Why Is My Child Always Sick Since Daycare Started?
The first winter feels endless. Here's why it's normal, when it eases, and how to get through it.
Cold after cold after cold — and you're wondering if something is wrong. Almost always, nothing is. Your child is building an immune system in a room full of other little immune systems, and that first winter looks exactly like this. This guide walks you through the curve, what daycares generally do, and how to survive the season as a working parent.
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Last updated: 23 July 2026
You are not doing anything wrong
It usually starts within a week or two of the first drop-off: a runny nose that never quite clears, a cough that hands over to the next cough, a fever on a Sunday night right before a big work week. Many parents quietly start to worry that their child is unusually fragile — or that daycare was a mistake.
Here's the reassuring truth, and it is genuinely true: a young child getting sick a lot in their first daycare year is one of the most normal, most expected things in early childhood. It is not a sign of a weak immune system. It is the sound of an immune system being built — one bug at a time, in a group, which is exactly how it is supposed to happen.
This guide is for the tired parent (mums, dads and partners alike) staring at yet another snotty nose wondering when it ends. It does end. And there's even a payoff waiting on the other side.
The first winter, month by month
The first few weeks
The bugs arrive fast
Within days to a couple of weeks of starting, the first cold shows up. New group, new hands, new toys, new noses — your child is meeting a whole world of everyday viruses they simply hadn't met yet. This first one often feels like a shock precisely because it comes so quickly.
Roughly months 2–4
The relentless stretch
This is the hardest part, usually landing in deep winter. Colds seem to run back-to-back with barely a clear day between them, and it can honestly feel like your child has been ill non-stop for weeks. They mostly haven't — it's usually several separate, ordinary viruses queued up close together. This is the phase parents describe as 'it never ends.' It does.
Late winter into spring
The recovery gets quicker
The colds don't vanish overnight, but you start to notice something: your child shakes them off faster, bounces back sooner, and the gaps between illnesses grow. Their immune system now recognises many of the common viruses and deals with them more efficiently. The worst is behind you.
The second year
Noticeably fewer
By the following winter, most families are astonished at the difference. The child who seemed permanently ill last year now catches the ordinary handful of seasonal colds and moves on. The steep early climb has flattened into something that feels genuinely manageable.
School age
The payoff
Here's the part nobody tells you in that exhausting first winter: research consistently finds that children who attended daycare early tend to get sick less once they reach primary school than children who met these viruses for the first time at four or five. You are not just surviving this season — your child is doing a lot of their immune homework early.
The honest numbers (they're on your side)
It helps to know what 'a lot' actually means, because in the thick of it every cold feels like proof that something is wrong. The plain figures are reassuring: this is ordinary, it is temporary, and it is doing something useful.
8–12 colds a year is normal
First daycare yearFor a toddler in group care, eight to twelve colds across the year sits squarely within the normal range — and because winter clusters them, it can feel like far more than it is. A young child's cold can also linger for a week or two, so a new one often arrives before the last has fully gone, blurring into what looks like one endless illness.
It's building, not breaking
Each common virus your child meets teaches their immune system to recognise it. Little ones haven't had time to build that library yet, and daycare simply speeds up the reading list. Getting these colds now is how the body gets ready — it is the opposite of a weakness.
And it gets dramatically better
Caregivers see this pattern every single year: the family who arrives in autumn braced for the worst, the child who seems to catch everything going, and then the quiet, almost unremarkable second winter when it all settles down. The relentless stretch is real — and so is the fact that it passes.
How a daycare decides when a child stays home
One of the most stressful parts of a sick season is the not-knowing: is this a stay-home day or a daycare day? Daycares don't decide this on a hunch. They work from national public-health guidance — in the Netherlands, that's the RIVM's advice for childcare, bundled into the KIDDI-app that many groups use. The two questions underneath it all are simple: is your child well enough to take part in the day, and is there a risk to the other children? This section explains how that generally works — it is not a medical checklist, and it isn't stated as any one location's rule.
The usual reasons a daycare asks you to keep your child home — or to collect them
- They're too unwell to join in — too tired, uncomfortable or out of sorts to take part in the normal day
- They develop a fever or become unwell during the day, in which case the group will call you to come and collect them
- They have a specific contagious illness that public-health guidance says should stay home for a period
- They need more one-to-one care or rest than a busy group can realistically give
When your child can come back
- As a rule of thumb, a child comes back when they're well enough to take part in a normal day again
- A snotty nose on its own is usually fine — most daycares don't send children home just for a cold if they're otherwise happy and playing
- For specific contagious illnesses, the guidance sometimes sets a wait; your group will tell you what applies
- If you're unsure, just ask your group — they'd far rather you check than guess
What we do to keep the group healthier
You can't keep a room of toddlers germ-free — anyone who promises that isn't being honest. But daycares work hard, all day, to slow how bugs move around a group. Here's the ordinary, unglamorous work that happens behind the scenes.
Handwashing, on repeat
Hands get washed at the natural hinges of the day — before eating, after nappies and toilet, after outdoor play, after nose-wiping. With little ones it's often turned into a song or a game so it actually happens, and happens properly.
