Playgroups and colds!

[flowersuk]

Hi i wanted to ask some advice, my son is 15 months old and he has already had 6 colds since he was 7 months old up untill now.The problem is he only gets them when my nanny or i take him to playgroups! I know people have their own views about how its good for their immune system etc but am i the only one who would not send my child to a playgroup when my child has a cold? we are working parents and it usually puts a bother on us as either my nanny then gets sick and cant come to work or my son is sick. Problem now is my son has had this really bad cough and runny nose for 16 days does not seem to go away he has seen the doctor twice but they wont give him anything and he is just on general cough syrup and calpol. To be fair i have never known anyone to have a cold that has lasted that long now he has difficulty with his sleep some eating issues and can be very grumpy. I am not sure about taking him to playgroups now as i feel he always gets sick there, and when we make plans they have to be cancelled or people who want to come over dont bother coming as they say they cant afford to be off work which i do understand. I thought if colds and coughs last this long that the doctor would prescribe something as he is so young. Rant over!

[JuniperTisane]

Yes, I think you probably are the only one. Kids get colds and viruses all the time. Its just part of the life of having a young child. If you keep him away from everything to avoid colds he will just get them at school instead.

You can't keep away from it forever, all children go through it to some extent and it is good for them.

[JuniperTisane]

Also there is nothing to prescribe for a cold, whether it lasts a week or a month. There is no magic cure for them.

[Littlefish]

Sorry your ds is poorly. Children pick up germs wherever they go. He could catch a cold in a shop, the GP surgery, the street etc. not just at the toddler group.

There is very little a GP can do for a cold/cough unless there is an infection.

I run a nursery and we are happy to have children there with coughs and colds as long as they don't have a fever. If we banned children with coughs and colds some would never come!

Your ds is going to pick up lots of bugs as he goes to different groups, settings or schools - it's just part of growing up.

I'm surprised your nanny takes time off for a cough or cold. Perhaps this is something you need to discuss with her.

[PrettySnowyPictures]

[LittleBearPad]

Colds are part of life for everyone particularly small children. Your nanny is being a bit rubbish to take time off for a cold I think.

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

We only ever kept our's away from play groups/nursery etc if the had a fever. If you kept them home every time they have a sniffle you would never go out!

If it helps I have found that taking a vitamin c and zinc effervescent tablet every day has kept DH and I fairly immune from whatever nasties the kids bring home with them! I've not had a cold or cough in the two years since I started taking them.

Reception year was the year the kids got everything going! You can't keep kids home from school with a cold.

[Dontstepinthecowpat]

My middle DC spends most of the winter with a cold, just one viral infection after another. The other two aren't affected.

If I kept him off with every cold he would never go anywhere.

[McSqueezy]

This is obviously your first child. Trust me it is normal, and you will get used to it.

[flowersuk]

Thanks for your replies, I must be the only one then that wouldnt send my child to a playgroup if he has a cold then. I know he has caught it from playgroups as there have been children there who have colds, we go out nearly every day and he has not caught anything from other places unless he is mixed with other kids. My immune system has been always very good one of the reasons i think it is is because i usually use dettol every where in my home. It can help fight bacteria. We have some friends who are child minders who have refused to take children if they have colds as they dont want it to be passed on to other kids. It is why my nanny has had to have time off she was worried about giving her cold to people and the cold/cough/ infection has made her very poorly.Also my son really does not look well at all the doctor is not even considering that he may have a chest infection they have told me if he gets worse to bring him back and when i did as apparently his throat is sore and really red now they still have sent him back home.

[Littlefish]

You sound overly anxious about germs and bacteria. Do you have other issues with anxiety? It really isn't necessary to use detoll everywhere. Children need to meet bacteria and germs in everyday life. Keeping your home sterile probably means that he is more likely to be susceptible to germs elsewhere. I repeat that it is impossible for you to know where he has caught the germs from. There are germs all around us.

Your child is doing to be ill many, many times as they grow up, and particularly when then start at school, and you won't be able to keep them off every time they are slightly below par, or because you are worried they might catch something.

