I’m sure it’s happened to you. Your kid got sick from another kid from daycare, the church nursery, or playgroup. I know this has happened to us, and I’m sure we’ve been the culprit a few times as well. But sometimes it’s so easy to think “oh it’s just the tail end of a cold, and I really wanted to see all my friends today”. So you bring your kid to childcare, and it happens. The germs are spread.
I know recently there has been several cases of Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease going around Dallas. Kyler actually ended up getting it (although I didn’t catch it until days into it) and we were told to stay in for 5-7 days because of how contagious it is! That is a long time of avoiding all social interaction! We took that opportunity to pack up and head to Houston to give Kyler some Grandparent time. Although Kyler seemed to be doing fine after a few days, I wouldn’t want anyone to get this miserable virus, so we were extra careful.
It seems I have had to deal with this situation a lot lately. It’s that season where it seems everything is going around, and I don’t want to be that mom that brings the sick kid to the church nursery and gets all the other kids sick. So, how do you deal with the germs? How long do you keep your kids at home after being sick? Have you every confronted someone for bringing their sick child to childcare?
This is so tricky, but depending on the ailment, there is a prescribed “stay away” period. For random colds and mysterious illnesses, they say your child should be “fever free for 24 hours”. But I have to say my kids have caught a multitude of things from other kids in the nursery or at Awana who had obeyed the 24 hour rule. (And we have probably shared plenty of germs that contributed to someone else’s kiddo getting sick!) And for new mommas, the “24-hours fever free” means without the help of Tylenol or Advil! Part of the problem is that while our kiddos are incubating a sickness, they won’t have any symptoms, so there is plenty of time to expose lots of others to these germs.
Best advice: We just work to build up our immune systems during the colder seasons, because if we were functioning at 100%, our bodies would be able to fight off the colds and flu bugs without incident. Some of the things we do in our house: 1) garlic syrup remedy (great for coughs, but also preventative immunity builder), 2) Chewable Vitamin C and chewable acidophilus for the kids, 3) Homemade saurkraut and kimchi loaded with probiotics, and 4) nutrient dense homemade bone broths (from chicken, beef and lamb).
And if you are past preventative and in need of treatment, we LOVE Young Living’s “Thieves” essential oil. It is easy to fill into capsules, smells WONDERFUL, and the little ones love when I rub it into their feet (baby foot massage!), not to mention the big kids love it too!
Best of luck to all of us as we try to get our kiddos through another season!
So whenever I have a new baby I turn into a bit of a germ-a-phobe. But this year my daughter has been doing three year old preschool and from about mid October on (about the time my son was 3 weeks old) we’ve had tons of colds! She was sick the entire month of November. She’s had a cough the entire month of December. Ugh. I called the school once to ask about -hey when should we stay home. And we got the fever free for 24 hour part. But the assistant director said that if she kept her son home (he was in the 4 year old Pre-K class) every time he had a runny nose – he’d never go to school! I’m finding this to be true! I always tried to avoid the church nursery or playgrounds when we were sick before. I don’t know what I’ve decided about school so far!