How many time has you your toddlers had antibiotics in the last year? (21 months)

[Fightingtobepositive]

My ds is struggling to fight things off himself he seems to end up with antibiotics most illnesses now. He’s had around 9 lots in the last year. He’s gone a month without them from December to Jan but still had a back to back cold/cough for the entire month and now back in them for his throat.

just looking for some reassurance that I’m not alone x

My daughter is 3.5 and never had one.
My friend ‘s son is also 3 and I honestly lost count of how many he has had . I’d say at least 20…about 9 just last year ..twice this year ..or three times ..he is always on them .
we have the same GP.

she is quite frustrated with the situation.
they are both lockdown babies and if anything my daughter went to nursery before being 1 , whereas he has only just started .

I admit that I have left my daughter with a high temp for over a week , 10 days. A couple of times i have taken her in to the doc and they prescribed abx in case she was still going at the 2 weeks mark, but she always got better without them in the end.

Wow, that is a lot of antibiotics OP!

My DD is 16 years old and shes had 2 courses in her life.

My DS is 10 years old and hes only ever had one course.

*dramatic reenactment of my child off the perc

I would push for a referral. That’s going to destroy his gut biome and will take some fixing.

Zero in their 2.5y of life. Started nursery at 11m and has had the colds/coughs/D&V that accompany childcare but nothing needing antibiotics. 🤷

Mine had about nine lots last year, started immediately after he went to nursery. I am so worried about antibiotic resistance.
he did get found to have asthma for a chronic cough so that explained a lot - he was getting a lot of viral infections he couldn’t shift and then had a few bouts of tonsilitis, a UTI, a really nasty virus that turned bacterial and two ear infections.
he had tonsilitis in feb and had a course of ten days and has now been prescribed the same course for strep A

i give him a good probiotic as I was worried about his gut and I’m really frustrated as I thought this year would be better.

hes under a paediatrician for the cough and they weren’t concerned but it cannot be good for him? I’m worried if he keeps getting tonsilitis and the drugs stop working.

rhis time we have been prescribed them incase he gets worse, as it’s strep A, but I’m going to hold my nerve over night and see how he gets on as he seems fine in himself aside from temperature and red raw throat.

It's a vicious circle as antibiotics lower the immune system. A at seven my dd was so bad I took to a Chinese herbalist who prescribed some her s and she didn't get sick for another two years. Since then we always look for other solutions and only them as a last resort

My little one is on his 5th course since October mainly for tonsils x

@Coyoacan tbis is what im worried about. I’ve given him lots of supplements which do seem to be helping with frequency of illness but I can’t see how it’s doing his immune system any favours

Hi, my son is exactly the same. He is 3.5years now.

When he was 2 months he had bronchitis. It wasn't treated we just had to watch for a fever.
And when he was 18months he ended up in ICU with viral pneumonitis.
This year he had antibiotics 6 times and steroids. He also has an inhaler.

I believe most of his chest issues are linked to when he was 2 months. Whenever he gets a cold it goes straight to his chest unfortunately.

@Jazsimone its so frustrating isn’t it :( DS is coming up to three and a half

Mine (2 years and 9 months) is on them from Sept until April to prevent infection then, if infection does get hold they are on two lots of ABs for two weeks (or more). This way we avoid lots of hospital admissions.

Sounds like your doctor is trigger happy with the antibiotics. Mine has had them twice, or perhaps three times and she’s 8. Do you need to always go to the doctor, as they get older if not really ill perhaps you could wait it out a bit.

@Minimummonday this is what I’m doing now. Tend to give him a good few days to see if he can shift it himself and have only taken him when it was obviously tonsilitis (tonsils massive and covered in white) as it was obvious it wasn’t going to shift on his own.
took him today as I have strep A so when he got symptoms we wanted to get him checked. I think last year I was a bit panicky with every virus he’s my first and started nursery and was unwell constantly!

Mines almost 4 now and has only ever had one course of antibiotics for an ear infection on holiday from a pool. 9 is a lot in a year I would say

I'm a HCP and parent to young children- please try to lay off the antibiotics. Please. They are more often than not unnecessary. If red flags present, sure, get a prescription. Otherwise, no. Self care - vitamins, probiotics, nutrient rich food.
Let your child overcome the normal childhood illness' so that he can thrive.

Mine have never had them at 12 and 15. I’ve only had three sets and I’m 43.

My 4 year old has had them 3x for strep A throat infection and one ear infection.

My 1 year old had them twice for ear infections, another time he didn't get them in time and his ear drum perforated.

They do actually really need them sometimes. I get your point though, i worry about it too. My kids are always unwell, this month we've all had norovirus twice! And gone straight into bad colds and coughs .

Let's hope spring gets going and the germs die down.

Really hope your LO has a good patch soon
X

My toddler has never been properly sick, aside from one or two colds.

Breastfed for a year so I imagine that's got something to do with it.

@Littlepiglet123 thanks for the advice. I’m hoping the last year didn’t do too much damage :( the doctors said it was because he didn’t get a cold til he was one, due to lockdown, then got clobbered by everything in his second year when he started nursery.

we have antibiotics for him now but aren’t giving them unless he obviously gets worse and needs them. This year I’ve started a new supplement which has really made a difference, he has a good balanced diet and there are definitely longer gaps between illnesses. I’ve also given him a good probiotic to hopefully help his gut.

it’s so hard as a parent as when a GP prescribed antibiotics you just presume they need them and I bet actually last year he probably didn’t need them as much as he was given, but I just did what the GP advised and didn’t question until I realised just how much he had had :(

@evangron interestingly I breast fed too and I have friends who are still breast feeding toddlers who get sick all the time so I’m no longer 100% convinced on this!

DS’s best friend was bottle fed and at 3 has never even had a temperature so I think genetics have more to do with it now. It’s what we are lead to believe thoufh isn’t it!

I breastfed until 1. But I was never ill as a child and my child isn’t really, so yes, probably luck of the genetic draw

My youngest (15 months) has had 6 courses in the last 4 months for recurring ear infections. I’ve just put up a post about it actually. My oldest (almost 5) has maybe had them twice. Once for a suspected ear infection and another for strep throat!

@Embelline I get what your saying,.I'm breast feeding a 3 year old and feel the same way as we have had our fair share of what's been going round. Think of it this way though- catching illness's is also a healthy sign. Not only does it provide immune system challenges and create a more robust human. Not picking up bugs can be an issue in itself- for example, a child with a trauma background or an adult with schizophrenia sometimes do not contract some virus'. Why? In very very simple terms their system is focused on survival- getting Ill is a luxury!