Is it just my kids?

[tigwig]

My toddler is ALWAYS ill. He now has hand, foot and mouth disease. Honestly he will be ok for a week then have some kind of illness for the next 5 weeks before the process is repeated. He has been so unbearable all week with snot, slight temp and not eating or sleeping. Its just one thing after another. I am a childminder so he does mix with children probably more frequently than most which I suppose increases his chances of picking up things but will it ever end?? I dread going to bed now, like when he was a newborn as last night he woke screaming every 40mins arrgh! So how often do your children get ill?

[tiggerblue10]

Hi Tigwig,

Little Tiggs has a cold again and he was caughing a lot during the night. He had a cold about a month ago and and I had one a few weeks ago. He's had coughs and colds several times this years. I guess its helping to build up their immune systems.

[jno]

jno jnr never got very ill, but he was always picking up colds... and now, pushing 30, he still is. So the answer may be it never ends but it's now his worry, not mine.

[k8bailey]

Sounds just like my eldest! she's 3 and gets everything going. It also lasts twice as long as it would for anyone else - she's had hand foot and mouth 5 times, a stomach bug which lasted 3 days for the rest of us, took 2 weeks for her...nightmare! Littlest one is 14 months, she's been ill 3 times in her life, but when she's ill, she's really ill (needs medical treatment) and it takes weeks to get better. I used to be a really sickly child too, but since having kids I hardly ever get ill....haven't the time!!

Hope you get some sleep tonight, and the little one is feeling better soon.

[daffy654]

My 14 year old son is rarely ill, but recently he had a tummy bug (we all had it) followed closely by chickenpox. He had strep throat about 2 years ago and has the odd cold, other than that he is never ill. His attendance at school was 100% last year.

[leanne_1987]

i was a sicky child and still pick anything and everything up, but i am extremely anaemic and dont take my iron med and i work in a school so always around children, my daughter isnt as she used to be shes nearly 4 now but when she was younger she was always in and out of hospital with silly illnesses she couldnt shake off

[ummmm]

Mine kids are rarely ill. The last time I took my daughter to the doctor he hadn't seen her for 7 years.

[ladyalex]

I think they are all always ill when they are toddlers. mine certainly rarely went longer than a fortnight without something. It got better by the time he was going to school, I think, but it was a long time ago now.
My friend had 4 children and they never had a week without somebody being off colour , snottery, or really ill for years and years.

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but that's the way it goes, I'm afraid.

[annie0000]

Mine are remarkably healthy and robust. The younger one has had a couple of bad things - croup and post streptococcal glomerolunephritis but elder has had nothing of note at all. Neither have missed any school since P2 eldest is now in p7 and youngest is in p6. he didn't even miss any school when he was in hospital with the post step thing - he spent the weekend in hospital and went back to school on the Monday! I think the toddler age is really the prime time for these things though and as they get older hopefully you will get a bit of a break.

Me and the OH have had a bad dose of the cold which lasted 3 weeks but neither of the boys has picked it up.

[cazzz1975]

I think they start to build immunity as they get older, unfortunately this mean that from 0-7 they tend to catch everything under the sun. once they get a bit older they are less sickly

[ummmm]

Mine weren't even sick as toddlers. We've had a couple of ear infections...and some tonsillitis. Can't remember which one had what though.

Thank God I didn't have runny noses. My sisters kids were always leaking snot...

[cazzz1975]

my daughter got bloody nits :( im so glad she is past that age of huddling in a group and walking around linking arms.

[ummmm]

My kids went through a phase of always having them....

[annie0000]

tbh I think some of it is just genetics. I had measles as a child but nothing else and OH says he was a healthy child. Our neighbours kids suffer from recurring ear infections, throat infections etc. I know the kids eat well, were breastfed til they were over one, get out in the fresh air etc. but both parents said they had similar issues as kids so it's just the way it goes sometimes.