DS, now 5, started full day pre-K in August, after having never been in daycare or any other type of outside home care setting. The first couple months were brutal, then Covid in January, but much better since. Definitely a bit of an adjustment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if there is any avoiding it. My kids had a nanny but started doing half day preschool at 2-3 and caught every cold possible. HFM, RSV, pink eye, strep…

But I think the socialization was important for them, and it’s probably better for their immune systems.

I haven’t seen data on preschools, but there are studies that show kids raised on farms with lots of dirt and other stuff grow up healthier

But that’s really different than daycare “dirt”. My daycare kids got every illness imaginable from other kids and are no healthier or less sick than the other kids in elementary school.

Very different.

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if there is any avoiding it. My kids had a nanny but started doing half day preschool at 2-3 and caught every cold possible. HFM, RSV, pink eye, strep…

But I think the socialization was important for them, and it’s probably better for their immune systems.

I haven’t seen data on preschools, but there are studies that show kids raised on farms with lots of dirt and other stuff grow up healthier

But that’s really different than daycare “dirt”. My daycare kids got every illness imaginable from other kids and are no healthier or less sick than the other kids in elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there actually any peer reviewed research (that doesn't include "my pediatrician told me") that shows kids who go to daycare have a stronger immune system then kids who do not? I have read this on here and elsewhere, but have never seen any actually evidence documenting it to be true.

I have read it on here too and never seen evidence. My kids have been with a nanny and while we’ve had our share of illnesses, it’s been nothing like the continuous misery I have seen my friends go through.

+2. I'm skeptical too, and would love to see actual data on this. I hear this all the time from Americans, and not just on DCUM, but family and friends.

+3. I read a year ago or so that it wasn’t true and was proven not to be true. My daycare kids are no more immune from what’s going around their classes in elementary than the SAHP kids or Nanny kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there actually any peer reviewed research (that doesn't include "my pediatrician told me") that shows kids who go to daycare have a stronger immune system then kids who do not? I have read this on here and elsewhere, but have never seen any actually evidence documenting it to be true.

I have read it on here too and never seen evidence. My kids have been with a nanny and while we’ve had our share of illnesses, it’s been nothing like the continuous misery I have seen my friends go through.

+2. I'm skeptical too, and would love to see actual data on this. I hear this all the time from Americans, and not just on DCUM, but family and friends.

I feel like from 1 to 3 my DS was sick all of the freaking time. He was home a lot, but it was a pre covid world and we sent him in with a runny nose quite often. It was stressful, but not unlivable. From 3 to 4 it got better. Then covid came and we were all home and no one ever got sick. Now he's in 1st grade, and we've had a handful of colds this year (fingers crossed, still no stomach bugs or eye infections, which used to run through daycare ALL.THE.TIME).

I think the first 3 years are just really rough for illness though. There's not much you can do other than know that others are or were in the same place!

Anonymous wrote:Is there actually any peer reviewed research (that doesn't include "my pediatrician told me") that shows kids who go to daycare have a stronger immune system then kids who do not? I have read this on here and elsewhere, but have never seen any actually evidence documenting it to be true.

I have read it on here too and never seen evidence. My kids have been with a nanny and while we’ve had our share of illnesses, it’s been nothing like the continuous misery I have seen my friends go through.

I’m not sure if there is any avoiding it. My kids had a nanny but started doing half day preschool at 2-3 and caught every cold possible. HFM, RSV, pink eye, strep…

But I think the socialization was important for them, and it’s probably better for their immune systems.

I haven’t seen data on preschools, but there are studies that show kids raised on farms with lots of dirt and other stuff grow up healthier

Is there actually any peer reviewed research (that doesn't include "my pediatrician told me") that shows kids who go to daycare have a stronger immune system then kids who do not? I have read this on here and elsewhere, but have never seen any actually evidence documenting it to be true.

I have three kids, oldest is 6 and the youngest is still in daycare. There was NOTHING worse than the first year/first winter.

I'm not going to say we never get sick or anything, but it is nothing like that first year. Your immune system really does get strong.

Anonymous wrote:It stopped for us around 2.5. I would say age 4 months to 1.5 we were sick every month. After 1.5 it went to every other month. 2.5 it went to around ever 4 months. HFM was the worst!

HFM was a nightmare in our house. DD1 had a super mild case…fever for a day, and maybe a total of 5 blisters around her ankles and wrists. She gave it to DH and I, and it is honestly the sickest I’ve ever been, short of a bad case of the flu in college. DH had so many blisters on his feet that he couldn’t get real shoes on for 2 weeks. I was floored by just how severe it was for us as adults, but our pediatrician mentioned that it is almost like chicken pox in that cases as an adult can be far more severe.
Spreads like wildfire, too. 11 out of 12 toddlers in DD’s class caught it within just a few days.