Nursery illnesses

[abbyarmand]

Am I worrying too much about the cleanliness of my nursery...which is lovely but always full of one bug, illness or virus or another. Littleones have been wretched this last month...and its summer, dreading winter. I know they clean each night but dusting is not infection control. Are all nurseries the same, do any actually take the control of infection seriously?? Any comments to suggest to manager appreciated

Key questions i would be asking (i'm a nursery manager by the way)

Is the sickness exclusion being strictly enforced

How often are toys/equipment sterilised

How effective are hand washing procedures (both staff and chidlren)

Are carpets/soft furnishings cleaned reguarly

For what its worth unfortunately nurseries are breading grounds for bugs as som many children in close proximity. We introduced hand gel at front doors for parents (many come straight off tube) and also personal hand gels for all staff (which they use alot), we have seen a slight decrease in bugs. (we introduced these measures around the swine flu time)

when did your dc start nursery? the first few months can be tough because they are not used to the constant exposure to germs. it will get better.
my ds never had anything until he started nursery at 9 months old. was sick a lot (a fever nearly every week, constant snotty nose) in the first 3 months and became much better after that.

Parents keeping ill children away from nursery would help. You often find that children suddenly get ill at 11o'clock at nursery. It's because parents see their child is ill at home and give them Calpol at about 7 before bringing them in. 4 hours later it wears off...

They have been there 1yr and totally accept the need to adapt. Like the idea of hand gels and the sterilisation which I will offer up...is it possible to measure amount of bugs??

My DD started nursery a year ago just after her 2nd birthday. I swear she didn't get ill more than 5 times in the first 2 years of her life.

Since starting she's had swine flu, countless colds, about 7 ear infections, persistant cough that's being treated with an inhaler, 2 tummy bugs... yep think that's all.

She has got over all this and hasn't been "ill" for 6 months now. It's just the ear infections and the cough now, both of which are possibly more to do with her dad smoking around her. I'm told it's normal they get bit poorly at first.

Many thanks to dribbleface I went back and was pleasantly surprised by positive attitude. They are now regularly using a specific company to provide some specialised cleaning programme on the floors and toys.
smile

Thats great news abbyarmand.