How often do your kids get sick

[mamadadawahwah]

My son is two and has had at least five head and chest colds this year. Doctor says that is normal that some kids have 10 or even 20. How many do your kids get?? I would really like to know why my son is just constantly gettting sick.

It'll level out and almost disappear when he starts school. He's gotta spend some time getting his immunities up. Try not to worry about it.

Thanks mars lady. yeah, doctor said that too. NOt much comfort though as i sit her and wonder if he will "miss" his next breath!!

you on a roll?

my dd seems to get a cold every other week i think its normal because the immune system isnt built up yet, but they say each one helps their immunitiy rise, i hope so x

I used to dream about summer arriving. It was about the only time that they weren't sick. Now that I have the DTs I'm back to dreaming about and longing for summer again. I found that once they started school they hardly ever got sick. Not nice waiting to get there, but it will happen (all too soon). Sorry that your son isn't too well at the moment.

jools, so many questions, so little time!

almost never

all the bloomin time ds is 8 months and is always ill hes had cold after cold and god knows how many nfections but drs dont seem to want to know they jsut say its a baby thing

I too dream of summer. 'Winter' starts in late September in our house... DS2 starts with the colds.. they spread round the family.. they all go to his chest (he had pneumonia as a newborn) then gradually improve (affect him less) towards Spring. And then there's the worry that some of the colds mutate into something that DS1 (who has cytstic fibrosis) has to be treated for.. and all three of them have the potential to run scary fevers..

Used to love winter as a child/teenager.. was a real Christmas - person. Now I just dread the Season Of Sick Kids.. it's the longest of all!

mamadadawahwah
my dd is 18months old and is ill - CONSTANTLY!! Seriously she was the healthiest baby until she started going to playgroup at 12 months and since then she catches a cold, bug, conjunctivitus etc every other week. We have one week of complete sickness then she gets over it so one week of happiness then yet another b***d germ infects her and WHAM!! Washing machine on full cycle constantly, house smelling of sick and a very stressed mum (again).
Apparantley it should help her immune system in the long run - Fine then !!

I was beginning to think the same MDW my ds has been constantly ill since about january he had a very bad spurt of illness when he was 1 1/2 and then he was fine until now. He is yet again ill today i had taken him to the doctors and he is on antibiotics as he has a chest infections last monday he was rushed to hospital as his breathing became weezy and he had a very very bad cough...which when we got to the hospital they said it was croup and gave him some steroid syrop which done wonders.
But now he is ill again....he has just started playgroup so i think he is picking alot of stuff up but the doctor did say to me today it will help build his immune system....i do hope so as the illnesses he has had have been quite serious and its soooo scary bless him.

Sleepyjess - AAARRRRGGGHH England from September till May is horrendous for kids. We just returned from a month in Goa, India- were DD was completely and utterly healthy the entire time there. But she was ill travelling out there, recovered in one day in Goa - fine the whole holiday - and got ill the day after we returned and has been since??????? It makes me laugh when people say the India is a 3rd world country and England is so advanced in comparison. Why then everywhere I go, in England, so many people here are ill ?

PS - I apologise, Rant over. I'm just furious at spending yet another day washing countless puke covered, stinking items and trying to dry them in this rainy country (Here- With a hose pipe ban - CACKLE TYPE LAUGH - there is no hose ban in Goa where all is lush and green, lots of water and no hose pipe ban, water is free,no water/sewage charge and they haven't had any rain since Sept 04 but they manage!!??!!)

Rant over

All the frigging time. Dd is 2 (3 in July) and ds has just turned 1. They get several colds per year and around 4 or 5 episodes of diarhhoea and vomiting. However they do attend Day Nursery 3 days per week hence exposed to lots of viruses.

Have to say though that it has mostly been ds who has been ill lately. Dd noticeably gets less bugs than him - perhaps her immune system is already toughening given the onslaught of viral things she had from the age of about 6 months upwards

Pootlesmum

Just saw your post. My MIL recently spent 3 weeks in hospital after contracting a nasty infection in India (and she stayed in 5* hotels throughout her trip)! I think in future she'll take her chances with a British winter

HMC - I was advised before I went to Goa not to eat in any 'posher' hotels but to trust the beachshacks. I was told by quite a few people that go there quite often that the places with fridges (ie posher by Indian standards) contantly serve reheated food and then refrigerate whatever was not eaten and then reheat and serve again, and again. Beachshacks have no electricity and can only cook and serve what they caught fresh that morning. It seemed to work for us, not that I would say it would work for everyone.

My ds who was prem caught everything going for the first three years - I got to the stage that I was frightened to take him out anywhere as he usually picked up a cold. We started washing his hands religiously whenever we had been out and also wiping them with antibacterical wet wipes when we were out - the coughs and colds virtually stopped altogether - only got them when we forgot to do a wash or wipe. Also put him on alcohol free Echinecea for the winters and that seemed to help too

Sorry that your ds has been poorly.

Haven't been able to read the whole thread (should be working!!) so may be repeating something. When ds was admitted to hospital with viral induced wheezy/asthma type thing, we were told to expect a child of his age (3) to come down with some kind of virus/bug every six weeks during the virus/bug season (ie Sept - April).

If you think that they might be off colour for a week as they come down with something, then ill for a week, then about a week to come back to full strength that only leaves three weeks out of six when they are healthy!!!

That's very interesting Pootlesmum - I would never have thought of that!

Mine seem to be constantly ill with something or other,( altho 2 with immune deficiancy's would do that anyway.) I will also say that with 5 it feels as tho one will get it, pass it on mutating it, as do each of the others, so that by the time it has gone round the mutations the first becomes ill again with something entirely new to them!! And yes, sept - april is the worst time of year for that too. BUT, it is supposed to help build up their immunities so that when they start school they should be in good health.