DD is 16mo. She has had a runny nose/full on cold/cough almost ever since she was born-even the midwives in hospital commented that she was very mucusy. The weeks she's NOT ill stand out in my memory! She currently has a really bad cough and cold, has just come off antibiotics for a chest infection, had an ear infection (and more antibiotics) before Christmas and has had a vomiting bug twice.
Does this seem excessive in her short little life? I keep thinking that her immune system must be really bad for her to get all these bugs, but I THINK she has a good diet. A typical day at the moment:
Breakfast of ready brek or sometimes a piece of buttered toast with jam
and a bottle of full fat milk.
Lunch depends if she's at home or nursery-at nursery it's always a full hot meal and at home it's either something simple and hot, like beans on toast with cheese, or something cold like cheese, ham, vegetable sticks (like a salad) and new potatoes.
In the afternoon she sometimes has a snack of a breadstick, rice cake or a bit of fruit if she's hungry.
Tea is always a hot meal-we did BLW so she just eats with us and I cook without salt. Examples-risotto, bolognese, chilli, stew, pasta, omelette etc. She then usually has fruit for pudding, sometimes with yoghurt.
She has another bottle before bed.
We give her Abidec in the mornings with her breakfast. She's never been breastfed as she wouldn't latch on at all, despite the efforts of many midwives and health visitors. I am still 
about this and upset that her immune system might be rubbish because of it. She was on Aptamil first milk until a year and has had full fat cow's milk since then.
Am I missing something here? Is her diet not as good as I think? She's always eaten pretty much anything she's given and the only thing she doesn't like is green beans! She rarely has junk-she had a tiny bit of chocolate cake on her birthday but on a day to day basis she doesn't eat sweet things except fruit.
I just don't want her to be so ill all the time. GP says it's just life but it honestly seems constant. The last time she didn't have a cold was August.
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Children's health
Help me with DD's diet
AntoinetteCosway · 20/01/2013 09:40
Dairy isn't bad for you - but if your DD has a slight cows milk protein intolerance then the (quite large) about of dairy she is consuming could be contributing to the excess mucous.
You've posted saying you are concerned about yoru DD number of colds, runny nose and mucosness, that was the first thing that came to my mind that you could attempt even for a short 10-14 days (which is how long it takes) to see if things improve. Cut down if you don;t want to staop but I doubt you would see conclusive results.
Also - does your DD attend daycare of any sort? They're little plague rats at that age 
but its the from birth bit which is really making me wonder.
*disclaimer I am not a doctor but my DD is severely CMPI and other than colic when she gets fed milk accidentley she gets very mucousy and it is a common symptom. We use Oat milk as an alternative and it works well, quite sweet like baby milk, and makes beeeeyoutiful rice puddings
Hi Antoinette, my DD is 15mo and I could've written your OP. the only difference is that I did bf to 9mo, so stop beating yourself up (or letting your DM beat you up!) that it's because you didn't bf!
My DD has a very similar diet to your DD's although we mix and match between follow on milk and full fat cows milk (just because we bought the tins on offer and seem to have heaps of it to get rid of!). She has had what seems a constant cold or cough since she was 9mo which coincidentally is when I went back to work and she started mixing with other children 
She seems to have a cold when the rest of them are fine though, but she is the littlest. I tell myself it's building her immune system ready for school. I totally sympathise as its really wearing especially when you work and aren't getting a proper night's sleep.
A relative of mine ff her baby (same age) from birth, and she has a terrible diet but is rarely ever ill. She doesn't mix with other children though so its swings and roundabouts.
I get the opposite reaction from my MIL who takes pleasure that my fancy notions of bf'ing have all come to nought, or some such (she never liked it that i bf) Erm, that wasn't why I did it!
I have a dairy intolerance myself which manifests like hay fever but is not enough to put me off the white stuff. I'm not cutting it out of my DD's diet any time soon.
Good to hear.
She sounds like she's doing fine, try not to worry.
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My sympathies OP.
I've really noticed with my DSs that starting nursery is the start of two years hard slog with every ailment going. Mine tended to be ok in their last year, I just assumed they'd exhausted all the bugs, but then going into reception starts it off again - with nits to add to the fun!
Oldest just started secondary. Same again
Freshers' Flu next
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