DD (3.5) started preschool four months ago and she’s been sick with one thing or another since about day 3. I was warned that this would happen but it’s getting ridiculous. She’s been coughing for a month and a half. She goes from one illness to another, colds, flu, stomach virus, bronchitis, etc. Half of the time either DH or I have been sick as well from whatever she brings home.
How long will this last? Will she eventually build up an immunity and get thru this? I feel so sorry for her. Not to mention all the days she’s missing at school which is like a vicious circle. It’s taking her so much longer to fit in and get used to preschool because she’s been away 1/4 of the time. Last night she spiked a fever and I had to send her to her grandparents instead of school.
Fear not, it does change… I was a preschool teacher for 4 years during college (many moons ago) and this was a usual thing children of toddler age and older went through. Do’t worry, and yes they are building an immunity. As are you!
We went through this for about the first six months to a year of day care. It did get better, though, and after that we’ve all been reasonably healthy.
It gets better. Although my kids started in daycare - so they had the constant little kid cold problem more as babies. I remember it was about eighteen months.
My kids seem to have gotten a Magic Immune System Gene from somewhere - knock wood, they’re rarely ill. But we do see this at the kindergarten where I work quite a bit, especially when kids move from the toddler room to the 3+ room - more kids of more different ages, more germs and therefore more illnesses. Eventually it works out.
All I can say is wash everybody’s hands to the edge of obsession, eat right, stay warm, and try to get enough sleep. For all I know you’re doing that already now and still getting sick, though! Eventually it will pass.
We’re going through the same thing right now. Baby B started daycare about three months ago, and picked up a bad cold within a couple of weeks. He’s had an off-and-on runny nose since then, too. Thing is, he never seems to feel bad, it’s just the runny nose and a cough he can’t seem to shake. But he’s also teething right now, so the runny nose might be, in part, from that.
ElzaHub and I, on the other hand, have been constantly sick. We both ended up with bronchitis at Christmas AFTER getting that first cold, and haven’t been able to shake anything since. I developed ulcers in my throat last week (related to a virus that goes around with a cold), and as soon as those went away, I got hit with another bad cold.
Hang in there. That’s what we’re trying to do, and I really think once we get past winter, we’ll all start feeling better.
Average # colds of typical toddler in pre-school per school year: 12.
Works out to about one every 3 weeks. With our kiddo last year (his first year) it was:
Week 1 well
Week 2 Feverish for first 2-3 days, sniffely for 5-6
Week 3 recovering and clearing congestion.
repeat.
He’s had far fewer this year.
This is where the expression "snot nosed kids"comes from.
Good news is that apparently mutliple benign upper airway infections before the age of 4 seems to decrease the probability of the child becoming asthmatic. Seems to train some of the immune system cell and teaches them what to attack. This is according to a paper on perdiatric asthma risk factors I read a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Tylenol for kids is your friend. Just remember to be anal about dose timing to avoid exceeding the prescribed dose. Even if they say every 4 hours, and there are 6 4-hour periods in 24 hours, you can only give 5 doses, so you have to pick a slot to miss a dose. Do not determine the proper dosage for your kid by age, but by body weight. Weigh them if you’re not sure. Use an oral pediatric syringe (it has no needle) to measure the dose and give it. THey are way more accurate than measuring spoons, and you won’t lose anything to spillage. You can ask your pharmacist for them.
Use tylenol cold at night, the anti-histamine will help them sleep. Use tylenol decongestant during the day (no antihistamine) so they won’t be sedated and become a wet dish-rag on the floor.
And if your don’t “believe” in drugs for your kids and want to be “natural”, well, then, enjoy…
Dang. I don’t know about that. While my infant does use prescribed drugs (anti-biotics for ear infections, nebulizer for respiratory, Tylenol for fevers) I don’t think it’s really a good idea to keep a kid on Tylenol 24-7.
And as always, don’t take medical advise from here, ask your doctor.
The Hordling doesn’t like her current bottle much (it’s got a metered pump) so I now have to fake her out and pretend to take some first. I’ll go back to a regular squeeze bottle which she generally likes because hey, salty.
