How Often Did Your Infant/toddler Fall Sick After Starting Daycare?

Like my pediatrician said after my oldest child entered preschool, "You can pretty much expect her to have a runny nose from now until 1st grade." And he was right! :)

We've hardly gotten illnesses here (DD started when she was 8 weeks old). Typically we seem to have a week before Halloween that she's sick for most of the week (one year H1N1, one year weird high fever), and then just odd days here and there with fevers. Couple ear infections, couple sinus infections, several colds. But, I'd rather have her get sick now than when she's in school and actually missing out on learning (not that she's not learning at daycare!)

I think the main reason, though, she's not gotten sick is I work in daycare and exposed to EVERYTHING (I work with infants, so am constantly getting sneezed on, coughed on ... all the cooties come home with M.).

I've heard, too, that every time you change daycares to expect a period of "constant illness", due to being exposed to different germs than their bodies have gotten used to.

Here's the way I look at it... Say I watch 4 children during the day and 4 at night and I have a family of 6. My daughter brings a few friends around and goes to college and work. My husband goes to work and my mother goes to church. All my children have siblings that are in school and all of them have at least one parent going to work. Everyone takes the kids to the playgrounds and parks, both indoor and out and shopping. So even with only 4 during the day and 4 at night, we are ALWAYS bombarded with germs.

Now do that math times about 40 or 60 or 100 kids, depending on the daycare. WOW... how could it be worth it? AND YET...

Unless you plan on homeschooling and limiting all outside contact, they will go to school one of these days. Miss the work now, or miss the work later.

You should switch to a home daycare because then the immunity that your child needs to develop will come a little more gradual.

It builds their immune system and since they are so young it is much easier. If you never have your child around other kids then when they start school they will miss much of Kindergarten due to being sick all the time. It's better to let them get the exposure when younger. I know it stinks but it is much needed growth.

I had to return to work so my daughter started daycare at 8 months old and was sick almost constantly for the first 10 months. Either myself or my husband was taking days off to stay home with her at least every other week. Fortunately hubby was in school and I had a very understanding employer...
After she was there for almost a year it stopped and now she only gets sick every now and then when something is going around.
Good luck!

My daughter started daycare when she was 15 months old in October. She had about 9 kids in her classroom and about 9 in the adjoining class. She's at home with a fever right now, but she wasn't really sick "all the time." She had a runny nose a lot in the winter (but hey, it's winter, right?) but very few days of being "really" sick.

Kids need to be exposed to germs to build up their immune systems. If they don't get sick a few times in early childhood, then they'll be missing a lot of school later on. Just make sure he gets enough sleep and healthy food so he is strong enough to fend off or shorten illnesses.

P.S. My son started FT home daycare at 5 months. This provider is committed to making sure the children play outside frequently. Outdoors has far less germs than indoors. I'd rather lick a tree than touch a doorknob at a daycare.

My friends daughter started in December and she's sick ALL THE TIMEEEEEEE.... And they pass it around their house... Someone is always sick over there...
Since December she's has strep 3x's, had a cold like once per month, a fever once per month.. It's ALWAYS something.....
I think it really depends on the kids...
My son started a preschool at 2 and wasn't sick that much..
Good luck!

My daughter started the end of Feb. She has been sick alot. Mostly just colds but she did have a fever and ear infection. Because she was sick all the time, we were sick all the time. We knew that was going to happen. Better to do it now then wait till she is in kindergarden.

My daughter was 7 months when she started daycare (center-based) in January. She was sick almost continually until I had her out of daycare for 2 months over the summer (I teach). She ended up being out of daycare because of illness about once every 4-6 weeks. However, since she started up again last August she's been sick off and on and only had to be out of daycare once or twice. Hoping next year will be better yet. But, I had the same thought that you did as my husband or I ended up having to stay home with a sick kid so often it didn't feel like it was worth it. I haven't felt that way this year, though. Good luck.

my daughter started daycare at 6 months old in the winter....she was sick everyother week with some cold or something until this past april....we constantly had ear infections because of her colds and eye infections too....it was kind of tough but i think her immune system has grown alot tho...before daycare she was always at home in the house with M. so she was never really exposed to much at all...

My son started when he was about 15 months at the start of fall, and he was CONSTANTLY sick! That little nose never stopped! Even when the flu season was over, he kept getting bugs... This last winter, it was better though, I think his immune system is getting better.
One thing to keep in mind: If they don't get sick now, they will do so whenever they start daycare/preschool or even elementary school. There is no escaping! It may be good to get their immune system working now than later.

