I have an 11 month old boy and I am beside myself right now!!! First I would like to start off by saying I am thankful every day he is in my life! Since he was born we have been sick literally!! The first 6 months of his life I had a nanny come to the house and she was sick a lot and got us sick constantly!!! I then put my son in daycare and I feel like I am going to absolutely loose it!!! We have been well maybe a total of three weeks in 5 months!!!! We were sick for 5 weeks and I finally went to the doctor and took antibiotics I also consulted a nutritionist and am on several supplements. I go to bed almost every night around 8 sometimes earlier I drink a ton of water I eat very healthy!!! I feel like I have never been so healthy and unhealthy at the same time. After the antibiotics wore off I was well for 4 days!!! Now here we are again fighting this plague!!! I have talked with the daycare center and of course they are going to say all their kids are healthy but the truth is they are not every week I see a sick kid there!!! Many of the parents of this facility are in the medical profession so if a doctor has a life saving operation to preform they are going to take their child to daycare no matter what!!! One of the teachers there said this happens all the time and sometimes kids there will have extremely high fevers and it sometimes takes the parents 6 hours to come get their child!!! I don't want to switch facilities because my son is so well adjusted but if I stay I worry I will go insane!!! I am sick of being sick and tired and I also worry if I switch daycares it will be the same??? Are they all really this bad??? I am sorry if I rambled I am doped up on cold medicine!!! Help!!!!
All the daycares we've ever been to are like that, and pre-school is too. He will build up an immunity eventually and it will get easier, I promise.
My daughter and I were sick for about the first year of her experience with daycare. Thankfully, she was 16 months old before she started daycare, but everytime she got a cold it was accompanied by a horrible hacking cough that would wake her up from naps and sleeping and there was nothing the doctors or naturopaths could do. We tried cold medicine, benadryl, albuterol syrup, albuterol inhaler. We eliminated bananas, dairy and tomatoes after she was shown to be sensitive to those foods. The only thing that ever helped was the one time they gave her prednisone (and that's not something you want your child getting much of!!). Eventually she just grew out of it. Which, probably is what you will have to do. It's a bitter pill to swallow, eh? But the thing I realized was that, of course kids are going to go to daycare sick, because if you kept them home every time they had a cold, you would be home all the time. Think about it. It's not just other kids giving your child an illness. Your son must be the one passing it on to some of the kids. You see a sick child every time you go to daycare and other parents see your sick child when they drop their kid off (except for the 3 weeks he was well). It's a vicious cycle and it's not great for kids or parents, but unless you or your husband can quit your job, it's something you have to deal with. That said, one thing our family doctor said helps is to wash their hands and face as soon as you get home or use those disinfectant wipes as soon as you leave. Hang in there! And good luck.
Mangosteen Juice (safe for even babies) boosts the immune system and has antibiotic properties and then some. When you go to buy it look for one that has the whole fruit in it or its missing essential nutrients. We made it through our first winter ever not being sick with colds, croup, or pnumonia! I get mine here
www.JensMangosteen.com
I have a couple suggestions....find a home where someone can watch your little boy instead of a daycare, I know you said he was adjusted, but you would be dealing with much less germs. I have been looking for 1-2 babies/kids to watch, so if you get desperate and want to meet up with me, let me know. I am a stay at home mom to two little girls (2 and 4) and I live in Vancouver, Wa. Secondly, I have staved off colds and sickness a few times with "airborne". I know some people say it does nothing, but I am telling you, it has worked for me a few times. I take it the second I start to feel a little sick, or something starting to come on, and no kidding, I never fully get sick. You just have to be religious about taking it though. Anyway, good luck to you, it sounds like you are at the end of your rope. Hang in there!
Hi S.. All I can say is that I sympathize. We moved here last year from CA with our 18 month old twins and they started a pre-school program for infants 3 mornings a week. They were sick from early November all the way through May with breaks of just a few days in between the next illness. I was going INSANE!!! My husband and I were sick all the time too which is unusual for us. People say that the first year of day care or pre-school can just be brutal but apparently it is good for the child to build their immune system. I keep hoping this next school year will be better for us. I think moving from one area to another is also tough and we are exposed to all new germs. Hang in there. I know this is a tough time. I feel your pain.
