Anxious granny - Constant infections

[grannyl]

Hi there, feel a bit of a fraud as I'm not a mum but a granny who should know better by my age, but I'm really worried about my grandson, aged 13 months. I often read these boards to update me as my 'children' are in their 30s and things sure have changed in childcare!! Apologies in advance for length of message.
I look after my grandson 2 or 3 days a week whilst DD works. At 7 months he had a bad chest infection, (RSV thingy it now appears) and developed possible asthma. No history in our families. Now has steroid inhalers morning and night but only very small dose. Has seen specialist who says may be asthma but should outgrow as it is mild.
However since then it has been one infection after another, constant cold, very nasty tonsillitis, gastroenteritis and currently, awful cold, cough, conjunctivitis and now sickness. He goes for one morning to nursery on a Friday and by Sunday night always seems to come down with something. We are now reorganising ourselves to cut out the nursery.
Sorry to bother you all as I know some of you have had really serious problems with your children so feel pathetic but I'm feeling totally inadequate (although don't tell DD
Any advice welcome.

you're not my friends mum are you? actually her baby is just a bit younger but she has not long gone back to work and her baby is in nursery for 3 or 4 mornings (gm has him in the afternoons) and he has come down with one after the other infection since starting which of course is a huge stress to my friend who doesn't want to put on her mum but also feels that due to high pressured well paid job can't just take time off at short notice. I think it will pass - its just one of those things with your gs mixing with lots of other germs (and babies) at the nursery.

I could have written your post as it is very much what I experienced when my kids started pre-school, the last two winters have literally been one thing after the other, keeping my fingers crossed for this year!! Your grandson is still building up an immune system and mixing with lots of other children with cough/colds etc doesn't help, so why do parents send ill children to nursery?? Makes me very cross, I don't care about the pressures of a high paid job, you have children if they are ill it is your responsibility to comfort them and look after them, have seen many children attending who really shouldn't have been there and it makes me very cross. On a positive note, there are vitamins etc which can help, my children now take lots of vitamin C and so far so good, probably all come down with something now for half term.
Much Lovexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Grannyl, welcome to MN !

I don't think it is unusual for kids to pick up all sorts of infections in their first winter and when starting at nursery. ds got 5th disease "slapped cheek" at 8 months when he was attending a creche just one morning a week. dd had bronchiollitis at 3 months old (the common complication of RSV), it was December and ds was in preschool so probably had a cold which may have been passed on and triggered it. A few days after recovering from that she got a UTI and ear infection, I think because her general resistance was low. Friends' dd had RSV and then recurrent croup which flares with every cold. Sometimes she is prescribed an inhaler but mostly it just runs its course.

Hopefully for your grandson he has by now been exposed to most of the common viruses and will suffer less this winter. There are things you can do to help their immune system such as feeding probioitics but I'm not well enough in the know to explain the theory.

hth

Yep this all sounds pretty normal to me. It takes a while to build up immunity to all the coughs and colds that are going round and in the meantime the babies and toddlers seem to pick up everything going. Ds1 started playgroup at 2.5yrs and caught one cold after another, most of which seemed to go on to develop as chest infections. Within 3 months he'd had his first asthma attack. I thought he'd built up a pretty good immunity until he came down with chickenpox just a few weeks after starting school.

It does get better after a while. The winter months seem to be the worse as children tend to spend a lot more time indoors with each other and the germs spread more easily.

Thank you all so much for your wise words I am aware that I'm probably over reacting, first grandchild etc etc. I was a teenage mum and very ignorant with knowing what to do with mine but now I read so much I probably know too much I have bought him the probiotic powder that I have read about, hasn't started taking it yet, has recently started vitamins.
thanks again - do appreciate just 'talking'

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Welcome to mn grannyl.

grannyl - the exact same thing happened with my ds when he started nursery, although not tonsillitis, your poor dgs, that must have been horrid for him, no wonder you are worried. Around that time, ds had an appointment with a paediatric immunologist (not because of colds, but something else) who said that him going to nursery was a good thing as it's best for a baby to have a few big horrid colds before their 1st birthday as it really primes the immune system. Interestingly, ds is now very healthy, has not picked up a thing since starting a new nursery 5 days a week this September. I can understand you worrying, esp as he is already on asthma medication, but I bet he will be fine as he gets a bit bigger. Also, re conjuntivitis - after ds had 3 bad flare ups and two lots of antibiotic ointment (rubbish IMHO) I was recommended a homeopathic tincture called hypercal which you dilute in water and bathe the eyes with. It was brilliant, cleared up the gunge in 24 hrs and it has never come back. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the info on the homeopathic remedy, wilbur. Will keep a note of it just in case I actually have a folder on my computer of anything like that - as you can see my daughter is very patient with me
also thanks for the kind words, yurtgirl