AIBU to dare to suggest that children are better off NOT in nursery til 3?

[WeakAndMilky]

AIBU to NOT buy into the belief that exposing toddlers to every bug going is good for their immune system? Nurseries are terrible places for bugs and so many DCs spend half their time with D&V, colds, fevers, rashes etc. If you want an example of the 'constant cough/cold syndrome' look on Childrens Health!

True some parents have no choice and children do need to see other children. But they dont do much interactive play before the age of 3 and their immune system has plenty of time to build with more limited contact with other kids and adults.

My own DCs went only to playgroup weekly before school started, and they didnt collapse under the bombardment of viruses when they did go, just the usual minor stuff. My DD never had an antibiotic til she was a teenager!

Please dont bang on about having no choice due to work (you obviously don't have a choice) but there are plenty of mums who do have the choice and choose to send babies and toddlers to nursery.

children who mix with other children will always get germs/bugs. Be that nursery, playgroup or having older siblings at school. I don't get this thing that dcs have to protected from every germ. As MrsDV could tell you, it makes no difference in the long run.

Well, purely anecdotal but my dd, attending nursery 3 days a week from 10mo, really is very rarely ill and I don't remember her having anything other than a couple of colds that lasted a couple of days, only time she had a week off nursery for chicken pox, thats it. I did breast-feed until she was 2 though - wonder if the op did? Tis good for the immune system I hear.. [runs away]

Scotmum. pople like you do a good job at trying to intimidate people like me not to express our opinion. It is my opinion that there are healthier environments than nurseries for babies of 6 months old. If parents have no choice, so be it but stop trying to shout down the parents who want to SAH - they have choices too. Just like everyone else, unfortunately its the loud and aggressive people who shout the loudest.

i had to get a word in edgeways besides your other detractors.you seem to have conveniently overlooked your disagreements with other posters.im not only one took issue with you

do you plan to name your other detractors too,and have out with them

first mrsD. It was boffinmums research that says more children in day care get minor illnesses (bmj research) as well as me. She also started the alarmist stuff about leukemia. I also bf both my children til 2 so maybe it helps the immune system, but I am not banging the bf drum, again it is everyones choice how they feed.

Weak, you did not respond to my accusation that it was irresponsible of you as a professional nurse to spout opinions which were not underpinned by medical evidence, whilst trying to give them extra credibility by mentioning your membership of this profession.

I was not the first to mention leukaemia. Someone else did, which was why I looked it up for everyone.

children with germs spread germs to other children, heard of the rhyme, choughs ans sneezes spreads diseases?
it's well known then shove all these germy children all together and you get illness after illness. its a dead cert!

What a horrid thread. Of course it's desirable that every child has one on one care by someone who loves that child.

But your inference is that parents choose to inflict continual illness on their children by sending them to nursery.

Of course you worked it out so you were there for them, you are, naturally, an ubermummy.

I do hope you aren't quite so patronising to your patients

YABU and actually quite unpleasant to boot.

weakandmilky What a load of shite.

Your name suits you though.

FFS weak, you can do what you want, but when you tell the rest of us that we are endangering our children you are going to get a virtual smack in the mouth.

You have choices, we have choices. Why do you care about the health of our children? Answer is, you don't, you're just trying to claw your way to the moral high ground for a nice big judgefest on the lesser mortals.

I am not alarmed by the leukemia stuff. I just dont like it because it is totally and utterly meaningless.

I do not object to anyone posting it as such (I am not annoyed at anyone IYSWIM) because I know it always pops up on threads like this.

But that wasnt really my question.

"Scotmum. pople like you do a good job at trying to intimidate people like me not to express our opinion."

Agreed. People like Scottishmummy do an excellent job of ensuring that people like you do not go unchallenged when talking judgemental crap and kicking off scaremongering arguments that lead to people being upset and defensive. Which is clearly what you hoped would happen.

This is what boffins research says

What is already known on this topic
Childhood leukaemia is a biologically diverse disease and is likely to arise by several aetiological pathways

The common, B cell precursor, form of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia accounts for the incidence peak between 2 and 5 years of age, and immunological isolation may be a causal factor

Children attending day care have an increased risk of contracting a variety of common infections

What this study adds

Children attending day care centres on a regular basis in the first few months of life are less likely to develop acute lymphoblastic leukaemia than are children who do not.

So the BMJ concurs with you and me that there is increased minor illnesses in young children in day care! Which is all I've said on the subject.

WeakAndMilky,You have riled a lot of posters and are now kicking out and attacking other posters.Take responsibility for what you wrote.

@kungfupannda should I feel bad about not sending my 2yo to nursery?
I'm not being jugemental but i agree with op.
I know full well that nurseries are a breeding ground for bacteria and viral germs.

and she isn't scaremongering where did that come from????

and as a nurse she obviously does care about your children, otherwise why would she bring this to your attention?

Are you WeakAndMilky you always leap to her defence?

errm no, but I obviously see the same way she does!

Do people chose where they live then

"Children attending day care centres on a regular basis in the first few months of life are less likely to develop acute lymphoblastic leukaemia than are children who do not."

Um, forgive me, but isn't this a reason to send dcs TO nursery. If you actually worry about all this and all....

1. It is NOT my research, I just looked it up as any responsible nurse should have done. (I am not a nurse, btw).

1. We should be asking what the three studies have in common. That is that attending nursery etc from the age of 6 months does something important to regulate dysfunctional inflammatory or autoimmune responses in a young child in some cases. We don't know quite what it is yet, but we do know that it may underpin all of these three conditions, and others.

1. Therefore there are no grounds for saying nursery is bad for children's health overall.

Thankfully there are other posters who have agreed that nurseries are not the gold standard for child care. Sorry Niceshoes I'm not clever enough to be two people, and I have been accused already of not really being a nurse so don't bother with that one. I take full responsibility for what I wrote. Which is: I dont think nurseries should be touted as 'building up immunity' which it has been on several occasions to me.

BTW there are no grounds for sending children to nursery to avoid leukaemia either!! Not statistically, anyway.

MAY be a causal factor. MAY.

May means 'we dont have a clue really'

Because if they DID, children would get cancer and die anymore. Would they? And they do, a lot.

Even the ones who dont go to nursery and sleep with their lights off and dont live under power lines and whose mothers didnt have a cold in their first trimester and blardy blardy blah blah blah....

AND stats are bollocks. So there.

I presumed most parents use nursery because they need to,not because of alleged health benefits?