Hey all, I feel like my little home daycare is constantly plagued by illness. Right now, it started with a 15 month old that is ALWAYS sick and goes from one illness to another. Both of my 2 year olds have followed and have dangerously high fevers. The problem is that the 15 month dcg's mom is very young and doesn't know the signs of when her child is getting sick. I can tell within just a few hours even if she is getting something minor. It's just annoying how a parent can't see the signs, or maybe she doesn't want to. It ALWAYS starts with the 15 month old though and now I'm getting quite annoyed!

I feel that I over-clean and I don't understand how it keeps getting in here. Am I doing something wrong? I have a high NO tolerance policy when it comes to fevers, snot, vomit and what not. As soon as they start showing any symptoms unless it's super minor, they are not allowed back to care for at least 24 hours.

I disinfect like crazy, even more than normal when an illness even starts. I lysol/oust and anti-bacteria wipe daily. Vacuum every few days, is this enough?

My question is, what is your daily routine of cleaning? Do you clean everything EVERY day? What cleaning supplies do you use on a normal basis and are happy with how they clean? I don't deal with harmful cleaning supplies so I try to keep the sprays to a minimum but know that they need to be used. How often do you clean ALL toys?

I feel so bad when the kids get sick and almost always I end up sick. None of my parents blame me but I can't help but feeling guilty or that I did something wrong. Am I dealing with just a regular in-home daycare issue?? It seems like my school aged children very rarely get sick and so I feel like the little ones immune systems are just not strong enough yet.

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I would think having the 15 month old who is always sick is what is doing it. Even if the little one is only there for a few minutes, if she/he has a fever, it can spread to the other children. The germs enter into the air as soon as they come in the door, don't they?
At our daycare, we try to mop and vaccum every day (it certainly needs it everyday at our daycare!) Disinfecting toys and sleep cots are once a week or more often, as needed (we currently have a 2 yr old going through a spitting stage). And of course the counters and tables are bleached before every meal & snack (as required by the food program). We try to clean the restroom everyday also (toilet and sink wiped down with bleach water mix, mirrors cleaned, etc). Most of this (except vacuuming and cots) is done during the children's nap, along with lunch clean-up and dishes. We rarely have a sick child (outside the common cold or allergy), and the owner and myself are almost never sick. Does this help?

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I use a bleach/water solution to clean. I am finding the kids are still transmitting colds/fevers to each even though I disinfect. I wipe down doorknobs and soak toys played with my the little ones, but despite that, they still pick it up from each other.

The young ones always seem to pick up virus after virus..their immunity is still building.

But like you, I get annoyed with it too...they come here and boogers down their face, then they wipe it with their hand before you get a chance to get a tissue. It's gross. My new day care boy had a very runny nose on Friday and everytime I tried to wipe his nose he would turn and it went on my arm!! YUCK!! I won't take kids if they are running a fever..but the common colds are hard to avoid.

I understand moms can't take off for every little sniffle so I do deal with it, it's just nasty when they have snot down their nose and wipe it with their hands. When the young ones are like this I try to keep them in a smaller area with limited toys so they don't touch a ton of toys...I limit the toys to the plastic ones that are easy to soak in bleach.

It gets pretty frustrating when the mom doesn't show sympathy or that she feels bad...It's easy to be more accepting when the parent shows they care.

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I just had a 10 month old with a horrible cold, runny nose, etc... I took all the small toys and put them up, so there was nothing she could place in her mouth. I have a small child as well, and I certainly don;t want daycare children giving it to her.

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I typically give everything a spray of Lysol at the end of the day, including the toys on the shelf, the kitchen set, the table and chairs, the pack in plays, the high chairs. I also use the disinfectant wipes a lot on all these items daily. Also, when I have a younger child (high chair age), and they are brought to me with nasty colds and snot, or you can tell they are not feeling well, I typically keep them in their high chair, or in their pack in play, and keep their interaction with others very minimal. I will only give them a couple of easily washable items to play with. I do what I can to keep them for touching things others touch. With the older kids, preschool age, I will make them lay down in the other room for the day. While I understand that parents can not stay home everytime their child has a cold or just doesn't feel well, I will do what I can to keep that child away from the others. I spray lysol throughout the day too. As for me, I wash my hands constantly, and I very rarely get sick. I also limit what the group can play with when there is sickness here, Like no little toys that they tend to put in their mouth, I will only get the bigger items out that are easily washed off.

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Thanks, this helps!

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