How much sickness is normal??

[BurritoTamer]

Have a 2.5 year old and a 9 month old

2.5 year old has been at the same childminder since he was 1. Last winter bug season was horrendous, croup, and then just before DS2’s birth and then for about 8 weeks after he had a vomiting episode of some kind every other week

October has brought us 2 vomiting bugs so far and a third has just reared its head today. This does not seem normal! This season I’m making a diary because it feels absolutely constant. I’m not talking about snotty noses and coughs (this does feel just par for the course, he’s constantly got these), this is a full on vomiting session. It doesn’t seem to be related to his diet in any way, or there is no rhyme or reason as far as I can tell.

Baby has only picked up 1 of these in his lifetime, and I’ve just had one myself. But for DS1 it seems constant, albeit they’re always short lived and not accompanied by diarrhoea. Also he seems to have a temperature and chills this time so I’m fairly confident it is a bug of some kind.

Any wisdom at all would be so appreciated, this is his 2nd winter bug season at the same childcare setting and I thought things might calm down a bit now? Is this normal or should I be at the GP?

My LO had four distinct D&V bugs in six weeks around April time, three of which they passed on to me or DP. We went to the GP for the third and fourth, we got a diagnosis on the last one (rotavirus, awful). The GP would have referred us to paediatrics for the fourth one to rule out an allergy, but as we got an infectious diagnosis, and because we then didn't have any more D&V episodes, the GP did NOT refer.

I would start either going to the GP or reporting each episode to the GP so that there is record. You can also ask for PCR testing for infections (we took a dirty nappy to the GP appointment to get samples sent off there and then for viruses, bacteria and parasites).

Thanks that’s interesting. It didn’t occur to me they could actually specifically diagnose the infection but of course they can. It’s weird coz it’s not D&V it’s just V but he seems properly ill with it, like tonight he’s all feverish and clearly just feeling horrible. I do think it would be worth starting to put it into some sort of record with the GP yeah, coz I almost feel a bit gaslit by it at this stage!

He could be unlucky but I’d say what you’re describing is an abnormal level of sickness at his age when he’s been in childcare since age 1. You might expect it when they start in that setting (our first 6 months were horrendous), but he shouldn’t be picking up that many vomiting bugs now IMO. I’d speak with the GP and see what they think.

Any signs of asthma? My child used to vomit over night with every cold until she started on inhalers and we use the humidifer.

Yeah I think this one has sort of broken my illusion it’s normal to be honest, I was already questioning it. It’s hard to explain but he seems genuinely like he has “normal” vomiting bugs in terms of symptoms. He’s not, for example, seeming like he’s got heartburn and then vomiting because of that - or because of a bad chest etc. His communication is fairly good. The actual severity and symptoms are just, like yeah it’s a rotavirus or whatever. But the frequency is what I’m in a bit of a spin about.

I think some families are more puked prone than others - we never had the everyone gets sick bugs, and my dc rarely individually puked, but they did both get sore throats quite a lot - that seemed to be their thing. They are all grown up now.

Do you all wash your hands lots - like straight away every time you get in from being out and also before any food is eaten. So in a restaurant for example, does everyone go and wash their hands before the food arrives. At home is washing hand before food a rule? This is the norm in our house and I think it made a big difference when they were little. It's not a criticism. but maybe something small and easy that might help to keep bugs at bay that just needs a bit of extra effort to stick if it's not in place already.

Ah I’m glad you asked this because I forgot to include in the OP that I think we are very stringent with hand washing and cleanliness. I have bad eczema on my hands which are currently raw from all the scrubbing I’ve been doing and I still wash DS1’s hands myself every time he uses the toilet or we return from a visit out or before food. He has a bath every single day no exceptions. We also have a dog and get out to the park and stuff too, before anyone suggests maybe I’m too anti-germ haha! He also has (finally) got a good varied diet after a lot of coaxing and eats lots of blended veggies, fruits etc as well as vitamins in his milk and yoghurt for good gut health! I’m really into all this stuff so it kind of hurts more you know!

I used to work in a hospital lab, so know a fair bit about what the GP can ask to have tested locally. They actually have covid-style rapid tests for the most common D&V bugs, it's just routine for samples to come in from the GP to the nearest big hospital lab.

I also looked in to supplements and probiotics - nothing gets great results in clinical trials, however much individual families swear by one thing or another. Hand washing matters & certainly does make a difference, but lots of D&V bugs can infect after inhaling/ingesting just 15 viral particles (looking at you, norovirus). It is SO hard to avoid that level of infectiousness. You can only do what you can humanly do to prevent these things!

@Cloudynews The GP told us the same, LO might just be very D&V prone. A friend's child gets awful eat infections after every single cold.

It's got better for us since LO learned to walk and doesn't have hands CONSTANTLY on the floor at nursery.