Hi there,

My DS started childcare 3 days a week in February. He's now 1. Since that time he has been ill for most of that time. We had runny poo, then it was middle ear infection which wouldn't clear up until we got antibiotics, then bronchioloitis not to mention heaps of random coughs and sniffles in between. Just when I thought it was all over (not sure why I thought it was over) we had a temperature again last night and he was home with a constant cough today. On top of this DS has always had low weight gain and it ended up on the 10th percentile. I think he is off the charts now. With all of his illness his appetite has been almost non existent for the last 5 weeks and he has definitely lost weight. The GP explained that this can be normal with starting childcare and give it 6 months and things will improve. He also said that whilst DS is very thin he wasn't overly concerned at this point because he is still active. He said that DS will eventually have a break in illness and expected that he will go through a phase of eating lots to recover.

My DP and I have been arguing about how to manage the situation. We don't have a lot of family support here and have had to take time off work. I don't have a very supportive work environment and I get nervous about the reaction to having to take time off. DP has just started a new job and any leave taken is without pay. Generally we have tried to split the time off but we argue about if I should take the leave because I have the entitlements (but it's not a great reaction I get) or if DP should take it without pay (but a family friendly place). We both earn about the same.

I also wonder if it's the right thing to even be doing by sending DS to childcare when he get so sick and his weight is impacted on but it's hard to cover the basic expenses of mortgage, bill, grocery and petrol on one wage. Our debts were piling up when I was on maternity leave.

I guess my questions are:
* Has the situation with constant illness happened to you and how did you end up getting a break?
* How has illness impacted on your child's weight gain and did it recover?
* How have you managed to keep things altogether with your workplace and family demands, particularly if you haven't had great family support?

Thanks for reading my long post.