Cleaning what small hands touch
Tables, toys and shared surfaces get cleaned through the day, not just at closing time. Toys that have been in mouths are set aside to be washed rather than passed straight to the next child.
Fresh air and going outside
Ventilation and plenty of outdoor play aren't just good for mood and sleep — moving air and outside time genuinely help lower how much bugs concentrate indoors. 'There's no such thing as bad weather' has a hygiene payoff too.
Teaching the little habits
Coughing into an elbow, using a tissue and binning it, not sharing beakers — caregivers coach these gently and constantly. Toddlers won't get it perfect, but the habits start forming early and travel home with them.
- Slows how fast a bug moves through the group
- Builds hygiene habits your child carries home and into school
- Keeps shared toys and surfaces from becoming a relay station
- Won't stop every cold — nothing does — but takes the edge off the peaks
Surviving the sick season as working parents
The colds are hard on the child, but the logistics are what break the parents: a sick day always seems to land on the day of the meeting you can't move. A plan made in a calm moment beats a panic at 7am. Here's how families get through it.
Build a backup-care plan now
- Line up two or three people you could call before you need them — partner, grandparent, a neighbour, another daycare family
- Agree with your partner in advance how you'll split sick days, so it isn't renegotiated in a stressful morning every time
- Keep a small 'sick day kit' ready: thermometer, tissues, a favourite blanket, an easy activity
- Save your huisarts and the after-hours huisartsenpost numbers in your phone before you're anxious and searching
Know your leave rights in NL
- Calamiteitenverlof (emergency leave): short, paid leave for an acute emergency — like being called to collect a suddenly-sick child — to arrange what's needed
- Kortdurend zorgverlof (short-term care leave): paid leave to care for a sick child, with an annual cap based on your working hours
- Langdurend zorgverlof (long-term care leave) exists for more serious, longer situations — rarely needed for ordinary colds
- The exact rules, pay and caps depend on your contract and CAO — check the official sources below and your own employer
Be kind to yourself
- Lower the bar at home during peak weeks — simpler meals, more rest, fewer extras is a strategy, not a failure
- A sick child usually just wants you close; a quiet day on the sofa together is enough
- You'll probably catch some of these colds too — factor your own recovery in, not just theirs
- Remember this is the hardest stretch of a curve that flattens; you are not doing it wrong
Leave rules change and depend on your situation — treat the names here as a starting point to look up, not legal advice. The official links in the resources section have the current detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really normal to be sick this often?
Yes. In the first daycare year, roughly 8–12 colds across the year is within the normal range, and winter bunches them together so it feels like more. Frequent ordinary colds are a sign of an immune system getting to work, not a fragile child.
It feels like one endless illness — is that possible?
Almost always it's several separate, ordinary viruses arriving close together. A young child's cold can linger a week or two, so a new one often starts before the last has fully cleared, blurring into what looks like one long sickness. If you're ever worried about how long something is lasting, your huisarts or the consultatiebureau is the right place to check.
Would keeping my child home more make them sick less?
Not in the long run. Children meet these common viruses eventually — the main choice is whether that happens at daycare now or at school later. Delaying it tends to just move the busy sick season to the school years, which is often harder to juggle, not easier.
Can I give my child something to stop the colds?
There's no supplement or trick that reliably prevents these ordinary colds — building immunity takes meeting the bugs. The basics still help everyone: good sleep, varied food, plenty of fresh air and handwashing. For anything about your specific child's health or any product, ask your huisarts or consultatiebureau rather than the internet.
When does the daycare send a child home?
Broadly, when a child is too unwell to take part in the day, develops a fever or becomes unwell during the day, or has a contagious illness that public-health guidance says should stay home. A plain runny nose usually isn't a reason on its own. Your own group follows this guidance and will tell you what applies — when in doubt, just ask them.
What leave can I take from work when my child is sick?
In the Netherlands there's calamiteitenverlof for an acute emergency (like collecting a suddenly-sick child) and kortdurend zorgverlof for caring for a sick child, with an annual cap tied to your hours. The exact rules and pay depend on your contract and CAO — the official links below have the current detail, and your employer or HR can confirm what applies to you.
Where to check the facts
For anything about your own child's health, your huisarts and the consultatiebureau come first. These trusted sources cover daycare illness guidance and your rights as a working parent.
- Thuisarts.nl — reliable, plain-language health information (huisarts-backed)
- RIVM — national institute for public health (childcare & infectious-disease guidance)
- KIDDI-app (RIVM) — the childcare illness guidance many daycares use
- Rijksoverheid — calamiteitenverlof & (kortdurend) zorgverlof explained
- Your huisarts, huisartsenpost (after hours) and the consultatiebureau
About this guide
This guide is for general information and reassurance only. It is not medical advice, it does not diagnose anything, and it deliberately gives no symptom checklists or thresholds for when to seek care — every child and every illness is different. If your child seems very unwell, is not improving as you'd expect, or you are simply worried, always contact your huisarts, the huisartsenpost or the consultatiebureau; trust your instinct over any general guide. Descriptions of how daycares handle illness are general, based on Dutch public-health guidance such as the RIVM KIDDI-app, and are not a statement of any specific Teddy Kids location's policy — your own group will tell you exactly what applies.
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