Nursery… worth it or not?

I wouldn't say my eldest is ill every week but he does pick up germs every now and again yes, worse in the winter obviously. However it's just the same risk as them going to a soft play/baby class tbh. Nursery is fantastic for their development and confidence x

They tend to get ill a lot when they first start but it’s not all the time. It’s always worse in the winter months as there are more bugs going around then. My daughter has caught chickenpox and hand foot and mouth outside of nursery, but she’s had plenty of colds from there! But even if you don’t send them to nursery, they’ll catch lots of bugs when they start school. I’m not sure there’s any way you can avoid it. Not sure if you’re breastfeeding or not, but I’m still feeding my 2yo and most of her illnesses have been quite mild and short lived, I also don’t catch many of them as my body starts producing antibodies for her. However, my hubby caught HFM off her!

They aren't constantly ill, as Lauren's said they tend to get ill at the start of they're term time for the first week of every term (not guaranteed) Nursery is great for development and also gives you space. My firstborn is now in preschool and some children haven't been in private nursery and are starting in preschool unfortunately it's quite obvious which children haven't had that exposure. Those children also get ill more too as they've not been in that environment yet 😬

I have an autoimmune too and I think it's still worth it sending them, they need to build some immunity too

If you don't need to send them, then don't! My 3 year old has never been in a childcare setting and I don't plan on putting him in one either. Some of his friends go to nursery a couple of days a week and they do bring home quite a few illnesses. Other mums will talk about how their toddlers have improved in certain areas because of nursery, mostly speech and following instructions, but I spend a lot of time with my toddler and I don't feel like he lacks in any area by not going.