Please help me rebuild my 4 year old's immune system

[Twunk]

DS2 has been poorly for a month off and on with the same virus! It's like flu - fever, aches, headache, sore throat etc.

He has not been this unwell since he had bronchiolitis when he was 5 months old (we were in hospital for a week over Christmas).

Until 6 months ago he was breastfed. Since we stopped he's had a lot more minor illnesses though he also started nursery school in that time. Many illnesses start the day after his 2 days at nursery school! That's fine and to be expected.

Last Friday I was called by my GP to take him to the hospital immediately. They thought he had leukaemia thanks to some worrying white blood cells in the sample he had given the day before (he was unable to walk so I took him to the doctor). Eventually (after the worst weekend of my life) they concluded it wasn't and he got better.

Last night he developed the same symptoms again. This is the third time in a month and previous bursts have lasted a week! I'm exhausted and it's getting us all down.

As a result of these infections he has anaemia which is not caused by low iron. This is under investigation but I believe this can be pretty common in under 5s (is called TEC).

Is there anything safe that I can give him to boost his immunity? When he's ill he doesn't eat much but drinks milk and juice. I'm firmly anti-woo btw

Thanks everyone - I'm kind of at the end of my tether after a pretty shit month.

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I hope your Ds feels better soon.

Thanks orange - I was giving him a very similar thing but the doctor said his blood iron is fine and there wasn't much point. The haemoglobin isn't fine though

wow that sounds very worrying and exhausting for you all

Not sure if any of my suggestions would be any good but some ideas maybe, I'm sure you are doing most of these...

• probiotics - immunity starts in the gut so its worth doing some every day to build up good bacteria - and it won't harm to try Biocare are a good quality one. ds3 has just started some antibiotics for an ear infection and he's having this along side (they prescribe probiotics alongside antibiotics in South Africa)

-Food - I guess you do this already, we cut sugar (juice, squash, sweets and smoothy) when boys are ill, ds1 wouldn't drink anything but squash so we had to go a bit cold turkey with him. Garlic is good for immune system and home made chicken stock. Brighly coloured fruit and veg - we started getting a veg box to make it a bit more of a lottery -sunshine (not difficult at the moment ) good for vitamin D production -good quality multivitamin? ours take one daily -extra vitamin c -plenty of sleep and some exercise, time convalesing at home and not being at nursery until he's really well? (might be easier said than done I know as a working mum!) day time naps whilst he recovers.

Like I say not sure thats anything new but hope he's on the mend soon x

forgot to add vit c helps the body absorb iron too

Thank you incywincy - pretty much what we're doing but nice to know its as much as we can do! Can't cut out sugar at the moment because he needs some calories and only eats ice creams (like one a day) etc but once he's eating again I shall minimise it. Will invest in a multivitamin.

I'm trying to keep him home but as its nearly a month I need some childcare! Getting so behind on work - I'm self employed so some flexibility but still got to keep the wolf from the door. DH hardly has any time off, but that's another thread...

Probiotic too. Good idea hadn't thought of that. Thank you x

Smoothies with berries/other fruit and bio yoghurt in them. Ice cream can be included too to encourage him. Or just plain fruit. Pomegranate juice (pure 100%).

Soluble vitamin C 1000mg.

Vitamin D & A very important in immune function. So liquid vitamin complex that can be mixed with juice or chewable vitamins good. Carrot juice, mango, cantaloupe melon for vitamin A. Sunshine exposure for vitamin D.

Sleep, extra naps.

Soups made with fatty parts of chicken (chicken feet soup traditional in Jamaica, but chicken wings works well too, just remove bones before serving). Add sweet potato or pumpkin for beta-carotene (vitamin A). Plus green vegetables if you can get them into him, broccoli is a great anti-oxidant. Seaweed powder can add flavour, iodine and chlorophyll in small amounts may stimulate red blood cell production.

Turmeric, onions and garlic are all good anti-oxidants - spiced veg soups/curry with pumpkin or sweet potato and yoghurt/coconut to make it mild.

That's fab stitch - some really good suggestions. As soon as he starts eating I'll get him on it. He's a fussy eater but there's some things he'll eat and a few things I can hide

Might get him to have a brief sit outside this morning.

It was a long night but he's getting better. I realized he was first unwell 10 June! So very nearly a month of this. I'm going to follow this plan too - after a month of hardly any sleep I need a boost too.

Can you make up your own ice cream? You'll then be able to control the ingredients (have never made my own, so can't say how much of a pain it is to do, but my boss in Italy did and it was fabulous)

Not going to be easy, but a generous children's dose of flaxseed oil and (something like) cod liver oil - I take a children's version of the latter myself as it is great quality, but to be honest it tastes vile even though the flavour is meant to be disguised. Both will help not just with omega 3-6-9 and in general but with inflammation as well, which is good with respiratory problems (why I started taking it). Dr (Leo?) Galland has done a lot of work with flaxseed oil and infant problems if you want to look this up, but it convinced me. The question is what kind of form - pill/chewable - will be acceptable to someone who is 4.

I can't even get him to take calpol! We live in NL and suppositories are more normal and I am now an expert at them (not a skill I am proud of).

But he sometimes surprises me... I will look up the research.

Making my own ice cream sounds like a good idea.