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Our childcare dramas - anyone else?
My son was 11 months old when he started Childcare and seemed fine, he slept and ate well and only cried a little when he was dropped off. I thought we were going to have a fairly easy time of it but it only took to the end of the first week before he picked up foot and mouth disease and was sent home.
For another 4 months our son was sick every week with some sort of "virus" that we just had to wait out. It ended with him getting a Urinary Tract infection and ending up in hospital for 5 days. I was only working 3 days a week but had to take at least one day off a week to stay home and care for him, even with my husband sharing the load. I couldn't give my job the time or focus it needed and in the end my husband and I were run down and sick too, just trying to make it all work. No one told us it would be this hard.
So we made the decision, I quit work and took our son out of Childcare. He hasn't had more than a runny nose since so we feel it was the right decision. Everyone told us we were really unlucky and maybe time would have fixed things but we just couldn't handle it any longer.
I think our son would love childcare now he's older and we probably need to consider again as we start to think about baby number 2, but I'm very hesitant to go back in case the same dramas start up.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Do you think Family Daycare would be better?
For another 4 months our son was sick every week with some sort of "virus" that we just had to wait out. It ended with him getting a Urinary Tract infection and ending up in hospital for 5 days. I was only working 3 days a week but had to take at least one day off a week to stay home and care for him, even with my husband sharing the load. I couldn't give my job the time or focus it needed and in the end my husband and I were run down and sick too, just trying to make it all work. No one told us it would be this hard.
So we made the decision, I quit work and took our son out of Childcare. He hasn't had more than a runny nose since so we feel it was the right decision. Everyone told us we were really unlucky and maybe time would have fixed things but we just couldn't handle it any longer.
I think our son would love childcare now he's older and we probably need to consider again as we start to think about baby number 2, but I'm very hesitant to go back in case the same dramas start up.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Do you think Family Daycare would be better?
Views: 90
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by christiane on -
yes family day care would be better the ratio if children turnover is smaller so less illness but no matter your son ammune system will only develop if he get in contact with all sort of bugs
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Permalink Reply by christiane on
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by the way i also have a 17 month old who has only had a nanny from 3 month on he is sick a lot too now that he is with me in my family day care but i tell the mother to persevere
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Permalink Reply by Suzy on -
Hi. We had a similar problem with our little girl... but not in daycare! She got sick whenever we went to mother's group or visited anyone with a runny nose! She would have a cold nearly every week from the age of 5 months... She started centre based daycare at 21 months and continued to get all sorts of bugs - colds - turning to croup, conjunctivitus, flu, fevers - thank God nothing as serious as your little one, though! I think some kiddies are just more susceptible... We changed to a brand new centre recently and she hasn't been half as sick, maybe 'cause it is new and clean and the hygeine standards are pretty high... also, we started giving her a daily dose of liquid echinacea and pro-biotics, which really seemed to help heaps! Maybe she grew out of it too, now that she's two and a half... Good luck, give it another go and look into whether you can support his immune system to cope with any new bugs he might come across. Cheers
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Permalink Reply by Nikki on -
Hi There,
I am a Family Day Care provider and I think you will find that Family Day Care would be better, and Im not saying this just because it is my occupation.
Family Day Care providers are only allowed a certain number of children to care for, a child care centre can have larger amounts of children, which means when one child is sick everyone usually becomes sick, with Family day care a "virus" is generally easier to control in a smaller group, plus I think Family Day Care providers can be a little more relaxed and understanding, childcare centres prefer your children being sick because you are paying for them not being there.
I think childcare for children shouldd be used when children are going into kindergarten, because they provide the particular learning they will need for school, family day care is a more nurturing environment for toddlers., as it is a family environment and they feel more secure then having different people around them every day, and they can make friends more easily when its the same four people every day.
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Permalink Reply by Natalie Whincup on
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I might be a little bias (as I am a Family Day Carer) however with Family Day Care it is a lot smaller group of children that we look after. It is a regulation that children are not allowed to come into care if they are vomiting, have diarohhea or an infection disease (we have a handbook that helps us identify symptoms for this one). We look after 4 children from 12 weeks to 4 years and 1 child who may be at Kindy (and that's during school hours). So it is very much family orientated and more gives the little one's more individual attention (which I believe strongly that they need at these ages) to make them feel safe and secure.
At Centre's (here in WA) workers have advised that it is one care worker to 8 children (I cannot see that there would be enough attention given to those children).
Once at school, some children need the socialisation of a lot of children, whereas some are happy with two or three friends (this is where some would be better in a Child Care Centre and others in a Family Day Care enviroment).
