Just received a "battering" in am I being unreasonable

[staycalmandcarryon]

Posted this in AIBU as received a shit load of abuse!

I am not singling anyone out, I am just wanting to somehow prevent DS from being sick.

I just need practical advice not a slagging match :)

My DS2 is 7 months old, he has had several infections, Bronchiolitis and now an infection in his right lung... pneumonia, we have spent most of the weekend in hospital, he is now under a specialist etc

My DSS who is nearly 4 has constant coughs and colds, my eldest DS who is 7 is never ever poorly (touch wood) other than terrible croup when he was younger and a random attack last year.

I have said that in future when DSS has a cough and a cold, I need to keep them separate as my youngest doesnt just get a cough or cold it gets serious, resulting in numerous hospital visits, sleepness nights, medication, steroids and antibiotics which is extremely stressful for him, his lungs and me.

I am expecting another baby in October, so my emotions are heightened.

However I feel this is reasonable, I know it is difficult to do that and not the best situation but I dont want my baby being this poorly I am his mother and I have a natural instinct to protect him, I dont enjoy watching him struggling for breath, not eating and generally being really poorly so if I can prevent it then I will do whatever I can.

TBH I would be concerned about the 4 yrs immune system to constantly have a cold is not normal

Is your 4yo taking anything to help his immune system? Zinc, magnesium, probiotics, vit C?
It might be worth having him looked at for allergies and intolerances as these might be stressing his body and impeding his normal immune response. Also some people are very sensitive to moulds which can have a massive effect on their respiratory systems - worth checking.

I apologise if this has already been said, but I don't have time to read 2 threads worth.

You will never be able to keep the children separate, so you might as well focus on something more achievable like boosting your 4yo's immune system.

It occurs to me that your DSS may benefit from extra Vitamin D if he's often sick. Low vit D levels can lead to repeated illness. But to be honest small children pick up lots of things anyway.

I found that dc#3 got so much more infections than either #1 or #2.

#1 didn't have any illness until she was 14months, and has not had much, and only one serious.
#2 had her first illness at 10 months, and has a gentle trickle ever since.
#3 had his first blood test for illness (suspected meningitis type) at 10 weeks, and started being constantly ill at 12 weeks, which continued until he was nearly 2yo. He's still gets many more illnesses at 4yo than the other two. I think it's because he got passed the bugs from 2 different children/schools.

I don't think you can blame #2 particularly. I know that most often in my family dc#1 is in contact, doesn't apparently have the illness. She's good at hiding it, and tends to have things mildly. And passes it to #2 or #3 who have it badly. Because she's had it mildly, then she doesn't get it again. This has happened several times with various bugs.

I think you need to talk to the drs about this, rather than post these threads, it really doesn't help anyone.

When ds gets ill, he gets very ill and has been hospitalised several times, he has 2 sisters and gets taken on the school run every day, there is no way round it. He has the flu jab and has been vaccinated against chicken pox, but otherwise we have to just carry on, carrying on. As his gp says, the place where he is most likely to pick up an infection is the hospital ( which unfortunately is like our second home!)

Agree about vitamins. Your youngest may be low in iron, dd was at that age with bronchiolitis, and they may all benefit fro extra supplements. Your ds prob had blood tests in hosp - they never told us the results showed low iron! Then had follow up appt in 6 months to 'see how the iron supplementation had been going'!! Duh!

Hi OP, so sorry to hear your baby has been so poorly I totally sympathise, my 18mo has been hospitalised 7 times since being 9mo with chest infections, bronchiolitis and was diagnosed with asthma at 15mo he has really been through the wars. I have no other children so I cannot relate to how you would manage to separate them when poorly, however we did remove DS from nursery to try and avoid him picking up infections/colds that led him to be hospitalised (and that was under the advise of his consultant) to let his immune system recover and get a bit stronger.
It is the most stressful thing having a sick baby in and out of hospital, an how are you going to look after your DC's if your in the hospital with baba!? You just do whatever you need to do to keep your little ones well big hugs

I will say what I said on the other thread: just because your own son does not show as many symptoms as your dss, that is no reason to believe he does not carry as many germs