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Nathalie Thibault's bachelor's degree in Microbiology and master's degree in Immunology make her a germ and immune system specialist. Since the birth of her two daughters, she has been particularly interested in the infections which affect children who attend daycare. She is a teacher, speaker, and author. The specialized documents and courses she conceives help those involved in early childhood outsmart germs. She writes for a magazine called La Culbute and the mamanpourlavie.com website.

He caught it at daycare!

Dear parent,

My job is to help daycares prevent infections with courses, methods, knowledge, and additional techniques. Thus, I see several daycares which have a serious problem. They want to prevent the transmission of infections in your children and work very hard towards doing so yet, a very important element is missing: your collaboration! You cannot imagine how important it is to reach their goal: outsmart germs which make our lives difficult as much as possible!

Daycares can do everything they can to teach your children to wash their hands, teach them basic hygiene measures, and disinfect toys. On your end, you must pursue their efforts at home. If you omit to encourage your children to wash their hands at the restaurant, at the mall, or at the clinic, if you hide your children's fever with medication or omit important details regarding your children's health (he vomited through the night!), you are working against them and no one can win!

Germs are not born in daycares! They are brought into daycares by the children who attend them!

Five good reasons to pay attention to the prevention of infection

1. The health of your children. No one likes to see sick children! The less germs circulate, the healthier your children will be and the lesser the chances of them contracting serious infections such as meningitis, pneumonia, flesh eating bacteria, and the flu!
   
   
2. Your health. Often, you contract your children's infections. Reducing the number of infections your child faces will also protect your own health!
   
   
3. Your time. We all have busy schedules. A sick child requires more care and we often lose several hours in waiting rooms...which could easily be avoided with proper hand washing techniques and teamwork!
   
   
4. Your money. The costs related to medication or work days you miss due to a sick child are important. It is estimated that the cost of a sick child is $365 per six months and this amount does not include the parents' loss of salary!
   
   
5. Everyone's money. Less infections=less medical consultations, less prescriptions, and sometimes, less hospitalizations, less absenteeism at work...everyone wins!

I imagine that you are convinced by now.

But, what can you really do?

1. Insist that your children wash their hands OFTEN! 80% of infections are transmitted by hands.
   
   
2. Keep your children's fingernails as short as possible. In fact, several germs can collect under fingernails and survive for surprisingly long periods of time!
   
   
3. Inform your children's caregivers of your children's state of health. They will be better armed to prevent the transmission of infections efficiently.
   
   
4. Respect your daycare's exclusion criteria. Keep in mind that a sick child has greater chances of contracting other infections or for his infection to be aggravated.
   
   
5. As early as possible, show your children how to blow their nose, sneeze into the crook of their elbow, and wash their hands properly.
   
   
6. Keep your children as far away as possible from sources of stress and fatigue. They are an immune system's worst enemies.

Thanks to your precious collaboration and the efforts of your daycare, you have the POWER to reduce the number of infections children contract annually... Believe me! You may be pleasantly surprised with the results! Germs are invisible but they are not inescapable!

Nathalie Thibault 

Products and services offered by Germaction: Distance learning courses for caregivers, courses in classroom settings, conferences, animated workshops, ISO-BOBOS program, etc.

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