3 Year Old Always Sick

I'm going to second the moms who are talking about probiotics. My daughter was always getting sick--colds, stomach issues & more. She had a rough time in daycare, so we started her on probiotics (jarrow brand powder to mix in beverage or food or "yum yum dophilus," which are chewables--more expensive, but yummy for them). Within 6 weeks, we could see the difference in her health. We have continued her on the probiotics and she has been able to fight colds better, they've been shorter or she's missed them completely. If the immune issues do continue through summer though, I would talk to another doctor, perhaps for immune issues or possibly wheat or dairy allergies, which can cause a tendency to get sick often. Good luck!

If she consumes foods like juice or soda, cookies/crackers/sweets on a daily basis, get back to me and I'll give you some advice. (I'm not giving the advice here, because it's been my experience that most parents are unwilling to change their children's diets, and then they just yell at me.)

I have the healthiest kids of any family that I've ever met. I'm happy to share my experiences with you.

cut milk, that will really, really help. anything mucus forming is going to make it harder to fight infections. give her lots of garlic and immune fighting nutrition, and if she will eat spicy food like chicken wings that will help get rid of some mucus and speed up the process. Get her to bed on time, get her plenty of sleep, and check out that local preschool to see if it is clean and if the kids are washing their hands throughout the day. be nosy. are they washing their hands when they come in, before and after they eat, and be sure you are doing it when she comes home. Also check to remember if she just had immunizations. If she is having reactions to these this should be reported.
When you buy things at the grocery store, remember the cheaper cereals have more sugar, and check labels, don't buy things with high fructose corn syrup. There is a kind of bread I get that is made with honey instead of sugar. Really limiting sugar and milk I think has made my kids way more resistant to viruses and colds. My oldest has never had an ear infection and his pediatrician said that this is rare these days. Also get into your local herb shop and see what they have to tell you, and learn all you can about herbs, as a mom you will thank me if you do.

A good chiropractor may be a good idea too.

Someone mentioned probiotics and it reminded me that I also have my children take Watkins Chewable Vitamins for kids, they have a probiotic in there, and my kids do seem healthier when they take those. We have recently run out and we're broke and I miss them. I also use my childrens' breath to gage their health/susceptibility. If they have good breath, I have no worries. Some people think it's weird, but I will often check their breath when they are close to me. If it smells good without them having brushed their teeth, they are doing well.

I have a friend whose daughter went through the same thing: constant colds, not quite getting over it, fever off and on with no "real" other symptoms. It took her a year or so to get a diagnosis of asthma. Once on her asthma meds, the girl is fine until she gets a "real" cold, then it's more serious than for others, but nowhere near as bad as it used to be.

Additionally, my daughter, who has always been quite healthy, went through a bout last winter of 4 ear/throat infections in about 3 months. I finally went to another doctor who told me to pull her from preschool (where she went only twice a week), keep her home, don't take her to the store, etc unless absolutely necessary and to get lots of fresh air and sleep. Also to cut back on her sugar intake. He put her on a strong antibiotic and a short term steriod with an additional nasal spray for a couple of months. She finally got completely healthy and this winter we saw nothing more than a cold.

You might ask you doc (or another) if it's the SAME infection that isn't getting cleared up between illnesses. As to whether is normal, NO. I've met very few children who are constantly sick (especially with a fever) who don't have an underlying cause.

Best of luck; keep us posted and feel free to PM.

Our son did this a lot, except it was trips to the ER with severe Stridor (Croupy stuff). We later found out he had fluid on his lungs that fostered infection all the time, so when he got a "cold" it was serious because his immune system was over-worked. I think if you're concerned, a second opinion is certainly fine. I'm not sure what the doctor might do or look for, but a second opinion may open up some doors. She's probably just fine, but it never hurts to ask. You can always hope that it's really true that if the kids are sick a lot, they're healthy as adults. :)

One of the mom's mentioned ProBiotics. My son was born a little weaker than most. He is 2 now and we buy the KidEssentials for him to drink. It has a probiotic straw that helps him fight off all those little sicknesses. Here is the website. Check it out. I think it has helped him a lot. http://www.kidessentials.com/Pages/homepage.aspx

M., its pretty normal for kids to have one sickness after another, mainly because their immune system is low from the first virus. They are more suseptible to the next virus after being sick. Sometimes it runs together like that. Its scary, tho' I know. I always had natural supplements for my kids and am glad, because when they got older and played sports, they had strong bones and no injuries. I believe in the best nutrition for our bodies. Its like fuel in a car. It works better when its taken care of and doesn't get run down. :-)

Is she eating well? Drinking sugarles juices? Glasses of water? Does she like snacks like blueberries and kiwi fruit, orange slices, appples and bananas, grapes, carrot sticks, celery sticks, etc? Mine only liked bananas,apple slices and carrots. Therefore I had them on the best vitamins I could find. This day and age, I would have your little girl on a liquid supplement. I can recommend the best for her health and prevention, if you want to call me 303/898-6237 One last thing, have her enjoy lots of sleep!

