Parents of preschoolers/school-age children?

[minnie-mouse]

Does/did your preschooler get sick with colds and such often when they started school? My DD4 has been in preschool for 8 months now and it seems like every other month she has a bad cough, runny nose, retc. She already had walking pneumonia in October, then a lingering cough, now she is just getting over strep throat. But I feel like I am taking her to the doctor all the time now. Is this just how it is when your kids go to school? Before this, she was in a home daycare and was rarely sick. I was just hoping someone could ease my worries that is normal.

[CleveSJM]

I think you just hit a run of bad luck. I would say it's normal but not common. Schools are a breeding ground for contagious illnesses and you just got unlucky. Best thing to do is to keep up those doctor's appointments and get her healthly. Her immune system is getting stronger every day and soon she'll be fine. Keep an eye on her nutrition (enough Vitamin C and maybe a children's vitamin each day) and stress levels. Stress has a huge effect on health. Make sure she has enough rest and fun time.

I'm sure it's just a little rough time. It'll pass.

[DisneyDog]

Hi Tara! Max has been in daycare/preschool since he was 3 months old. His first preschool was in Florida, in an overcrowded, very large open room where the kids of different ages intermingled a lot. The older kids would wander into the baby room. Of course, he inevitably was sick a lot as an infant. He was only at that daycare for a few months, but he had 5 ear infections during that time. Then we found a daycare provider who worked in her home. There were only 5 kids there. He stopped getting sick as often and things were much better. When he was almost 2, he went back to a school environment, but to a different school. This school had separate rooms for the different ages and classes, which kept the interaction and germs to a minimum. Also, I think that by then, he had built up an immunity to all the yucky stuff. We are back in PA now, and he's in a wonderful pre-school. The babies are downstairs and the older kids are upstairs. He still gets colds now and then, but not like he used to.

So, it seems to me that, with your DD, it could be that she was just never exposed to the barrage of germs before, and her body needs to get used to it. Is her school clean? Do they make sure the kids wash their hands often? Max's teachers also keep the sanitizer gel on their desks for everyone to use throughout the day. Are the classes small? Do kids of different ages intermingle a lot? All of those things could factor into her constant sickness.

Hope this helps!!

Jill

[MomPoppins]

My DD4 is sick all the time! She's also had pneumonia this year and probably has a cold every other week. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she was only in school about five days because she was sick so often. She had RSV when she was a month old and ever since, what would be a simple cold in another kid hits *her* respiratory system really hard -- she has to be on a nebulizer, her blood ox levels go way down, etc. We figure it's just something we have to wait for her to outgrow once she gets some immunity.

This year, it's not such a big deal because it's just preschool. I'm not looking forward to *next* year when she goes to kindergarten and I have to be more concerned with how much school she's missing.

I know it's hard! Hang in there and good luck!!

[Kidsmom]

My kids never went to daycare, but started preschool at 2 yo at Montessori. They all seemed to be sick all the time with runny noses and general viruses during thoses years, but by elementary school they were rarely sick.

My nephews had a nanny at home until kindergarten were never sick as little ones, but in third grade are still catching every little thing that goes around.

Someone once told me that kids all have to catch the general bugs. Some are exposed earlier and get a lot of it out of the way young and the others spend the first few years of school building up their immune system.

My kids are now 4,7,8 and 10 and are rarely out. It seems now if one catches something it rarely goes through the house like it did when they were little. They also seem to get it mildly compared to the other kids in their class who catch the same thing.

Just keep cleaning your house, washing their hands, have them eat well and get lots of sleep.
This too shall pass.

[Kidsmom]

In response to Mompoppins,

One of my kids was in the hospital with RSV at 6 weeks old and it never caused her any respirtory issues. My oldest was always fighting respirtory problems (ear infections, colds never went away, got croup a lot, sinus infections all winter, coughed all night long which caused her to pee or throw up occasionally) from 2 yo on and finally she was Dx with asmtha at 5 y.o.

She had allergies to Cats and Dogs. We had two cats although she showed no typical signs of allergies. We had a long struggle with her asthma with lots of drugs and ER, 911 calls, but she is finally out growing it.

I always wished I had checked her allergies earlier, because in the back of my mind I knew it was not the normal and maybe it was asthma.

Just my 2 cents worth of info.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

Last year my DD who will be 3 tomorrow was sick every other week or so... one cold after another. She CONSTANTLY had a runny nose. A cough wasn't uncommon either. I think these kids get sick in school and then they pass them all around to each other and then by the time they get well, there is a new bug goin around. It is really inevitable that they are going to get sick. We are luckily going through a well-spell (birthday tomorrow, party on Sat, Disney on Mon), but only after 2 weeks ago she got the stomach flu goin around. Yuck.

[Ian]

When DD first started at daycare she was like 7 months and yeah ... she got sick a lot.

It only lasts for maybe 6-12 months, though, and then they seem to build up an immunity. I actually think it's good for them ...

I've heard that children who don't go to school until kindergarten often end up missing a lot of school early on while they go through the immunity building process.

[RenDuran]

My daughter never got sick until she started school....but then it was constant for a while. But when you consider that there is appr. 200 strains of cold virus, it seems logical that kids just starting off are going to pick up alot that they haven't been exposed to before. It has leveled off greatly now that she's in third grade. But now my three-year-old gets everything. He goes to a lot of school functions with us and seems to get whatever is going around even when my daughter doesn't.

