The 'Daycare Curse'

There are really so many advantages to preschool!! My son (7) has been in daycare since he was about 6 months old. Kids can get the sick germs from anywhere and shopping carts are probably one of the biggest carriers. I just teach my son to wash his hands a lot and try not to touch his face. I also get him probiotics from the health food store. When he was younger I gave him chewable probiotics and now he takes junior. These keep the digestive tract healthy.

My son's ped's doc told me that the first year of a child's preschool or daycare the child will be sick a average of 90-120 days that first year. The plus is they won't be as sick after that. If you look around you will at least see one little one with snot running out of their sweet little nose. It was rough that first year but it will get better.

Maybe give her some gummy vitamins. Most of them support the immune system. I've never had to put my daughter in day care, but what I do know is that you should give her a mini dispenser of hand sanitizer in her backpack or pocket.

after 2 days of daycare? i don't buy it. i also think the term "daycare curse" is kind of off putting. it's a GOOD thing for your child to be around other kids. yes, they share germs. it actually boosts their immune system for later (no, i am not one of those "chicken pox party" moms, i just have common sense). it's not a "curse" and it's not really cool to me to put that stigma on daycare and preschool. to me that sounds like something someone dreamed up to scare us into keeping our kids isolated and at home as long as possible.

for what it's worth, my son started daycare when he was a few months old, and then moved on to a preschool/daycare situation at 3...he only gets sick once or twice a year. he did have a mild cold a couple weeks ago, but before that it had been six or eight months since he'd been sick. honestly i don't feel like daycare has anything to do with it. it's life. if it wasn't daycare, it would be sunday school, or playing with his cousins, or something i brought home from work.

I think it's easier to deal with it when the child is older and not a baby.

DD was in daycare for the first 2.5 years of her life & every winter, she had a non-stop cold, which would either turn into an ear infection, pneumonia, croup, or would necessitate breathing treatments. This was in addition to pink eye (which she so lovingly shared with me) & stomach flu.

It took DD about 2 years to get to point where she didn't get sick a lot. I'm not sure how it would be for a preschooler who has been exposed to more illnesses & germs than a baby, though. Babies & younger kids get sicker also because they have their hands in their mouth & their mouth on object which could be contaminated & don't yet wash their hands.

I think the best ways to prevent illness are to practice proper hand washing, keeping hands out of your mouth, don't share drinks or food, eat a healthy diet & take vitamins. There are also immune system boosters out there, which I've used, but I'm still not really sure how effective they are.

ETA - We have used daycares in the past, and I wasn't offended by your title. I knew exactly what you were referring to the moment I spotted it :-)

Three days sounds awfully fast to me. She might have already had the bug in her system and did not actually get it in daycare.

You could try giving her probiotics (we eat lots of yogurt), and just make sure she knows how to wash her hands effectively.

Truthfully, it's now or kindergarten. I'd rather do it sooner rather than later, as I really want kindergarten to be a great, fun experience, so I'd rather them not miss too often.

Good luck!

My kids aren't in day care. And my dd stayed with me constantly her first year. Then we started church nursery. JUST nursery ONCE a week. For the first 8 months she was literally sick every 3 weeks - which was awful enough but I was pregnant too! It was horrible. We even stopped going for a while just to give us a few weeks w/o a cold.

Now? Psh. She gets sick once a month, more like every other month, and her sister (just about 6 months old) gets sick too....it's still not that fun but I'll take this over the other and I'd rather them meet and play with kids than hide them at home. We now go to playgroup, the library, the park, nursery once or twice a month and we're still only getting a cold only about every other month. I also take probiotics to keep me as healthy as I can so I can be there for them.

So...first sign of a sniffle, we do nose suctioning, steam showers, and I make orange juice frozen pops to give for snacks. I start doing the Neti Pot and the steam showers too. AND, we keep them away from other kids!!!

It's just rotten when they're sick, but at least for us it did get better.

It can take a few days or a few months - depends upon a lot of things...when I worked for Kindercare as an Assistant Director - some kids were fine the whole time - others? It took a week, some more...it all depends upon what she has already been exposed to...if she's been at home and not in a lot of play groups, etc. then it could take some time...

Lots of fresh fruits that help keep up her immune system..have her wash her hands frequently - doesn't have to be antibacterial soap just soap and water...

make sure she doesn't put pencils, crayons, etc. in her mouth that other kids have touched...

I know what you mean about seeing them sick - it just tugs at your heart...

My two oldest children attended preschool and never had excessive illnesses, just a cold maybe once a year or so or the stomach flu, when it seemed the whole world did. And while my daughter had a history of ear infections, those were from about 18 months to almost 3, before she entered preschool. I got sick more often than them when I worked in an office :-/

Make sure your daughter knows how to wash her hands thoroughly with soap and water after going potty, before eating, not to share food and drinks, or to put toys or anything that isn't food in her mouth. Also make sure she's eating healthy whole foods at home and school, taking vitamins if she's a picky eater, drinking enough water and getting enough sleep.

