Written by: Libby Klingberg, Owner, 360 Early Education
Published: April 2026 | Estimated read time: 7 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- It’s completely normal — and actually beneficial — for young children to get sick when they start childcare. Their immune system is learning the job.
- The best thing you can do when your child is unwell is keep them home, let them rest, and keep them hydrated. Sending them in when they are sick doesn’t help anyone.
- Children who get through the germ gauntlet in the early years tend to get sick less once they reach school age. It really does get better!
If there’s one question I hear from families in their first few months of their child starting with us, it’s this: “why does my child keep getting sick at childcare?” It can feel relentless — one illness barely clears before the next one arrives. I’ve been there myself with my own children, and I hear it from our families every single week.
To help answer this, I sat down with Dr. Linda Le — a local GP based at North Ryde Medical Centre, and a 360 Early Education parent of nine years across her three children. Linda brings a rare perspective: she’s seen this from both sides of the consultation room. What she shared was genuinely reassuring, so I wanted to pass this information on to every family in our community.
You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel — link below — but here’s a summary of everything we covered.
Why Children Get Sick at Childcare — and Why It’s Actually Good for Them
Their immune systems are ‘naïve’ — and that’s okay
When young children start in an early education and care setting, their immune systems are still developing. As Dr. Linda Le explains: “Their immune system is often immature or naïve — it’s still developing, and they haven’t been exposed to the outside germs and infections such as bacteria and viruses.”
Every time your child encounters a new virus or bacteria, their immune system builds antibodies, that Linda calls “immune memory.” The first time the body encounters a bug, it must figure out how to fight it. The second and third time? It already knows what to do, and the illness tends to be shorter and less severe.
Getting sick now means getting sick less later
Here’s the bit that parents often find the most comforting: research shows that children who move through the cycle of illness in the early years tend to get sick less once they start school. Their immune systems have had more practice.
When I asked Linda whether pulling children out of childcare in winter would help protect them, her answer was clear: “That’s a myth. In the short term it might seem like a great idea, but in reality, we’re just delaying the inevitable. For the next winter, they’ll still get sick.” The children who went through the winter at childcare? They’ll likely be better equipped by the following year.
This process — sometimes called “immune training” — is a completely normal and important part of child development. It doesn’t mean we encourage serious illness. Infection prevention, hygiene, vaccination, and keeping unwell children at home all remain essential. But these mild illnesses? They’re actully doing important work.
What’s Actually Happening When Your Child Has a Fever
A fever is your child’s body doing its job
A temperature above 38°C can be alarming, especially at 2am when your child is miserable and you’re exhausted. But Linda helped me reframe it: a fever is not a sign something is going wrong. It’s a sign your child’s body is responding exactly as it should.
“When a child has a temperature, it means their body is responding and appropriately trying to fight that infection,” she explained. “It’s the body’s way of mounting an immune response.”
That said, a child with a fever is also at their most infectious — which is why we ask families to keep children home during this period. We know it’s hard. We know the juggle with work is real. But sending a child in while they’re running a fever genuinely does risk spreading that infection through an entire room group within hours.
The “Panadol dump” — and why it concerns us
I’m going to be honest here, because it’s something we see. There are families who, under pressure, give their child Panadol or Nurofen in the morning to bring their temperature down and then bring them into the service. We used to call this the “Panadol dump.” Four hours later, the medication wears off, the temperature spikes, and in the meantime that infection has moved through a group of children.
Dr. Linda Le is direct on this: a child with a fever needs to be at home, resting, with fluids and parental support — not in a childcare setting. If your child responds well to fever medication and is eating and drinking, that’s a positive sign their body is tracking well. But they still are infectious.
How Long Is a Child Contagious — and When Can They Come Back?
The 24-hour rule makes sense clinically
Symptoms from an upper respiratory tract infection (the common cold) can drag on for 7 to 10 days, which is the very reason families feel trapped in a cycle. But the contagious window is narrower than that.
“The infectivity period is often gauged by when their last fever was,” Linda explained. “Generally, the recommendation is at least 24 hours after the fever — at that point, they’re unlikely still to be infectious.”
At 360, we ask families to wait 24 hours after a fever returns to normal (below 38°C) before bringing their child back in. For gastroenteritis, we ask for 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea.
Our “ready to participate” test
Beyond the fever rule, we use a simple gut-check: is your child well enough to eat, drink, sleep, and engage with the programme for the day? If they need one-on-one care and comfort — the kind of care that really only a parent or other carer can give — then they need to be at home. That’s not a judgement on anyone. That’s just what a sick child actually needs.
Myth or Fact? Busting the Most Common Parent Questions
This is one of my favourite parts of my conversation with Dr. Linda Le. We played myth or fact, and her answers might surprise you.
Will my child get sick if they get wet? — Myth. Wet hair or clothes might make them feel cold, but it doesn’t cause illness. You need a virus or bacteria for that.
Do children need extra layers of clothing to avoid getting sick? — Myth. In fact, too many layers can cause overheating. When a child has a fever, we actually want to reduce their clothing to help bring their temperature down.
Will pulling my child out of childcare in winter mean they’ll be healthier? — Myth. You’re just delaying their immune system training. Winter exposure to illnesses needs to happen at some point.
Do children who go to early education from 0 to 5 get sick less at school? — Fact. Evidence supports this. Children who’ve built immune memory in the early years tend to have fewer sick days once they hit primary school.
What You Can Do at Home to Support Your Child
The foundations: sleep, food, fluids
“To help support their immune system, ensure in general terms that they eat and drink well, they have a good night’s sleep, and importantly, support their body when they are unwell,” Dr. Linda Le told me.
