Sick of Being Sick - Saint Paul,MN

It's the day care. Figure your budget out and it may end up balancing the same for paying for it and drs vs staying home.

I actully worked day care and loved it -- for 2 weeks- then I got strep so bad I ended up in ER and they were considering putting me in the hospital.

After I got "better" I went back to work only to have a relapse. The Dr told me I would never fully recover until I quit working there so I had to quit no notice.

It took me about a month to fully recover. I wish I could go back because I love kids but in the end I wasnt making any money and being sick does no one any good.

Good luck !

I have not pulled my kids from daycare but want to note that since December we've had about the same amount of sickness. A symtom comes on and I ask the daycare what is going around to figure out if it's a virus or bacteria. If it's a virus why see the doctor and pay all that extra. It's frustrating to have one maybe two good weeks out of a month of good health. I have used my vaction up and have gone negaitive with it. Each time I get some I have to use it up. I could switch up more with DH but I want to spend extra time with the kids and this is what the consequence.

I'm sure things will get better now that Spring is coming on. This has been the worst years for sicknesses. I have never been sick this often in my life. It might be an odd year.

I totally feel your pain. I've been helping a friend at a daycare while her co-worker is on maternity leave. My kids and I have NEVER been so sick... Though we've mainly had colds. They seem to come one after another. Before this, my kids were never in a daycare setting. I really feel that they were healthier outside of the daycare. It is so easy in the daycare for one child to sneeze on another or accidentily share their cup with a sick child. It's SO hard to keep kids healthy and away from the other kids who have runny noses.
Even though I'm enjoying working with my friend and earning a bit of extra money, I'll be very less stressed (and less sick) when this job is finished! :)
Best of luck!!

Yes, we did. We used to both work full-time, and while I brought in a big portion of our income, in the end we figured we were losing money and I was probably working for nothing. Our oldest did horrible in daycare. He was always sick with ear infection after ear infection, and worse. He would tantrum so bad from the time we'd leave the house, til I dropped him off. I hated it, and felt bad because he seemed so miserable. But DH and I both thought the extra check was really necessary.

In the beginning, it was tough making the decision to become a full-time SAHM, but it turned out to be the best thing we did. We had a lot of fears and misconceptions. We thought we were going to be broke, but after reevaluating how we spent our money, we found we can make it on the one salary, and still have enough to raise our kids. Granted we're not doing as much extra stuff, we are getting what we need, when we need it.

The big thing is health insurance. Luckily, my hubby has good insurance through his employer. That helps alot. We also made a concerted effort to pay down debts, and eliminate alot of extras like cable, eating out, etc.

Bottom line, some kids don't do good in a setting like that when they're little. Unfortunately, there is a lot of pressure out there that preschool and daycare is really important for socialization etc. I think it goes both ways. Kids learn at home too and developed/learned just fine long before daycares franchised. You know your kids best. You know your family best. You gotta do what's in the best interest of both. Whatever you decide, don't beat yourself up, or let yourself get overwhelmed. It will all work out in the end.

Good luck in what you decide. I know my children are happier. ANd we as a family get to spend much more quality time together. And yes, we don't get sick anywhere near as much as before. That in itself is a wonderful thing.

I have a son who is in daycare and did get sick a lot when he was younger (he is 3). He hasn't been sick in a year now!! (Yes, I am knocking on wood!!!) He must have built up his immune system.
I also have an 11 year old daughter who was not in daycare and wasn't sick a lot when she was younger. Once she started school she was sick ALL of the time! 2 years ago I had a note come home about if she missed anymore school with out a dr's note, social services was going to pay me a visit, she had her tonsils out a month before this letter was sent out and had to miss over week of school. I would much rather have my kids miss when they are younger to build up their immune system then miss school and fall behind.
Good Luck with your decision!

I pulled my daughter out of daycare for this reason. I was working for this woman at her homedaycare and bringing my daughter with. Well the owner wasn't strict enough on the kids being sick she should have been sending them home and not allowing them to come. Because she wasn't cracking down I quit and took my daughter out of daycare and just became a stay at home mom. My daughter had attended other daycares too several centers as a baby/toddler too. We were CONSTANTLY sick.........I was broke from missing work and paying doctor bills as well.

So I kept my daughter home from age4 and on until she started school last year. Our trips to the doctor and illnesses have gone down dramatically I want to say were sick like once a year now maybe 2 colds now. My daughter used to have a constant runnny nose fall-through-spring that doesn't happen anymore either.

My kids have never been in daycare, but my daughter is in kindergarten and seems to be bringing home a lot of little illnesses this year too. I have never been sick so much in my life! DH even wonders if I have mono, though I didn't think even that would last this long.
Anyway, reducing stress in your life would be good for your son's immune system, but don't automatically assume that your staying home would do that. The financial stress would probably be much less than you expect, but if you don't have a good social support network ??? Only you can figure out if it will work for you, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Aside from that, having everyone step up their hand-washing and face-NOT-touching is probably a good idea. Good luck, to both of us!

it's actually this winter has been horrible for it. my family and the child i watch has been sick all winter. we will go a week then one of us sick again. we have gotten our routine so much i don't even have to tell the kids how to disinfect the house when we do it every saturday! i actually ended up going to the dr because i was getting dehydrated and the dr asked how long i have been sick.. told him on and off all winter and he told me this is the worst winter for illness. they have seen 3-4x as many people this winter than any other winter he can remember. the flu shot didn't cover over half of the strands out there and people are starting to get immune to the antibotics because they have had to use them so much this winter. hopefully you can hang it out until the weather gets nice and if it still happens then i would choose to pull the child. hopefully this all clears up soon for every bodies sake! good luck

I surely would pull the child out! That's one less expense if you stay home. Depending on what kind of work you do, you probably could find a job in the evenings.
This must be a bad year for being sick, though. I've a friend whose third-grader has miss a bunch of school because of sickness.
B. H