Kids constantly coming down with sick bugs

You don't need laundry sanitiser. Towels, bedding, flannels, pants (daily), tea towels, oven gloves, dishcloths, all need to be washed at 60 or over with an appropriate detergent regularly, at least weekly. Use disinfectant (not anti-bac) on surfaces, wash and dry hands after toilet. Paper tissues for noses, not toilet paper.

It does sound a lot. We seem to get sick bugs every 3 or 4 years only. DD4 has only had one, DS8 has had two.

Dd still has regular sniffles but they don't bother her and we don't seem to get them.

We did have a horrible flu this year and they were both off for 3 days. First time DS had missed school and he is in Year 3. It seems we have been lucky.

I wouldn't say it is hygiene as mine can be as grubby as any other kid! They do have a varied and healthy diet though, maybe it helps somewhat.

I think it's also genetics, DH and I don't really get ill and DH has never vomited from a bug in his life! As an emetophobe I am very jealous but grateful for passing on his iron stomach to our kids!!

I do think some kids are more prone to them for whatever reason.

Touch wood they haven’t been something we’ve had loads of, although DS had a phase of getting various things in around yr5.

Its more colds than sick bugs that my two got in primary and still get in secondary.

We are quite good at not spreading things round the house when someone does get a bug but some just so pass however you try to be very hygienic!

Everyone is different and yes, children do pick things up off each other. I would have expected your older child to be more resilient as he/she progresses through school. If they are regularly getting vomiting illnesses it may be a good idea to get stool samples checked by your GP.

Do they get enough outside play and fresh air? That can help with immunity.

Hand sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus, so if your DD is relying on that rather than washing hands with soap and water, it won’t help.

The year my youngest started (last year) was pretty relentless, but this year has been better (touch wood). I think once they get sick it's easy for them to get run down and to catch absolutely everything because their immune system keeps taking a hammering.

The better weather will help. I hope you come out of it soon, OP.

Oldest (year 5) has consistent 100% attendance since start of year 2.

Youngest (now year 2) used to get sick a lot until she was diagnosed as coeliac and we took her off gluten a year ago. Now she also doesn't get sick beyond a mild runny nose, I think coeliac disease stopped her absorbing nutrients.

They both have a daily multivitamin and eat quite healthily with lots of fruit and veg, but otherwise I think we are just lucky

Poor things, that must be miserable for you all!
What do they eat at school?
This maybe a long shot, but when I was eating school dinners I got tummy bugs regularly. My doctor suggested the school canteen hygiene wasn't too good and that I should take my own sandwiches instead. It fixed the problem!

I agree to an extent but all the hand hygiene in the world isn’t going to help you if another child vomits on your child in class (bad day!). I also suspect with school budgets being cut cleaning isn’t always what it should be.

When my son started nursery he was fine but I went down with absolutely everything 🤷

She uses Optibac - gummies now, the powder sachets when they were smaller.

I think one cold a month is pretty normal but my 6yo has only ever had a couple of sick bugs in his life and the older two were similar at that age. So every 2 years maybe.

It’s hand hygiene

What about those actimel drinks? Can you give them to children? It's all worth a try, the vitamins etc, if you think they are sick excessively.

I suppose when they are little they are building up immunity. As long as they have a healthy diet with fruit and veg they should recover well.

Id say normal.in the nursery//reception years but my daughter in y5 has only had 1 day sick in 3 years

Mine were constantly ill in reception and year 1, started to ease off a bit in year 2 and as they got older it got better.

multivitamins and probiotics help but nothing stopped it in my experience.

If they are reception age and not previously been able exposed to these things at nursery/pre school then it takes a while to build the immune system. They shouldn't be getting sickness bugs monthly though, the average I read is one a year, and they should be okay for a few months after one from norovirus as they will still have some protection in their system from fighting it previously. Def practice good hand washing. Hopefully next winter will be better. My son went to pre school and had constant colds but now in reception he has only missed two days since September so far due to a sickness bug.

I know with nursery if a kid is sick, no matter what the reason they are strict to keep them off for 2 full days to prevent spread but schools aren't as strict and are pushed for attendances so people go in sick and spread everything, combined with parents having to work to pay the bills it's a vicious circle.

This year has been quite bad for sickness bugs in my view.

child 1 has had a vomiting bug
child 2 has had two vomiting bugs.

I’ve had other years with no time off for vomiting bugs but these ones have taken out loads of children. Fortunately we don’t see to have cross infection at home but I am fascinated by transmission as there are some kids who just seem to avoid vomiting bugs even when most of the class have it.

I had one year where it was all about bacterial tonsillitis but (touch wood) that hasn’t hit for a while. My youngest hasn’t been to the GP or A&E since 22. Eldest has been every year for wide range of ailments from broken bones to nasty illnesses.

I should stress we are not at all bothered by hygiene in this house. Wash hands after using the toilet, that's it really.

I would think it's very variable. My DS only missed two days in his whole time in primary school. I work with colleagues whose children seem to be ill very regularly. Some people just have better immune systems, I don't think anyone really knows why

My DNephews are 7 and 2. Maybe they’re lucky but they don’t seem to get viruses or colds much even the younger one. Maybe they’ve both built up their immune systems. Both parents get flu jabs.

DD6 is rarely ill but she goes to a small school. She gets a vitamin gummy everyday and eats a lot of veggies/fruit. She is lax on her handwashing though despite our efforts so im amazed she isn’t more ill (she has only ever puked twice). We do spend a lot of time outdoors and she is really active, which apparently there is a correlation with immunity. She did get a lot of colds her first yrs of nursery at age 1, but that lessened after a year or so she may have caught them all already. I also work in healthcare and have had no sick days in over a year except for migraine (hormone related), but i do use a lot of hand gel still. I also get the flu shot every year and DD gets the flu sniff thing at school either no side effects. So perhaps it’s part a mix of genetics and situational stuff like class size (and no sibling) but so far we have been fairly lucky 😅