Constantly ill since starting nursery......Help!!!

[lloydie]

I have an 18 month old dd who started nursery 2 afternoons a week just after Easter. Since then she seems to have been constantly ill. It started with a sickness bug, runny nose and cough; then she got an eye infection, then she got chicken pox! The cough and runny nose she has had all along, and the other things happened one on top of the other.

The thing is that the cough is really starting to stress me out. She seems not too bad during the day, but on a night is just cough, cough,cough to the point of retching and making herself sick. She, my husband and I havent had a full nights sleep since Easter and it is really starting to get me down. I almost dread going to bed now as I know that we will be up and down giving her water to drink. We try not to go in all the time if she is just coughing, but then she starts retching and you cant ignore that!

It doesnt help that I am heavily pregnant with our second child who is due in a few weeks, but I am getting to the point where I just want to cry because she seems to have been ill for so long now.

I know that they get bugs etc once they start nursery, but is it normal for them to get them one on top of the other, so that it seems as though they are constantly ill? We have been to the Docs 3 times (with the eyes, c pox and sickness) and each time he listens to her chest and says that there is no infection. She has had some amoxycillin, but this didnt seem to make any difference.
I would just like to know if all kids are like this when they first start nursery or if I should be worried.

DD seems fine in herself and was never ill prior to starting nursery, it just seems to be me who is ending up in tears at the moment.

Please could somebody give me some advice/reassurance about the whole illness thing, and any advice about how to deal with the cough would be much appreciated. (BTW weve tried Tixylix and Medised and neither has cleared it up).
Thanks very much

have got to get to work but just wanted to tell you that that sounds like normal nursery induction to me!! mine were constantly ill for the first few months but now are really strong and are never off nursery ill!

re the cough, have you tried raising her bed with some blocks like these and i also found a humidifier in their room works a treat.

it is worth getting some euphrasia tincture from a good chemist and wiping her eyes with a couple of drops of it in cooled boiled water with cotton wool pads as part of her bedtime routine. make sure she also gets into the habit of washing hands well / even using a baby wipe.

do keep an eye on the cough though as i think that is quite common after chicken pox, someone else might know some more.

take care x

Elder berry extract (from health food shops) is great for the immune system and shortens the length of colds. You can give at the first sign of a cough or cold.

My DD was the same and still has that cough where they are sick sometimes. I know its hard, especially for you, and i hate the fact that i pay for a nursery place and dont use it
I would agree about propping bed up, or even just putting a pillow under her mattress. It also helps if you can turn off raditors (not helpful in winter) and open windows to allow fresh air in.

I always left a jug, wipes, drink and PJs but dd bed to make things easy if woke in the night.

It does get better, I promise.

Lisa

r/e the nursery thing it's all par for the course i'm afraid. Both my dc's were constantly ill with all the things you mantion within about 6 months. However now ds at school and he hasn't had a day off all year, so actually i'm glad he attended nursery and got all his share of illness there rather than miss time at school. It does pass. As for the cough would reiterate the humidifier or a damp cloth hung on her radiator with some eculayptus oil on it, or try mixing ginger juice with honey and give her 3 spoonfulls before bed time. I was told by gp that most over counter stuff doesn't work.

Hi!
I started back at work after having ds in sept 04 working as a teacher.
From sept till easter 05 he had some sort of cough, cold, runny nose which finally culminated in him catching the 'rota' virus -the really nasty bug that seems to go around cruise ships and is really disgusting. (Think exploding bottoms and projectile vomiting....)

It ended with my pil having to drive down from machester to take ds back up with them as myself and my dh couldn't look after him as we were so ill.

When I was at the doctors with ds I was told that 'don't worry, next year he won't get a thing... Hard to hear when you just want them to be well now. But he was right and ds has been absolutely fine ever since, yes he gets the odd cold but nothing like his first winter. He did get a few sniffles when he changed nurseries but that was nothing major.
Hope that helps!

