Heading to Daycare With a Smile While Staying Healthy

Are your little ones headed to daycare for the first time? You’re most certainly very excited and nervous. Whether it’s their first time in daycare or they’re returning after the long summer vacation, they will likely be exposed to endless new experiences that are simultaneously exciting and challenging. Here are some tips for keeping your little ones healthy while at daycare.

First time at daycare? Tips for a successful acclimation
● Educate your child on what will soon take place: It is recommended to prepare your child two weeks before the start of a new daycare, by reading stories related to daycare, describing their new daily routine, talking about new experiences they’ll have, etc.
● Visit the daycare with your child: Show your child where they’ll be going to daycare, so they can get to know their new environment and what goes on there. It’s a good idea to visit while the daycare is operational, so that the experience will be as close as possible to that on your child’s first day.
● Stat with your children during the first few days: Your presence is extremely important and helps your child open up and get to know the staff and other children. When the time comes to part, they’ll already have a known support system in place, helping to reduce anxiety. While at daycare with your little one, you must simply observe. If your child has any requests, direct them to their new teacher.
● Create an orderly goodbye routine: It’s extremely important that your child knows when you leave - you can even mention that you’ll be back to pick them up later. If you slip out without saying goodbye, it could cause your child to feel insecure.
● Trust yourself and trust the daycare you selected for your child. This sentiment will resonate in your child as well. Say goodbye with a smile and do not apologize or feel guilty. Separation is a natural and healthy process.
● Don’t drag out your goodbyes: Part quickly and confidently, but be empathetic if your child starts to cry. Let them know that their concern is legitimate and understandable. If they start crying after you’ve already said goodbye, continue to leave and exit the daycare. Wait outside for half and hour and then return. This will help them understand that the separation is temporary.

What can you ask of the teacher?
The variety of activities your child takes part in while at daycare increase the chances that they’ll be exposed to illnesses.
Data indicates that children who go to daycare are sicker than their peers who do not attend daycare, though it is not recommended to delay their schooling in order to avoid illness. A child who is exposed to illnesses benefits from a strengthened immune system and daycare is an essential environment for the development of social, emotional and cognitive skills.

That being said, by getting to know how activities are run at daycare, you can make educated requests of the staff members, including those pertaining to proper hygiene, to help prevent illnesses. Here are the main dangers:

Joint play: An important element of daycare programming is joint playtime. Children learn to share and play with others, and have to learn to cope with clashes between their desires and those of others. The flipside of the coin is the transfer of viruses and infections from one child to another, as children tend to stick objects in their mouths.

Ask the teacher: to routinely clean the toys and instruct the children not to lick them.

Spending time in closed classrooms: Many daycare activities take place inside closed classrooms. As such, viruses spread, but have nowhere to escape to, raising the odds that children will become sick. And when the air conditioning isn’t cleaned, dust can build up, encouraging illnesses to develop as well.

Ask the teacher: to ensure fresh air filters into the rooms, but opening windows, airing out the classes and regularly cleaning air conditioning filters.

Changing multiple children’s diapers: The daily load may cause teachers to forget to wash their hands after changing diapers. It’s enough for one child to suffer from a stomach virus in order for the rest of the children to fall ill as well.

Ask the teacher: to ensure that the staff washes their hands after every diaper change and washes the children’s hands before lunchtime.

Your daycare-going child is sick. What to do?
If your child catches a virus, you should keep them home. Sending them to daycare when you know they are ill will cause the virus to spread to more children and will slow your child’s own recovery rate. Most of the common daycare illnesses are viral and will not be cured by taking antibiotics. As such, if your child develops a fever, ensure they rest up, drink up, eat healthily and take fever reducing medicine (based on paracetamol), that is approved for use from birth.

And most important: have a great, successful first year at daycare!