rethinking preschool

Nov5Mrs.

So DD, at age 3, started preschool in the fall and has literally (and I'm not kidding) been sick every other week. I know that it's par for the course the first year of school, but it's so often that I really feel like it's starting to interfere with my ability to be the fun mom I want to be. Understandably, she's tired and miserable when she's sick and therefore pretty crabby, so she ends up snuggling on the couch watching TV or movies all day and we had previously either watched no TV or no more than 1/2 hour per day. As I said, this now happens about every two weeks. I have a 7 month old as well, so my time is already divided between them and I'm just bummed that she's at such a fun age and as a former teacher, I was really looking forward doing crafts and planning fun activites, and now I feel like I rarely get to just have fun together. People keep telling me that the first year is the worst and that they don't get as sick the second year. We were thinking about only sending her for 2 days again next year when she's 4, but I'm starting to think about not sending her at all. Again, I used to BE a teacher (at home now), so I know I can take care of the academics at home, I'm just wondering if I'd be cheating her out of some independent social time if we just quit preschool altogether. We already attend a library program and there's a program at a local zoo we can sign up for. Sigh. I don't know, then I think about the fact that she'll go to kindergarten and just get sick there, so should I just keep sending her and have her build her immune system? Thoughts? Advice? Sorry so long.

April37

I'm going through that right now as well.  It seems like we are always sick. (I usually end up catching whatever bug she has).  It's so frustrating. She goes 3x a week and this week we missed 2 days because of being sick.  Plus, we were sick right before Christmas break and she missed a week and a half then.  It really sucks because I'm paying for preschool. 

That said, I won't pull her out and I will send her to preschool again next year (she'll be 4 and we don't have public 4k so I'll be paying again).  Like you said, she'll get sick no matter what/when.  She has fun and is learning a lot.  It's also nice to get my errands and cleaning done while she's in school.

mbritto4

I'd not pull her out, I know my DD looks forward to preschool the 2 mornings a week and would be pretty upset to not go anymore.  She's not been sick quite as often, but we went thru our share of sick days due to Gymboree class or the gym child care bugs she picked up. 

Does her school practice hand washing?  I know my DD has gotten even better about hand washing since going to school.  During this time of year or when they've had a rash of something going around the school they ask the kids to wash their hands when they get to school. 

Now that I've said she's not gotten sick much I'm sure she'll catch a bug soon

jlw2505

I would send her next year as she will miss out on the social stuff and while you do social stuff with her, social stuff without mom there is different.  She will most likely not get sick as often as she will have already built up her immune system which she is doing now.  All kids go through this at some point and better in preschool than once Kindergarten starts when missing means missing more education.  I'm a huge advocate for preschool as I have seen the difference it can make in kids, even if its part time, half days - having that independent time away from mom and dad makes a huge difference in so many ways and the illness will not always happen.  I would make sure your child washes her hands often - at my DD's pre-K, the kids have to wash their hands as soon as they get to school and they have the kids on a pretty good schedule of hand washing, toys are cleaned often, tissues are everywhere.  My kids have been in daycare/preschool settings since they were infants and never really went through all the illness stuff that I hear people talking about.  Kids are going to get an average of 10 colds a year regardless of what you do or where they are.

truckngrl

On a separate note....try having her wash her hands when you arrive AND before you leave the preschool.  Also, you may try a vitamin supplement (ploy-vi-sol or Flintstones would work fine) as the extra vitamin C can help fend off illness.  I know it's a pain in the behind to have a sick kiddo. (I started an in-home daycare when my DD was 14 months old and she was sick all the time for the first 6 months.)n  I would keep her in as it will get better the more she is around other kids.