Are NURSERIES EVER TO BLAME for ............

[drosophila]

the incredible amount of sickness a child gets while at nursery. Until DD went to Nursery she had the average amount of colds but since being to Nursery she has a cold (often quite bad) virtually every week. It is getting to the point where it is simply unsustainable.

Can the Nursery be at fault in any way? I often see kids there with snot hanging out of their nose and it is not being wiped. Once when I picked DD up she needed a tissues and they had to run and find some and came back with toilet paper. Shouldn't there be boxes of tissues dotted around the nursery. I also wonder if they send kids home when they should.

I know many Mums here have a similar experience but I wonder if some people find their Nursery better in this respect.

[Quootiepie]

Seems pretty excessive. There should be proper care taken to avoid spreading and wiping noses it just about the starting point of it!

[ludaloo]

sadly I don't think our nursery is any better....I noticed once, that snots got wiped up with a tissue the leader had in her pocket!!!!! I did comment on this...and sent ds with his own hanky.
Our nursery is linked to our primary school...younger brothers and sisters to the children in the primary are all at the same nursery...more often than not if the school have a bug the nursery will too...and vice versa....chicken pox was the last big example of this..it went through both like the clappers!!!!!!!!

It really doesn't help when children get sent to school/nursery with colds..as it just spreads. But then a mild cold never seems worthy of missing school...and then a mild cold turns into a bad cold.
It really is a tricky one...

[drosophila]

it just seems odd to me. DS was at a Nursery and never had as many colds and dd is far more robust than him.

[Budababe]

And then you think - well no point keeping him out as he got it in nursery anyway!

Our school did a big thing on germs spreading and washing hands last year - seemed to help a bit.

I would write a letter suggesting they provide boxes of tissues and make sure to wipe noses frequently and wash hands as often as possible.

[Jimjams2]

whenever a child starts mixing, they'll get loads of bugs, you may as well get it over and done with at nursery age or they'll just miss loads of school. The year I had the highest number of minor illnesses was the year I moved to Japan- I assume I was just getting used to all the local strains. Wiping noses probably wouldn't make that much difference as at that age they'll already have it all over their hands. Washing your dd's hands when she gets in may help (apparently frequent handwashing is a good way to stop the spread of colds).

[ludaloo]

It is odd....both my ds seems to have a continuos cold...or flu or bug of some description!!! Perhaps the nurseries need to close...until EVERYONE is healthy, then start again with better precautions!!!!!!!!!

[drosophila]

I can't help thinking that a bit more hygiene would not go amiss. I know that argument Jimjams and up to a point I agree but when your child is sick every week you can loose sight of the logic of what you say.

DS who went to Nursery gets fair share of colds now at age 7 but he is asthmatic and they can be a bit more vulnerable to getting colds.

[Jimjams2]

ds3 has been off an awful lot since starting nursery (which suprised me as I thought he would have been exposed to lots from his 2 brothers). The other 2 don't get nearly as many. I'd rather ds3 missed nursery than the others missed school.

Wash her hands when she gets in- that' meant to help. I think its a bit impractical to expect nurseries to wash the childrens hands repeatedly during the day (which would probably be the measure that made the most difference).

[tinkerbellie]

hi have not read al this thread but get the main gist
my ds went to nusery when he was about 9 months old three days a week
i swear to god i have never been sooo sick in my live
he had everything conjunctivitus every month, ear infections (his ear drum actaully perforated one was that bad, and now he has a speech porb because of it), stomach bugs, chickenpocs
the first year he was there he had five stomach bugs and i caught everyone of them, i do think they need to sort outthe hygeine in these places and if people's kids do have an illness to make sure they donlt go back until they are over it
my dd does not go to nursery as it just got too expensive, and i feel it is disgustng that you have to pay if your child is ill, as he prob caught it there in the first place, she has had no bugs no conjuctivitus, no ear infections ...... strange that

[Twiglett]

yes .. snot hanging and staff not washing hands can easily contribute to spread of disease

[oliveoil]

dd1 didn't go to nursery as MIL has her when I work. When dd1 started playgroup, dd2 was about 12 months old and she was ill from the October to about March, constantly, with colds and chest infections etc etc.

I think this is why she is such a bad sleeper as she was constantly poorly and in our bed.

But what can you do? Most children seem to be sniffly in the winter, and if one gets a cold, they all do.

