Dr Phil Kieran: I'm worried my child will pick up infections in playschool
Dr Phil Kieran. Picture: Dan Linehan
Starting playschool is a big step in every child's and parent's life and the worry about illness is always there. Most of us have seen when our friends and peers send their kids to childcare/preschool, they have had to deal with frequent illnesses and, of course, we want to do anything we can to minimise the risk of this happening.
Most new parents I talk to are shocked to find out that the average number of viral infections per year a preschool child has is about six to 12. These mainly occur during the cold months of September to March, which can mean approximately one every three weeks.
Fortunately, our immune system is designed to deal with this exposure and starts learning how to fight different viruses from the day we are born. This immunity will continue to develop but the immune system needs to experience these viruses to mature normally. Allowing children to play with other children is essential for normal neurological development and is to be encouraged. Since the start of Covid, this has obviously decreased a lot but is thankfully starting to pick up again. If your three-year-old has older siblings, she is not likely to catch as many viruses as she will have been exposed to some of these at home.
You can do nothing to remove this risk, but a good strategy is to teach your child to cough or sneeze into their elbow and wash their hands before meals. This practice is good general advice for all ages. However, I would caution against using scare tactics to encourage safe sneezing and coughing as it can lead to excessive fear of germs.
Another important aspect of a healthy immune system is diet. A varied, healthy diet helps keep the immune system efficient, making infections less severe when they get them.
It's not all bad news for those of you with kids starting playschool — getting viruses is a part of life, and recent research suggests it is quite important for development. Researchers have found that exposure to viruses in early childhood can also potentially reduce the risk of infections or asthma-type symptoms in school-age. So you could view these infections as stocking up immunity to the same viruses that they will meet in school.
Vaccinating against a virus seems to provide a similar stimulus as getting the virus, so I still strongly support availing of all recommended vaccines before your child starts playschool.
- If you have a question for Dr Phil, please email it to parenting@examiner.ie
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