Remove them from Pre-school?

Okay I may sound too paranoid but would love your advice! My girls since September have been sick with the exception of a few days here and there (join the club right!?) But over Christmas they were so sick that we had a least two emergency doctor visits and one visit to the ER. Since then they’ve been sick with colds and it’s so bad that they are getting medicine through a Nebulizer 5 times a day.
They go to pre-school just 2 mornings a week. I am home those days and love the 3 hour “break” to run errands and do some work from home. However, I’m starting to think the six hours a week break I get isn’t worth the 30 hrs of no sleep during the night, lost work time taking them to the doctors and watching my girls suffer!
They were home from school today and when they go back healthier next week I’ll feel sick knowing I’m sending them right back into the sick pool to get whatever disease will keep me up for another two weeks of sleepless nights!
Is this normal and is there an end date sometime in the next month or so? Or should I pull them out until they are older. I don’t think it’s necessary for 2.5-3yr olds to be in pre-school, it was just something different for them to break up the week. WWYD?

 

I would consult your Dr. Honestly, they are the best source for what may be ideal if you are concerned for health reasons and no other. If the Dr is concerned and wants them to stay at home to gain health do so ( if they have a chronic illness, low immune, etc), otherwise I think it is a normal thing for preschool, this time of year, multiple visits to Dr/ER.

I would stay in Preschool if they and you are enjoying it. Hopefully you are already through the worst of it!

That said--- this year is the WORST cold/flu season in years according to our local papers. So that may play into it as well. It may not all be Preschool-- it may be just normal exposure (I know that the Dr office and the ER would have been way germier than the preschool and w/ your DDs immune system already down, they are more likely to pick up a *new* illness).


I teach in a 3 yr old classroom and our room has had much better attendance than the 4/5 class, for whatever reason- we share classrooms so it is not the facility, rather the exposure of each family to outside germs. We clean A LOT this time of year (we do clean year round, but are extra fast to use the Lysol right now!)

That said, all kids go through an uptick in illness upon a new environment (preschool, daycare, start of K, etc). Hopefully, if you get a lot of it now- you wont later. If you pull them now, you may just have delayed it until next year to go through all the colds, etc. This time of year (Dec- March) is usually the time of year that colds/strep/stomach flu run wild.


Feel Better soon!

 

My girls go four times a week and they have been sick ALL the time. We did not have them in daycare much at all, and they have been relatively healthy up until now. It is terrible on us to see them sick so often, but we are just going to trudge through it. I'm hoping that during Kindergarten maybe they won't be sick as much. Just like you, it's a nebulizer almost every time, pedi-pred, antibiotics, the whole bit. It's exhausting. But they would just die if we took them out and they are getting so much from it. I agree with discussing it with your doctor, but for us, it has just now gotten to the point were they haven't been sick every few days, so hopefully we are on the other side of this.

 

Personally, I would leave them in. Our first year of daycare was really rough with sickness. It's gotten better each year. I teach kindergartners and the kids who have not been to daycare/preschool miss way too much school to sickness. It seems like it's better to deal with the sickness when they don't need to be in school than when they do.

 

The kids just started a preschool program in January (they turned 3 in December) and everyone told me to be prepared for them to be sick more often. Knock on wood, with the exception of a cold and fever last week, they've been fine.
I would consult with your doctor and see what they advise. But if it were me, I'd try to stick out. I know my kids get a lot of the program they go to. But in the end, it's up to you and what you are comfortable with.
Hope your little ones feel better soon :hug:

 

Yes our first year of daycare was killer. They have to build up their immune systems, better now than when they get to real school. My girls are in prek this year and have only missed 3 days total in the school year for being sick.

 

I agree, the first year is brutal for sicknesses. I personally would keep them in.

 

Thanks Ladies! I was thinking it was a bit crazy to pull them out now especially when we've made it through the Fall and much of Winter plus Spring is just around the corner. This is their first year of Pre-school and they were home with me before then. I will stick it out and hope we are through the worst of it!

 

I had a doctor tell me I should pull my girls out of daycare when they were about 18month old because they had been sick nearly continously for the previous 6 months (their first six months in daycare). That simply wasn't an option, so instead I changed doctors!
One the doctor said, if they don't get it now they will get it later when it will be harder for them to miss. And two he gave us some homopathic teatments to help them build their immune systems. I don't know if it were those things that worked or just that they had finally had all the major virus by then, but the got much better after that!

Hang in there. It's so hard to see your babies sick.

 

I would keep them in. If you pull them out now, you will just have to go through the same thing the year they start kindergarten. Hopefully after this first year, they will not catch every germ the wind carries in!

 

I think all kids go through a chunk of time when they get sick a lot. I guess they're building their immune systems or whatever... mine were sick almost constantly from 6 months-18 months. They weren't in daycare or preschool then, they just got sick A LOT. It was exhausting and frustrating and at times quite frightening. For us, the benefit has been now that they ARE in preschool two days a week, they're handling it really well and are rarely ill (touch wood). My guess is your kids time has just come to build their immune systems, and it'll be a tough haul, but once you're through it, all will even out.
Good luck... there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!

 

I'll be the Devil's Advocate here... :girl_devil:

While I'm sure they are getting social & academic benefits out of school and I agree that exposure to illness is good for their immune systems long term, I disagree that pulling them out is somehow going to be a step backwards or compromise their immunity longterm. Keep in mind, they are only 2. They still have 2 more years of preschool before they even get to K. When does preschool end? sometime in May? So if you pull them out the end of Feb (assuming you already pd for the month and want to give the school a little notice) it's only 2 1/2 month early. They have received 6 months of immunity-building germ exposure + all the other benefits of 2 yr old preschool...which many of their peers haven't had.

The length of the school year is completely arbitrary from a medical/immunity building standpoint. What if the school year was only 6 months long? you wouldn't anything about taking a break until September. And, it's not like you are going to be keeping them in a bubble - they will continue to get germ exposure in other ways. If you were looking for confirmation that most kids get sick a lot their first year of preschool and really want to keep them in, by all means do so. But, if you are really looking forward to it being over...and you were hoping for responses "okaying" that when you posted - I would go ahead and pull them out. If you think all three of you would have a better March, April & May with them not being in school, I would focus on the here and now. They are 2, and I'm sure they will be fine in K either way.

Having said that, they are only there 6 hours a week - are you sure all this illness is really due to preschool? That has not been our experience.

 

our pedi told us that either they're sick now or sick when they hit K...I'd leave them in - spring is right around the corner, and next year will get better...ours started daycare at 2 and have had periods of sickness - but it will get easier!

 

I would leave them in also, if you pull them out, unless you just stay home, they'll just get sick somewhere else. My two started preschool in November and they've been sick a few times, but not much more than last year (but I've never been a mom to lysol shopping carts etc). Also I rarely take them to the doctor... antibiotics are unnecessary for most colds, and probably do more harm than good, especially if they pick up more germs while at the doctor. They had a bad cold three weeks ago with some nasty coughing but it got better on its own, we just skipped school that week.