to think of moving my DD from her nursery to a childminder?

[Ewe]

She has been at nursery since September (she is 13months) and has settled in really well and seems to enjoy it.

However, she is constantly ill. There has not been more than one week where she has been "well" since she has started and I am sick of it, my employers are sick of it and despite her very happy temperament I am sure she must be fed up of being ill all the time too.

Would it be reasonable to move her to a childminder on this basis? I just don't know what to do, a huge part of me doesn't want to move her because she appears to love nursery but on the other hand her being sick all of the time is really taking it's toll.

Taking in anti bacterial wipes is ridiculous! All that will do is to expose her to less bacteria and build less immunity. Many of the problems stem from PFB parents over cleaning, hands, toys, dummies and surfaces so homes are spotless, unlike the real world

Only to echo what others have said:

DD started Nursery at 11m. She had every cold/tummy bug going for at least 3 months,

She has also has Nits and Chickenpox since then.

She has only had to be off for a very few days of that though. Our nursery are great at dealing with colds - they administer calpol etc if asked to and provided by us. Nits they just asked us to confirm we had treated her and then let her back. CP was different as she was v poorly so was off for a whole week.

If it is still going on I would look at her immune system rather than the nursery environment. When DC start school they will pick everything up then if not before.

Hmmm

Dd2 was at nursery one day a week from the age of 5mo to 8mo (when I took her out) and she was always ill, bless her. She suffered a huge amount and was hospitalised twice for bad chest infections (flu strain bronchiolitis). She did however, transpire to have a weakened immune system and had to have treatment for this.

Dd3 was with a childminder from being 11mo to being 17mo (when I took her out because my parents had offered to care for her instead) she barely had a day of illness in the whole time she was there.

On the face of it you would assume that the childminder was a better bet to avoid illnesses, I'm much more inclined to believe that it's just the difference in the two children which caused the difference in illnesses.

Dd2 still picks up every bug going, bearing in mind that she is the sort of child who licks her own shoe soles and will have the immunity of an Ox by the time she is 10!

Also, dd3 was bf till she was 17mo so I personally think that this boosted her immunity.

I would move dd from nursery to a childminder, but nowt to do with illness ...just because I prefer a good childminder to a good nursery

many illnesses are viral and contagious so frankly if dd going to get unwell she will

no,i wouldn't move a happy child from nursery to CM just in case.there is exposure and risk anywhere

my lo goes to nursery has had
conjunctivitis
hand foot mouth disease
chickenpox
general malaise
and elevated temp etc

heyho- build their immune system.dont blame nursery.could catch these illnesses any where.just close proximity will spread them.

i wasnt so bothered lo getting ill
inconvenient YES, unavoidable NO

Gawd, my dc never got chicken pox. And now my eldest is 7 and I'd really rather he had already had it I think. Mine were very rarely ill at nursery, and are rarely ill now they are at school TBH . I'm not sure it is a function of the nursery, rather than the child IYSWIM.

Dilly - I am very much of the bugs are good school of thought too and my home is a tip certainly not spotless so no worries there. I just thought it might minimise the risk but it is ridiculous, I know, I am just despperate.

I just feel so helpless, she is never well. Doctor was very dismissive, just normal babyhood bugs. I have a week off annual leave at the moment - coinciding with her D+V bug so she'll have a good amount of time to recover at home.

Guess a cm is not the magical solution I thought it could be! Good to hear all your children have grown out of it though.

hiya Ewe, and poor dd hope she feels better soon

i understand the reasoning with perhaps moving her to a cm and you certainly have had a wide range of opinions but i agree thats its hard to tell if it would help

i was a sahm with dd in 2006 and she was never really ill, in fact the first time she was properly ill was xmas 2007

ds is just 1 so have been a sahm with him for a year and he always seems to be ill with blooming virus things, he currently has a runny nose and a horrid cough that makes his breathing sound awful

with dd i only went to gp for her jabs with ds i have been a good few times, he has had antibiotics twice for infection and lots of 'its a virus will pass' diagnosis

i have pondered over the reasons for this and am curerently thinking the weather the last year has been a factor, with dd there was that heatwave but with ds the weather has been a bit miserable and seems to be breeding bugs-they both had chicken pox in nov and there has been an epidemic ever since

so dont beat yourself up, i have stayed at home so less contact with other kids, i breastfed pretty much on demand till he was one and hasnt made a jot of difference

CMs usually also have older children at school so this may just expose her to another set of things to catch.

I was a SAHM to my two eldest, born in 2000 and 2001. Both were rarely ever ill. Now they are both at school and DS2 came along in 2007.

He gets so many colds, and gives them all to me. I asked the Doctor why, and he said that of course the other two brought them home from school and gave them to him. But why, I asked, do they not catch them? Because they have had them already, was his reply and I just don't agree - they have not had as many colds in their lives as he has had. And if they've had them, why haven't I because I keep catching it all too? It's like they are a pair of Typhoid Marys.

Just to add my two pennies worth - I am a SAHM for the moment and have DD who is 21 months and DS who is 4 months. Up until my DD was about 14 months, she had never been ill - and in fact had never even had a temperature. Since Sept, she has basically had a constant runny nose and sometimes cough. She has also had two viral infections with rashes, chicken pox, and a D&V thing. She is not at nursery or a childminders - though she does mix with other toddlers 5 days a week.
So in a nutshell, I would say dont pull out of nursery, because you may well find that it changes absoltuely nothing! (Unless you keep your DD in isolation for ever, which sometimes, when battling with wiping my DD's nose and causing complete meltdown for the 154th time in a day I am tempted to do.) But I do really feel for and sympathise with you (especially with the additional stress of taking time off work etc)

Hi Ewe it is frustrating when they are constantly ill. I do have to say that lots of nurseries can't distinguish between tummy bug nappies and runny teething ones either. Also, most young children have snotty noses but unless they have a fever and are lethargic its fine to send them in.
As I have said my dds have both had continual coughs and colds for months now but dd1 has only had 1 day off nursery/pre-school.