Delayed Toddler Daycare Moving Up

[kme]

I’m not even sure if there’s anything to do. My LO just turned one and was born 6 weeks premature. She’s delayed in gross motor and just started crawling. In the daycare she’s in they usually move them to the next class around 9 months but kept her there because she was delayed. She ust finally moved up to the next class, “mobile infants”, last week. The class she’s in now is all new-walkers; except for her.

With her prematurely she was always sick before And now she’s sick again. It’s going to get worse as she only crawls and the class she’s in the kids wear shoes. Other than washing her hands, can you think of anything else I could do to prevent her from catching germs from the floor?

Poor baby. She doesn’t tolerate being sick well either. ☹️

[icedcoffee]

Time. This winter will be terrible, but next winter will be better. Sorry. That first winter they are crawling is brutal.

[cricketwife]

I don’t think there is anything to do here. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the shoes are really going to make her more vulnerable. To me, it’s the snot, saliva and everybody touching everything which is what makes them sick. Our daycare moves everyone up at one year so both the infant room and the “toddler 1” room as they call it have crawlers and walkers (obviously the balance is tilted more towards crawlers in the under 1’s and more towards walkers in the 12-18 mo room. I didn’t notice my kids being more prone to sickness when they were crawling than walking. I hope you all can avoid the winter crud.

[sent]

I agree that it's not the floor germs that are the issue. I drop DS off and some kid came up to him to hug him and started licking DS's hands. Another day DS was crying at drop off and two kids came to hug him. The kids are always walking around with runny noses. That's where the germs come from.

It's hard. DD was a preemie too and got so sick in the winter after she turned 1.

[joy]

The transition from the infant room to the crawling/walking one year old room was the worst. The infant room had a no shoe policy and was separated from the other kids. The next room allowed shoes and the room was next to the bigger kids. My daughter was sick for six weeks straight - hand, foot and mouth, fevers, toxic synovitis, and an ear infection? It felt never-ending.

But it ended!!

It’s okay. Power through. The other side is worth it.

[tacom]

Jan 15, 2020 19:58:34 GMT -5 cricketwife said:

I don’t think there is anything to do here. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the shoes are really going to make her more vulnerable. To me, it’s the snot, saliva and everybody touching everything which is what makes them sick.

Agree with this. My son didn’t start daycare until he was 15 mo and walking in a room of exclusive walkers. In the past two months, he’s been pretty continuously ill (colds, sinusitis, bilateral eye infection, bilateral ear infection) and even gave me a nasty cold that turned into bronchitis and pneumonia. I’m hoping next winter will be better...

[noodleoo]

Ugh, I'm sorry. The first winter when the kids are mobile is the worst! This happened with both my kids, we're currently going through it with DD2. She stayed relatively healthy in the infant room last year because when they kids can't move, they have more control over keeping them clean and from sharing contaminated toys. Once she moved up the "crawler" room, she was crawling and mixed with other kids from crawling to walking. They are all over the place! One kid will be playing with a toy and the other one grabs it and sticks it in their mouth. They can't keep the toys separated and they are all covered with drool, snot, etc, etc. One time we dropped DD2 off with her pacifier in her mouth and before we could help it, another kid grabbed it and stuck it in his mouth. There's just nothing you can do about it.

I will say that with DD1, the first winter in daycare was *awful* for sickness, she was constantly sick.  But since then she's been relatively healthy. The second winter was nowhere near as bad.

[waverly]

Winter illnesses in daycare are the worst and most kids go through it. The only way to prevent that is to pull them from daycare and get a nanny and then they will still get sick because parents/ nanny/ kids and random strangers coughing where you are will give it to them.

It’s hard, and we had 2 kids so we went through it twice. All the illnesses help boost their immune system though. Doctors always recommend the flu shot and if they do get influenza Tamiflu works wonders. Elderberry is suppose to help as well. I wouldn’t do herbs in place of drugs and always talk to your doctor. In terms of colds, I see my chiropractor, and she has an immune supplement, keep up on vit D, and zinc helps shorten a cold. Lots of sleep and healthy food help as well. Of course keep up on vaccinations. But yeah lots of it is time, see the pedi if you need to, and just getting through it. Lots of supplements and medicines are better for older kids, so 1 is a hard age with all that.

I have a 9 and 7 year old and we still get colds but less. We haven’t had strep in years (knock knock everything). We’ve had 2 cases of bronchitis, 2 cases of stomach virus and influenza in the last 3 years so not that bad. Antibiotics and antivirals are our friend in those influenza and bronchitis cases so know when to see the pedi. Sometimes it’s less prevention and more treating which sucks but still essential.