Hope she gets well soon, and doesn't get sick often❤

Try to teach her about washing her hands often. And not putting her hands or toys in her mouth.
And try taking her to the bathroom and washing her hands and face before you leave so she's hopefully not taking the germs home with her.
And maybe a bath & fresh clothes immediately upon arriving home.
These things may help.
And of course, healthy foods, vitamins, etc can't hurt either!
I never actually went thru this with my kids. I guess they've got strong immune systems.
Good luck - poor baby!

Our preschool had VERY strict 'no sick kids' policies. In 3 years, maybe ONCE did we catch something from preschool, and I only say that, because I can't remember ever catching anything. He DID get sick, but it's pretty obvious that it came from my school, my hospital, my husband's school, or my husband's work, or from "friends" (who feel the need to bring contagious children over to your house/ playdates/ etc :P). Because of the school's policies we actually had a chemo kid who was able to attend, and a transplant kid who were able to attend (both kids and adults on chemo, or on immune suppressing drugs for transplants have worse immune systems than full blown AIDs patients, they catch *everything* and simple colds can be lethal).

Public K, otoh, we were sick at LEAST one whole week out of every month, and sometimes once a WEEK (never fails, 5pm on a friday or JUST after office hours close at the Ped on saturday). It's part of why schools used to not have attendance policies for K & 1st (because kids often miss at least 25% of the school year). Also why new teachers used to get a bit of a 'buy' for their first 2 years, and now they want 2 years of subbing at least half the week in most districts. ((It typically takes 2 years to build up an immunity to every germ in the district)). We thought we'd get to "skip" the 2 year thing, since kiddo was exposed to everything and sundry through 2 colleges, 1 hospital, and a very large office... but no. Sick for almost 2 years straight.

1st was better (we were homeschooling by then, but he was still in sports and classes and camps with awayschoolers)... we were only sick every other month on average.

Note: Even kids who are in daycare/preschool that DON'T have good 'no sick children' policies tend to have the 2 year 'constantly-sick' thing when they enter public K. So it's 1-2 years while in preschool (depending on several factors), and then another 2 years once they hit public K.

This happened to my daughter when she started preschool. Within a month of her being there she got sick. It was pretty bad for a while. It seemed like as soon as she got better within a few days she would come down with something else. In Kindergarten, she got sick only once the entire year. It will get better for her, you just need to ride it out. Getting sick all the time will make her immune system stronger, and it should get better but you have to give it time. Have her wash her hands frequently that will greatly reduce germs.

When mine started preschool, it took about three weeks for them to get sick, and then they had five or six illnesses over the course of a few months - mostly colds, but one was puking. It took about three months for their immune systems to catch up, but after that, nothing major - just the regular colds that little kids get, maybe once every three months or so? Hopefully you don't have a full year of this! Three months was bad enough for me.

To boost her immune system, just make sure she's eating healthy, with whole grains, protein and fruits/vegetables. And when she does get sick, a Neti pot can help a lot.

My daughter has been in daycare since she was 6w old. She is now 4 1/2. She is probably sick 2 times a month, but will go a month or two without being sick.

My oldest started daycare at 18 months. She was sick maybe 2-3 times during the winter and then stopped getting sick all together. That was in the Winter of 2009/2010. This Winter 2010/2011, was aweful!!!! It got worse. But the good thing was that when she was sick, it was very mild. Usually a small low-grade fever w/ a few episodes of throwing up. Spring/Summer was the worst. I know, what kid gets sick in the Spring/Summer? She developed Rotavirus and ended up with 2 really high fevers w/ no other symptoms. Dr basically said it was some sort of viral infection she developed. Granted she didn't miss much daycare b/c my daughter only goes 2 days a week. I still feel that the more she is exposed, the more her body gets stronger. Just an opinion of mine. Here's why: when she first started daycare, she went 5 days a week. Last year after my 2nd was born, I reduced my hours from 40-30 to avoid the cost of babysitter/daycare. Now my hours are reduced down to 24. So now my oldest is going to daycare 2 days a week (will go up to 3 days/week here in Sept.). I swear she has been more sick this year than any. We are hopeful that the stomach flu is mild this year. The kids got it 2 times but they got a very mild version whereas my hubby and I ended up on the toilet every 1-2 hours for 24 hours. Worst flu I have ever had in my life!!!!

Good luck!!! Oh and I have heard that kids who go to daycare/preschool end up doing a lot better in school too. I don't know if studies have been done or what but my daughter has learned so much from daycare and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I didn't read your previous posts, so I apologize if I'm repeating..all 3 of my children were/are in daycare. Mine never seemed to get sick more than stay at home kids. I can count on one hand the number of my times each of kids have been sick so I don't always think its the day care. However, i do feel that my daycare (all 3 kids went to the same one) is exceptionally clean. There is never a time of day that someone is not cleaning in the place. I think it just happens to be a coincidence that she got sick after the 2nd day...who's to say thats even where she got it from. She could of picked it up from someone at the store or some other place she had been.