He fell sick a LOT, almost every weekend it felt like for the first few months but after that, he was better b/c his immune system improved or he got used to the germs or whatever. he still gets sick from time to time from the other kids but it's been a lot better. i heard kids fall sick at home daycares too btw. it's just anything where kids gather carries lots of germs. if you love the daycare he currently goes to, i say stick to it. its hard to find a good daycare.

My son is in daycare with 6-9 other children ages 0-3. He started in October at 9 weeks old and has since been sick once to twice a month with something viral. He was fed with exclusively breastmilk and all conditions are very sanitary...but alas, the viruses just keep coming.

DS started at daycare at 9 weeks. The first year he had Rotavirus (diarrhea for a few days, missed 2 days of daycare, mild case) and had 2 or 3 colds (runny nose for 1-3 days, didn't miss any days). Since then (he is 5) he probably has 2-3 colds a year (has not missed any days for them) and has missed probably 3-4 total days with a fever (he had the H3N3 flu in 2009 and another fever in there somewhere).

There was a nice study a few years ago showing that they will either get sick the year they start daycare or the year they start school - it comes out a wash. On the other hand, I have never had so many colds as since DS was born. Children are NOT good for adult health.

usually when a child starts a home or center daycare they pick up a lot of stuff as their system is not use to it. Give it time as the childs system needs to build up and after a while it will be fine. My daughter was 3 when she went to a home daycare directly from grandma house(my mom watched her untill she could no longer due to health issues) She was sick quite often the first 6 months but after that nothing out of the ordinary. Home daycare vs center varies as depends how the provider keeps thing clean and sanitized. hope this helps

Every time we've started a new daycare (about 4 times over the last several years) we've had a rough spell. We've started in summer and winter. This last time, last January was the worst; but we also were out and about more in general (mall playgrounds,etc.). We were at in-home daycares, and it has always settles out after a few months of feeling like we were constantly sick. The one time we were at a larger daycare, it didn't ever settle out, but we switched to in-home after a few months, so it might have eventually:)

Ages varies from 3 mos to 3 years. Good luck -- finding the right childcare is super hard!

My oldest just started preschool this past year at 2.5yrs. There is only 9 kids in his class & he was sick from October - until now. He's had a constant runny nose. So much so they requested I keep him home until it stops running so much. He has had a nasty cough for the last 2 months. I finally got the Dr. to prescribe an antibiotic for his nose. It hadn't stopped and finally was a nasty green color for the last 2 weeks. Seems to be helping a lot. We'll see now that we're out of school, I'm hoping everything clears up soon :) But really it wasn't as bad as I expected, one round of croup in Jan. and few random fevers. Could be worst there were some friends whose kids had pneumonia, ear infections and strep left and right?

Wow, after reading all of the responses, I feel very fortunate. Our daughter started daycare at 8 weeks (she's 3 now) and hasn't been sick much, a couple of ear infections but they're not contagious. She started in February of 07 and hasn't missed school due to illness.

My son (4.5) didn't start a daycare center until he was 1.5 - He started on a Monday and Tuesday night he had the stomach flu!!!! We all got that one - was the most violent stomach flu I'd had since I was a child!!!!!!! He did get sick quite a bit but this previous winter was the best for him - not sick as often (oh, my son started in February that year).
My daughter (1.5) went to daycare when she was 3 months (when I had to return after maternity leave) - I think it was a couple of weeks before she got sick - between both kids I don't think my husband or M. worked a full 5 day work week until winter ended! Oh - my daughter started at the beginning of March - this past winter was a full flu season for her - same as last year - my husband and I were home with her a lot.
Hoping that she does the same as my son - by about 3 they start to really have an immunity!
I was so upset that first winter about my son being sick all of the time and feelign such guilt about having to be a working mom.....one of my coworkers just told M. over and over - the first couple of years are bad with illness but it gets better. And she was right.

CONSTANTLY - and their hygiene practices are really great, so that really tells you something. Of course he started in the fall, just before cold season started anyway, so that may have had something to do with it. My 2nd starts at the same school in a week, but she's been in and out of my son's preschool 4 times a week since she was about 3 days old - and she got sick a lot more frequently at a younger age than my son, but now it seems like she's more immune at 2 than he was.

Basically we all have to be exposed to a large variety of viruses in order to build up our immune systems. The longer it takes for us to be exposed, the older we will be when we experience a bout of sickness. My ped did tell M. though that it's better for us to be exposed before K or first grade so we don't miss a bunch of school being sick.