Ah, just thought someone suggested vicks vaporub put in water, in a bowl, and having it on a warm radiator but only if dc is till in cot!

Ah agian!
The doctor also told us to give ds an actimel drink (or one like that) after he had anitbiotics as antibiotics get rid of all bateria in the stomach even the good ones. The actimel resetores the good bacteria which helps fights illnessess. (I know I sound like the add)

My dd was constantly ill for the first couple of months. A health visitor pointed out to me that babies who don't go to nursery usually go through the constantly-ill bit when they get to pre-school or school, by which point dd will have a superstrong immune system and will be fine. It has to happen at some time.

I had the same thing with DD when she started at nursery (also 2 days a week, and I was also pg!). I remember the doc saying (on the umpteenth visit) that you can expect a good three months of constant bugs when they start nursery as they are suddenly in contact with squillions of new viruses. Sure enough, after three months the viral onslaught did begin to tail off.

In terms of helping the immediate problems, I can recommend putting a wet towel on a radiator (if the heating's on...which is unlikely), or a bowl of hot water under her cot. A few drops of lavender/chamomile/tea tree oil (singly or combined) on the towel or in the bowl will be extra soothing. The key is to add a bit of humidity to the air.

I never tried it, but I've heard that milk can be more soothing on a tickly throat than water. And apparently chocolate is best of all (no really, I read it in a science mag!!). Prob not ideal for the middle of the night though

there is a homeopathic remedy for the lingering chicken pox cough...
anyone know it?

she might have a post-viral hypersensitivity? I know it's common after RSV (DS2 had it), dunno if you can get it after chickenpox?

Maybe ask to see a senior partner at your GP's?

sorry, forgot to say that this type of cough can go on for months and mimics asthma. A savvy GP will differentiate.

I think that there are bad nurseries and good ones.

The first nusery we used was lovely, really clean and he used to come home smelling of that awful soap that they use in schools etc and he never caught a thing while he was there.

We moved house not long ago and he now goes to a nursery which is not the cleanest in the world and he has never been so ill since he went there.

He is due to start the nursery at the local school in September or else we would have moved him by now.

I know that germs spread easliy and that all children need a degree of exposure but I think nurseries should take some responsibility for keeping these things contained as much as they can.

lloydie, havent had time to read all the messages but just wanted to sympathise with you. i am currently sitting at home, off work for the 6th time in 11 weeks, having been signed off for a week. since going back to work 11 weeks ago and dd starting nursery, we have had everything too,and most of what she has had, she passes on to me! i'm fed up of it so i can appreciate that being pg as well must be really hard.
however, my gp did say that it is really common and that keeping their immune system on its toes now can actually work in their favour later in life, including against some types of nasty illness/disease.i would get her cough checked out, just in case - my dd has now been given an inhaler that we use at night. also, raising her cot at the top end helped (and gave me a good use for my cookery books!)
hope she gets better soon and good luck with the new baby

I give mine chewy vitamins and as a result they don't catch anything and I mean anything. DD (7) has not had one day off school in 2 years through illness.

Don't use them as a substitute for food, just as a back up and I have found that my kids are hell of a lot healthier.

This works for us although I can understand a lot of people don't like giving kids vits.

Thank you ever so much for all your words of reassurance. I guess I just need to worry a bit less about it and be thankful that she's getting them all out of the way now before the new baby arrives!

It makes me feel better to know that most other children go through this too and I guess I'm just hormonal at the moment with this pregnancy!

Thanks again.
lloydie

i do agree with willmouse to a certain extent re good (clean) nurseries and others not so clean/hygienic.

i'm not sure there's too much that can be done to prevent the spread of coughs/colds etc. and conjunctivitis seems to be prevalent amongst new joiners, and once chicken pox hits then that's it - but you shouldn't get too many rounds of tummy bugs. that would make me worry.

Hi all,

I know I’m literally years late to this post but you’ve all given me hope!

Thanks!

Me too!