When she gets the fever, is she ever diagnosed with anything? infection or virus? My son was sick constantly between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. He was in a constant cycle of colds turning into ear infections. Tubes in his ears didn't help, so I pushed the doc for the next step, which was seeing an immunologist. Sure enough, he had an immune deficiency!

edit: Was this her first year of preschool and thus first year around other kids? If she didn't have her immunity built up, and this was her first time in close contact with other kids, it could be that next year will be better.

Hi M.,

My guess is that your daughter is probably deprived nutritionally... when we don't get the nutrients we need, our bodies don't function optimally. Even if we eat really well (lots of fruits and veggies), it's hard to get what we need nutritionally because our soils are so depleted. And especially when it come to our children... they are often picky eaters and don't eat much in the way of veggies anyway.

I HIGHLY recommend Body Balance... it's a liquid that tastes good so it's easy to get kids to drink it every day (I have a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old that take it daily)and it's got 120 nutrients in every ounce (from sea veggies) so it's a great way to make sure we're getting what we need on a daily basis. Go here for more info: http://www.LifeForceSuccess.com and please let me know if you have any questions!

-A.

ok let me start by saying that i am not a doc of any kind what i have to say is just an idea. My son is 19mo old and also has been sick it seems like for the last several months. He has been on soo many rounds of meds i cant stand to think about it! Finially the last time we took him in they did a strep test and it came back postive, he went on a really strong antibotic and was re-tested a few days later. He was still positive, the doctor told us that he is a strep carrier that it could last for 2-6 months possible longer. He doesnt really show any symptoms and it is rare that he will spread it but he has also been catching everything and anything that anybody and everybody has! so just a thought that maybe you would want to get checked out. best of luck!!!

I don't think it's good for a child to be constantly sick as it means the immune system is having a hard time recouping and building strength.

What are you giving her when she is sick? If you are giving medicine constantly, her immune system will not build immunity to the sicknesses. I recommend giving her plenty of foods that contain antioxidants. Make sure she gets plenty of vitamin c & zinc and even give her echinacea drops every day. These are just a few examples of natural immune boosters. Good luck!

Have a GREAT day!

S.

As a child, I was always sick, so I commiserate. I have heard announcements on the radio that there is a new diagnosis for children that has something to due with having a low immune system. Evidentally there is something that can be done about this.I would check around with pediatricians until I could come up with one that knows about this. maybe even google something like "low immune system in children". Good luck!

fruits and veggies, fruits and veggies, fruits and veggies! honestly, if we're good about what we're eating, we can even relax on hand washing and we're not sick. I am pretty anal about the handwashing too. no antibacterials, just plain ol' soap but every time we come into the house from being anywhere - everyone washes hands.
we seemed to get sick every time we vacationed w/ grandma and grandpa. at first we thought oh, they're just run down, travel stress, etc but I finally figured out it was the no fruits and veggies (don't get me started on my in-laws eating habits - I'll suggest McDonalds just so I can get a salad and the kids can have apple slices - yes its that bad!) So, the last couple times I've made sure the kids got at least one fruit or veggie at every meal (versus 2-3 at home and 0 if grandma has her way) and we don't get sick anymore after time w/grandma! it feels weird bringing my own groceries to someone else's house, but you do what you gotta do.
good luck.

