Health of your non-preschool, non-vaccinated, breastfed baby beyond infancy

[bellababy4us09]

Hi mamas - My little one is all of the above and I wanted to talk to other mamas about the health of their little ones - fortunately, knock on wood and say a prayer, mine has never been sick a day and I wanted to know if this was typical. Have your kids had major illness'

is this the calm before the storm sort of speak? We have just chalked it up to the above mentioned factors - but we don't know. Just wanted to hear some of your experiences. Thanks.

[lilbsmama]

my ds is also all of the above, and has had 1 minor ear infection, that was healed w/o abx, and 2 colds, which I believe one of those could have possibly been the flu, but it doesn't really matter. He is almost 14months old.  My older ds was formula fed from 3 months on, vaxed until 12 months, but no daycare. He started having ear infections a few weeks after I stopped nursing, and had them until he was almost 3.

[Chloe'sMama]

Mine too, although, I have not been as lucky.  DD1 has had many colds and a few flus.  She had a UTI requiring abx.  DD2 (just 6 months) had a ear and eye infection requiring abx too.  Both have been sick maybe 5 times since Christmas.  It has been a bad year.

DD1 is in a gymnastics class a dance class and a music class.  We live close to 3 cousins who attend school and daycare and pick up whatever they have too.  I don't worry too much since they will eventually get all the same viruses and I have heard it is good to kick up the immune system early.  

[lookatreestar]

my dd is pretty darn healthy, for instance we got a flu bug (ds and myself) and a cold in the same 2 weeks, she got nothing!

[MoonStarFalling]

My ds was all of the above now homeschooled 9 year old. He's been sick about 24 hours TOTAL in his whole life. We travel and are out all the time, don't avoid germs or anything. DD is almost 4 and same thing with her.

[fruitfulmomma]

What do you consider major illness? We seem to get viral infections a lot but they've had no VPDs, no ear infections, etc... The only time I've had them on antibiotics was for teeth.

[scottishmommy]

I worry about posting this because of the jinx factor! But my dd is incredibly healthy. She's never been to the doctor except for well baby visits. My whole family is pretty hardy though. We just don't get sick. I should add that dd has been selectively vaccinated.

[columbusmomma]

My DD is 3 and 8 months. She still nurses. She has received 2 dtaps, both after age 3 and no other immunizations. Prior to that she had on case of a stomach virus and 1 ear infection, and one case of pinkeye. Also a handful of coughs and colds. She was taken care of by a nanny and a was with a friend's son while I WOH. After the 2 doses of dtap she's had one ear infection and one stomach virus. So that's the same as far as pre vax and post vax. Who knows?!  She is also in preschool this year and has had less colds/coughs then when she was in more of a private setting. My DS who has received almost all of his immunizations on schedule hasn't been sick this year at all. We are generally a healthy family. I get sick the most, but go figure I'm a school nurse always being exposed!

[Magali]

My almost 4 year old has been sick with a cold 3 times in his life.  Never a runny nose or cough in between. He has never seen a Dr. for illness.  If only we could be so lucky with physical injuries!!!

We don't have much contact with anyone though because where we live is so remote, so I wonder if him not getting sick is kind of a bad thing, like his immune system isn't getting challenged all that often.

[Marylizah]

Well, I guess we'll have to be the exceptions, then!

DS1 breastfed until age 3, no vaxes until age 3 and then only DTaP, and was almost never sick between birth-18 months, was often sick between 18 mos and 3 years, then, after starting preschool at age three, was CONSTANTLY sick.

He's almost five and we've gone three weeks without a sickness, which is our new record since school started back in the fall.

He also just had tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed.

So far, DS2 who is still bf'ing and has had no vaxes and does not go to daycare or anything has been sick a lot. A UTI at six weeks, two bouts of bronchiolitis, at least 4 ear infections and innumerable colds.

So in my experience, bfing has not lead to no sickness. Not even close. That said, DS1 has only had 1 stomach bug in his entire life and DS2 hasn't ever had a stomach bug.