9 month old constantly ill!

[Amandella]

My dd is 9 months old and started 2 days a week at a nursery when she was 7 month. It seems that she has been constantly ill ever since. We seem to lurch from one cold, to a chest infection, to a tummy upset and still the constant snotty nose, periodically high temperature etc etc. Is this "normal" or should I be worried? She's OK in herself for the most part although I fear that she is low in weight (getting her checked on Thursday) because she's hardly been able to eat properly for the past month, with a bad tummy bug and then a dose of antibiotics. She looks a bit on the thin side but apart from that is fairly active and is crawling/standing OK. The only time she was completely well was when we had a holiday in Greece!! Any thoughts welcomed but this is really starting to get me down!

Frist couple of months that dd was in nursery, she also got everything going - chest infections, conjunctivitus, tummy bug with runny nappies, etc. I too was incrediby down about it BUT it does get better as their immune systems start to wake up and as the doctors kept telling me - it's good for them to get loads of these viruses early as it does boost their immune systems.

Hopefully you will find that things will start to get better. Worth pointing out that this time of year is also really bad whether your child is in nursery or not.....

Hang in there!

amandella, when my dd started nursery (years ago!), I remember worrying about whether she had a damaged immune system she was ill so much! She also lost a vast amount of weight (around 10-15% which seemed a lot to me at the time). You're getting her checked out and hopefully that will reassure you.

My only positive note is that dd has not had to have a day off school since she started (January this year) and I'm sure it's because she has such good immunity from her time in nursery!

As handbag said, this is a terrible time of year anyway - loads of bugs around. Hopefully, things will start improving soon but it is a difficult time, so hang in there and sympathy to you.

If you kept your child away from others, eg kept her at home all day, I would say this was abnormal, but since you have her in nursery and she is mixing with other children, I would say this was normal and nothing to worry about. My ds3 caught a cold every two weeks (literally) last year as he catches things from his three older siblings who were at school and playgroup. This year, he is averaging a cold a month so I suppose he is gaining immunity. That is your only consolation: your dd is catching all the bugs early in life and will build up an immunity to a lot of common bugs. She will probably be the healthiest in her year when she starts school! Her run of illnesses may be slowing her growth right now, but she will catch up say in the Spring when the bugs lessen.

I would echo what everyone else has said - 'fraid this is pretty normal for kids that go to nursery. My ds had one thing after another when he went to nursery and dd (now 9 months old) looks like she's going to be the same - she has had a constantly runny nose and hacking cough for the last two months. One thing that I did find useful with ds was ecchinacea (sp?) and I'm intending to try this with dd as well, just as soon as I get time to go to the herbalists to buy some.
Bust, as has already been said, there is the consolation that your dd will probably be remarkably healthy once she starts school - if only because she's already caught every bug going

Have you read Lucy Burney's book - Boost Your Child's Immune System? - she also has a website. I would find a good homeopath or naturopath in your area - www.babydirectory.com has a good area specific list - look under complementary medicine.

Again, a very similar experience when my dd first started nursery. She was always puking or full of cold. Remember finding it very worrying at the time. Now at 2.4 she still gets the odd bug from Nursery but not so often and when she does she seems to bounce back from them quicker.