Starting nursery can cause your ‘normally well’ child to pick up every cough, cold and bug going because their tiny little immune systems are getting used to all of this new change with some added bugs into the mix. Nurseries are a potential bug factory.. why? Well in schools children may get poorly from just one virus being passed around but in nursery there is the potential for multiple viruses to be present at the same time being passed from tiny human to tiny human… how? Children are more prone to putting things in and out of their mouths and no matter how hard we try to sanitize, wash hands and stay clean bugs find a way! 

However, a little illness doesn’t have to be a bad thing, necessarily, though a lot of illness almost always is.

As nurseries usually deal with a range of ages and although the babies are kept separate from the older children, germs are not necessarily respecting of closed doors, stair gates or walls. They tend to find a way. Very young children with smaller bodies and less developed constitutions can be very susceptible to certain illnesses. In other words, it can be more dangerous for them to get ill.

A responsible approach to the  germs, bugs, coughs colds etc…
Children usually attend a nursery for a good reason, this  reason may be educationally motivated, but it is also often simply because people have to go to work. The aim of this post is not to put you off the idea of ever sending your child into a potential germ farm, of course not. More that we would love to hope that we can work together as care givers, parents and families to put our children at the heart of everything we do. 

Taking time off while you wait for your child to get better can be frustrating and costly as you too are missing work, and we really do appreciate that. So when can your child return to nursery? 

Many would say a straightforward cold is no reason to keep a child from nursery, but do try and use your best judgement. If your child is ‘under the weather’ ‘not their normal selves’ or requiring calpol before attending nursery, it may be wise to keep them at home, where possible to rest and recover, it may help to stop them spreading the illness and of course cuddles at home with mummy or daddy are by far the best in our little peoples eyes!
Washing hands is a simple life skill that we can teach our children early on, and is vital to help fight off those germs through hand-mouth.  Depending on their age, it can also be really valuable to teach them about covering their nose / mouth when they sneeze and to catch their cough in a tissue and place into a bin.

 More serious illnesses
 These include; Chickenpox, Measles, German measles, Mumps and any respiratory infections. The general rule for diarrhoea and vomiting is 48 hours from the last instance.these kinds of Illnesses unfortunately do require your child to stay home for a little longer until fit to return following guidance. 

By now I think we all know about Covid 19 and unfortunately this virus comes with it’s own set of rules. It is vital that parents and carers keep up to date with the latest government guidance on symptoms, isolation periods and testing as we will adhere to those at all times. 

Of course we accept that illness is a part of life, but if sensible guidelines are followed concerning the illnesses that children inevitably develop, the nursery can be a happier, healthier place for your child to be each day. 

Further guidance
Further information is available on recommended treatments and exclusion periods for various types of illness, conditions, infections and viruses. There are various online documents which form a fairly comprehensive guide for parents, please see below useful sites: