As most parents can attest to, dealing with sick children is the worst. From a practical point of view, it is always a challenge rearranging work schedules, getting doctors appointments, and transporting ill children.

Emotionally, watching your little one suffer when there is little or nothing you can really do is heartbreaking. To make matters worst, little ones don’t always understand that their parents can’t actually make them feel better, so they tend to get emotional when not feeling well.

According to a recent study, the average child catches roughly six to ten colds a year. The more your child is around other children or areas where other children play, they more likely they are to get sick. The simple truth is that young children have yet to master good hygiene. They do not wash their hands as much as they need to or cover their mouth every time they cough or sneeze.

Young children also tend to be more interactive; touching each other more than older children or adults generally do. The improper personal hygiene and the constant touching creates an environment where germs are quickly and easily spread from child to child, which leads to frequent illnesses.

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 million school days are lost each year by American school children due to the common cold. The best way to avoid illness is through consistent and constant cleaning.

The younger the children, the more important it is to focus on preventing infections through rigorous and detailed cleaning. Daycare cleaning is especially important because they are not only dealing with germs being spread through illness, but also through potty training and possible messes.

The more children are exposed to germs, the more likely they are to get sick frequently or to not fully get healthy before falling sick again. Infection prevention through daycare cleaning is not something that can happen once in a while; it has to be constant.

The more frequently the toys, surfaces, and surfaces are disinfected, the better the chances are that the children will remain healthy. While you can’t always control the children directly spreading germs to each other, the daycare can prevent them from getting germs from the tables, chairs, door handles, and toys.

When looking into daycares, it is acceptable and appropriate to ask about the daycare cleaning routine. If they are not vigorously cleaning on a daily basis, it may be best to look at another daycare facility. Daycare cleaning should be seen as one of the first lines of defense against the rapid spread of cold and flu germs.

Aside from regular and rigorous cleaning, the daycare you are looking at should also have a clear procedure in place to ensure the kids are regularly washing their hands. For example, do they follow a hand cleaning schedule? Is there someone there to make sure that the children are washing their hands every time they go to the bathroom and before all snacks or meals.

What about after they sneeze or cough? Is someone there to make sure they wash their hands or at least use disinfecting hand gel? The more children are encouraged to wash their hands and cover their mouths, the less likely they will be to spread germs back and forth to each other.