Before I begin on today's blog entry. I must mention that my child has this uncanny ability to sense what I've written about on my blog and do exactly the opposite. Which in this case is a good thing. Riley slept until 6:45 again this morning (and this time she went to bed at 7:30pm). I know...some of you out there (primarily those of you without children) aren't too impressed by 6:45, but Chris & I loved it. It was so nice. Chris could get up and shave and shower without having to worry about her drinking his mouthwash...or aftershave. I could walk and get back and almost get in the shower. It just makes the morning run so much smoother. We'll see if this lasts (oh please let it last).
Now on to today's topic of choice. Daycare and the germs. Seriously, for a while I thought this winter would be better than the last, but no such luck. Riley has had 2 ear infections, 1 sinus infection, the flu twice. And I consider us one of the lucky ones (no pneumonia or rsv). Its hard to remember when we have gone longer than 2 weeks without some sort of cough or runny nose. I am almost embarassed at the number of times I have written my boss to tell him I will be late or leaving early or taking the day off to care for my two year old who is "yes, sick again." Fortunately my boss and colleagues are very understanding.
I've heard the cliches..."she is building up her immunities." I'm not so convinced of this given the large number of strains of the "common" cold. But even if I went with this idea...I have to argue that children will have plenty of opportunities to build up these immunities and that there is very little good that comes from a young infant or toddler being sick. They can't really take anything to relieve the symptoms and they cannot communicate what is really bothering them. So you are left guessing and running the ongoing debate about whether or not to take them to the doctor. You start going..."well, they are pulling at their ears...Does that mean ear infection or are teeth are coming?" Riley has never given us much indication that she has an ear infection...she doesn't really pull on her ears, she doesn't get much of a fever (maybe 99) and she continues to sleep through the night. After two years I've figured out a few signs...she gets fussy (which can also be caused by a million other things), she wakes up earlier (which recently is a normal thing so that's hard a sign to catch), she doesn't like to drink as much in the morning. Hmmm...nothing real conclusive. So the way it goes for now is she gets a cold, after about 10 - 14 days we take her to the doctor, she has an ear infection, they put her on antibiotics and we move on. We only discovered the sinus infection when we were there for her two year well-visit. We thought she was fine.
Last year we ended up in an ENT office talking tubes...but I had a hard time convincing myself to put my 16 month old under when she never even had a cold in the first 13 months of life. We figured we'd give it the summer and see if she got better this winter. And in reality, she has. The ear infections haven't been near as severe...most of the time they actually seem mild. I can tell this from the doctor's reactions. Last year we got the wincing and "ouch...she has a pretty bad infection." This year it's more of a smile and a "yep, a little ear infection." Maybe next year we'll have the "This kid is healthy and will never be sick again (if you lock her in a bubble)"
I don't mean to totally bash daycare...its not really daycare...its those pesky little 2 and 3 year olds not knowing how to properly blow their nose and cover their mouth or wash their hands that cause the problems. And all those fancy, luring sipping cups just waiting to be stolen by the toddler sitting next to you at lunch time...slobbering all over the mouth piece. We like to believe we label our cups with our kid's name and we're safe. But I have watched children walk right up, grab some kids cup and take a chug. Oh and one day Riley told me her friend licked her food. I would like to believe Riley did not eat it after that, but I'm not so sure.
The bottom line is daycare is a germ buffet...where the motto is "come in, we have something for everyone."
So why do I do daycare? Mostly b/c I can't imagine being home all day chasing Riley, trying to stay sane. No I'm kidding. For us daycare centers work...I think Riley does better in a daycare center with lots of activities and other children her age. And I feel safer...knowing there are multiple sets of eyes watching my child and her teachers. And in the end, I know she will be ok. Winter's hard and we are at the tail end. So I'm feeling a little worn by doctor's visits and runny noses. But summer is just around the corner and before you know it I will have forgotten all about these colds and infections...until next year.
Coming soon: More positive energy and less whining over sleep and germs :)
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