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Permalink Reply by juliet ramsay on -
i had that propblem with my first 2 kids i put in daycare as well....
ive since had 2 more, they are now 4 &3 i have been a fulltime mum to them since they were born,
they have been sick only twice in their lifetimes!!!.......a financial struggle yes but i am glad to be there for their everymoment.....
i plan on returning to work when they both go to school....but i watch friends/family around me drag their kids out of bed in the morning, hawl them of sick and all, leave them crying, with strangers!!!
you cannot replace the time that you miss with them so enjoy it while they are young, my older children to this day tell me how they hated going and they are 16/14, i didnt think it would affect them but it did.
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Permalink Reply by Kirrily on
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Thanks for all your messages ladies, it's definitely a situation I think you need to take on from an individual perspective. For the moment I am loving being home with my son and financially can manage it so I think I'll stick too it. I'm not put off daycare for ever so we'll see what happens in the future, especially when baby number 2 (still in the making) arrives. Merry Christmas to you all.
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Permalink Reply by April Lorrie on -
Hi Kirrily,
You ask if Family Day Care would be better.......definitely! I am a Family Day Care provider in Brisbane and can assure you that we do everything in our power to ensure that sickness and disease is not introduced into our environments, as well as that, numbers of children in care at any one time is so much smaller. A centre may have up to 300 children through the doors in a week. In Family Day Care, we only have 7 at any given time. I run a busy business and still only have 16 children through the door in a week and sick children stay home.
Given that FDC is a much more intimate form of care, the carer is a constant as are the children in care....she/he will come to klnow your child as well as you do and will note any differences much quicker than the wave after wave of staff in a centre. Thus illnesses and developmental changes will be picked up quikly and discussed with you in a much more timely fashion.
Always keep in mind though that children do get sick.....often from touching something as safe looking as a shopping trolley (possibly the germiest places on Earth), not always from childcare friends.
Good luck with your decision and with baby no 2.
Cheers
April.......April's Angels Family Day Care
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Permalink Reply by Jacqui Pascoe on
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I know what you mean my daughter ended up sick alot too and shes 14 so when she was a bub they used to always prescribe antibiotics and I didnt know any better iether.Then you'd have to wrangle with your conscience if you didnt take time off and your boss if you did. Very hard. She ended up with permanently mottled teeth from them(the antibiotics) till she got big ones. It could happen again but hes immune system will be abit stronger now if your unsure theirs always family day care..Or you could try Child Care and if its too hard go the Day Care. He will be exposed to abit, not as much their, but it will make him stronger too in the long run.
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Permalink Reply by Flower on
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Hi,
I understand your frustration with your son getting sick when he started child care. I use to work with 0-2yr olds. That age group are more proned to getting a variety of illnesses, as their immune system has never experienced them before and has to learn how to get better. Hand, foot and mouth is a very common disease for children that age to come across. The thing with that disease is, that it passed on by "airborne" particals, eg: someone sneezing, as they walk past you, it can pass through air-conditions (as someone sneezes). It can also be passed on by adults. Your child could of come across that illness from somewhere out in the public. It doesn't always start in a child care setting. The child care centre I work at now, had a child who was 4-5yrs and we noticed a particular rash. We sent the child home and they went to the doctor, who said it was "Hand, foot and mouth." Which it wasn't. It turned out to be another kind of contagious disease. It all worked out well in the end. Hope this is of help to you.
Flower
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Permalink Reply by Nada Salha on
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I have a 8 month old baby that I need to put into childcare. I am going crazy as there are no childcare centres out there that have made me feel comfortable. I am so worried. My daughter is so healthy at the moment and is being breastfed and I am just so worried that she is going to get so sick if she goes into childcare....I cry almost everytime from the thought of childcare !
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Hi Nada
My little boy is now turning 3 this week and is now in preschool. I've had him in another daycare but still had issues there. The difference was with the most recent place, he had no connection with any of the carers and all they did was really supervise the kids, not interact or truly "care" for them. I now realise that the first centre I had my son in was full of wonderful carers who genuinely cared for Owen and were interested in his development and well being. Him being sick was just part of him growing up and being part of new environments. He has been healthy ever since, mind you he has been at home with me!!
If you need to put your baby in care it will be hard no matter what and they will probably get sick. What I've learnt is what is more important is the carers and how you feel about them and they way they are with your child. If you feel like they really do care for your baby then that is the best place for them. Daycare isn't ideal but trust your gut and you will find something right for you and your baby. All the best, K.
Nada Salha said:I have a 8 month old baby that I need to put into childcare. I am going crazy as there are no childcare centres out there that have made me feel comfortable. I am so worried. My daughter is so healthy at the moment and is being breastfed and I am just so worried that she is going to get so sick if she goes into childcare....I cry almost everytime from the thought of childcare !
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