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Original poster

Does anyone with small children NOT routinely catch the dreaded bug?

111 replies

WellErrr · 05/12/2019 19:43

I’m terrified of being sick. It’s awful this time of year, and worse since having DC - the bug is in their school at the moment and I am just privately living in terror of any of us catching it.

I just wondered how many have/have had DC going through school, and how often they/you catch it. Is it inevitable!?? I think social media can skew it as it sometimes makes it seem like the plague.

Thanks all.

OP posts:
Fouroutoffour · 05/12/2019 21:13

*had bronchiolitis

WillYouDoTheFandango · 05/12/2019 21:14

Depends if you’re prone or not. I am, DS (6) is not. He quite often brings it home to me but doesn’t get sick himself. Currently tucked up after a stomach bug at the moment.

Fucket · 05/12/2019 21:14

Bloody iPhone and my fat fingers!

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Families
Anoisagusaris · 05/12/2019 21:14

Both kid are sick with a virus now but it’s a sore throat and temperature. Doing the rounds in the school.

argueifnecessary · 05/12/2019 21:16

I don't seem to catch sickness bugs. DD1 has had one a couple of times, she is 4. I do however get passed on the bloody sniffles every.single.time. I have suffered from sinusitis all my life and have sinuses that are too narrow and not straight so no wonder, and DD2 seems to have it too. She is 7 months old and it's her 4th time having a sniffles. So annoying.

Anoisagusaris · 05/12/2019 21:18

@bruffin That is interesting- My blood group is B and I don’t get D&V bugs.

bumblenbean · 05/12/2019 21:20

@happypotamus would you mind asking your DH which test he did please? I wanted to have this done but when I emailed 23andme they said they don’t test for it (which I’m not sure is right - I’m sure their tests show whether you have a mutation in FUT2 or something like that which relates to norovirus I think)!

OP I’m the same as you - major anxiety over sickness and DS was throwing up all Tuesday night. Am hoping the rest of us have avoided it. Ironically I never seem to catch these things which is why I wondered about the immunity thing, but I fear my run of luck may come to a crashing halt now I have kids to deal with!! 😆

SubordinateThatClause · 05/12/2019 21:21

Is there an emetophobia support thread? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3760618-is-there-an-emetophobia-support-thread

Here you go! x

MiaKolpar · 05/12/2019 21:21

OP, I second those who've suggested emet support threads. I was on one when mine were little (an eternity ago, now), and it was really helpful.

FWIW, my DC1 has v'd about 5 times in his entire life (he's nearly 18) - whereas my youngest tends to catch every v bug going. DC1 is also phobic, for which I sort of blame myself (for failing to deal with v in a normal way), and sort of think it's just because he is a clone of me in every regard (poor boy).

Youngest has always been prone to v bugs (she's now 15). She can, at least, sort herself out now (she tends to v if she's coming down with something else). When she was little and was catching every endless v bug, though, I used to go into lockdown mode. The main thing was hand-washing. Endlessly. Fresh towels every time anyone dried their hands. We got through about 1,000,000 towels during one episode with her. We could confine the sick one to one loo upstairs and one loo downstairs (we had many loos at the time - the first thing I did when I bought a tiny house after divorce was put a second loo in, for phobic purposes).

I only ever caught one bug when they were little, and it was fortunately the d version for me, rather than the d&v. I really was obsessive about hygiene, though.

Unusualsuspicion · 05/12/2019 21:25

We never get d&v. Last time kids threw up was as babies, and the eldest is now 12. I believe some people are pretty much immune. But we make up for it by catching every chest infection going, and have inhalers in every room and pocket!

Thebookswereherfriends · 05/12/2019 21:29

A lot of it’s luck, some of it is your hygiene practices and some of it is genetics.
I work with children - I caught one sickness bug when I first started training at 17. I have not had one since. I get one or two colds a year, but never very severe. I have a 7yr old and she has been sick about 4 times in her life, but she only ever throws up once in the middle of the night and that’s it. My partner has never had a sickness bug in the 14 years I’ve known him.
We get a lot of fresh air, don’t have central heating on very often and try to eat pretty healthily, but I think it mostly comes down to our general constitution.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 05/12/2019 21:32

DS is in Year 2 and we've only had D&V once in his whole life, but I was the one who initially started with it so I don't think he brought it back from school. I'm not OTT about hygiene either.

