snatched the baby's toy, and stuck it in her mouth. We both tried to intervene but the kid is fast. It happens.

Your baby is going to get sick. It sucks, but it's not really the daycare's fault. Starting in winter is particularly bad luck. But he'll eventually build up an immune system and it won't be so bad.

[Anonymous]

My DD started getting sick in preschool and it never stopped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think not sharing a teething toy is reasonable. Anything else is fair game.

When I worked in daycare, if a toy went in the mouth we picked it up and put it aside, at the end of the day we picked up all the toys, and disinfected them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are in for a year of sickness and you can do it now or whenever they start group care or school. Your expectations are not realistic.

+1. Human immune systems don't just spring to life all by themselves. Your baby has an immune system that needs to learn to cope with every pathogen that is out there. It happens as they are exposed to them. Yes, they are exposed to far more in a shared childcare setting, but they have to be exposed to them. If you shield your child with a nanny, then when they enter pre-school or school (whether public or private) they will be exposed to the wide variety of germs and pathogens that are out there. And you can't even tell sometimes when a child has one. Some of your child's school friends may be carriers. Your child will also be exposed in public when you go to a mall, to a library, to a children's play place, to an airport, etc. Just be aware that whenever you start to expose your child to the public (both adults and children), they will start to be exposed to all sorts of things that will make them sick. As their immune system learns, they will be affected by fewer of them. So you can expose them now or later. Your choice.

+1 And do you really want them sucking on disinfectant chemicals all day? Disinfecting toys after each use sounds incredibly unhealthy. Croup now is better than some auto-immune disorder in 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that what you want is realistic for a daycare, unless the infant room only has pre-crawling babies. Once they crawl, all bets are off.

Maybe you should hire a nanny.

That only delays the inevitable. If you hire a nanny and they stay healthier younger, then when they start pre-school or grade school, they will be exposed and will be sick more then.

Agreed. But a 2 year old or 3 year old sick is not the same as a 5 month old. It's why we decided on a nanny and the oldest kid had 2 colds before going to preschool at 3. The youngest of course has had 2 colds in 4 months since her oldest brings stuff home now.

I agree with this. I feel sad when I hear about little babies who are sick constantly. I’m sure it impedes their development too. I’d much prefer to “delay the inevitable” as older kids’ immune systems are more able to handle it and not catch things as often, or at least get over it faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think not sharing a teething toy is reasonable. Anything else is fair game.

When I worked in daycare, if a toy went in the mouth we picked it up and put it aside, at the end of the day we picked up all the toys, and disinfected them

So an hour after drop off, there were no toys for the children? lol I mean, even older kids touch their nose and mouth, the grab a toy. It's impossible to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that what you want is realistic for a daycare, unless the infant room only has pre-crawling babies. Once they crawl, all bets are off.

Maybe you should hire a nanny.

That only delays the inevitable. If you hire a nanny and they stay healthier younger, then when they start pre-school or grade school, they will be exposed and will be sick more then.

Agreed. But a 2 year old or 3 year old sick is not the same as a 5 month old. It's why we decided on a nanny and the oldest kid had 2 colds before going to preschool at 3. The youngest of course has had 2 colds in 4 months since her oldest brings stuff home now.

I agree with this. I feel sad when I hear about little babies who are sick constantly. I’m sure it impedes their development too. I’d much prefer to “delay the inevitable” as older kids’ immune systems are more able to handle it and not catch things as often, or at least get over it faster.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some daycares will take teething toys away once one kid has used them, toss them in a bin, and then wash them at the end of the day.

Our daycare does this but I'm sure the kids are putting all the other toys in their mouths too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are in for a year of sickness and you can do it now or whenever they start group care or school. Your expectations are not realistic.

+1. Human immune systems don't just spring to life all by themselves. Your baby has an immune system that needs to learn to cope with every pathogen that is out there. It happens as they are exposed to them. Yes, they are exposed to far more in a shared childcare setting, but they have to be exposed to them. If you shield your child with a nanny, then when they enter pre-school or school (whether public or private) they will be exposed to the wide variety of germs and pathogens that are out there. And you can't even tell sometimes when a child has one. Some of your child's school friends may be carriers. Your child will also be exposed in public when you go to a mall, to a library, to a children's play place, to an airport, etc. Just be aware that whenever you start to expose your child to the public (both adults and children), they will start to be exposed to all sorts of things that will make them sick. As their immune system learns, they will be affected by fewer of them. So you can expose them now or later. Your choice.

Not all kids get sick a lot after starting daycare/school. My 2 didn’t/don’t. Some ppl just naturally have better immune systems. My 5 year old started school fall 2018 and has had 0 sick days. He did get a stomach virus last summer after going to a waterpark but that’s the only illness he’s had in the past year other than occasionally getting a runny nose/sniffles. I was the same way as a kid. Only time I ever missed school due to illness was when I got chicken pox.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re going to laugh at this post when you have baby #2 and your toddler wipes his fingers across his snotty nose and then puts his fingers directly into his little sister’s mouth.

This.

And like another PP said, the illness will easy off a bit in about a month or 2, and then your baby will start crawling. They will be licking EVERYTHING and getting sick non-stop. It really just is how it is.

A few things that will help in a minor way:
-bathe nightly, even if it's just a water rinse off. If you can't do this, do a good wipe down of hands, face, head and neck.
-get yourself some zinc.

My kids are 3 and 5 and haven't had a sick day in over 9 months. I don't even know what to do with all my extra PTO! I am not even kidding.

Yup. My son was sick every 2 weeks during his first daycare winter. Now, at age 4, I literally cannot remember the last time he's been sick. Probably when he was 2. Not joking. The daycare germs are powerful and make you strong.