Toddler sickness every 4-6wks

[LittleA456]

Hello everyone my little girl is 3 in a few months and she's always sick. Every 4-6wks she has sickness this has been happening since October sometimes it can last just 24hrs sometimes a few days. I have been to the Drs numerous times and they always say it's viral apart from twice once was a chest infection with the sickness then one Dr prescribed laxative for her she does suffer with constipation sometimes. She doesn't go to nursery yet just play groups and the park. Just wondering if anyone else's litte one is sick this often?

I would say that is not normal, especially if she isn't at pre school. There is evidence emerging that Covid has a detrimental effect on the immune system and therefore children (and adults) who have had it (especially more than once), are less able to fight off common and less serious illnesses.

It sounds completely normal, she is in contact with other children and she will catch things, the frequency doesn’t sound surprising to me (sorry)

When she was 1.5yes old approx the Drs think she did have covid then as she was sick with sickness a temperature and just not her self at all. So maybe it is that as her immune system seems very low even the cold she catches so easily as well

For some kids this is normal. With my eldest I was weirdly grateful for the first lockdown as it meant she was well for months for the first time ever. She's now in year 1 and very rarely ill, had only had two days off school since September even though reception was complete shit show for illness.
My youngest is at nursery, almost 3, and is just really robust. She's rarely poorly and has only had two sick bugs in her entire life.
They are all different. Try not to worry.

Do you mean she's vomiting that often? Or she gets ill?

If she's vomiting every time she gets ill (so a chest infection but also being sick) then yes, if say that's unusual and might need investigating. If she's just getting ill every 4-6 weeks, that's entirely normal. She doesn't have much immunity to anything so likely will catch whatever any child at the playgroup is brewing.

What do you mean by sickness? Actual vomiting? If so I think that’s a bit too often for a 3 year old.

My DS is 2, goes to nursery and has (so far) never had a vomiting bug.

If it was just “sick” as in a cold it would sound okay. But I don’t think vomiting every month is normal.

I don't think that's normal, no. First I thought about that cyclical vomiting syndrome thing (which I know very little about) - but when you said she catches colds easily too, I'd wonder whether something else is going on and perhaps ask for a blood test. I would look at her diet and consider giving her a multivitamin, too.

Honestly this doesn’t sound like low immunity, it just sounds like normal levels of illness in a child that is in contact with other children. But if you are seriously worried about that then yes do see the doctor.

Just to add, for context - my son goes to nursery, and the winter/spring of 2021-22 when people started socialising much more and all restrictions were lifted, he got ill every 2-3 weeks.

one of my children vomited at that age with a cold because of the mucus, that’s not always a sinister thing

Thanks for all the replies so far. Yes she is physically sick this often. Sometimes she is fab a day then come a bed time it will come out of no where. She was the same this weekend fab little happy self all day Saturday then Sunday morning just after getting her ready to leave the house she's sick our of no where, she is still happy in herself but the sickness is still happening now

My ten month old goes to nursery and is catching something every two weeks, sometimes every week! If she goes to a group with children then six weeks sounds a bit right. Children are just germ magnets and it's relentless.

I vomit when I have a fever, maybe worth getting one of them head thermometers and see if that's a temp when she vomits.

I will keep a close eye on it as sometimes she has a temperature but then not always. I've been checking her temperature all week and it's not been high yet.

Could it be an allergy to something rather than classic illness? Maybe try a food diary for a few weeks and see if you can spot a pattern.

I am also confused by the words 'sick' and 'sickness'. I am assuming you mean colds and other viruses in my response.

In terms of the Dr being worried they will look at issues beyond just 'being ill' with high frequency - is she growing? Are her skin/energy levels healthy-looking when not ill? Is she meeting milestones, is she curious/active/engaged?

I wonder what is her diet like, does she get plenty of sleep, fresh air?

My kids have had periods where it felt they were always catching something. A high immune response makes bugs more visible.

If you have genuine concerns do return to the Dr.

Sorry - just seen update - vomiting is more common in some kids than others, some have more easily upset stomachs, some have the equivalent of headaches in their gastric system.

In your position I would keep an accurate diary and make detailed observations of how she is doing generally - all the points about how she is doing generally apply to vomiting too.

With vomiting I would be more careful to consider diet.

I will keep a food diary that's a good idea, thankyou. My main worry is that when she becomes sick she can't keep no food down so she is off her food sometimes upto a week then she is fine back to herself until it hits her again a few weeks later so am more worried if she loses weight because of it as when she had sickness with her chest infection she didn't eat properly at all for 7-10days. It's as if by the time she gets back to herself 100% a few days later it all starts again

Losing appetite when ill is normal. And the timing of the illnesses is normal to me. But it’s your observation of your child that is important, so if you’re worried then speak to a doctor.

am more worried if she loses weight because of it You say 'if she loses weight' -is she losing weight or not?

Kids eat more or less depending on all sorts of factors. If she doesn't eat much for a week, then eats loads for a week, it evens out.

I think a diary would really help you. Be careful not to pass a worry to your child, but you could weigh her every month or so to check the trend.

Is she following her line in the red book and is she on track with all expected milestones?

does she have other symptoms when she vomits? At that age they can vomit with cold when they lie down because the mucus gets in the back of their throat?
could also be stomach migraines or cyclical
vomiting syndrome

Is it a vomiting bug or as a result of swallowing snot with a cold? My 3 year old always swallow her snot and then vomits large amounts of snot during the night when she has a cold.

I have checked her centile she's gone from just over 50th down to 25th. Once or twice she has had sickness with a cold/flu but mainly it's with no other symptom

She is reaching her milestones she is doing great

Normal normal normal little ones are always sick lol 3 under 2s always one if not 2 out of 3 sick with something colds,coughs, sickness etc. It happened exact same with our oldest kids aswell then picked up anything and everything and they don't do nursery etc. Dont panic it's all part of there immune system building up also.