Nursery germs

[lisa270988]

I'm so so worried and anxious about my my little boy who is almost 4 starting preschool just 2 mornings a week and all the germs he will catch! Everyone says how bad it is!! Please Everyone share there experiences I hoping not Everyone have a awful time! I have huge health anxiety and this is really stressing me

Kindly, the issue here is your health anxiety, not the situation with your son attending childcare.

I think it's probably a good idea to speak to your GP and/or therapist for support.

I really don't think it will be that bad, I thought you were going to say there were 2 or under! Unless you've never taken him to groups and specialised him, and he's had all his vaccinations (which I am sure you have) I doubt it will be that bad. He will already have immunity to lots of conditions. Young children do get sick a lot, my eldest is in primary school and immediately caught something the first week back, but I've found from 3+ it's so much less than when they're very little.

He's going to catch colds and coughs and D&V, it's part of the parcel and perfectly normal! Will be worse in winter and you'll have respite from spring 😉

To be honest it’s going to happen at some point, so arguably better in preschool when he’s only in two mornings per week than when he starts school.

My DS has been in nursery 3 days per week since Feb, he catches a lot of colds and pretty much constantly has a runny nose. Has a fair few mystery illnesses with random fevers etc that clear up by themselves. Touch wood he hasn’t had anything nasty. He caught hand foot and mouth from a baby group aged 7 months old which was awful so you’re not safe anywhere!

Expect a sickness bug fairly soon after starting and expect to catch it as well. Have plenty of Calpol Nurofen in at all times. To be honest it has made me much more relaxed about illnesses, I used to always be in the doctors at the first sign of a sniffle but I’ve learnt to calm down a bit.

Last year all my son caught was hand foot and mouth. The odd cold. It could have been worse

It will happen just make sure you have your back up care sorted. I worked in many nurseries and every time I started somewhere new I was unwell

Mines in year 4, so 8yo. Each school year mine has had maybe one bout of cold that needed time off school. This always seems to be around October, as the weather turns. One bout of conjunctivitis and covid once. No V&D ever. And she’s been at nursery or school since 2.5yo. No idea if this is good or bad, as she’s an only. Just thought I’d offer my reality.

Oh my DS catches conjunctivitis quite a bit as well, I think this depends on the nursery policy because my nursery doesn’t require you to keep children at home when they have it, I know others do.

Surely he’s already been exposed to a lot of germs through nursery/playgroups. A paediatric doctor told me once that often children with childhood leukaemia are only children who have never been exposed to a lot of germs or other kids. So look on it as being good for him and building up his immune system.

Take vitamin D3, it really helps. Get your child to take vitamin D too. It used to keep the lurgies at bay when I was a teacher. Try not to worry too much, they all lick the toys or suck the pen lids and then quickly become immune to that schools brand of lurg.

Better he gets it now than when he's in school. Honestly OP, it's just part of life - he needs to get ill to build his immune system. You will get ill too, because he'll cough and sneeze in your face and you'll be sat in his room with him for hours when he's burning up with a fever or you're worried he's going to be sick again. Mine was once sick right down my pyjama top. Lovely.

It will be rough this winter, but next winter probably won't be as bad. The summer is a bit of respite. You'll be fine.

Children may catch coughs and colds and stomach bugs, this is normal and not really preventable.

I think you need to prepare yourself and any anxiety you have.

Well unless you've kept him wrapped up in a plastic bubble since birth he will have some immunity. Just stock up on calpol and baby vicks and you should be fine

I’m immune suppressed but it was not that bad. As others have said, his immunity would be poor if he was not exposed to these coughs and colds.

He will get ill all kids do especially once they are in nursery and school all mixing together, runny noses, colds, sickness, impatigo, hand foot and mouth, chickenpox you name it he probably will catch it all especially when he’s younger but although it’s not nice to see them ill it’s building up an immunity and the older he gets the less ill he will get

Children get ill. It's a fact of life. And if you have cocooned him at home for almost 4 years he will likely pick up a fair amount. If it isn't now, it will be when school starts so no avoiding it.
Please get help for your health anxiety before it affects your child.

People are only saying how bad it is because it's a pain in the ass. My best friends 2 kids are 3 and 5 and from the eldest starting nursery it's been a constant non stop of every bug going. But they are all very much alive and thriving.

My experience(as you asked for it) is that DS started nursery 3 days a week when he was 10 months old and over the past almost 6 months he’s had the sum total of 2 slight colds with a runny nose and a cough. Each lasted a few days. That’s it. Expecting more in the winter months when they’re inside more but it’s not been the constant back to back illness I was led to expect.

Kids will often get a run of coughs and colds when they first start socialising. For my kids it was when they were babies as they went to nursery from 10m due to me working. Others have kept their kids at home until compulsory school age and they get a run then.
The pre school where I work is the same. Coughs / colds / snot. Nothing serious. Then suddenly it stops as their immune systems are built up!

The same as anyone whatever age who is amongst a group of people. I work in a school so double whammy!

How have you managed not to worry being out and about with him, birthday parties, soft play etc?

Germs build up the immune system so unless the plague is going round just be prepared with the usual treatments and common sense. Xx

We have been very social go to 3 toddler groups a week have done since he was a baby go to soft play birthday parties ect. He been fine. Went through a stage at about 1 when was poorly lots but been OK since. It's just everyone keeps saying how bad it is when then start preschool

We go to regular toddler have dozens incest he was a baby lits of soft plays ect

The first year my youngest was in nursery he was off every other week. He had hand foot and mouth 3 times, sickness bugs, constant colds. The following winter he was off sick 1 time.
My old 2 who are 15+ never experienced the constant illness at nursery like you get these days. I’m not sure what’s changed.

My first DD was with a childminder till 3.5 then started pre-school and it wasn't bad at all. I think by 3 years they have a better immune system that at 1 year. My second child did 8 weeks of nursery at age 1 whilst we waited for a childminder space and she was off ill more than she was there! She was also fine at her childminder and when she went to pre-school at 3.5.

It completely depends on the child. We got ours vaccinated against chicken pox as that's a lot of time off, if they get it. But otherwise they didn't get ill particularly often. Since then, they've usually got 100% attendance at school, so I guess they just aren't ill that often, or save it for the holidays. I wasn't ill much as a child either, it might be heritable.