To share, or not to share: A cold is the issue

By Amy M.

My son has a cold. I think it bothers me much more than it bothers him. He's as active as ever during the day, and has had no problems sleeping. At night, I hear his labored breathing and coughing through the monitor -- which of course magnifies everything -- and I think he's on the brink of pneumonia. But when he wakes up, he's talking non-stop and ready to play, just like any other day.

So the dilemma is day care. Do I keep him home in order to prevent him from sharing his cold with the other children? Or do I send him to the place where he probably got the cold in the first place? It IS just a cold.

But if his immune system is down, I don't want him to be exposed to too many other germs. On the other hand, if I don't send him to day care, I probably won't isolate him at home. We'd both go crazy. So if we run some errands, he'll be exposed to other people's germs anyway, although he won't be in close contact with them.

In case you've forgotten -- or can't tell from this post -- I'm a first-time mom. I've come across many humorous comparisons of first-time moms and veteran moms that lead me to believe the veteran moms don't worry about a child's stuffy nose.

So what would you -- first-timers and "veterans" -- do?

Comments

[Heather]

It's relieving to read all these comments, as I'm a first time mom dealing with my son's first cold (at 3 months). It's clearly more distressing to me than to him, since he still smiles, kicks, babbles, and eats like a champ. I try to keep thinking that it makes him stronger in the long run and will keep him from missing all of grade school.

[RobinP]

Lillianna was a healthy child until I sent her to nursery school. She was sick a million times that first year. Parents sent their kids to school with fevers and all kinds of illnesses. It was disgusting. Even now in first grade it is just gross. Before Lillianna picked up the stomach bug from school 2 weeks ago, she would come home every day with a different story. This child threw up in class today. That child went to the nurse with a fever and then got sent home. This child started to fall asleep in class because she was sick so her mom came to get her.
It's Germ Central in there. No wonder she is sick.
My general rule for Lillianna is that if she is just sniffly and has a cold and feels fine, then she can go to school. If she doesn't feel well she stays home. If she has had a temp withing 48 hours, no school.
Sometimes kids are sick and you just don't know it! Motherhood is tricky.

[zanna]

I agree. No fever/not miserable means send the child to daycare.

[tonya]

This very veteran Mom (kids all grown) says send him to daycare if he does not have a fever. That which makes him suffer makes him stronger...and you. : )

[amy]

Yes, I'd say send him to daycare if there's no fever. Unfortunately, the "daycare cold" is a long-staying part of the first year of daycare. After that it gets better, but they still remain runny-nosed about 50% of the time! As long as he seems to be feeling okay and your provider is okay with him being there, I'd feel comfortable sending him to daycare. Keep listening to your gut, it'll guide you!

[Amy]

I send I-belle to daycare because I would never ever send her if I didn't since she always seems to have a cold. I heard once that these first years are years where they will build their immune system so they won't miss school when they're older. I'm taking that advice in stride.

[andrea]

This veteran mom (but no expert by any stretch!) votes to send your boy to daycare. My girls (now 5 and 3) had colds *all winter long* for the first couple years they were in daycare. We went through truckloads of kleenex. Now they hardly get colds at all. It's just not feasible to keep them home every time they have a cold.

The germ swap will make him (and everyone else) stronger in the long run.