I am a nanny get in touch with me and I may be able to help. It is not normal and the center should have the parents pick up the children with in an hour!
Hi S.,
I feel for you, I was through that myself with my three year old I was getting so tired of him being sick, I talked to the Dr. about it and said why dont they have a daycare for the sick kids in a seperate room where a staff member or two could wear a mask and care for them exchanging places with other staff members while they are working a long day shift, well they did it for a short time to see how it would work ,seems not to many were sick to them too keep them apart from others on a daily basis, then the hospital decided to open a room for the children of different ages that were sick as a daycare. Not to sure how long it lasted but haven't heard anything about it lately. Good luck, give your child and yourself the airborne vitiamins everyday see how it may help I heard a lot about how good they are, they have the children kind now in some places and also costco if you have one close sells packets of immune flavor drink mixes for children, Take care goodness to both your health. S., Vancouver, Washington please check with your Dr. on age for the drinks and vitiamins first .
I totally feel your pain. I went back to work when my son was 18 months old, so he started daycare for the first time. We were sick almost constantly for about 8 months. I went repeatedly to the doctor, and even tried acupuncture to stimulate my immune system. The good news is that it did seems to pass, and we haven't had so much as a cold for a few months now.
The other posters were right...your daycare shouldn't be allowing parents to drop off sick children in the first place. If they refuse to follow the standard health guidelines enforceable by all daycares, it's time to look for a new place. I know how hard it is to switch when you feel your son is adjusted, but kids are flexible, and I think right now his health (and yours!) should be your top priority.
The other thing you might try is asking the daycare providers to wash all the kids hands regularly throughout the day, or at least use hand sanitizer. I'm not a big fan of sanitizers, but in a case like this it might be called for.
The first year is very hard. We were sick all the time - some 13 dr visits for ear infections and followup and multiple antibiotics and then tubes and just sick.... ug. The second year has been much better. 2 minor colds and one really bad stomach bug and knock on wood nothing for the entire summer. Wash your hands and carry hand sanitizers and hang in there – it gets better next year (fewer things in their mouth, they learn to wash up, they eat fewer things off the table or floor…etc.)
S.-
Welcome to the world of kid germs. (I am assuming from many clues in your request that you have not/do not work in a profession involving children.)
You are doing all the right things. It is just going to take your body a while to develop those immunities to the stuff those little petrie dishes we call kids tend to grow. It usually takes about a year.
I am a teacher and it's pretty common for teachers to be sick regularly their first year of teaching or during their student teaching year. This was true for me my student teaching year. AND my poor roommate during my first year of teaching was always sick. She did all the things you talk about and still got cold after cold after cold. It took us a while but we finally realized she was catching whatever my first graders were carrying-- and then I was passing those germs right along to her. The next year-- yes she didn't abandon me :)-- she was almost never sick.
Hang in there. Keep taking the echinaecha, Vit C, etc, and wash those hands-- especially your little guy's.
As for switching DCs. It is the same story at every one. Those kids are there mostly because their parents are away at work and as you know you can't always extract yourself quickly from a meeting/surgery/project review. If he loves where he is leave him-- you're immune system is close to mastering those germs now anyway :)
Good luck and good health.
Wow that is terrible. I run a daycare out of my home and there are guidelines in which the daycare provider must follow. One is that no one in care can be there with a fever higher than 100 if they have a fever they need to be sent home. I cannot believe that they would except a child that is sick. If i were you I would be looking for a different daycare. Of course your son will get more colds in daycare but what you have explained is awful. When you go to look for daycare make sure you look at there sick policy. I have one in my contract and when i the child is sick the parents have one hour to come pick there children up. And the sick child cannot return to care until they are free from the fever. Also i use the wipes and spray to disinfect my daycare. So far since January I have only had three kids miss daycare because they are sick. So i hope this helps.
