Think Twice About Your Preschooler's Cold

The First Thirty Days of Preschool
As soon as you find a childcare/preschool for your child, wouldn't you know -two days later you are calling off work. You take your child to the doctor's office and picking-up prescriptions for a fever. After you have fought this infection for 24 hours and back to school they go, a week has gone by in just enough time to get an handle at the office, the facility calls again about your child having a fever of 101⁰ with constant crying. And this could go on for as long as thirty days, frustrating the transition from home to childcare. But wait, think twice about your preschooler's cold, it could be helping him or her in the future.

Exposure
Now your thoughts could be that you probably picked a facility that is full of nasty sick children, or the facility itself is not clean. Well, have you ever thought that your child's immune system is exposed to viruses that could be helping the immune system fight against other infections? This cold and fever could mean that the immune system could be building a strong immunity for the body as the child matures. There has been research that indicates that when a young child is exposed earlier to certain infections it may better the chances of the child's immune system to fight infections that will arise as he or she matures; Preschool Bolsters Early Childhood Immunity, Reduces Risk of Young Adult Hodgkin's Lymphoma, "Study finds age of exposure to common childhood infections -- rather than only Epstein Barr virus or socioeconomic status -- affects disease incidence..."

Don't Go Looking For Viruses
Over time in my career as a childcare provider, I have heard mothers wanting to find other families going through chickenpox epidemic in their homes so they may be able to expose their toddlers to the virus early. Does the child get the virus? Sometimes yes, only to find that when the toddler grows into elementary years, they have broken out into the chickenpox again. One of those guilty parents was me. My youngest child suffered in the first grade because while he was younger, I was one of those parents that insisted my child be exposed to the chickenpox from a family he hardly knew and showed very little response to the epidemic. It is probably best to let the toddler naturally pick-up this virus, don't go looking for them. Because sometimes when the body is under certain stresses of meeting new people, the immune system may act differently in that social sphere. In science daily, Mary Caserta, M.D., principal investigator of the study, found that when families are under stress children have more fevers with illness.

Take Time and Keep Track
If possible make sure you start childcare for your preschooler before you start work. Avoid ignoring parental mistakes and take time to ask questions about the toddlers day and how they are feeling, you know your child better than any other provider could. And more than likely, the stress of you knowing your child is safe and comfortable might be alleviated some and can minimize the stress your child mat encounter when starting preschool. Keep track with how often your child gets sick; it could give some indications of inadequate diet or changes in the environment.