How bad is sickness going to be when baby starts nursery?

[Hann376]

Baby will be 11 months when starting nursery. How bad can I expect nursery bugs to be in those first few weeks lol? Will it help reduce illness if I continue to breastfeed?

How did you manage sick children while working ? Me and partner will be mostly wfh so would easily be able to pick up baby but won’t be able to take lots of extra time off

No way of predicting. Some seem to be unlucky and come down with everything. Mine never got hot by anything much. Mild hand, foot and mouth for one of them once, the other got chicken pox but again very mildly.

It's not a given that they'll get everything going, get nothing or anywhere in between.

We called it "taking the hit" when we took time off for a sick child and it was strictly in turns unless we had something big on at work that couldn't be moved. They didn't get a lot of sickness. It's was maybe 2-4 times a year. I was also part time (3 days) and that cut the issue by 40% (but also my wages of course). It's stressful but I was very lucky to have a really understanding boss. It's not necessary and not everyone would have the option but I would generally take annual leave. I think all in all I was fair to my employer and they were fair to me.

My son has had 3 full weeks ( by that I mean 3 days per week) in nursery since starting in September. Every bloody week it's a different illness! He's 4 though and one of three children so both of those factors must contribute.

There is no way of telling. My son had only had a handful of days in the whole 4 years he was there.

My son is 4 and in preschool, I feel like we have all been constantly poorly since December! 🤢 I currently have a nasty cold and tonsillitis, I've had the cold symptoms for about 2 weeks! 4 weeks ago it was Norovirus, it's just been relentless. It was exactly the same last year as well and I found it eased off a bit in March/ April. Some children don't seem to pick up things as frequently though so there really is no telling.

I would definitely keep breastfeeding if you can, I think it really does help. I stopped breastfeeding our 20 month old at Christmas and his colds seem to be worse than they used to be. It didn't stop him catching things but definitely seemed to help with the severity.

The first 6-8 months are brutal with illness. That will be the case though no matter what age they are or if they skip nursery altogether and go to school. In my son's first week of nursery he got a sickness bug and hand foot and mouth!

Bad. Save all your annual leave for it.
Mine didn't have time off once they started school though.

I didn't experience this with either child. I think it was because I'd always gone to regular playgroups / mum and baby groups when in mat leave, so I think they were immune to most things by the age of 1.

Bad for a bit (like 6 months) and then their immune system should be better, so fewer days off etc. Get some goodwill at work banked and take it in turns with the other parent to take AL for the bugs. It's tough but this too shall pass!

My DD started at 12 months and was pretty much fine bar a few random days until the last couple of months. She's now 2 and a half! So we had about 16 months clear but I appreciate that we were lucky! Starting in the summer helped, I think.

What time of year do they start? DS started December 23 and we were all horribly ill for about 3 months - RSV, Covid, flu, norovirus, and another stomach bug. Plus all the usual colds. However this winter we’ve all stayed well, just the odd sniffle.
DD started during Covid do no illness then.

It really does depend. My LO has had chicken pox, D&V several times and colds plural since starting in July. Not yet to work a full week without sickness since January

Agreed. Mine had some colds and sniffles but were rarely too ill to go in. Had chicken pox but that could happen any time.

how long is piece of string?

Mine never got ill aside from the odd cold. Her friend was ill all the time.🤷‍♂️

My son started nursery in June. We've been called to pick him up a few times with a temperature but he's always been back at nursery the next day, until this week when he's been off the entire week with a stomach bug after getting sent home on Monday. The worst of it has been colds and conjunctivitis if I'm honest but nothing that's really affecting our work.

Agree with pp it depends what time of year they start. Generally it's the first winter after starting that is the worst and then it's a lot better after that.

Mine started at 9 months, spring baby. In all the time she was at nursery she had 5 days off: 4 with chicken pox and one with a sickness bug.

We're you/their father sick much as children? I think there's probably some sort of familial thing in it.

I'd get the chicken pox vaccine done privately. Chicken pox can knock you out for a couple of weeks and doesn't look like much fun.

I had 2 go through nursery, and they barely had any illnesses, maybe 2-3 times a year.

Another family who hasn't experienced the nightmare some report re nursery bugs. My friends children who don't attend childcare seem to be sick constantly. I think some kids / people just have better immune systems and some catch anything and everything. DH and I also don't really get ill so DD must get that from us. I did breastfeed till 2.5 if that made a diff I don't know but worth a mention.

My DC were never poorly. Actually there was one bout of conjunctivitis and I think that was it. You never know you could have a hardy child.

My kids both started between 11 and 14 months and neither of them ever got horribly sick from nursery. Coughs and colds,yes, but nothing terrible. Neither of them are prone to stomach bugs and had chickenpox at preschool very mildly, even though they were exposed multiple times at nursery and never got it.

Mine started in July and the first few months were OK but Oct-Mar were horrendous with lots of fevers that lasted most of a week and a few stomach bugs. When she was sick sleep was pretty much nonexistent so it wasn’t just the days off work that were bad but trying to work after nights of no sleep. I was hallucinating with sleep deprivation while trying to work and made lots of mistakes that were time consuming to fix. Second winter still had some illnesses but nowhere near as bad as the first.

It fucked our immune systems up most I think - I had 6 bouts of tonsillitis in a year. DH who had never been ill got flu and glandular fever. All got covid and stomach bugs. The little one didn't miss too much nursery - normally for random viruses where they're just sad and sleepy - and it wasn't loads of work missed as we struggled through it with WFH. But it felt relentless.

Def get the chicken pox jab to reduce 1 illness.