Toddler constantly ill, is this normal? Starting to worry about her

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Just wanted some advice from parents with older kids, dd has just turned 3 and since Oct has been ill with colds almost constantly.

She had 5 separate colds between Oct and mid Jan. Since mid Jan she has had a persistent cold that waxes and wains but is basically never ending.

Symtoms are typical - snotty nose, cough and grouchy (headache?). Often she is ok ish during the day but gets really bunged up and coughs loads at night.

Is it possible for kids to get so many colds, could this be something more worrying?

[PoorOldCat]

Might be an allergy (dairy?) or asthma.

Either way I'd try and get a doctor's opinion.

[PoorOldCat]

Do you have any pets?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Thanks poor no pets.

I was wondering about asthma, dh has asthma and was appalling ill with it as a child. The illness seem to be colds not allergy - they started in autumn and start with a sore throat, then snotty nose and finally a cough.

[CrumblyMumbly]

Hi, my dd is also 3 and started nursery in January. Has also had a cold and cough since then as do all the other kids there. She now has Rotavirus - (d & v) sigh. It takes a while to build up immunity and just seems to be 'one of those things' I'm afraid. It could be her brother is bringing extra lovely germs from school? I have propped up dd's bed (head end) slightly with a book and this seemed to help with night coughing together with baby vick. Keep strong!

[WowserBowser]

Last winter when Ds started nursery he was the same. It was a pain. Me and Dh kept getting the same bugs and the 3 of us just passed them round for months and months.

Not so bad this year but he is often snotty and has a cough on and off. He is 3.

[Naisy]

Take her to the doctor, get her properly checked (bloods, etc). Pay if you have to. Your mind won't rest until you do.

Best wishes x

[MadameJ]

My 3 yo dd is exactly the same, she started nursery in September and has pretty much had a cough and a cold since then. I took her to the gp and he was not concerned and felt that all children go through this in order to build there immunity. I am hoping that once the warmer weather comes we may all get a little break from it!

[pictish]

If she started nursery in September then what you describe is pretty run of the mill. The same happened to ds1 when he started nursery...for about six months he caught every bug going and seemed to get one illness after another.

[SwayingBranches]

If you are concerned then it's right to follow that up.

Rampant colds can be normal, but night time coughs can be a sign of asthma. I overlooked that with my ds1, he is borderline asthmatic but the coughs he had at night just lingered and lingered until he got an inhaler. I am sure all the coughing interfering with his sleep made him more run down and likely to catch more colds!

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Thanks for all the advice, I might take her to the gp to try out an inhailer.

[stickybean]

My DD used to be like this. She had her adenoids out at 4 and has barely had a cold since.

[matana]

DS (3) has been like this, so i ended up taking him to the doctor. It was actually a chest infection which he couldn't shake as it was bacterial and he needed antibiotics. His temperature wasn't noticeably raised and other than cough and a bit of grumpiness you wouldn't think he was ill. Wish i'd taken him to the docs sooner though, bless him. The doc also discussed asthma with me as a possible cause of his repeated coughs.