So you described my son right now, without the fevers though. I think some kids are just more suseptable with illnesses. I get a little jealous of the mom's that don't go through this and my heart goes out to those who do. As far as it being normal, not for most but it doesn't necessarily mean something MAJOR is wrong either. With our boy he would get sick and it would seem to be worse and last longer. If he had something and we took him out even when he started feeling better he'd get something else. Then he started getting croupy all the time and we had to take him to the ER quite a bit because it got so hard for him to breath. We found out he has asthma that is induced by viruses. So it explained why when he gets sick it lasts longer and is worse. So we started him on daily breathing treatments last July and now when he gets a cold its not nearly as bad. But starting in Thanksgiving he got a cold, then the rotavirus then another cold. For pretty much 6 weeks he was sick, it was miserable and right when I brought my new baby home. Saddest thing ever. So he still gets things every once and awhile and it seems like he's still more suseptable to getting cold after cold, but its not lasting as long. A cold for him used to linger for two weeks plus and now he's sick for a week. His last cold was awesome and only lasted 5 days! I was stoked! I also changed his diet, not that I wasn't feeding him well but I really concentrated on it. I really don't give him processed foods, not a lot of sugar and I make sure he gets plenty of fruits, veggies and whole grains. I started him on Juice Plus vitamins about the time we found out he had asthma and that seems to be helping too. Plus he loves them! If you want more info on that I can give you a number to call. But when they are sick milk products just makes the mucus thicker and harder to get rid of. No sugar, plenty of rest and fluids and don't take her out. Let her get fresh air and sunshine and give your house a good deep clean if you haven't for awhile. After he's sick or if he plays with someone that's sick I wash his toys and do that a couple of times a year anyway. We just have to be a little more cautious with our kids. My ped also said this wouldn't last forever and he would grow out of it like most children. She said we'd notice a complete difference in a year and we have. So weather or not there's an underlying condition for her, like the asthma for my son, who knows? But really if your peditrician isn't overly worried you shouldn't be as long as you trust him/her. If you want a second opionion for piece of mind do it! But I feel for you for sure! Hang in there and I hope things get better for all of you!

Hi M., if your doctor isn't worried, I would try not to worry about it. My 27 month old and 9 month old started day care 2 months ago. So far we have had: 2 rounds of colds, one gastrointestinal issue, ear infection, croup (had to go to ER) and bacterial pneumonia (1 night in the hospital for my older son). Getting sick alot is normal for kids. If you have the mommy intuition that something REALLY is wrong, I would get a second opinion. Good luck!

Are her glands swollen a lot? Has her Dr checked her tonsils? I can say from experience my daughter around that same age was sick alot. You don't to invest in Juice Plus or anything expensive. I mean kids get sick. Kids that are exposed to things the first time are hit the hardest. Kids in preschool get hit hard and as their immune systems build up they are a lot better for it once they hit public school. I have two kids so I am very aware.

My daughter ATE VERY HEALTHY (still does) HOWEVER she had mild sleep apnea and her glands seemed to be very large. They took her tonsils out and her adnoids. She has rarely if ever been sick since and is going on 8. She missed only two days of school this past year and one she wasn't even really that sick. Making the assumption she is not getting her nutrition is presumptious I am sorry by the other posters. Some kids are more susceptible. I now give my kids Airbornne for kids the first sign of a cold, which either gets rid of it or lessens the symptoms. My son was sick a lot around 2 as his sister brought things home, once we got over the hump he too hasn't been sick hardly at all. It takes a while and in public there are precautions, wiping the cart with a anteseptic wipe, hand sanitizer, hand washing but you cannot prevent it all over the place either.

It is important to have them eat well, however it is bull that is the cause. I have friends who's kids are so picky they eat very little and are very healthy. Kids overall eat way healthier then we did as kids. You can provide supplements if your Dr okays it and she doesn't eat well.

Chart her illnesses, see if you see a pattern, then discuss it with her Dr. If her tonsils are holding infection, her immune system is on overload and will not completely heal. She is getting something on top of something else because she hasn't had time to recover the first time.

My daughter never had strep throat, when her tonsils were removed the Dr was blown away how large they were and held infection. Now they are out, she is like a new kid. Sleeps better and fully at night and hasn't been sick but a handful of times over the past five years.

I have 3 and 4 year old boys. When they were in preschool they got sick a lot so my neighbor introduced us to Vemma. Not sure if you have heard of it. After 2 weeks their runny noses and cold have been gone. They have been on it for almost a year and the youngest has only gotten sick 1 time (and for only a day). It is amazing and all natural. If you want I can have her tell you about it more. She can answer all your questions.

It definitely can't hurt to get a second opinion. If it were me, I would. I have four kids very close in age, and if one gets sick, it usually cycles through the rest of them. However, even with four little ones touching everything and not washing hands like they should, etc., NONE of them have been sick as often as you describe. If you were saying she has a cough all the time, or a constantly runny nose... something like that, I wouldn't worry. But you say she has high fevers a lot. That would worry me. I would take her to a second doctor and get another opinion. But that's comparing to my own kids. I think my almost 5 year old has had a fever like that once. None of the other kids have had a fever that high ever. Maybe I'm just blessed with healthy kids and am overreacting. But that's just my experience. So as far as it being normal? Not in my house. But I can't speak for the rest of society. If you're worried about it, take her to get a second opinion. If nothing else, it will put your mind at ease. Good luck! I hope it's nothing to worry about.