Healthy only a week between colds?! is this normal?

[KellyandBean]

This is my DD's second winter. Last winter she was nursing and this winter she isn't. Last winter she got maybe 4 colds total, this winter she barely has a week between colds! She is still having a lingering cough from her last bug and this morning woke up sneezing with a runny nose. Is it normal for a almost 2 year old to get sick THIS much? I feel like her immune system isn't getting any time to recover between bugs and it makes me anxious. Is there anything i can do, herbs, suppliments i can give her to help boost her immune system? She currently takes a vitamin D, and a half of a flinstone vitamin (i know not ideal, but i bought them before i learned how much they sucked)  Any suggestions would be really great- especially if they don't cost a ton, we are poor! Different vitmins? Herbs? TIA! FYI she is a stay at home kid but we go to playgroups and library story time every week.

[baltmom]

This has been a big area of concern for me as well. My DS (22 months) was on the colds-every-2-or-3-weeks routine last winter and through the summer. Thanks to advice from this board and others and our pediatrician, I am now giving him elderberry syrup and infant/toddler vitamins daily, and when he starts to sound the slightest bit congested, I increase the elderberry and add echinacea drops and a homeopathic remedy called Umcka which has worked miracles in me as well. His immune system does appear to be stronger in the last month or two - hard to know if it's due to the meds or if he's just growing up :) None are cheap but so far I'm willing to juggle it because it feels so worthwhile.

Good luck to you, and looking forward to hearing everyone else's suggestions!

[KellyandBean]

Are any of the things you are giving him available at Whole Foods by chance?

[MommyBecky]

What type of Vit D are you supplementing with? D2 (ergocalciferol) or D3 (Cholecalciferol)? If D2, I would recommend switching to D3. I've heard some kids are that way- sick all the time- their first year of school, so maybe this is similar (playgroup). We take our DDs to get adjusted by a chiropractor, she does it for free for the kids (perhaps only because we also go to her, but it doesn't hurt to ask, I've taken just them in before). Good luck, I'll think on this!

[baltmom]

Are any of the things you are giving him available at Whole Foods by chance?

All are at WF except the vitamins, which we get at the "regular" grocery store.

[ciga]

I don't know if it's normal but it's exactly what is happening to us.  This is also his second winter but first winter weaned.  We WERE going to playgroup and library story time every week but starting in the middle of October he has had barely any time healthy.  We've gone to the doctor a couple times and they said he seemed to be fighting the illnesses fine but it has been non-stop and totally overwhelming.  Every time he started feeling better he would pick up a new germ.  So, we haven't been to any group activities in a while and now that he seems to be recovering from the most recent onslaught I'm just not taking him to play with more than one child, who I know is healthy, at any given time.  At least for a while. It sucks and the playgroups were fun for him but this has got to stop.  So, I would suggest that the next time your child is on the mend keep them away from groups of kids and all their preschool diseases for a while. I'm going to give myself at least a month break.

Oh, and we have him drinking elderberry juice, taking a little tylenol when needed, and boiron Pulsatilla 6c for "colds with thick yellow nasal discharge".  Since we started the Pulsatilla things have been clearing up.  I don't know if it was timing or the homeopathics but I'll take whatever I can get.

[sunwise]

I am right there with you with my DS. He is just 15.5 months old, and still nursing actually, but he has had way more illnesses since October of this year than I remember last year! He is in daycare full-time now, but he also was last winter, so that hasn't changed. It's just frustrating to be sick all the time. And for DS, his colds usually go right to his ears, so we have had several courses of antibiotics and are currently back on them for another ear infection.

I am still trying to figure out what to do, but definitely recommend vitamin D, probiotics (we usually do yogurt), and making sure you kid's diet is good overall. My DS tends to be a picky eater so I am thinking about making him green smoothies with added goodies like cod liver oil. I have also been discussing this with my acupuncturist (who also practices Chinese medicine) - she has recommended some herbal formulas that I want to check out when I get some time, and she does non-insertive acupuncture treatments (that last just 5-10 minutes) for kids that can help as well. I haven't had time to get DS in for acunpuncture, but I plan to soon!

[1blueheron]

Rough start to winter here too.  We started using a probiotic powder and I'm hopeful that it's making a difference.  I'm reluctant to say that it's "working" yet (since it's only been a few weeks without a cold).  My poor little gal was recently weaned too.  :/

[Asiago]

Handwashing... now that it is cold, and many of the playground bathrooms are closed/locked,  I keep warm water, a towel and foam soap in the car. The foam is much easier to rinse off. Mucosal membranes are easy ways for infectious pathogens to enter the body on unclean hands (by touching eyes, nose or mouth). Eating with unclean hands can send pathogens straight to the GI tract.

Also reduce stress, physical and emotional. Stress alters hormonal levels which changes immunoglobulin (antibody) levels, a basic immune response to protect the body from infection. Physical stress can be sickness, struggling to maintain body temp in cold weather, injury, lack of sleep.

Good luck, I hope your little one feels better. BTW, it is wise to try to reduce the illness, healing damaged tissues from illness takes away precious energy from growth and development during these early years.

Edited by Asiago - 12/15/11 at 2:23pm