I know everyone says that kids get sick a lot when they start school, but this is too much! My son is 5 years old and started preschool February 1st. Since February he has had stuffed nose, runny nose, cough, croup, fevers, ear infections, vomitting, diarhea, and strep throat. Not all at once of course. He has been on antibiotics 3 times in 3 1/2 months. Prior to this, he has taken antiobiotics once a year at most. He has always been around other kids at play dates, story times and parks. He is such a trooper when he's sick and is very independent. He has had colds and such before, but he has been knock down, drag out sick lately. It worries me to see him so very sick. To add to it, the other 3 kids are getting sick too. Haven't slept in months.
My question is, did your kids get this sick when they started school? Now I am dreading the start of kindergarten in August. I just need to know from other Moms that he's not any sicker than any other kids. Thanks!
Thanks for your responses. Not that I want anyone else to be sick, but I am relieved to know that this has happened to others. The kids take a multi vitamin and Omega-3 everyday. We are big on Purell and I know they make them wash hands at school. I just need to ride this out. Thanks for your support!
I say-hang in there! I remember writing the exact same post a couple of years ago. Things definitely got better as my kid's immune systems got stronger. My advice-eat healthy, boost immunity with herbs, get outside as much as possible. You will make it through this time!
It depends on a lot of issues. The biggest being hygiene. My youngest son got the occasional cold and respitory infection at his first daycare, it seemed to be just because he was in daycare, but it also seemed like a reasonable level due to kids sharing everything. When we moved he started a new daycare and was sick all the time. I had to take 2 weeks off work when he ended up with pnemonia. I got so tired of it, I ended up getting a nanny so he could be home during the day and that fixed the problem.
J F...
I wonder if the school is not sending home sick children and/or teachers. They possibly might not be using anti-bacterial and seldom washing hands.
My 4yo son has attended preschool for two years now at an elementary school and has only been sick one time. His teacher is adamant about making sure their hands are clean all the time & I'm sure that helps tremondously.
Your experience sounds very similar to ours, but our son is just in daycare. The first six months he was in daycare, he had multiple colds, coughs, and 4 ear infections. He has been much better this year. Also, my nieces (and their moms) according to their moms were sicker than they had ever been the first year they went to kindergarten. It doesn't sound to me like your situation is very different, not to say it isn't really really difficult and tough on everyone.
Another thing we did to help our son with the onslaught of germs at daycare was to give him probiotics and a multi-vitamin every day. We also use various immune-support herbal supplements, and these Herbal Aloe Ear Drops. He has only had one bad cold and one ear infection, which did not require antibiotics, so far this year. If you aren't opposed to herbal supplements, going to an herb store (we go to the Herb Store in Nob Hill), they can provide you with some good advice.
Good luck and hang in there. The problem with school and daycare is even if they send home sick kids, they shed viruses for at least a day before they show ANY symptoms. As another poster said, good hygiene is another key to keeping kids healthy.
I truly feel your angst! I remember not only my kids being but getting ME sick too - and we all know when Mama's down, the whole family is down - LOL!
I have to tell you, I felt like I've found 'the secret' to NOT getting sick. Our family started taking Vemma. You may have heard Dr. Oz talk about it, or heard buzz about it. You can go to www.drinkyourvemma.com to learn more about it, or you can email or call me. ____@____.com ###-###-####
Since taking it, our entire family (2 adults and 4 young kids) haven't been sick ONCE - even when neighbors, classmates, friends and family have been around us that are sick! I think every teacher should take it too :)
P.S. They offer a 100% EMPTY BOTTLE GUARANTEE!
Best,
C.
I don't remember my kids getting that sick when they were little. But, make sure they wash their hands a lot and often! We keep antibacterial gel in the car and use it as soon as we get in the car from any place that has a shopping cart. Does your son suck his thumb or put his hands in his mouth a lot without washing them ? Maybe teach him about germs (without making him paranoid)and hopefully that with more handwashing will help.
