Expert answer: The BabyCenter Editorial Team

Initially, yes. But some studies show that while kids get sick more often when they start going to daycare, they eventually build up immunity and may even have fewer illnesses when they're older.

A study of more than 135,000 children in Copenhagen reported that young children who attend daycare are at greater risk for catching colds than kids who stay home. This is especially true for children up to 2 years of age and those without siblings. The risk is greatest when kids first head to daycare.

The researchers found that during their first six months attending daycare, children younger than 1 year of age have a 69 percent higher rate of hospital admittance for acute respiratory infection than babies who are cared for at home. (The risk climbs to 100 percent for babies with no siblings under age 5 at home.) This risk declines as a child continues to attend daycare, though. In fact, after attending daycare for one year a child's risk is the same as that of a child who stays home.

Based on these findings, you might consider keeping your younger baby at home. But when your baby's a bit older, keep in mind that, in the long run, kids who go to daycare fare just as well in the health department as their buddies who don't – and maybe even better. A different study found that kids who attend large daycare centers as preschoolers have fewer colds in later years (up to 13 years of age), probably because they've developed immunity to most common cold viruses.

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