Has your child been ill all winter? How do you juggle it?

[mogwai]

My dd is 3;08 and appears to have been unwell on and off all winter.

I ought to add that we spent 2007 in Australia, during which time she caught one virus that laid her low for about a week, constant vomitting, loss of weight, dehydration. We almost took her to hospital. Apart from that she was very well all year.

This winter she has had lots of time off sick from nursery. It started with the flu bug in December (which cost her two whole weeks off nursery) and has continued through various coughs and colds (started with a cough last week in November and seems to have had one ever since).

She miraculously escaped chickenpox (twice) and has had some sort of stomach bug since last weekend (which she caught from me). She's had diaorrhea but no vomitting and yet is still complaining of stomach pain and looking tired, pale and listless.

I work two days a week and my employer is becoming very impatient with me having time off work. I am pregnant and have taken time off for antenatal appointments as well as having a couple of days off related to SPD and last week's stomach bug. I am constantly stressed that my daughter will pick up a bug and I'll need more time off. As I only work those two days, two days off work looks to colleagues as though I've been off all week and then questions are asked.

I took her to nursery today against my better judgement. She was complaining of stomach ache and yet has neither a temperature nor any sickness or runny tum. Apparently she lay around the carpet all day looking sorry for herself. I feel such a bad mum tonight but couldn't take yet another day off work, particulalry when there's nothing specific wrong with her.

Anyone else have this constant worry of sick kids? Is it normal? It seems so different from the winter we spent in Australia. I wonder whether it's because she spends too much time cooped up indoors all winter? Her diet contains fruit and veg in reasonable amounts, though she's not at all keen on veg. She wakes very early every morning but goes to bed at 7am.

sorry meant 7pm

I feel your pain!
Me and many of my friends have had a rotten winter of constant ailments in our los and frequently us too. Doncha love it when they share?
It is normal.
I am not sure how to juggle it. I am lucky in that I am at home atm anyway so I don't have to stay off work, but we seem to have been constantly breaking arrangements or missing group things. It is a pain and it is such a shame fo rthe poor wee things. Hopefully this means they will get it easier than the ones who have escaped the bugs in a few years?

Thank goodness I'm not alone!

I know what you mean about breaking arrangemtns and missing things. We've missed loads of Tumbletots sessions. Tumbletots is a thirty minute drive from home and when I took her on Monday she said she felt ill when we arrived. Nice hour in the car there and back ho hum!

Some days I just feel so confined to the house - the shopping doesn't get done, there's nothing for tea, I don't get any errands run because we have to stay home. It drives me nuts but I'm beginning to worry it's a wider problem and not something "normal". I've no idea how I'll cope with two small children picking up separate bugs (dd is starting in reception, baby will go to nursery) - how will I ever manage to go to work??!!

No, you are certainly not alone!
Their immune systems aren't fully mature until 7 yrs.
Big design fault!

Sorry, the 7 yr thing probably wasn't helpful.
They will improve over that time, obviously.

Is ther anyone who can stand in for you as the stayer-at-home when they are sick?

I feel your pain. I was posting similiar thread this time last year. I have 2 in nursery and had 9 months of one thing after another. It's perfectly normal and that's the joy of nursery and their immune systems are not developed yet so they pick up everything that's going. I don't want to tempt fate but it has got a bit better this winter and long-term I think it stands them in good stead. There's not much you can do really. I invested in some good vitamins. You just have to hold your nerve and if you can arrange any back-up, that helps. Can you do any work from home?

Oh, and no I'm a manic hand washer to avoid passing/catching anything.

Only my husband. My mother works full time (and in any case is not the most supportive lady in the world). My MIL works every afternoon and saves every minute of annual leave for her holidays abroad. FIL doesn't work but he would never dream of looking after my dd in a million years (woman's work!).

Problem is that dh has a very responsible job and if he takes a day off, lots of people are affected (ie operations are cancelled). If I take a day off, it hardly matters.

Seven years? Crikey. I should give up work right now!!

(though my boss really gets her knickers in a twist when I do have time off).

Sigh.

Am tempted to give up work - seriously.

Winter is nearly over.
Sprng and summer will be much easier.

Yes, dd had a virus - very mildly - a few weeks before Xmas and never really got better. She has attended school part time until half term. She is now back full time, but is looking more and more exhausted as the days go by, and I don't know that she's really over it yet. The docs (she saw several over Dec - Feb) all said post-viral fatigue and wrote explanatory letter to the school as they were being arsey about it.

It's a real bugger and I'm worried about her on a number of levels at the moment.

It's so worrying isn't it? How old is your dd, Jux??

I have a brilliant sick record in my 15 years as a primary school teacher, but have missed 2 whole weeks with one thing and another since Christmas because ds started nursery in January and has got EVERYTHING!

Feel like the world's flakiest teacher phoning in yet again to say 'I don't know what it is this time, but...' And one of my parents complained! Luckily my ht is quite sympathetic, but it's really difficult.

I know

don't know what the answer is.

dd sick again this evening, not vomitting, just listless and complaining of atummy ache.

Seriously tempted to actually take her to work with me to make a point about what a bunch of arses they are being. Can't see an alternative.

I've had a lot of this: dd seemed to be ill all the time.

I know my mum went through the same thing with my elder brother, the rest of us were hardly ever ill.

I asked a consultant once and he said some children are just really late in developing an immune system. (dd has other problems too)

Can't offer any suggestions- just sympathy. It's a pain.

I know exactly how you feel, it is really rubbish, my DD has been at nursery six months and picked up chicken pox, conjunctivitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia before Christmas and has just had a week off with Rotavirus.

My boss can barely hide her feelings about this but as it is a legal right, there is very little your employer can say/do.

Also my DD sounds very like yours does when she was at the end of the Rotavirus last week, no diarrhea anymore but visibly uncomfortable with sore tummy, not that keen on food and very grumpy, sleepy and listless. Hope she feels better soon!

So good to hear messages of support.

DD better today, went to nursery full of beans - what a turn around.

Doesn't help when lots of the people you work with don't have children. When I phoned in sick last week I could hear the secretary tell one of my (childless) colleagues and I heard her respond "you're KIDDING me".

I've had three days off since Christmas (that was the third day).

What do these people expect us to do with our sick children? I can't WAIT for them to have their own kids!

Oh God yes, they are always ill all winter. It's been October since we were last all healthy. I've heard that it's our weather - we're hot, cold, hot, cold - perfect breeding ground for germs, apparently. No idea if that's true or not.