Needing Advice/encouragement

I have been a working mom for most of my parenthood years, and it is tough (especially when I was a single mom). You have to have an employer that is understanding of the fact that you have young children, and they are going to be sick often due to being around so many other children.

Another option you can try, though, is finding a woman who has a daycare in her home, preferably someone who does not have any or a lot of children, and only watches a few pre-schoolers. The only problem with this is that they tend to take more days off than a professional daycare will, especially around the holidays.

I hope that helps!

Hi my daughter was 2 when she started daycare and she got sick a LOT the first year. I basically just dealt with it. My employer was very understanding. I never stayed home any longer than necessary though. This year (knock on wood) my daughter has not gotten sick once!! yay!!! Also be sure to wash your childs hands often and make sure they are doing this often at the daycare. Just hang in there, it will get better. If you are not a single mom maybe you can take turns with your husband in staying home when your son is sick. Or maybe you can ask a grandparent to stay. If none of those are possibilities just hang in there and it will all work out.

M.,

It gets better. My daughter stayed at an in-home day care with very little children until she was 2 years old. The entire time she was there, I could count the number of times she got sick on one hand. When we moved her in to a regular day care, she was sick on a weekly basis. It took about 6 months of that and then she was fine. I've been a full time working mom my daughter's entire life and I guess I'm just used to it now. But it's still hard when she's sick. I have a great job and my boss has a son of his own that's my daughter's age so he's very understanding when I have to be out. I can also work from home so that helps too. Hang in there. It'll get better...Never easy, just better!

Good Luck,
T.

M.,

Hopefully you have a flexible employer and mobility with your work because a sick kid in day care is just part of the package. When I worked in day cares and preschools, I could have rivaled "Monk" with my obsessive / compulsive cleaning habits. I kept Lysol and GermX in business. The kids in my class and I were sick frequently despite all the precautions.

I would also recommend a "Plan B" if your child gets sick on a day that you cannot miss work, if that is an issue for you. Find a neighbor or a friend who can take him in a pinch if needs be. If you are married, trade off with your husband so you both miss a little work, but neither misses too much. Before I had kids, I worked in an office building with a lot of working mothers. I saw mothers bring their sick kids to their cubicle and have their child sleep under their desk until they finished working. It was hard on the mothers and the kids. It is good that you are looking for solutions now so it hopefully never comes to that in your situation.

Best wishes,
S.

I'm not sure if you tried, but give him vitamins on a daily basis. Keeping his immune system resistant to these illnesses is the only way to keep him from getting sick, even if the other children are. I've had my daughter in daycare ever since she was 1 1/2 and she's never really gotten sick, except for maybe a cold.

Well, I was in the same situation. My son has been going to Montessori since he was 18th months, but I was working about 4 hours a day with my mother in law watching him for those 4 hours but when he turned 2 I started working full time so he has been going to school full time. He was not getting sick as much when he was part-time but in November he was sick the whole month, with ear infections, and viral infections and any other sickness you can think of. At that point I felt that I should quit my job. My husband and I were very concerned, we even decided to get his immune system checked out thoroughly but our Dr. Advised us not to because children his age are prone to get sick at this time of the year. He said that it is normal for a child who is b/w the age of 6 mnths to 3 yrs to get 6 infections per year. Anyway, enough about my child, I think it is just the weather and the exposure to other kids who are sick. Just hang in there. I am also waiting for my child to be 3 and hopefully he won't get sick as much

I know how hard it is to work outside the home and have your child get sick. I used to work in the corporate world for many years and am now fortunate to work from home. One thing you can do is to find a business to work from home and eventually be able to leave that job but also to ramp up your child's immune system with some good vitamins. Also to find a few people that can help and support you at times like this - maybe to be able to care for him while you work.

I sense that you are more worried about your job, I know thats the case for me. My kids get sick and they need me and I am good with that, but I worry about not being at work and getting fired etc. Its ok to feel this way first of all. Its not horrible! You are putting the correct things in priority by being home. Feel good about that. Its good also to have a good work ethic!

Most of the time I personally am over reacting! My boss has been great and he has kids of his own so he understands. I give it to him straight, especially if its more than a cold. Also, you are entitled to caring for you children by law and they can't fire you! So rest your mind at ease there.

Tell them up front when your child is sick. Try to be accomidating to make doctors appointments all on the same day so you miss a whole day instead of a couple hours here and there.

Tell your boss you feel bad about missing work. Let him know you can work from home, if you think you will have time. Take some work home with you maybe. If you ask the technical part of your organization I bet you can get email from home on the internet and maybe even remote control your computer from home too!

My company does both email and remote control of the computer but I had to really ask alot to get it set up. It really saves me sometimes!

Good luck!

Have no fear, it does end....the reason he's getting sick so often is because he had a weakened immune system from never being sick before....suddenly being exposed to other things is causing his little immune system to work in over drive.... I have been a full time working mom since my baby was 2 weeks old and dealt with illnesses quite often...the first year I even had to get counseled by my boss for taking too much time off... over the past 2 years my boss has to remind me to use my remaining PTO by the end of the year because my little girl NEVER gets sick...
As a working mom, taking care of a sick baby is difficult but it can be done... It helps immensely if you have a family member who stays at home during the day and you trust to take care of him while he's unable to go to daycare....if you don't have such a luxary you should be able to trust his father to take turns with you so that neither of you need to take too much time off. Most daycare spread illnesses only last a couple of days and if he's still sick after 3 days you need to call his doctor... his doctor can also make a pretty trustworthy decision as to whether or not he can go to daycare with whatever illness he may have. Once again, I promise that this won't last and as long as you have an understanding employer everything should be just fine. Being a mother should be your first priority and if you have to stay home for a few days to take care of your son then that's just what you have to do... Good luck!!