4 yo constantly ill

[Gentlydoesit2]

After some reassurance. Please be kind.

4 yo SE seems to always be ill at the moment. In the last 6 weeks we've had one "normal" week where he attended preschool and his swimming and gym lessons, otherwise it's been time off with cold after cold after cold. Throw in some norovirus for good measure 🤦🏼‍♀️

Is it normal this time of year or is it because of his diet?! He eats ZERO vegetables. Plenty of fruit and I give him a multivitamin but his diet is very "beige"

Disclaimer - I'm not after advice on getting him to eat veggies- that's in hand

My primary school aged DC, and pretty much every single one of my friends young kids, have been ill weekly for the last few months. From colds to rashes to sickness bugs, all sorts. Had very few breaks in between! We get maybe a week of wellness, then some other bloody virus comes along. Hopefully this reassures you that it's not just your DS!
I think it may have something to do with the minimal social contact over the last few years. Now they're finally mixing and every single bug has come out of the woodwork at once!

DD4 has had two sickness bugs, three colds and tonsillitis since September. I think we’ve had maybe four weeks in total since the start of term where she hasn’t been exhibiting at least mild symptoms of some illness. I’m telling myself it’s a mix of Winter, typical kids picking up every bug going and the end of lockdown!

Plus my girl eats her five a day (or close to!), plus things like eggs, cheese, chicken etc, so has a fairly healthy diet. I doubt your son is solely ill because of his less-than-perfect diet, but maybe add some daily vitamin gummies/drops to his diet if you haven’t already, help his immunity a bit.

This year has been awful for viral illnesses rampaging through pre schools/nurseries. Have you got your DS on a multivitamin? All children under the age of 5 who aren't taking a significant amount of formula should be on a multivit (that contains vit D). It's even more important in the kids on a beige diet, and can help the immune system.

It's been the same with my 4yo and lots of people I know.
Just one thing after another. It's been relentless.

I read somewhere that the lockdowns last winter have meant coughs and colds are a lot more prevalent this winter. Just more going around.

We've had so many colds I feel like I'm forever buying calpol and tissues!

So whilst no advice - you're not alone!

My friends kid wouldn’t eat anything other than bread and jam, or chicken nuggets and chips. Nightmare. Even at school lunches he’d starve rather than eat other foods.

He had every bug that was going and was small for his age. They just thought he was like that. As he’s always been that sickly way.

They got help from a specialist of some sort on the nhs and gradually he tried more and more foods. It took a long time but his immune system is much improved and he doesn’t get as many bugs, and he eats normally now. I’m not sure if they gave him probiotics but I’d suggest trying them as they won’t do any harm.

So although there are a lot of bugs just now, your plan to introduce him to a wider range of foods will benefit him in the long run.

I’ve never known a year like it for illness. We had a horrendous couple months in summer with every virus under the sun. & winter has been just as bad. It’s constant. We had a stomach bug 3 weeks ago (all of us obviously) & then a minor break albeit we’ve had colds but nothing hideous. And tonight DD has thrown up again. I can’t cope with another tummy bug. I’d have a cold 365 days of the year if it meant no more stomach bugs ever again! They are hideous.

I’m convinced there is deffo something to this suggestion that lockdown has contributed to this barrage. Maybe immune systems went to sleep a bit when not faced with constant germs or maybe these bugs are just on steroids after being suppressed for a year?! Maybe both?!