Why is it an expectation that when your child starts nursery they become ill?

Why is becoming ill okay for a child? Particularly when they are under 3 years of age.

With our recent and ongoing experience of the Coronavirus Pandemic, I believe there should be and could be, far more done to tackle the spread of illnesses and viruses in nurseries and playgroups. 

As a country with some of the highest childcare costs in the world, should we not expect these nurseries and playgroups to take more responsibility for the well-being, health, and sanitisation of their facilities to prevent our children from becoming so frequently unwell?

As a result of such high childcare costs and individual financial restrictions, a significant percentage of new parents are forced to return to the workplace after their statutory maternity/paternity leave ends. Many parents are forced to send their little ones to start nursery far earlier than we would ideally like them to and at an age where they are yet to develop immunity against harmful bugs and viruses.

There is an inappropriate acceptance that bugs are extremely transmissible and highly contagious in nurseries. Personally, I know of this all too well when my little girl at 4 months old took part in “settling-in” sessions at her nursery to test the waters and quickly caught RSV (Bronchiolitis). At nursery for less than 4 hours over the course of 3 days, she became extremely sick resulting in hospital admission for an 8 day period where she was put on a feeding tube and oxygen to support her breathing. She was unable to fully recover from RSV until some months later and experienced lasting effects including loss of appetite and a persistent cough. 

Why are we, as parents so complacent with our little ones becoming ill because they attend nursery?

What can be done to prevent or reduce the risk of virus transmission? In my opinion, many things, but first and foremost I want to start a conversation about this topic as more needs to be done. 

I want to petition to ensure that all nurseries in the UK & Ireland undergo an extensive baby safe & environmentally safe deep clean every evening once nursery hours have finished. 

The clean should include but not be limited to, the cleaning of all toys, playmats, tables, chairs, carpets, sensory areas, cots and mattresses! We know all too well how viruses transmit, and they’re not all airborne. Virus have the ability to infect a surface where they remain for an extended period of time. 

We should not be complacent with our babies becoming ill, and we should not be accepting of “wait till she/he goes to nursery, they’ll catch everything”. We must make a stand and protect our little ones from becoming so ill, so frequently.

Yes, they need to gain immunity from such illnesses, but nurseries and playgroups should not be a breeding ground for these bugs to fester and originate!

A suggestion to start the conversation and spark ideas for improvement:

To encourage toy rotation. Don’t leave all toys/mats/equipment out to be played with. Hold some back and rotate them. Clean the current toys that evening and bring out the freshly cleaned toys for the following day.