Nursery germs FOREVER?!

[Pearson26]

Just need some expectation management I think - DD (9mo) has had a few settling in days at nursery and started officially in the last few weeks. I'm not exaggerating when I say that EVERY time she's been she's got ill!!! Worst cold ever followed by bronciolitis followed by HFAM followed by exploding bum..... some of which we've picked up too (I can't ever remember being so ill back to back!!) There's been no break between each and I'm on my arse!

Do I need to strap on my helmet and make my peace with this being reality for the foreseeable?? I'm back at work next week and she's not managed to make it through her allotted two days at nursery yet as she's been so poorly from the day before.

Please tell me this is a good thing and she'll have a mega immune system ready for school 🥴

Mine started at 10 months
She got poorly very regularly until 9 months after she started when after that her immune system must have been hardy cos she was pretty much fine!

Oh, I remember this so well!

DS started at 9 months and we had the same issues. It got noticeably better when he was about 2 and a half, barring a bout of chickenpox, and he's not been ill (yet!) this year. Bearing in mind we had a few months of lockdown in between that time, too.

It is horrible. When lockdown started in 2020 and he wasn't going to nursery and bringing bugs back any more, DH commented that he'd forgotten what it was like to feel well until that point as we'd had so many nursery bugs. It is a case of buckle up for a bit, but I promise it does get better. I'm hoping it means that DS will have an iron clad immune system when he starts school, too!

It’s really hard, DD has been at nursery for 18 months and rarely manages a full month without something and some time off. Save all your holiday up! We have used almost all of ours on covering sickness, it is without a doubt the worst bit of being a parent for me, so much stress!!
The GP told me that on average children in childcare get something every 2-3 weeks. My experience supports this. I really do hope there’s an end to it. We’ve had 6 separate absences since Christmas alone.

The galling bit is that she was BF to 26 months, this seems to have done sweet FA to her immune system….

Oh ma gaaaad 9m til 2.5 is a loooong time 😂😂😂 many thanks for this everyone, helpful to know what my mindset needs to be and also helpful to know that it doesn't last forever / am not alone. Bloody germs!!!

Hoo boy I remember this. In my experience it happens for about 6 months after they start at a new setting, but the first one is the worst because they catch EVERYTHING and so do you!

I think it’s normal unfortunately. Our DS has been in nursery for a year. He must have had at least 20 different colds / viruses in that time, hand foot and mouth three times, norovirus and tonsillitis. We got him vaccinated for chicken pox as that can otherwise require quite a long time off. He is usually now less ill with colds etc than he was initially but still gets them. I

It’s a difficult balance between not wanting to send him in ill and giving him time to recover from illnesses and making sure we keep our jobs! I now send him in if he’s a bit coldy and tired.

I don’t think all children get quite so ill and nursery said that they’ve seen many more bugs than they did pre- covid and get sent home more as nursery are more sensitive to high temperatures etc.

Also sympathise with catching everything yourself. I’ve never been so ill as in the last year and think it’s made worse by trying to work through my own sickness so I can take time off for DS and then getting really rundown.

Mine started in January at 7m, and has basically been a snot factory since day 1. I console myself by thinking she's going to be immune to flipping EVERYTHING by the time she's one. We're just starting a new cold this morning - she sneezed on me earlier, and while her sneezes are still ridiculously cute, I have NEVER seen a bogey so big or so aerodynamic. The paediatrician said we should expect constant snot till March. Well it's April now and she's still going...

DS has been in nursery since October and he is constantly bringing coughs and colds home with him, which then pass to me 😫 I swear his nose hasn’t stopped running since December.

Yes we have now done a full term at nursery and it's been one thing after another since day 1

My son was ill for 6 months straight when he started. It's a nightmare!

Yep I'd say after about 6 months it usually gets better. Or that's what I found in our case.

I now work in a nursery and I've never had so many coughs and colds. One baby actually sneezed and coughed in my face the other day. 🙈

I await the cold.

All three of mine had cold after cold...bit they were not so sick they had to be kept off nursery often. It was more a runny nose that lasted all of winter (with small breaks in between) and maybe the odd cough or fever. First dc started nursery 13 months, 2nd at 20 months and third goes to gym creche daily from 20 months. The older ones also did the gym creche (eldedst from 9 months and second from 4 months). I feel like the gym creche helped them build up their immune system before starting nursery....but it was not too bad. It does get better. They get sick less often for sure. Some children are more poorly then others. My first born seems to catch more things....but I wonder if the other two got to build their immune system better at a younger age because they had older sibling/s and now a dog as well lol.

Yes, very normal unfortunately. For us, it lasted from about November to May the first 2 years. I lived on vitamin C and zinc in high doses for those months each year and it helped.

Sadly yes. My 21 month old started nursery at 8 months and still catches any illness that so much as breezes in his direction. He’s term time only so has been off the last 2 weeks and still managed to get periorbital cellulitis midway through the holidays. It does pass though, my eldest went through the same thing (although not quite as badly as my toddler, but he’s a lockdown baby so I guess that’s had an impact) and he’s now a 6yo who doesn’t get ill all that often, and even when he does it tends to be short lived.