It is annoying though, as you get rid of one and then a few days later, back to square one.

[Pitchounette]

Message withdrawn

[Jimjams2]

Pit- I agree that stomach bugs are different- but I think one of the biggest problems is other parents sending their children back too early. Our nursery has a strict 48 hour rule- but that is hard for working parents (used to be 24, but extended to 48).

[bluejelly]

My dd caught endless colds at nursery. However it gave her a strong immune system-- now she's at school she is hardly ever ill. Short term pain, long term gain

[MegaLegs]

Was about to say similar bluejelly. DS1 and 2 rarely ill now and ds3 not as bad as he used to be. The worst in our house is dh who seems to have a clod every month. My theory is that because he grew up in Fiji he wasn't exposed to the same childhood bugs as I was and so his immunity is bad. I'm rarely ill I put this down to having been a teacher for 12 years and also to the fact that I sucked my thumb for years and must have swallowed all sorts of stuff.

[alibubbles]

I look after 4 under 4 mindies and touch wood apart from chicken pox we have not had any colds this season yet, but then none of them do, I haven't taken a day off in 20 years for cough/cold related illness.

The one who goes to nursery on three days always has a cold as soon as one finishes, she gets another. I think nursery is too warm and encourages cross infection. I don't have the heating on and they go out in the garden wrapped up warmly in all weathers every day!

[Enid]

dd3 sleeps outside in all weathers at her nursery - touch wood no colds yet

[tinkerbellie]

yes my ds is now hardly ever poorly but i do believe the schoolhe goes to now has the 48 hour rule too
hop dd doesn't ctach evrything going when she starts nursery school!!

[Fireflyfairy2]

enid, why does she sleep outside?

[Blandmum]

I think it is unrealistic to expect nurseries to 'stop' the spread of infectious diseases like cough and colds. It would be neigh on impossible to do, unless you banned all children who had the smallest sniffle.

I know that every September I will have lots of coughs and colds, because I catch them from the kids, and I work in a secondary school!

It just happens when you get lots of people all in together.

At least be assured that their immune systems are getting a nice healthy work out, and that there is some pulished data that shows that getting lots of common illnesses early in life significan'ty reduces the risk of childhood leukemia!

[happybiggirl]

Message withdrawn

[Bozza]

I think it is just a fact of going to nursery. The illest I have been in adult life is DS's first winter at nursery, I had obviously improved my immunity by the time it was DD's turn. Both of them were forever picking something up the first couple of winters. DS then didn't have a day off sick (apart from following his adenoidectomy and chicken pox) for over 3 years. Then had had a bad winter in reception, but has been much better this year. DD has only had one cold this winter too so far - she is 2 1/2 and on her third winter in nursery. But it is still the same nursery, with the same hygiene policies.

[drosophila]

Yes I was waiting for that resilience with DS when he started school but no such luck. DS went to an average nursery and had his fair share of infections including measles but I am pretty sure DD is having a worse time of it unless my memory is fading. Also DS is asmatic and more prone to respiratory infections and has a poor immune system due to a restricted diet (allergies). Even with these complications he was not off as much as dd who is much more robust.

Someone on here mentioned that their nursery was praised for having very little sick absence so it must be possible.


'I think it is unrealistic to expect nurseries to 'stop' the spread of infectious diseases like cough and colds. It would be neigh on impossible to do, unless you banned all children who had the smallest sniffle'

Do you really think it is too much to ask that kids have their snotty noses wiped? I am not asking for them to 'stop' the infections but perhaps to minimise the spread. I am going to have a look at other nurseries and this will be a key question.

Another couple of points:

DP works at home and they were told if ever she gets sick to just call him. She was sick a few weeks ago and they didn't phone him - why?

One of DD's carers was telling me how sick she was before Christmas and how she can't remember feeling that bad and yet she had no time away from the Nursery.

[handlemecarefully]

I don't know if this point has been made further down the thread, but tbh you can wipe noses with clean tissues and wash hands until the cows come home - it makes not one jot of difference if the small child(ren) with the cold sneezes or coughs ...sending aerosol droplets of virus around the room.

[drosophila]

50% of colds are passed through touch or from surfaces as the virus can survive for 72 hrs outside the body so clean hands and wiping the surface regularly DOES make a difference.