I don't know any childminders or nurseries who refuse to take children with a cold or simple cough. It's different if a child has a running, very green snotty nose as that is an obvious sign of infection. I work with many, many childminders and they quite rightly will not take a child with Sickness bugs, but coughs and colds are completely fine.

[flowersuk]

He does have a runny very green snotty nose actually! Well the child minders i know have refused to take on kids with colds maybe these child minders just wanted the money not sure. Sorry for sounding like i have anxiety issues i dont. It is just how i have been baught up and my mum has told me as i was growing up i hardly had colds. So it is just my attitude towards it. Our doctor actually told us to keep him in the warm and not the cold as also when he last saw him they said he 'may' have a ear infection and when you go out in the cold it makes it worse?

[LittleBearPad]

It really won't be a problem if you relax on the dettol front. In fact by keeping everything too clean at home you are likely to be exacerbating the problem. There's nothing that can be prescribed for a virus that you can't get OTC. Calpol for fever. Snot suckers are also good to get the gunk out.

Your nanny is being precious. Most childminders/nurseries take children with colds.

[Littlefish]

When the GP said that the cold would make an ear infection "worse" he/she may have meant "more painful/uncomfortable". As far as I know, a cold ambient temperature doesn't affect an infection.

[TinyTear]

Better to catch a lot of stuff now, than when it's at school and would affect learning/attendance.

I only keep my DD away from nursery when she has a temperature...

[flowersuk]

I didnt take him out after the doctor told me to keep him in the warm he said if you take him in the cold ( outside) the ear will be uncomfortable for him and therefore keep him at home. thats good to know about most child minders and nannies but where i am i have been told that a few childminders who have refused. I think my son may have a infection and i may have to see a new doctor. i dont think there is anything wrong with dettol they sell it in shops for a reason. Thanks for your help anyway.

[Purplehonesty]

I stopped going to playgroups because people took their kids along when they were full of cold / had sick bugs etc and I was fed up of my two getting ill as a result.

[Littlefish]

I agree that there's nothing wrong with detol. However, overusing it just isn't necessary, and can lead to your child being more susceptible to germs when they meet them elsewhere. The advertising for anti-bacterial products would have us all believing that germs in the home must all be completely irradicated. This simply isn't true.

[Littlefish]

You're also right to keep your ds nice and warm if he's got an ear eache or infection - they can be very painful. I was just querying your previous post where you said that the GP had said that being out in the cold would make the infection worse, as it won't, as far as I know.

[PurpleStripedSock]

That's a lot of colds if you ask me. My little one is 20 months old and has gone to germ ridden nursery since she was 11 months old and has had about 3 colds in her life total.

A couple of them have been passed on to me and as the nursery is obviously happy to take children with colds and their staff soldier on through the pain of their own illness, it hasn't really been a bother for me except that I'm more easily tired when both of us ill.

[PurpleStripedSock]

Just read through the rest of the comments. I definitely don't use Detol, in fact I'm so tired from full time work and another pregnancy at the moment that I barely clean anything at all lol We live on a canal barge and have to deal with mud, coal dust and cat fur on a daily basis. My money is on my toddler's immune system!

[WhyOWhyWouldYou]

If you're child has a continued temperature after 3 days or a temperature that won't come down with calpol and ibuprofen then you should take them to gp to be checked that it isn't a chest infection or even an ear infection. Its only if there is actually an infection that gp can do anything - simple viruses and coughs/colds (including the sore throat that often accompanies them) can't be treated by gp - its down to the body to fight them, which in turn builds immunity.

I would never keep a child away from groups because of a simple cold. Obviously its a different matter if they have sickness bug or something like chicken pox (which could endanger an unborn baby if the mother hasn't had it in the past). Coughs and colds are part of growing up and the more you're "protected" from them the worse they'll be when you are exposed - and at some point in life you have to be exposed to them.

Also I don't know anyone who takes time off for a cold! IMHO its rather pathetic to pull a sicky over a simple cough or cold - I would expect a nanny at work cold or not.

Also on the dettol front it is proven that overuse does increase how susceptible you are to germs (we need low level exposure to germs to build immunity and we also need the good bacteria dettol kills too) - your post suggests you may be OTT with its use, in which case tone it back a little - if you're not OTT then im sorry for bringing it up.