Nurseries a hotbed of illness?

The two younger GSs have had the runny nose for months now. GS1 went down with a really nasty cold just after Christmas which he kindly passed on to his parents.

Don't forget under 5s are known as Super Spreaders because they catch everything going and come home and crawl all over you.

Totally normal. Children are walking germ factories. They produce new variations all the time and share them with each other and their families.

If it's any consolation they catch less bugs as they get older because they've built up their immune system. Mind you they'll still bring home enough to make sure all adults are regularly affected by coughs, sneezes and stomachs.

And don't get me started on head lice, scabies and threadworm lol.

21 month old DGS goes to nursery one day a week, the rest of the time is shared out between grandparents. Although he hasn't had a tummy bug, he has had a permanent runny nose since about October and a cough that comes and goes. He has shared the worst of this with us occasionally but it's not too bad (maybe becau we only have him once a week)

Yes it's the mutations that do it Jalima I have had more coughs etc in the last couple of years than I had in almost the last 10 of teaching. And even then it was a milder version I used to get. Now I get the full blown event.

In the days before nurseries were so common, it was the five-year-olds who were vulnerable to every infection going when they first started school. My sister is five years older than I am and in my first year of life she brought home and passed on chicken pox, measles and German measles in addition to numerous sniffles and coughs. At least when I went to infant school at the age of four, I had already had the majority of childhood infections.

It's quite normal but it is exacerbated by parents who send their children to nursery even on days when they know they are unwell

Thanks for the comments and advice. I suppose we will just have to sit it out and hope her immunity develops quickly. About the only negative thing about being a GP so far, the rest is a delight.

trisher I'm sure all these bugs have mutated since my DC were at school as surely I should be immune but I seem to catch them all again from the DGC!

Their immune system doesn't mature properly until about 8 or 9 I think. So plenty more to come. Their bugs seem lethal too, I always caught whatever my grandchildren caught.

Yes - it used to happen in the first year of school or playgroup, now they often go to nursery when they are even younger.

Yes sorry it's what happens in schools and nurseries to children and staff. When I started teaching we always reckoned that any teaching practice would involve a cold/sore throat/tummy bug. In the first year you were teaching you picked up every single thing that went round the class. As time went on your immune system improved and you could get through almost anything. By the time I retired I hardly caught anything. Ten years on, with GCs now starting nursery I've been exposed to whole new set of viruses as they have kindly shared their bugs with me.

Quite normal!
The start of this new spring term at school has been worse than usual for tummy bugs and although thorough hand washing is de rigeur about half the children have been affected.
So nasty germs do have a habit of hitting children well beyond the early years, although the runny noses and coughs do become less.
I agree tanith, it's just a fact of life.

When our DC were young it was when they started school that they got constant infections, but that was because there wasn't a nursery here. It'll wear off sooner or later, but it is a bit of a pain before it does! Good luck, and I hope it doesn't take too long.

Polly99, our little grandchildren go to nursery and share all the germs they pick up with the rest of the family.
Our GP's always smile when the little one's are presented coughing, sneezing etc - 'has x started nursery" they ask with a kindly smile. We're told it will help the children build up their immune systems - not sure about how it helps the adults in their lives. Just to reassure you, nurseries have strict policies about sterilising toys etc and are careful about hand washing.

Yep two grandsons at same nursery. Oldest has developed a bit of resistance.
Youngest started in January and always has runny nose + cough.
When they are poorly the are kept away from the nursery but unfortunately other children are sent when they are ill.

I also think with much younger children they are always putting toys in their mouths.

A hot bed of germs.

I think a lot of new nursery joiners suffer with never ending illnesses its just a fact of life sadly.

Oh yes - my littler GC are vomiting and sneezing all the time.