CountFosco · 05/12/2019 21:45

Adults have mature immune systems, children do not and so catch more things. Two of our three children had the sickness bug last week. I (and DD2 who never catches anything) were absolutely fine. DH, who had cleaned up DSs vomit the first time he was sick, had a bit of diarrhœa but no sickness. It's the first time we've had more than one child with a sickness bug at a time. I know some families where everyone is affected badly but most adults don't catch these bugs from their DC.

CryHavoc · 05/12/2019 21:53

I've had a child go through nursery and primary school without catching one single sickness bug. Or any cold worse than a bit of a sniffle. She had one day off with a stubborn patch of impetigo, but that's it.
Bugs aren't as inevitable as everyone seems to think.
(I credit her immune system of steel to her infancy spent crawling around with the dogs.)

Muuuuuuuum · 05/12/2019 21:59

My kids are not massive handwashers, my house is not particularly clean. Since eldest started nursery at 6 months I've always had at least one child in childcare / school. In those 13 years one (of three) children has had one sickness bug.

It's not inevitable, but I think you either get it or you don't - my colleagues 4 year old had had about 5 bouts of d&v since starting nursery at 3.

We're either lucky in my house, or have amazing immunity (watch us all spend Christmas sick as dogs now I've said that Grin)

Original poster
WellErrr · 05/12/2019 22:04

Thank you so much everyone. Really helping!

OP posts:
PrincessHoneysuckle · 05/12/2019 22:12

Lots of kids in ds school have got it,ds was sick around 8.30pm but that's been it so far..touch wood he'll be ok and it was a one off

ChanklyBore · 05/12/2019 22:16

I’ve caught one sickness bug from my children and that was only a few months ago (oldest dc is 14) so if you’d asked me last year I would have had a clean slate. I don’t recall much in the way of colds or viruses being passed around either - even through toddlerhood, nursery etc. I can’t remember the last time I had a cold, it’s been a few years. I’ve been called to pick up a sick kid from school/nursery sum total of twice so far.

What I HAVE caught from them is impetigo (the skin on my face fell off!)

And nits. More than once. Just in case anyone thinks I was a bit smug.

feliciabirthgiver · 05/12/2019 22:16

My eldest is 16 and I can only think of 2 occasions in 16yrs where we both have had a bug at the same time

ShinyGiratina · 05/12/2019 22:21

Not a sicky household.
DS2 has asthma and has occasionally coughed up a little sick at night rather than a full gastric clear out.
DS1 is nearly 9 and has been sick twice since weaning.

A few of us were ill a couple of years ago on holiday when a D&V bug swept around the AI resort, presumably via the buffet. I was previously ill a couple of years before that with campylobacter, which I managed to keep isolated from the rest of the family. I think that was the first in years since I was in India.

Scrumptiousbears · 05/12/2019 22:27

We seem to fairing ok. DDs 3 & 5 have had no childhood illnesses or bugs just colds here and there. 🤞🏻

Paddingtonthebear · 05/12/2019 22:33

No sickness bugs ever in our house.
DD is 7 and has never vomited or had any illness apart from a cold/runny nose. She never missed a day of nursery in 4 years and is in her 3rd year of school and hasn’t missed a day there either. I don’t know how but , she manages to avoid everything. In her reception class one week over half the class of 30 plus the teacher was off sick, there was tonsillitis, hand foot and mouth, scarlet fever and a sickness bug. DD avoided them all, no idea how.

Merename · 05/12/2019 22:39

Wow, it’s fascinating hearing all these people who never get it, it’s not inevitable. We’ve had a vomiting big go round us all each of DD1’s 4 years. The wee ones never had any yet and there’s been loads with it in the nursery recently but we’ve avoided as yet. I get irrationally anxious and I don’t really know why, as the being sick is actually ok, I mean not my fave thing to do, but I find it’s the ‘will I/won’t I get it’ thing and waiting, that really stresses me.

Merename · 05/12/2019 22:40

And my kids are ill with colds etc constantly too. Breastfed, fairly healthy diets. Must be genetic then?

Thestrangestthing · 05/12/2019 22:41

I'm a childminder and constantly around sick children, because apparently they are just teething 🤔. I rarely get sick, very rarely.