Your child is finally old enough to go to daycare or preschool. You may be feeling alleviated that you will now have some time to focus on your many other tasks while they develop their academic, social, and emotional skills. However, your child constantly needs to stay home because they are sick! Why do children who go to daycare get sick so often? This phenomenon is known as “daycare syndrome.” And, while being sick at times is often inevitable, a number of measures exist to care for and prevent common daycare illnesses. At daycare, children have increased exposure to viruses and other germs. It is actually expected that children in daycare average somewhere between six to twelve colds per year, according to the Mayo Clinic. So if your little one seems like they are constantly carrying home a new sickness from daycare, realize this is typical, and most of these daycare diseases have basic treatments and resolve without complications. The Common Cold The most common diseases are viral upper respiratory tract infections, which is essentially the common cold. There are many viruses that cause the common cold, and the usual symptoms are fever, cough, congestion, runny nose, and sore throat. These symptoms may be expected to last for three to seven days. How can the common cold be treated? Supportive or comfort care is often the by Stephanie Lopes 102 HAWAII PARENT May/June 2025
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