It is tough and it seems like it will never end but it will! My oldest is 10 and when he first started in daycare (I worked full time back then) it seemed like he was sick constantly for the first year or two, which was really hard since I had to take so much time off of work to care for him and never seemed to get any sleep, and of course its hard for any mom to see her little one suffering. Have faith though it does get better! As time went by and after it seemed like he caught every bug known to man, he stopped catching everything. Your little one's immune system will catch up and be stronger for it! My son almost never gets sick anymore -except for the seasonal allergies which come with the blooming trees and plants. you may want to try a childrens vitamin if you aren't already, I know some healthfood/wholefood stores have childrens vitamins with immune supporting ingrediants in them, you may want to try those! Good luck!
Hi JF, Truth be said, I can't relate at all! My 2 kids, ages 9 and 6 are rarely sick. In fact, my 9 yo has only missed 2 days of school in 5 years! We don't do anything special other than they each take a kids multi-vitamin and an Omega-3 FAITHFULLY every single day, and have since they were very little. And not the fancy ones either, just the gummy bear one's you get at Costco! Also, my soon to be step daughter who is special needs is on a bunch of homeopathic pills and she NEVER gets sick. So I don't know if this will help you or not...I hope you find something that will work for you...good luck!
To me, I think there are more germs at schools than anywhere else. My son was really never exposed to other kids until he was around 2 1/2 years of age. Then he got sick occassionally. When he started preschool at age 3, he started getting a lot of unexplained fevers as high as 104 and 105. Thank God I was able to control the fevers and I took him to the doc quite often that year. This year was his second year of preschool, and he didn't get sick as often, but still had the occassional unexplained fevers. My pediatrician said that it usually takes kids about a couple of years in preschool to build up their immune system. She said if I hadn't told her that his fevers had subsided this year, that would have caused her some concern, but since they lessoned this year, she is sure that it is just his immune system building up. She even said that when kids get into preschool that they usually get sick quite often. Kids go to school sick, with runny noses, coughing, diarrhea etc. It was shocking last year after his first year of preschool and my son getting sick at least twice a month just about, that summer he never got sick once! Then of course when preschool started again, so did his illnesses.
You can do an immune test on your kiddo and see if there is something wrong there. But, your pediatrician may tell you to wait another year for your child to be in school for two years to do any out of the ordinary tests. Just depends on your doc and what he/she suggests. Your home is a lot cleaner than any school environment. Kids are still learning hygeine and washing hands often etc. So, they are going to spread germs like crazy at schools. Even with the janitors cleaning up each day, still won't be as clean as your own home. :-)
Are you giving him a vitamin every day? I give my son a Flinstones vitamin each day. And that doesn't prevent him from getting sick, but it does help.
Talk to your pediatrician about Aloe Vera Juice and giving it to your son. Aloe Vera Juice has a lot of healing properties in it, and it is well known to really help your immune system. Talk to your doctor first about this before you decide to start this remedy. I'll send you a link to a website that will help you understand this better. The article says not advisable for children, but it didn't state at what age. On our bottle, it says you can give it to children of five years of age. Here is that link:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/29154
Hope this helps. :-)
PS: Berries have a lot of antibodies in them and these can really help the immune system. :-) I got this info from my OB/GYN. Lots of different colors of fruits, including berries will help a lot.
My son didn't attend preschool, we did playdates off and on. Him and I for 5 years were fit as a fiddle. Kindergarden started and wow it hit lots of respitory infections etc. even strep for Him and I. He missed a lot of school the whole year. especially around christmas break he got chicken pox.
Since your child is in preschool and getting this sick, it should or could lesson for kindergarden. 1st grade for us was less sickness and way less for the following years. His body needed to get imune.
Once your son is off antibiotics, you need to start giving him probiotics. This will help build his immune system back up after the antibiotics killed everything. My entire family takes probiotics every day once I learned the benefits.
Sounds like your child's immune system needs boosting. Read this article by the wonderful Dr. Sears and follow his advice on herbal supplements. It works a treat especially with all the different flu viruses around at the moment.
http://askdrsears.com/html/8/T081900.asp
I work at a daycare and it is common. I recommend this article to all my parents.