My son also had RSV as a young baby. He now has asthma....every time he gets a virus, we have to be extra vigilant about his neb treatments or he has to take pred to reduce lung inflammation. The poor thing! When people say that kids getting sick is good for them, it makes me want to spit! It's obvious they're parents that have pretty healthy kids.

[murphy1]

Both of my older dd's went through this, they were getting sick constantly in Kindergarten. They went to a church preschool PT. My littlest dd is going to five day preschool next year, so the year after that I am expecting the sickies for her. They do build up immunity and my oldest rarely gets sick now (3rd grade).

[ckaranassos]

I do not have any preschool age children anymore, however I teach preschool. (As I am typing this I am recovering from pink eye. ) Two things sometime contribute to constant sickness for this age group. The first they always seem to share things that they aren't suppose to (germs and such) and do not share things you would like them to (toys etc). Many still love to put things in their mouth and then touch everything. Another factor is unfortunately a lot of parents work and count on school so if their child is a "little" sick they send them. So do your best to remind your child to try and keep their hands out of their mouth and wash their hands as often as possible and to cough and sneeze into their sleeve rather than their hand. We wipe down tables during our 2 1/2 hour day 4 times and wash hands after art projects, before snack and again after snack and of course after ever bathroom use. Good Luck it does get better!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

My DD4 is sick all the time! She's also had pneumonia this year and probably has a cold every other week. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she was only in school about five days because she was sick so often. She had RSV when she was a month old and ever since, what would be a simple cold in another kid hits *her* respiratory system really hard -- she has to be on a nebulizer, her blood ox levels go way down, etc. We figure it's just something we have to wait for her to outgrow once she gets some immunity.

This year, it's not such a big deal because it's just preschool. I'm not looking forward to *next* year when she goes to kindergarten and I have to be more concerned with how much school she's missing.

I know it's hard! Hang in there and good luck!!

I could have written this post myself!

Our DD was hospitalized for one week when she was 4 months old for RSV. She has had issues with bronchitis, pneumonia (she had it over Xmas break), upper respiratory infections, etc, since she was a baby. She also has asthma. She has a nebulizer and takes Singulair and medications via an inhaler twice a day.
She has done better in Pre K this year then I thought we thought but, she has battled a few nasty colds.
Kindergarten this fall will be the true test.

To the OP, you are not alone. My sons also came down with lots of colds and such when they just started school. They are in 5th and 2nd now and it is no where near as bad. Of course, they are much better with hand washing and other things to help with keeping them healthy. Good luck!

[MomPoppins]

In response to Mompoppins,

One of my kids was in the hospital with RSV at 6 weeks old and it never caused her any respirtory issues. My oldest was always fighting respirtory problems (ear infections, colds never went away, got croup a lot, sinus infections all winter, coughed all night long which caused her to pee or throw up occasionally) from 2 yo on and finally she was Dx with asmtha at 5 y.o.

She had allergies to Cats and Dogs. We had two cats although she showed no typical signs of allergies. We had a long struggle with her asthma with lots of drugs and ER, 911 calls, but she is finally out growing it.

I always wished I had checked her allergies earlier, because in the back of my mind I knew it was not the normal and maybe it was asthma.

Just my 2 cents worth of info.

Thanks so much for your thoughts! Actually, the doc is watching her really carefully for asthma, especially since my husband has it. Technically, she's been diagnosed with recurrent intermittent asthma, but not full-blown asthma because it ONLY occurs when she's caught a cold. (She figure skates, dances and plays soccer with no problems whatsoever -- as long as she's healthy.) She was checked for allergies about a year and a half ago, but I will bring that up at her next appointment! Thanks again!

[BrerGnat]

Just wanted to say, my son started preschool in September and he was pretty sick for the first 2 months (like every week, he had a fever and runny nose, or a stomach bug) but since then, it's only been about 1 illness/month or so.

Ironically, our younger son is sick more often than the 3 year old. Probably because 3 year old brings home stuff that he's already immune to, and passes it along to our 22 month old.

[minnie-mouse]

Thank you everyone. I greatly appreciate all the advice. I guess I will just have to keep a watchful eye over her and keep bringing her back to the doctor when I feel she really needs it.

Thanks again!

[meldan98]

I have to agree with the other mom's, the first few months are rough, but as time passes, there immunity does build up and they aren't sick much.

However, I have learned that my dd is a carrier monkey. She won't get sick, but her dad and I are always getting sick with her daycare/preschool germs.

Right after she started daycare and was no longer getting sick, I was off work a lot because I would get one infection after another. At one point my doctor ended up putting me on antibiotics for almost a month just to help get my immune system back up and running. This was after a double eye infection, double ear infection, sinus infection, bronchitis and tonsilitis all at the same time. I was a mess.

[TheMartellFamily]

Yep that is my 4 year old to a T. He is now getting over his 2nd round of sinus infection in the last 2 months. He is very suseptable to these but his nose is always running and he is coughing. He is in full day preschool and if it is not one thing it is another. I feel that the colds are ok, but I make sure he gets a flu shot every fall. When I do that he is not gotten a flu bug it is just the colds. Nothings is worse than a house full of everyone with the flu, I will take the cold anyday over that.