The Thing That Most Parents of Daycare Kids Agree On

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My son is two years out of the diaper-wearing, Goldfish-snacking daycare scene, and I’m so relieved those boogery, slobbery, everything-in-the-mouth days are behind me — especially during this polar vortex cold-and-flu season.

And if I sound like your typical mom germaphobe with a Purell keychain and wet wipes at the ready, I’m not the only one: A new University of Michigan survey has found that most parents agree that children in daycare should be vaccinated — with 74 percent saying they’d consider removing their own kid from daycare if they knew that other children there weren’t up-to-date on their shots. They also believe that childcare facilities should have to re-check vaccination records every year (though most places currently do not).

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If daycares know that parents are interested in making sure all kids are vaccinated, they will begin to think through how that can be done, suggests Sarah Clark, associate director of the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, which conducted the survey.

“The first step is for parents to ask their daycare provider how often they check vaccination status, and if they’ve thought about how to make sure kids are up-to-date,” says Clark, also an associate research scientist in the University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics.

The administrators at my son’s former daycare were sticklers about this kind of stuff. When I forgot to turn in his updated vaccination schedule and flu shot certification one year, I got a paper reminder in his folder — and a phone call. Foremost, I believe they had my child’s wellness at heart, combined with needing to adhere to state laws and spot checks, of course. But these places are also businesses and don’t want to tick off their clients — even though removing their kids from a place would not typically be a snap decision for most moms and dads.

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“It’s hard to find a good daycare, so parents don’t make that decision lightly,” says Clark. “I think the large finding [of 74 percent] indicates that most parents really have no idea that, on average, one in four kids in the U.S. aren’t fully vaccinated. What’s the rate of under-vaccination in your kid’s daycare? You probably don’t know.”

She’s right. Thinking back, I can picture the tiny chairs, dressed-up classroom doors, and beautiful, bright entry mural, but heck if I knew who was and wasn’t getting their flu shots. My eye was pretty much on my prize, with the realization that, even if I knew little Johnny wasn’t vaccinated, there wouldn’t be much I could do to persuade his parents to make it happen. Interestingly, the study found that two-thirds of parents want to know how many kids at their daycare aren’t fully vaccinated, while only 25 percent said they should actually receive the names of specific kids who are not up to date.

And less than half of parents (41 percent) say they would want kids excluded from daycare until they got up to date — something Clark finds reasonable due to what she calls a “crowded immunization schedule.”

“It starts with the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, then shots at 2, 4 and 6 months, and others between 12 and 18 months. Next, booster doses at age 4 to 5. Don’t forget about the flu shot,” she says, noting that sometimes, a kid lagging behind on vaccines is due to logistical rather than philosophical reasons.

But still, the survey found, only one in 10 parents say they would support allowing a child to attend daycare regardless of his or her vaccine status. The other nine wouldn’t be too pleased with Patrick, a dad from New Jersey, whose 6-year-old has never been vaccinated. He tells Yahoo Parenting that he handed in a religious exemption form when asked for his daughter’s medical records — although his reasons were philosophical.

“Religion? That wasn’t our real reason,” he admits. “My wife is a special-ed teacher and works with autistic kids. We didn’t want to take a risk. We initially thought we would vaccinate her when she was older, like 3 or 4, but the kid is never sick. So why bother?” (Exemption laws vary from state to state, but all except Mississippi and West Virginia grant religious exemptions for people who have religious beliefs against immunizations; 19 states, not including New Jersey, allow philosophical exemptions for those who object to immunizations because of personal, moral, or other beliefs.)

Why bother, notes Dr. Ashanti W. Woods, attending pediatrician at Mercy Medical Center, is because vaccines have led to a significant reduction in cases of diseases that were once fatal and unpreventable. “The flu shot reduces millions of cases of the flu each year,” he tells Yahoo Parenting. “Even if you are unfortunate and get it, your case will be milder as a result.” He believes the new study’s results likely have a lot to with the fact that most daycare facilities service children ranging from 6 weeks to 6 years old. “I wouldn’t want an infant, up-to-date on shots, exposed to a 5-year-old that is not vaccinated and contracts chicken pox,” he says.