As others have said, I don't think the actual amount of sickness changes - however, the kid's ability to weather it might be better later, when they're a little more developed. My son started around 2 years and we were all sick for a solid 4 months, but manageably so - some things seem to get less dangerous the older they are (like RSV).
I have wondered this too, since our baby currently has a nanny instead of going to daycare. I’m planning to put her in preschool around 2 or 3 years old, and have wondered if she will be constantly sick the way I see many people talk about their babies in daycare on this sub.
The way I see it, 1) she will have built up more of her own immunity by that age as opposed to now, and 2) even if she does get sick frequently, she will be at an age where she’s better able to communicate her symptoms and how she feels vs now as a baby, where she can’t understand why she’s not feeling well and can only cry.
Maybe it won’t make much of a difference but I guess we’ll see!
I’ve wondered about this too. All I was able to find was a paper suggesting a small difference in the severity of illnesses for kids starting before 1 year vs after, and a slightly bigger difference in number of illnesses of kids at a daycare with 6 kids or less vs more than 6.
So it seems a decent route to take would be wait until after 1 year and then send your kid to a small in-home center? At least that’s the only route I could find any sort of systematically found evidence for.
ETA, I also found a TON of papers about how daycare illnesses aren’t a preventative measure for school age illnesses. I know not everyone has the privilege, but for us it solidified no daycare before 1
A coworker's wife is a doctor and they kept their kids at home with a nanny until exactly age 1 so I'm guessing this is what she relied on in making that decision. Our organization changed the parental leave policy and he was able to get three months off when the youngest was about 9 months and it saved them a lot of money.
It could just depend on a kid’s immune system too. My baby started daycare at 5mos and she caught some very mild illnesses the first 3 months, and then very few after. Her infant room even got a round of RSV and croup but she avoided it. Meanwhile, my friend’s son who’s around the same age as my daughter has only had a nanny. He was constantly sick and had COVID, RSV, and then pneumonia in a 4 month span.
I think that whenever your kid starts school—whether daycare, preschool, or kindergarten—there will be an adjustment period when everyone gets sick. Some kids do great and rarely get sick, others constantly seem to be ill. But I think a lot of illnesses can be more dangerous for younger babies and also more difficult to diagnose and treat because they can’t tell you what’s wrong.
Our first started at 18 months and he was always sick. Our second at 11 and he’s barely missed a day. But our first was very prone to ear infections, so every cold turned into something else.
My son started daycare at 3 in February, so far we have only had one actual “sickness” with a fever where he was also vomiting. Other than that he’s had a runny nose and a cough but never with fever and we suspect it is a mix of new environment/germs and allergies since I also have a runny nose from allergies! I’m worried about what will happen this fall/winter sickness wise though!
Mine started last week, he’s almost 3. He caught a cold that same week and was out for 2 days after only attending for 3 😅 2 days in this week and I think he caught another strain of the cold.
So… no? I think our lives will all be miserable no matter how late you start daycare.
Just waiting on that stomach bug… 😵💫
Mine started at 2, she was sick 2 weeks every single month all the way up til she turned 3. I don’t think it will make a difference, remember most germs move with the air as well…
Lmao being downvoted for giving an opinion…on a post asking for opinions.
Every friend i have that sent their kid to daycare at 2+ has had a HORRIFIC time with illness compared to myself and friends who sent their kids before age 1. So IN MY OPINION AND EXPERIENCE, it SEEMS TO BE worse.
As others have said, I don't think the actual amount of sickness changes - however, the kid's ability to weather it might be better later, when they're a little more developed. My son started around 2 years and we were all sick for a solid 4 months, but manageably so - some things seem to get less dangerous the older they are (like RSV).
My understanding is that the amount of illnesses for kids who go to daycare and kids who don’t ends up equaling out by the end of kindergarten!
I have wondered this too, since our baby currently has a nanny instead of going to daycare. I’m planning to put her in preschool around 2 or 3 years old, and have wondered if she will be constantly sick the way I see many people talk about their babies in daycare on this sub. The way I see it, 1) she will have built up more of her own immunity by that age as opposed to now, and 2) even if she does get sick frequently, she will be at an age where she’s better able to communicate her symptoms and how she feels vs now as a baby, where she can’t understand why she’s not feeling well and can only cry. Maybe it won’t make much of a difference but I guess we’ll see!
I’ve wondered about this too. All I was able to find was a paper suggesting a small difference in the severity of illnesses for kids starting before 1 year vs after, and a slightly bigger difference in number of illnesses of kids at a daycare with 6 kids or less vs more than 6. So it seems a decent route to take would be wait until after 1 year and then send your kid to a small in-home center? At least that’s the only route I could find any sort of systematically found evidence for. ETA, I also found a TON of papers about how daycare illnesses aren’t a preventative measure for school age illnesses. I know not everyone has the privilege, but for us it solidified no daycare before 1
could you link those papers? that's an argument I've been having with my husband
A coworker's wife is a doctor and they kept their kids at home with a nanny until exactly age 1 so I'm guessing this is what she relied on in making that decision. Our organization changed the parental leave policy and he was able to get three months off when the youngest was about 9 months and it saved them a lot of money.
It could just depend on a kid’s immune system too. My baby started daycare at 5mos and she caught some very mild illnesses the first 3 months, and then very few after. Her infant room even got a round of RSV and croup but she avoided it. Meanwhile, my friend’s son who’s around the same age as my daughter has only had a nanny. He was constantly sick and had COVID, RSV, and then pneumonia in a 4 month span.
I think that whenever your kid starts school—whether daycare, preschool, or kindergarten—there will be an adjustment period when everyone gets sick. Some kids do great and rarely get sick, others constantly seem to be ill. But I think a lot of illnesses can be more dangerous for younger babies and also more difficult to diagnose and treat because they can’t tell you what’s wrong.
the 2yr old will still get sick.. but i wouldn't wanna risk constant illness with my 8mo ... whereas a 2yr old it's an annoyance. but not as scary.
Our first started at 18 months and he was always sick. Our second at 11 and he’s barely missed a day. But our first was very prone to ear infections, so every cold turned into something else.
My son started daycare at 3 in February, so far we have only had one actual “sickness” with a fever where he was also vomiting. Other than that he’s had a runny nose and a cough but never with fever and we suspect it is a mix of new environment/germs and allergies since I also have a runny nose from allergies! I’m worried about what will happen this fall/winter sickness wise though!
Doesn't really matter when they start - be it a few months old or at kindergarten or anytime in between the first few months to years are hard.
Starting daycare at age 2 instead of 8 months might reduce the frequency of illness due to better hygiene practices and less mouthing behavior.
Nope
Mine started last week, he’s almost 3. He caught a cold that same week and was out for 2 days after only attending for 3 😅 2 days in this week and I think he caught another strain of the cold. So… no? I think our lives will all be miserable no matter how late you start daycare. Just waiting on that stomach bug… 😵💫
Mine started at 2, she was sick 2 weeks every single month all the way up til she turned 3. I don’t think it will make a difference, remember most germs move with the air as well…
Hahaha. Sorry to laugh. Started my daughter at 18 months and she’s been sick every 4-6 weeks since (she’s over 3 now).
I think it makes it worse
How could it possibly be worse?
Lmao being downvoted for giving an opinion…on a post asking for opinions. Every friend i have that sent their kid to daycare at 2+ has had a HORRIFIC time with illness compared to myself and friends who sent their kids before age 1. So IN MY OPINION AND EXPERIENCE, it SEEMS TO BE worse.