It’s a Nursery one..

[Butterfly443]

Sahm. Ds is 2.6 - Put him in nursery part time to give him more access to social /varied activities and for us to have a better family balance , as dh works and I don’t really get help with ds, house chores etc or time for myself. We live away so no family or close friends around.
First week and already he caught what’s possibly hfm. Can’t send him into nursery (which has affected settling in), but (ofc) we also don’t get refunds or additional days for missed days. I know kids get sick a lot when they start and it’s always a gamble how often your child will get sick, but now I am thinking if he will be home sick most of the week after attending for one day, what was the point :( if anything, I’ve given myself more work to do, my LO will be constantly poorly and we have taken a big financial hit for it ! A few mums said that they just dose up the kids and send them in, so they don’t lose their money, but as well being unfair to other kids I feel like it’s unfair to your own poor child if they just need to stay at home and rest. Would waiting until after 3/3.5 have meant less sicknesses possibly? Or is it inevitable no matter what age they start? Also, if you have a child who catches a new bug or cold every week then they can’t be having calpol etc week after week for months ?! Any advice welcome, is it just a case of ride it out? I guess I’m doubting my decision and wondering if I should have tried to wait longer. Thank you

The sickness will happen whether he starts now or at 3.5

My son is Year 1, reception last year. It was notable just how prevalent all the usual nursery illnesses were for them after all the covid stuff.

I'd power on through.

Kids get sick when exposed to new germs, it’s just what happens and you can’t avoid it. It will be the same when he starts school.

Look - kids get sick when their worlds expand. It’s good that their worlds expand - I think you should feel lucky and glad you’re not both working when this Happened - as it does for the vast majority of working parents.

Both mine went from 6 months, caught stuff, built resilience, made friendships are tough little cookies having fun at nursery and infant school at ages 2 and 6.

I’m a SAHM and mine started nursery part time at 2.5 and 3.5 - both got sick a lot the first autumn and winter, and in fact most winters until about 5/6. I wouldn’t say being a year older made any difference. They gave most of the germs to me too. I still regarded it as well worth sending them and that they had to catch most of this stuff at some point.

I gave mine calpol when they needed it - it wasn’t week after week, most of the time they didn’t need calpol for a d&v bug or a bog standard cold. HFM is horrible though, you have my sympathies there.

Actually the question to ask yourself to give your head a gentle wobble is - what % of the rest of the nursery kids have stay at home parents whilst they also pick up every big? Possibly a tiny %. The vast majority have working parents, catch stuff, from a younger age, ride it out and get on with their fun and lives while their parents somehow manage the little illnesses whilst working and also getting on with their lives.

Unfortunately usually a child who starts a childcare setting for the very first time will pick up every bug going for a while as their immune systems aren't used to it but it will get better!

when DS, my first started nursery it was sickness bugs, colds that would turn into chest infections, coughs that would linger weeks, then he got chicken pox and impetigo. It got better eventually. He's hardly ever ill now he's a bit older.

mysecond wasn't too bad, she picked up odd things but I can only assume because she had come into contact with DS being I'll she had built a better immune system before starting pre school, she didn't catch much at all looking back!

Waiting would make no difference. It would happen then too!

it's annoying losing days & money, which I can understand but there's not much that can be done about that!

Big* = bug

So he's had one bout of illness since starting? I think you're being a bit dramatic. You have no idea if he's going to get sick week in week out or if this is the one and only illness he'll get. It seems quite an overreaction to pull him out of nursery for one illness. Kids get sick. It's hardly breaking news!

For what it's worth my two started playschool at 2.5 and 2. Ds1 I had to collect from playschool once for a high temperature. Ds2 has never missed any playschool due to illness