Sick from the nursery?

[disneymagicgirl]

We sail in 6 weeks and I am starting to have doubts about leaving my baby in he nursery. We have used it in the past but the kids were 18m and 2.5 then. They had been exposed to plenty of germs at Mother's Day out.
This sailing my daughter will only be 8mths and has never been in any sort of childcare or around other kids. I am worried she will get sick in the first day or two from the germs and then I will have wasted money on our excursions that we have scheduled later in the week because she isn't old enough to attend then but it will be too late for me to cancel them.
Has anyone else noticed their baby got sick after exposure to the other kids in the nursery?

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds like you have two other kids? That means she's been around other kids. Umpteen kids and their germs. And I'm sure you don't sit around in a bubble, I'm sure you go out. So many germs in her life.

i wouldn't worry about this.

 

[mmouse37]

That's a hard question to answer. Whose to say your baby won't pick something up before you even get to the ship from the plane or other place with tons of people you may be? I can understand your concern but I don't think there is any way you can guarantee that your baby will or will not be exposed to germs (anywhere). Germs are everywhere. I think it is hit or miss and very much dependent on if other children in the nursery are sick or not. Hopefully not. I think DCL does as best they can in the nursery but again it depends on other kids.

I guess what I am trying to say is you have to decide if leaving your baby there increases their risk of picking something up and are you comfortable with that. Our extended family plans on leaving all 3 of our 1 year olds in the nursery at times during our cruise next month on the Fantasy.

Good luck with your decision.

MJ

 

[ldo]

it's really a roll of the dice. How much interaction does your baby have with your older kids, as they would have exposed her to germs from their friends/school. Has she had any colds yet? With any first major exposure, you'll likely get a cold, etc. Just thiink of the 1st weeks of school in Sept. At work, even the parents have a sniffle/cold by end of Sept from their kids' schools.
To play it safe, you could just use the nursery later in the week and not the 1st half of the cruise. So, if she got a cold, you'll be off the cruise by then. Also, bring lots of wipes for all the surfaces she'll touch. The other option is to rotate excursions with one adult skipping each day, to care for baby, if needed.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Sounds like you have two other kids? That means she's been around other kids. Umpteen kids and their germs. And I'm sure you don't sit around in a bubble, I'm sure you go out. So many germs in her life.

i wouldn't worry about this.

Yeah, she has siblings but I made them change and shower as soon as they got home from school. Now that it is summer there isn't as much risk and she is also bigger so not as much risk to her.
We have been on 5 flights the last 2 weeks and knock on wood she hasn't gotten sick from them yet. I do sanitize plane surfaces and close the vents to help.
We have been lucky that she hasn't been sick at all. I just would hate to have a sick infant on a ship and not have the things I need nearby...humidifier, etc. I don't expect to keep her in a bubble but if a caregiver is touching multiple other children the germs will obviously spread easier.
I am a nurse and I know how quickly an infant with respiratory symptoms can go south.
Was just wondering if anyone whose child hadn't ever been in any sort of childcare situation prior had them gotten sick from nursery. Seems all my friends who use daycares have sick babies all the time.
I will have to assess the situation once onboard.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

it's really a roll of the dice. How much interaction does your baby have with your older kids, as they would have exposed her to germs from their friends/school. Has she had any colds yet? With any first major exposure, you'll likely get a cold, etc. Just thiink of the 1st weeks of school in Sept. At work, even the parents have a sniffle/cold by end of Sept from their kids' schools.
To play it safe, you could just use the nursery later in the week and not the 1st half of the cruise. So, if she got a cold, you'll be off the cruise by then. Also, bring lots of wipes for all the surfaces she'll touch. The other option is to rotate excursions with one adult skipping each day, to care for baby, if needed.

All great ideas! Thank u. Our "date day" excursion is towards the end of the sailing so I was also thinking I can switch out and have my teen go with my husband (ATV ride) if the baby were to be sick.
And maybe I can just take her to the nursery when she is ready for a nap/sleep so she isn't slobbering the same toys as the other kiddos.
I probably sound insane. I am usually really laid back. But she is my youngest after a big gap and my last so I am a little obsessive with her.

 

[verleniahall]

Germs are a part of life - you can't not expose her forever - just let what happens happen

 

[bbel]

The nurseries and kids clubs onboard are the cleanest childcare facilities I've ever worked in. When a baby has 'slobbered' on a toy it is taken away to be cleaned at the end of the day.

At the end of the day your gonna be in a confined space with thousands of other people if they go to the nursery or not...

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Germs are a part of life - you can't not expose her forever - just let what happens happen

I'd like to do what I can so my $10k vacation isn't spent in a 300sq ft stateroom. I realize germs are everywhere. I am a nurse...thus my concern.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

The nurseries and kids clubs onboard are the cleanest childcare facilities I've ever worked in. When a baby has 'slobbered' on a toy it is taken away to be cleaned at the end of the day.

At the end of the day your gonna be in a confined space with thousands of other people if they go to the nursery or not...

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[xavier2001]

It really is the roll of the dice. My son ended up with a mild stomach bug on our 2014 Fantasy trip (he was 6 at the time) and spent a day quarantined in the room, we missed an excursion b/c of it and Disney refunded my and my sons cost (benefit of booking through Disney). I was SO paranoid about it with our recent Wonder trip and he spent WAY more hours in the kids club this go around and didn't get sick. I work in a hospital so I get the paranoia. I like the idea of booking your nursery time later in the cruise that way if she does get sick its after you get home. I think the planes are WAY germier than the boat itself. With the recirculated air even closing the vents doesn't help. As an aside the other place I think germs (norovirus) runs rampant is in the pools. I know your little one is too small for the 'kid soup' but I"d be leary even of the splash pad areas. Any fecal matter is a breeding ground for norovirus.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

It really is the roll of the dice. My son ended up with a mild stomach bug on our 2014 Fantasy trip (he was 6 at the time) and spent a day quarantined in the room, we missed an excursion b/c of it and Disney refunded my and my sons cost (benefit of booking through Disney). I was SO paranoid about it with our recent Wonder trip and he spent WAY more hours in the kids club this go around and didn't get sick. I work in a hospital so I get the paranoia. I like the idea of booking your nursery time later in the cruise that way if she does get sick its after you get home. I think the planes are WAY germier than the boat itself. With the recirculated air even closing the vents doesn't help. As an aside the other place I think germs (norovirus) runs rampant is in the pools. I know your little one is too small for the 'kid soup' but I"d be leary even of the splash pad areas. Any fecal matter is a breeding ground for norovirus.

Great to know they refunded. That makes me feel better!

 

[MissMet]

We used the nursery when my son was one. He got the Norovirus, we're assuming from there but who knows, and passed it to my entire extended family one by one-three cabins in all! We missed excursions and whole ports because we all were so sick. It was my 30 birthday & I was pregnant. It was awful. And we were not given any refunds.

Having said that, we're sailing again in May, this time my son will be 2.5 and my daughter will be 13 months and we're planning to use the nursery even more than we did that cruise. If they're gonna get sick, they're gonna get sick. No way to tell where they pick up the germs. Young kids are bound to get sick...either on the plane, in the nursery, at the splash area, at the restaurants....there's so many ways they can get sick. Putting him in the nursery was so nice while it lasted. Don't miss out on that perk!!

 

[xavier2001]

Great to know they refunded. That makes me feel better!

Disney was really great under the circumstances. They deep cleaned our room, did all our pukey laundry for us, and brought us endless gatorade and chicken noodle soup. They called about every hour to check on us (really I think it was to make sure we were in our room). We were able to stop the spread to the rest of our cabin by some miracle.