You may be thinking that your child is getting more cold's lately, or maybe it's a tad bit worse. You've just come home from the doctor and your baby is diagnosed with the RSV Virus. Anyway you look at it your pediatrician will elude to the fact that you probably picked up these viruses at “daycare”
Anytime children hang around with other children there is an increased chance of picking up viruses. It's pretty simple and this law applies to everyone. You live in a glass bubble you won't get sick, you go out and you take the chance of getting ill.
But, there are some occurrences in child care centers that really do increase the chances for illness. So it's my duty to tell you why you may see your child getting sick and what you can do about it.
As a parent you have either decided to have your child attend a family center or a group center. Family centers are licensed for up to eight children and group centers are licensed for many more children. One simple fact is that the more children that are present the more chances you take for introducing illness. Very simple, but something you should think about. Group centers are known to be germ factories simply because of the numbers of children that are present.
Another item to keep in mind, it that parents do sometimes send their children sick to daycare. Parents will give their child Tylenol in the morning to “mask” the fever that the child has. By afternoon the Tylenol has worn off and the caregiver has figured out what the parent has done. The caregiver then calls for the sick child to be picked-up. Daycares do remind parents that sick children should not be brought into daycare, but many times parents have no alternatives and feel that they must go to work.
Daycare's must clean and sanitize toys and equipment daily. This definitely cut's down on germs and viruses spreading. Also, children's hands must be washed before and after eating and after bathroom breaks. Hand washing is the #1 way children and daycare facilities can cut down on illness.
Some children for whatever reason seem to get more viruses and illness than others. There just is no explainable reason, but some children I've had in daycare are always ill and others never seem to get ill.
All in all, most childcare centers are healthy places with few occurrences of major illness. Congratulate all the caregivers who do their job in keeping things clean for your children.
