Has anyone else's dc never been ill beyond a cold?

[Redwineandroses]

My dc are 15 and 16 and I was thinking today, beyond a sniffle and a cold, they've never been ill. Seems quite a rare thing?

We are a normal family as in they go to school, we're not overly cautious on cleaning the house top to bottom, they socialise and live fairly normal lives as teens. I hear of people and children getting flu/sickness bugs/bronchitis/general illnesses. I myself have suffered tonsillitis/strep throat over the years.

Has anyone else's dc not been poorly in their childhoods?

My 17 yo has had 1 sick bug and 1 ear infection rest normal colds.

4 yo only colds and toddler so far.

I guess it must come down to immune systems because I can't say my dc have has any a different life in mixing with regards to nursery/school/friend/soft play/parties.

My DD (8) was sick for the first time this summer -was either food poisoning or the heat. Me & DH have had a couple sickness bugs since she’s been born thankfully never passed on to her (prior to her birth I’ve never had a sickness bug before either ) she’s had the old cold that’s it.

So nice to read! As you usually hear more of the horror stories "DC has been ill all winter I can't have more time off work" or "3rd sickness bug this year" which made me so anxious when I was pregnant.

So far DS (5) has only had mild colds (never ill longer than 24h), chickenpox involved less than 10 spots and I think he's had 2 sickness bugs but only vomited once or twice with each, eating again as normal within a couple of hours!

But then I've vomited exactly twice in about 30 years, and DH hasn't vomited in his life!

I read something about your blood type determining how sick you get with norovirus and how some people are near immune.

Don't you feel like you're tempting fate posting this?!

I don't think it's most people's experience tbh

That's interesting about blood type?

Yes, norovirus has such a low threshold dose it must be an immunity thing for dc not to get sick.

Well they're nearly adults so I think the vast majority of their childhood they've gotten off pretty scot free in terms of illness 😃

Yes I think DH is one of the immune ones, so handy as I have a bit of a fear of vomiting, so he usually deals with sick DCs. It doesn't bother him in the slightest as he knows he won't catch it.

Astonishing really.

Myself and dc were all ff babies as well 😯😄 They were supposed to have weakened immune systems as a result!

I've never had to take a day off work due to child illness & nor has DH. We're both teachers & I went back when both were tiny.

Mix of rarely being ill, sometimes falls in school hols or on day off & MIL lives up the road & has covered the occasional emergency.

They have always had high attendance at school.

When they were tiny they went to child minder & not nursery so less germs. Also they got a rest as we never sent them in school hols.

Both are fussy eaters so no idea why they're not ill more often. DS in particular only ears a handful of things so they're not exactly eating loads of fruit & veg 🤷🏻‍♀️

They both had chicken pox but over Christmas. I don't think either have ever had a vomiting bug. Almost never get a cold. They're 13 & 14 now so would stay home alone if ill.

My middle child seems to shake off bugs, never gets a tummy bug even when all the rest do even chickenpox was five spots and done. Eldest is prone to nasty tonsillitus; aparently when they are already inflamed it's easier for bacterial infection to set in. Youngest twins had terrible croup/ needed steroids etc still catch everything going. I don't know it makes a difference but he's definitely the soap dodger of the bunch; shampoo must be mandated, negotiated and enforced. He has balanced it out by breaking his elbow badly and requiring multiple surgeries.

@Beginningless

I can’t believe how often it happens and I now get quite anxious about it.

Do they go to nursery? I think it's a breeding ground for sick bugs.

One of my kids (19) has never even been to the GP. He tested positive for covid once, but there was fuck all wrong with him. My 17 year old has been to GP once.

I am so bloody grateful, I was a horrendously sickly kid, in and out of hospital.

I never sterilised their bottles after reading a thread on here from a, I want to say micro biologist, but it was an amazing thread.

I often wonder if that helped them be so healthy or were they just genetically lucky!

Please don't let me have tempted Fate!!

Oh wait the 19 had chickenpox when he was about 18 months, and has a cough at the moment.

So yes he's probably been ill just not GP ill!

And I've also remembered by 17 had swine flu about 15 years ago.

Mine don't really get unwell and neither do I. The odd cold or sick bug (January 2020 last time we had that). My youngest had chicken pox last week, mild dose and wasn't I'll except from cold symptoms. My oldest was the same when she has them a few years ago. Saying that my oldest child tested positive for covid 3 weeks ago. She was pretty unwell with it and had 2 weeks off school, went back last week while my younger daughter was off with chicken pox and now this week she is off unwell again with the same symptoms she had when she had covid. Other than that though neither of us have ever had any other illnesses such as tonsillitis, flu, ear infections etc.

This thread reminded me of a mum in the school playground always going on about how her dc had never been ill, never had time off, barely a sniffle amongst them, ate anything etc etc. It really got to me as ours had a medical condition that meant time off for hospital and susceptible to certain ailments. Every time I said something I would get a lecture about how robust and no nonsense hers were .
A few years later one of them early teens got very ill with cancer and died. Probably just a sad coincidence.

Well I'm not "bragging" and certainly would feel sympathy for someone who's dc had medical conditions which led to more illness. Sadly your post has an undertone of "they got their karma " for bragging as their dc got cancer and died. 😕

21 and 14 and beyond normal childhood bugs, no. Never been ill. Same with dh & I.

long may it last, we are lucky 🍀

Ds(18) had RSV and was in hospital for 5 days at 18 months, chicken pox mildly at 3 (missed it going around the nursery 3 times before he got it) and had croup one night age 7-ish. Oh and he had a verrucca once 🤣. Only time he has been into gp surgery was for routine baby checkups and vacs.

Other than that, a few minor colds he had never been ill enough to miss nursery or school, never had vomitting or diarrhoea, ear infections etc. He's at uni now, brought home freshers flu which floored dh and I for the best part of a week each, but he again just had mild symptoms.

I was the same when younger, very rarely off school or work - could go 10+ years without a single sick day. I have been off sick more in the last 3 years than I have in the previous 30!

I've never seen my DH vomit in the 20 years I've known him. He doesn't get stomach bugs, even when the kids and me have them. I think some people just have inbuilt resistance or something.

I cant bring myself to make a proper post as it feels like tempting fate (averagely Ill
kids here, nothing remarkable)

Childhood infectious Illness is pretty random and not much you can do anything about, save for vaccination.

Touch wood OP. Mine were similar until their late teens when two developed chronic and serious medical conditions that were hidden in their genes. Getting sick isn't a bad thing in itself. It builds the immune system.

Mine are 15 and 18 and have had 1 vomiting bug each, chickenpox, and Covid.
No chest or ear infections or anything else like that. We've been very lucky. Me, I'm falling apart! 😆

My eldest (now adult) is like me: iron stomach.

Only sick once in childhood and that was after accidentally eating blue cheese as a toddler.

Had antibiotics once for an ear infection.

Mild chickenpox.

Got prizes at school for 100% attendance.

I've only non alcohol vomited twice in adulthood. Not even in pregnancy.

Can't say either of us has great hygiene. Think our bodies are just used to lots of germs.

It does come across as a bit braggy.

I wouldn't consider my DD to be particularly sickly (in the past year she's had covid, a chest infection requiring antibiotics and has another virus right now) but I think that's pretty normal, so to hear about children who apparently literally never get ill is a bit irritating.

I can't imagine how I'd feel reading this if she had a more serious condition or had ever been hospitalised which many many children of MNers will have been.