How often has your toddler caught germs after starting nursery?

[Listen2YourMother]

My sons starting nursery in a couple of weeks and I’ve got a baby at home.

heard horror stories about kids being constantly sick after starting. Pls just be honest and tell me… is it really as bad as everyone says?

Unfortunately for us it was. But it does get better the more they are exposed, the stronger they get and their immune system kicks in. I'm emetophobic and really really struggled with the sickness but it's really actually helped me in the long run because it's desensitised me by exposure. My twins are nearly 7 now and nowhere near as ill as frequently as they were.

DS started back in June and (I assume because of the weather and lots of outside play) touch wood so far we have been ok. He hasn't been poorly any more often than before - although I have always tried to expose him to other children so we are often at playgroups/soft play etc etc which may have helped

Every week for the first year maybe?

It's fairly standard and fairly constant first few months especially if starting in Winter.
You just have to remind yourself it's boosting their immune system including the baby!

Every goddam week

In the beginning it was constant, but it improves as they get used to it and exposed to various things. It actually worked out better to have things like chicken pox out of the way with before school. I have one still in pre-school but my DC at school now are rarely ill.

Yes, it's par for the course unfortunately. Some children seem to do better than others, but DS had a weak chest due to two hospitalisations for pneumonia before he was a year old. Unfortunately that set the course for his experience at nursery and he was basically ill constantly until he was 2.5.

Bluntly, yes, it was that bad for us. Stockpile your laundry supplies, make sure you have plenty of calpol in, and cross your fingers. Oh and if you don't have a decent thermometer (eg in-ear one) then do get one, really helps to be able to track how things are going.

Good luck!

Unusually both of mine were fine. Both got chicken pox at around 3 years old. Other than that 2-3 episodes each of needing time off for illness in total from 9 months - starting school, in 4 full days a week. Different nurseries as well, so can’t put it down to the setting!

Oh yeah chicken pox. You can get the vaccine in Boots. It costs £140. Obviously it will depend on your family finances whether this is more expensive than your kid being ill for a week (for us it is definitely cheaper). But it's definitely nicer for your kid.

DD was in nursery from age 2.5 until 4.5 when she started school. She's been very robust with illnesses - she took 4 days off sick from nursery during those 2 years. She was EBF until 6m, and continued by until age 3.5, we had her vaccinated against chicken pox at 9m, and she had the flu vaccine when eligible. She managed to dodge gastro when when of the nursery kids projectile vomited in front of her. Has just finished reception year at school with 100% attendance.

It was horrific. From September to June he was off almost every week, including endless croup, 4 d&v, coughs and colds, ear infections, 3 spells in hospital with RSV, and chickenpox.

The first cold bug he got left him projectile vomiting after every cough, and reoccurred with every cough until January. Up until then we had been drying his clothes and bedding on an airer - by November we had invested in a condenser dryer as it was unmanageable otherwise.

He was a lockdown baby though so no immune system at all. After the chickenpox last June (at 22 months) it’s settled down a lot and he’s only been off sick for one day this year.

My 7 week old has already had covid, which was awful, and a cold. She managed the cold ok. Should mean we don’t go through the same again when she starts nursery x

Last June = June 2022

We joke DS is a weakest point for illness but the number of colds have reduced in number and frequency. I am sure it will increase with two children at school/nursery

Approximately every 5 minutes. Alternating between some kind of vomiting virus and some kind of respiratory bug. Poor thing has been snotty permanently since he started. The good news is that we didn't catch all of them, maybe 50%.

For us it wasn't constant illness but in the early days my son caught various bugs and what doesn't help is the 48 hour exclusion after sickness or diarrhoea which means that they can miss more than one day depending on how often they attend. Would estimate he probably missed around 10-12 sessions across 8 months (attending 3 days a week). We also found that he passed some of these illnesses on to us so would also stock up on various cold/flu remedies for adults as well as for your little ones! 🤒

He finally seems to have settled down after 8-9 months with the illnesses getting fewer and far between. I suspect this is a combination of being outside more and his immune system gradually getting stronger.

DD started full time in Sept at just shy of 10 months and was POORLY until Xmas. Don't think we had a full week of her being in for three months. It was hard.

She's basically had a snotty nose ever since but doesn't get poorly in herself x

Would echo a PP and get the chicken pox jab if you can afford it. We didn't, and actually the whole thing was far less bad than the horror stories we'd heard, but still better avoided.

Mine was fine, rarely caught anything major, had the usual snotty nose and cough maybe once a month but never ill with a fever and has once caught a diarrhoea bug in the 3.5 years hes been there. Oh we had chicken pox but even with that he wasn't "ill".

Constant for the first 6-9 months.

Constant for the first 6 months, then a little less as was summer. Then constant again over that winter

We are 6 weeks in and have only had a few minor colds and one causing a random viral rash. I’m expecting it to be worse as winter sets in. So far we have dodged a chicken pox exposure at nursery (which happened before I could get her vaccinated) and hand foot and mouth (exposed at a party rather than nursery).

DD is starting school in two weeks and has been at nursery since she just turned 1, she's been ill twice in that time. Once with a cough and once with chicken pox

It's constant. My ds(20 months) is at nursery only 2 days week. This was meant to be temporary to allow him to settle. 8 months on and he has missed so many of the 2 days already. I really don't see how he could be full time. I would be paying for it and he wouldn't be there.

He catches something almost every week and then gets a nursery ban or I've been called to come and collect him early or he's been poorly the whole rest of the week and then the cycle starts again. Horrendous

GP told me on average children catch at least 20 things in the first year of nursery. If that's the case then we are running at well above average.

It really depends on the child I think. DD1 is 4, she's been at nursery since she was 18mo and I can count the nursery days she's missed due to illness on one hand. She's been sent home from nursery once, with what turned out to be scarlet fever. We had HFM from a baby class when she was 9mo so pre-nursery, she's vaxxed against CP so haven't had to deal with that, she's had SF and norovirus once and some colds that always hit me and DH much harder than her. DD2 has been at nursery for two months or so and has only had a mild cold, but I think second children get exposed to a lot more earlier from a sibling anyway.