Boosting immunity in 1+yr olds

[honeybunny]

My ds seems to get one bug after another after another these days. A cold gives way to a mild ear infection, followed by another cold followed by D+V.
Despite seeming to be little bothered by them, thank goodness, in that he rarely has a raised temp, sleeps a little more and clings a bit, I wonder whether anyone out there has any recommendations for helping to boost his immunity.
I've read somewhere that echinacia (?sp) comes in toddler doses, has anyone tried this? and does it work in their opinion? Anyone tried anything else?

You'll see other mums give it as well I think Lizzer and Marina do too.
I have found that with my children they get sick when they are sensitive to a change or upset by a situation (basically when they are unconsciously stressed). The arrival of a baby, starting nursery, being away from me for a few days.... are sorts of events that do trigger a weaker immune system and will get them easily sick.
Just a thought

Rozzy, they advise 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. I tend to be a bit more haphazard with it, and just give it at the first sign of a sniffle, and it really does seem to work.

Honeybunny - Has your ds just started at nursery or anything where he is mixing with alot of other kids? I found with my two that they seemed to be constantly getting bug after bug plus chest infections etc. when they were at a day nursery, however, I think having these bugs whilst tiny boosts their immune system on its own. My kids are now eight and five, the eight year old has not yet had a day off sick from school - the five year old only one day so far!!
PS What is junior echinecea - I have never heard of it?

Jaybee-bugs seemed to just appear around ds's 1st b-day, also coincided with winter weather and recent house move. Thought I'd pin-pointed it to his attendence at Little Dippers-water safety lessons in a hydro pool, but we've not been in over 6weeks and still the bugs keep coming. ds is almost 17months. He does attend Tumbletots as well but otherwise he's at home with me, excluding the regular shopping trips and outings.

I know most children of this age are a bit iratic, but I'm getting frustrated with the "grizzly, sick" days outnumbering the "happy,healthy" days. He makes interaction v difficult, when despite your best efforts, all he wants to do is flop on the floor and whine until picked up again. Me being 34/40, it aint easy!!

I agree that exposure to a good no. of bugs helps with their immunity later in life, but I'm hoping that I can get him a bit fitter before no2 arrives, as I don't want him giving endless bugs to the new baby.

Mums with older kiddies, is this just a phase with ds?

Are there any other "tonics" that might help?

I do think it's a phase also remember that baby will not necessarily pick this up if you bf ! That's why bf can be so convenient.
DS has had a few snuffy knows. DD just had one a week ago and she is 7 months old. She had been fine up to now.

It is just a phase, Honeybunny, honest! He is building up his immune system and will soon grow out of it. I know it does get to be something of a vicious circle - they catch a bug, which brings them down which means they catch another bug which......

You have to go shopping, of course but otherwise you could try not attending any groups, just for a week, and have some pampering time for both of you at home. A bottle of Minadex syrup might help to build him up and hopefully some nicer weather is just around the corner as well.

As Pupuce says, I really wouldn't worry about the baby. He/she will have lots of lovely antibodies from you and will be fine.

Hi all, I am new here. I just postponed my baby's start date at nursery for fear of all the bugs she'll catch. She's 6 months and quite a sturdy little thing but I thought I'd keep her at home until she's a year so we have a nanny coming to the house instead while I'm at work part time. Perhaps I should have sent her to nursery to get exposed to the bugs ? Has anyone found a good website to research MMR ?

Although I agree with Pupuce about the benefits of breast feeding, our DS who was being exclusively breast fed got a cold at 3 weeks which lasted 3 weeks. That was with no older siblings or contact with other kids. So I'm not sure you can win. At nursery he does catch all sorts of things but I'm hoping that he'll have some immunity by school age or by the time we have no. 2.

BF doesn't give a 100% guarantee that a child will be immune to bugs, but it ups the ante in your favour. My child suffered from terrible asthma even though he was fully bf and I was bitterly disappointed about that. But one day someone pointed out that maybe being bf had actually saved his life, because he could have been even sicker if he wasn't bf.

Tillysmummy, don't worry about the bugs - they'll find her, whether on trips to the shops with you or your nanny, at parent and baby groups etc
You have taken your childcare decisions based on what you think is best for your dd and your work situation, and that was the thing to do.
I work f/t outside the home and my son (at nursery since 10 months) has had roughly the same number of colds etc as other little contemporaries whose mums are at home with them during the day.
As you rightly hint, genetic factors, being generally healthy etc, probably have much more to do with bug-catching than circumstances.
As for MMR, there are several threads here on mumsnet where people have posted links to various websites. Go to "Search Board" at the top of Talk and type in MMR as a subject heading.
Good luck with the return to work.

Hi Marina

Thanks for the message. I am actually back at work and have been since January, part time. I love the variety of work and looking after DD. Last night when I got home my little one had runny little blotches on her body. Like grains of white rice raised and then red inflamed patches around them. She had them on her arms and legs and a couple on her back. The weirdest thing is after a few minutes they disappear. She does have eczema but these don't look like eczema. Anyone heard of this ?

Sounds a bit like hives or nettlerash, Tillysmum. Does she have any allergies?

Hi Suedonim

That's what I thought - doc says doesn't know as kids get so many rashes and it could be anything as long as she's not suffering other symptoms like inflammation of eyes, mouth, feet, hands , loss of alertness / apetite then she is fine. I though about taking her to an allergy specialist. Hives is what I thought - that can be serious sometimes can't it ?

Suedonim - you say your child "suffered" from terrible asthma (past tense). Mine does too and I just wondered whether yours had got any better as s/he got older?

Yes, he had 'brittle' asthma, Buttercup. I don't know if that term is still used today but it means asthma that is unpredictable and difficult to control. He is now 22 and grew out of it (and isn't that the most infuriating term?? Doctors used to tell me he'd grow out of it and all I wanted to know was WHEN! It took 14 years of misery before it went away.) about 5 years ago.

We had years of ill health, in and out of hospital, missed schooling, being unable to go anywhere without lugging a nebuliser etc. But the treatment back then was very rudimentary compared to today. It used to be treated very conservatively as they didn't use steroids much back then and restricted the use of inhalers. I can't honestly say that his conditon improved much over the years until he actually grew out of it, in fact his teens were dreadful. But treatemnt is improving all the time. The Asthma Campaign people are very good, it's worth joining.

Tillysmummy, I'm not an expert but I would think that plain hives on its own, with no other symptoms, is harmless. But as you note, swelling of the face, in the mouth, breathlessness or anything else like that could indicate a more serious reaction. Try a search on the internet to see what that comes up with. HTH

Tillysmummy - like Suedonim, I think it sounds like an allergy. Ds had something similar when he switched from breast to formula milk and the doctors think he is allergic to milk proteins, but they still arent sure. They have said it could be due to almost anything - a change in washing powder, soap, a new food...
Is there anything that had been different for dd when she got the rash?

With ds the hives lasted for about 3 days before disappearing, but provided there are no other symptoms I think they look worse than they actually are.

Sorry this isnt much help, but hope you get it sorted out soon.