I was also told by a lactation consultant after my last pregnancy that breastfeeding can help -- that when I was exposed to germs, my body made antibodies to fight that illness, and then passed them to baby. We were careful about going out, but we did take a trip with DS (at Xmas no less) while I was breastfeeding, and he never got sick until after I stopped pumping (13 mos). I had to supplement w/ formula b/c he couldn't latch and I could never pump more than 50%, but I was told that he still got the antibodies. I do worry about DS#1 bringing home germs from preschool to DS#2 this winter... eeek. Fingers crossed for both of us!! :)

This is how it seems to work for us: our older son brings home the bugs from daycare (although we have a strict handwashing routine).
He then give them to me and our infant daughter. She seems to get them - as do I - but very, very lightly. I am breastfeeding and think that might be why her illnesses are so mild. I tend to be worse than her, so I am definitely fighting off the bugs. Do you plan on breastfeeding?

I put my son in daycare at 7 weeks old, and he was a preemie born at 33 weeks. He was and still is in an in-home daycare, so there is only 5-6 children at any given time. He didn't have any issues with illness other than the random cold, and has received great care, so it has worked well for us. I do think the in-home daycare option is kind of nice if you find a good one...less kids, and it is nice for them to be around various ages rather than all infants or toddlers, etc.

My first son was 4 weeks early. Luckily, he was born healthy, just ended up with severe juandice. I only had 7 weeks off. I found a small in-home provider close to work that was state certified and inspected for preemies. The place was less than 10 min from work, so I'd go and nurse him during lunch. I had easy work hours, too, so that helped. He was born in Feb, started daycare in April, so I think we lucked out by missing the sickest time of year. We moved, and ended up in a very small center.
That said, it seemed he was still sick a lot. Lots of ear infections, ear tubes put in on his 1st birthday. No ear infections since. The first two years we also had a lot of stomach bugs.
With DS2, we had moved, and moved again, and were (and are) now in a large center. DS2 was born healthy at 39 weeks, and I was able to stay home 12 weeks. I started dropping him off at daycare for a few hours a few days a week after he was 2 months old - so I could workout or shop or just have mommy time. He started full time daycare in Dec. He has been sick about the same as DS1 - lots of ear infections (tubes scheduled for Aug), and lots of colds that bring on breathing issues. But he also had an unexplained illness when he was just a few weeks old and not in daycare. He also got exposed to chicken pox last week (only 9 months old so not vaccinated for chicken pox yet) and were waiting to see if he gets chicken pox.
IMHO, smaller centers mean less germs. I wish we were in a smaller center, but the one were at now is by work and I get a huge discount through my employer. Its also state of the art and less than 2 years old.
Good luck on finding the right daycare for you!

I have the same fear!!! I am due Jan 3rd and DS will be 3.5 years old. My sister was born in January, 3.5 years after me, and ended up in the hospital with pnuemonia at 2 weeks old...b/c I gave her a cold.

I was thinking about keeping DS home from preschool for a few months, so he brings home less germs. Don't know what I will do if this one is a preemie too.

I kept Cate home till May 09 and she was born in Jan 09. We used a LOT of hand sanitizer. As soon as the other two came home from daycare and school, wash hands, use hand sanitizer. You'll have to implement that routine.

We had to do daycare, but we were able to keep Mary home until she was almost five months old. We had a brutal year with colds, ear infections, RSV, puking,etc, but she is no worse off for it. It works if it is what you have to do. You might have good timing if you have the baby in January, it could be april before you have to start daycare. You might be able to skip RSV season entirely and just get all of the other stuff.
I was able to have family come out to watch Mary so that she could be home those extra two months. I also worked from home about a day or two a week while I was on maternity leave to stretch my leave. It helped. We couldn't afford a nanny and heard horror stories about trying to find one that shows up consistently where we live. We decided that daycare was the path of least resistance, and her doctor was okay with it.
I would ask your pediatrician what they think, factor in what you can afford and what is available, then learn to like the decision you have to make. You can always change plans if the baby is born early or has other health issues. My friends' that had a nanny last year said that they had decent luck with a nanny service. They had problems getting nannies to show up since they could only afford the "entry level" nannies. I think the moral of that story is to pay more if you can to get someone who really likes being a nanny and understands that showing up daily is part of the job. They got two who seemed to be testing the field and realized that it wasn't for them. They ended up paying a lot of "sick" days.

My 2 year old is currently in preschool. We were lucky and my mom watched her until she was 9 months old. She was never sick until she started daycare and then she had a million ear infections and colds. She seems to have now leveled off with those but I worry about what to do with the next child.

I am currently due in Jan and already starting to worry about what happens if we have a preemie. I worry that if we have a preemie, their immune system might not be up to par - and honestly, worried even if not a preemie, that my daughter will bring home germs from the preschool. This time we live in another state so I do not have the luxury of my mom.

Both myself and my husband work high pressure jobs, and taking off more than 12 weeks will be difficult to manage, so I am wondering if it would be easier to get a nanny/aupair than send to daycare. My daughter's daycare no longer has an infant program so we'd have to find a new daycare any way before the new one arrives- Does anyone have any feedback or suggestions about this?