Might not be something from daycare : ). I second the probiotics - keep overall immunity up. Hope it's just a one time deal... think positive. One thing I remember is that fall/winter is the worst season for illnesses. Luckily it's much easier at 3 than as a baby.

It seems there are several people here who are under the impression that exposing your child to germs "builds" their immune system, making it stronger. I just wanted to clarify to those mothers, that it does make it less likely they will catch that specific strain of virus again because the antibodies are there to fight against it again. However, the immune system is not made stronger by being exposed to viruses. The immune system is made stronger by our lifestyles. Vitamin D exposure, good whole foods, excersise, healthy "guts" via probiotics, and things like that. Also, children's immune systems simply are not full grown and each year they become more mature, which is why we see so much more sickness in the littlest ones. We never had to use daycare and have raised our children on an organic farm. Our diets are consisted of whole, organic foods and we never get sick. We have six kids and only 2 of them have ever been sick and it was only once for each child and very mild. We don't immunize, either, which can also be taxing on the immune system, as well. We weren't germaphobics, but we did protect our kids when they were very little. We didn't take them around huge indoor crowded places during cold and flu season. (Just so you don't think we locked them up all season, they DID go out. We just chose places like touring and playing at the neighborhood pumpkin farm outdoors rather than the crowded indoor playplace at McDonalds.) We had lots of friends through our church and homeschooling groups who were decent, respectful people who didn't come over for playdates if they were ill. (A novel concept in todays times.) We also used good handwashing techniques when we were out and about. As they became older their immune systems were such that obviously they no longer needed to avoid the crowds during cold and flu season. Our teenagers are everywhere amongst big crowds and volunteering in hospitals and even schools and not once have they come down with anything, because we've been able to keep their immune systems strong. That being said, getting sick is not the end of the world, but I do know that a properly matured and nourished immune system will not get sick hardly at all, if ever. If you are getting sick it means your immune system is either not mature AND/OR it is not working properly. I'd say your best bet if you can't keep your little one out of daycare is to make sure you are giving her lots of good whole foods, eliminate all the sugar and junk from her diet, give her good probiotics, vitamin D drops when she can't spend time in the sun, good handwashing habits, etc. You can research online different ways to boost it. Good luck!

My kids went to just a very part time preschool, and their first real full time school experience was kindergarten. That first real school year was tough on my youngest's immune system. She caught everything that went around, every time. By the next and subsequent years, she was not getting sick nearly as often.

My LO was sick quite a bit, so I'm hoping this year won't be as bad. What I've heard is it will either happen in daycare, or later in school.

Consider a holistic chiropractor. Erika Grushon in Yellow Springs and April Dunnington in Centerville are both great with children, if you want to work on boosting her immune system. Good luck!

Until your child's immune system, gets used to the unique germs there, at THIS environment, she will get sick.
Even in an office, this can happen. Even with adults.

It can take even a year, to get used to.
Anytime, a kid enters a new environment with kids, this will happen.

Now, bear in mind, even if the Daycare is clean and they clean the premises... EVERYDAY a kid arrives at Daycare/school.... with germs.
Kids, will have dirty hands/wipe their noses with their hands/touch and grab things that other kids touch/they will sneeze or cough into their hands not their elbow/they will touch things with their snotty hands etc. SO... it cannot be avoided. Kids... do not have, perfectly controlled, hygiene or impulses, to contain their own germs or dirty hands or faces.
Many kids also touch other kids, to hug or kiss them. Or while playing.
Thus... kids get sick.
Even if the Daycare is clean and they clean/disinfect everyday and they have the kids wash hands.

I have a friend, that worked at a school. For that 1st year of her employment, she got sick EVERY month, for ONE year. Until her immune system, got used to, THAT particular environment and its unique germs.

My son, who rarely gets sick... once he went to Preschool, he was getting sick/colds, every month too. Sometimes every 2 weeks. But he was fine.
Even our Pediatrician's own daughter, had that happen once she started Preschool.

Getting enough sleep/naps... are IMPORTANT for the Immune System. This is how, a body gets strengthened.
So, make sure she naps and gets enough sleep.
This is key.
Getting enough sleep.

Every time my kids "moved up" a room in their daycare, they were exposed to the new set of germs and often got sick. Usually they were minor illnesses.

In my opinion, I don't think "the daycare curse" is the right phrase because your daughter is gaining immunity to these germs early on, rather than all through kindergarten and first grade like a lot of kids. Not that I think it's a great thing to send your kids to daycare just so they can get sick, but it does happen and you deal with it. There is a lot you can do to stave off the germs, but you can't eradicate them completey.

My oldest daughter just finished first grade and she has only missed one day of school in Kgarten and first grade together. So hopefully there will be one good thing out of your daughter's experience. I know it's heartbreaking to see your little one suffer! Hope things get better.

My daughter went to pre school but not daycare. She never missed a day of pre-school due to illness. Fast forward to 2nd grade.... She missed over 20 days due to illness. Your daughter would probably be getting these bugs whether in daycare or not and I rather them have it at a younger age than older.

3 years of being sick? That was my experience.