We echo this at 360 — we’re strong advocates for adequate rest and good nutrition, and we see the difference it makes. When a child is sick, their body needs energy to fight, and good food, fluids, and rest are the best tools parents have.
On coughs and the “what can I give them?” question
One of the most common things families ask about is the persistent cough that lingers long after an illness clears. Linda confirmed that over-the-counter cough medicines are not recommended for young children. Instead, she pointed to two simple, evidence-based options:
- Honey (for children over 12 months) can help suppress a cough and soothe symptoms. For babies under 12 months, honey is not safe — speak to your GP.
- Saline nasal spray or drops can help break down mucus, particularly the post-nasal drip that causes children to cough at night. Combined with plenty of water, this is often the most useful combination.
What the colour of mucus tells you
Clear mucus generally means viral — the most common kind, which just has to run its course. When mucus becomes thick, yellow, or green, it may have developed into a secondary bacterial infection. Linda recommends seeing your GP in that case to determine whether treatment has changed.
Vaccination: the single most impactful thing families can do
“Immunisations are very important for children’s health,” Dr. Linda Le said simply. “It’s a passive way to build a child’s immunity by giving them better antibodies to build out their own defense.”
The Australian immunisation schedule protects children from serious conditions and also protects those in our community who aren’t yet old enough to be vaccinated. Linda also recommends the annual flu vaccine for children from 6 months of age (government-funded up to age 5) and for all adults, including educators and parents. This year the NSW government has released free nasal spray flu vaccination for children from 2 to 4 years. The ACT government also offers free flu vaccinations but only as an injection.
What Happens If Your Child Gets Sick While at 360
If your child becomes unwell at our centre, we’ll call you straight away and ask you to collect them within an hour. Please make sure you’re contactable during the day, and that your emergency contacts are up to date. If you don’t answer your phone, we will call your nominated emergency contact.
While your child waits for collection, we provide basic first aid and comfort. If families have given permission on the enrolment form and verbally when called, we may administer paracetamol in line with our medication procedures — but only to support comfort, not as a substitute for going home.
Please: if your child has a temperature and needs medication to get through the day, they need you, not us. They need rest, fluids, and one-on-one care. We’ll always be here when they’re ready to come back.
Watch Our Full Interview with Dr. Linda Le
Want to hear it straight from the GP herself? Libby Klingberg sat down with Dr. Linda Le from North Ryde Medical Centre to talk about childhood illness, immunity, fevers, mucus and coughs, myths, facts and more. It’s a warm, practical conversation that covers a lot of ground — and Dr. Linda Le’s perspective as both a clinician and a 360 parent herself makes it well worth a watch.
We’re in This Together
At 360 Early Education, we think about this a lot. We’re parents ourselves, and we know that the winter cycle of back-to-back illness is genuinely exhausting. We also know that the families navigating illnesses are doing their best — managing jobs, partners, employers, and a small person who just wants to be cuddled.
Our job is to be your partner in this, not an obstacle. We follow the NHMRC Staying Healthy guidelines, we practice evidence-based infection control, and we work hard to make our environment clean and safe as possible. But the single most impactful thing that protects every child, educator, and family in our service is families keeping unwell children at home.
If you have any questions about illness, exclusion periods, or your child’s health, please speak with your room educator or our centre director. You can also find us at www.360earlyeducation.com.au.
FAQs
Why does my child keep getting sick when at childcare?
When children start childcare, their immune systems encounter a much wider range of viruses and bacteria than they’ve been exposed to at home. Because their immune systems are still developing, they get sick more often as they build antibodies and immune memory. This is completely normal — and it does get better. Research shows that children who go through this process in the early years tend to get sick less once they start school.
Is it normal for toddlers to be sick a lot at daycare?
Yes — particularly in the first year of attending group care. Dr. Linda Le describes it as “an endless wave of intercurrent viral infections,” which can feel relentless. However, each illness is training the immune system. As long as your child is recovering between bouts and showing no red-flag symptoms, this pattern is to be expected, especially in winter months.
When can my child go back to childcare after a fever?
At 360 Early Education, we ask families to wait at least 24 hours after a child’s temperature returns below 38°C before returning to the service. This aligns with clinical guidance from Dr. Linda Le: the contagious window is generally linked to fever, so 24 fever-free hours is a reasonable indicator that the most infectious period has passed. A good rule of thumb is if your child is eating, sleeping and playing normally they are probably OK to return to the service.
How long is a child contagious with a cold?
Symptoms from an upper respiratory tract infection can last 7 to 10 days, but children are usually most contagious while they have a fever. Once the fever has cleared for 24 hours and your child is eating, drinking, and well enough to participate in the programme, they’re generally safe to return.
Does childcare make children healthier in the long run?
The evidence suggests yes. Children who are exposed to common viruses and bacteria in early childhood settings build immune memory that prepares them better for the germ environment of primary school. Studies have found that children who attend group care in the early years tend to have fewer sick days once they reach school age compared to those who had limited early exposure.
References
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). (2024). Staying Healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services (6th ed.). https://www.nhmrc.gov.au
Healthdirect Australia. Looking after a sick child. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/looking-after-a-sick-child
StartingBlocks.gov.au. Illness in early learning services. https://www.startingblocks.gov.au
Strachan, D.P. (1989). Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. BMJ.
Cleveland Clinic. How to Keep Your Kids Healthy When They Go to Daycare. https://health.clevelandclinic.org
Libby Klingberg
Libby is the owner and founder of 360 Early Education. She is a passionate advocate for quality early childhood education, an Occupational Therapist, Diploma in Children’s Services and a mother herself — which means she’s lived through the childcare illness cycle too, and she gets it. This blog was written drawing on 360’s own Illness Fact Sheet and an interview with Dr. Linda Le, GP at North Ryde Medical Centre.