DS always sick, not sure what's happening

[megb]

I think I must make an appointment with the doctor about my DS. He is now 14 months old.

He always seems so sick it all started when he was 4 weeks old, he was admitted to hospital for bronchiolitis and I stayed overnight with him, poor little tike had tubes up his nose and was administered oxygen. Could this have weakened his system? I give him pentavite regularly and he's also on toddler formula.

He has an older sister and she gets colds now and again from day care. But this little man just keeps getting sick, colds, coughs, runny noses, bugs, rashes, you name it, he gets it. I'm really over it and not sure what to do or whether I'm just worrying unnecessarily!

The day care centre says to me, "oh they get sick for the first 6 months and then they're fine" (DD been there since February) but honestly, that doesn't make it better!

Even DD has had about 5 colds since February and I'm over spending hundreds at the chemist!

Thanks for listening to my rant. Just not sure whether anyone else out there has had such a sick little one for so long!

[Miss.B]

Oh hun I'm sorry to hear this Poor little chook. I bet you when he's older he'll never gets sick as his immune system with be excellent! I have a 14 month old as well, and he's had a couple of tiny colds, I'm talking about a stuffy nose and some coughing, nothing major, and I worry a lot that he hasn't built up his immune system for later I never did go to mother's group and only take him once a week to gymbaroo, so he's not really around babies/kids much.

Have you asked the doc about some vitamins you could give him maybe?? Just a guess..hope his general health improves soon

[megb]

he's on pentavite etc. he gets a bad rash on his bottom when he has cow's milk so i stopped it. i am wondering whether he's allergic to cow's milk? maybe he needs a soy based formula? hmmm...

[Miss.B]

That's a good idea, maybe he'll be better on soy???? GL hun. You can always ask your doctor what else you can try.

[MumtoA]

My DD seems to be sick all the time as well it's hard work, just when you think they get over it - a few days respite - and then she is sick again. My Doc told it that it is 'normal' for kids up to the age of 3 to get 6 'colds' in a year or up to 12 in a year if they go to day care - so pretty much one a month if they are in care. DD is definitely on track for the 12 this year! Hope you little one feels better soon
xo

[starangelk]

My DD has been sick since February - non stop runny nose, coughs, temps etc. I am hoping that whole 6 months when they first start daycare thing is right and she magically gets better overnight.

[Yeddi]

MicroRANT: I'm actually worried about this culture (not just on this thread of I've heard it a number of times before from friends) that it's "normal" for children to always be sick, sometimes having up to 9 colds in a year, and that's how they build their immunity. I say bull! What's with the excuses for being sick all the time? It might be normal, in that it is now common, but it's not a "things as they should be" type of normal. We wouldn't put up with being sick every six weeks. That's not a sign of "health" or even building health. You don't have to actually catch a virus to build an immunity to it. I think part of it is because people take their kids out when they're sick - "it's just a cold" they say - I don't care, stay at home until you are well, don't spread your germs! /RANT

Yes, it would be worth looking into the milk allergy. You could try goats milk, which is closest to breast milk in make up, but doesn't have casein 1 in it.
A zinc and vitamin C supplement might be worth looking into, as well as a probiotic to help build good gut flora. Also, the best thing you can do is give them some sun. Vitamin D is the bodies natural steroid and helps support the immune system, and is more important to plan time in the sun in winter, when it's weaker and not around for as long.

[Traveller]

My youngest son was the same, since his first hospital admission aged 10 days. Long story short he had silent reflux, which he was aspirating causing lung infections. This was made worse when I started solids which included cows milk (he was breastfed) but it was only fairly recently we discovered a cows milk protein allergy. It's made an amazing difference to his health discovering this, and conincidentally he came off cows milk at the same time he started daycare and has not been constantly sick the way everyone told me he would be.

Anyway my point is, if you suspect cows milk take him off it. And by this I mean butter, cheese, cream in cooking, everything. If it doesn't make a difference then I would recommend pursing allergy testing to see if you can find out why he is so sick, because it is not normal for a child to be constantly sick no matter what the experts tell you. I was told the same thing numerous times and it was only at my insistence that my son had his first chest x-ray, which showed pneumonia! Apparently the fact he was happy indicated he was well, when in fact he was happy because he is a happy kid and he didn't know that feeling unwell was a reason to be unhappy because he was unwell from birth

[megb]

MicroRANT: I'm actually worried about this culture (not just on this thread of I've heard it a number of times before from friends) that it's "normal" for children to always be sick, sometimes having up to 9 colds in a year, and that's how they build their immunity. I say bull! What's with the excuses for being sick all the time? It might be normal, in that it is now common, but it's not a "things as they should be" type of normal. We wouldn't put up with being sick every six weeks. That's not a sign of "health" or even building health. You don't have to actually catch a virus to build an immunity to it. I think part of it is because people take their kids out when they're sick - "it's just a cold" they say - I don't care, stay at home until you are well, don't spread your germs! /RANT
A zinc and vitamin C supplement might be worth looking into, as well as a probiotic to help build good gut flora. Also, the best thing you can do is give them some sun. Vitamin D is the bodies natural steroid and helps support the immune system, and is more important to plan time in the sun in winter, when it's weaker and not around for as long.

Hi Yeddi, I totally agree with this! You've hit the nail right on the head with me. I hear this too often (build up their immunity etc) - I am guilty too, I've sent DD to day care with a runny nose so I can see why some Mums would be upset with that. Do you think though that many parents would keep their child home with just a runny nose? Just curious as to what others say on this. DS also has pentavite and a probiotic every day. I'm going to send him for allergy testing I think, him being sick this much is just ridiculous.

Thanks everyone for your posts, let you know what we find out (if anything!) xxxx

[Yeddi]

No, I don't think many parents keep their kids home with a runny nose. I do - not that it happens that often. If the snot is clear and isn't constant, but seems to be triggered by something (i.e. by going outside) I would be more inclined to take them out or let DD go to school, but if it has even the slightest tinge of colour to it or if it seems to be dripping constantly, or switching between blocked and dripping - absolutely not, I keep them at home. I don't just do it so they don't spread any bugs they might have to other children, but for their benefit too, by making them rest and treating it early they get over it quicker, and it rarely escalates.

Good luck with your allergy testing.

[Swoop]

80% of our immune system is in the gut, so I would definitely recommend looking at a probiotic. Yakult etc are no good, inner health is ok but if you want a really good go for something like bioceuticals - I get ours from the health food shop. From what you're saying, cutting out dairy to see if it helps sounds like a good idea. You will need to eliminate it completely for at least 2 weeks, then slowly reintroduce and look for signs that it's effecting him (energy levels, sleep patterns etc as well as the more obvious ones.) We recently eliminated wheat too as dairy helped, but not enough.

It may also be worth visiting a chiro or osteo so that they can make sure his body is working at the optimum level to be fighting things off effectively.

Good luck, we are going through the same thing with my DD at the moment and it's no fun. I must say though, I was worried about the elimination diet but actually it's been fine, just a bit expensive, but there are plenty of options available these days.

[FarmGirl]

Without alarming anyone, but wanting to ensure all the boxes are ticked, it is worth noting that repeated chest infections can also be a sign of other problems, such as Cystic Fibrosis. Even though the heel ***** test may have returned an all clear for CF, it is important to understand that it only tests for the 40 most common varitations whereas there are over 1400 known. If in doubt, insist your Doctor have your child tested again.

Interesting fact: before testing for CF was invented, midwives would lick a babies skin after birth. If it was salty, the midwife would hand the baby to the mother and tell her to go home and love it because it would pass away soon. Thank god for modern medicine, people with CF can now live a long healthy life.