How often, if at all, do you resort to antibiotics for your daycare kid(s)?

I do not have my DC in daycare (erhrhr, hoping not to but it seems that I will have to).. they all have been in daycare at some point or another.

We do not do anti-biotics at all in our home.

Not for ear infections, sinus infections, bugs.. nothing.

Only thing I will take into consideration for biotics is a abscess tooth.. but, I have since found homeopathics that work WONDERS on any inflamations of any sort!!!

I don't.

I can't say I've never or that I wouldn't... but I'm very very careful now.

When I first had my son in dc I resorted to antibiotics for ear infections/sinus, but absolutely refuse to give him antibiotics except for the most serious of illnesses & dentist apts (He has a heart defect... and we haven't had any "serious" illnesses that we haven't yet been able to handle).

I found with my son exactly what bebesho2 said... once I stopped, he's like hardly ever sick. He does take supplements (multi vitamin + probiotics) daily which i definitely think helps. Definitely the probiotics... his WHOLE kindergarten (Minus Max) class was out a couple of days due to a nasty stomach virus...I took him home just because the teacher was out and I figured everyone at work would assume he was sick too (kindergarten/dc he was at.. everyone I work with uses as it's employee sponsored).

If he is at all not feeling tops, I do stay home with him. I can work from home and my employer generally rocks about things like this so I also don't feel pressured to get him better faster, if you kwim?

DS has had antibiotics three times, all when he was less than a year old.

He had two ear infections shortly after starting daycare at 4 months, was in pain, and could not sleep. Antibiotics brought him relief in both cases within 12 hours.

Although he has since had many colds, those are the only two ear infections he ever had.

I would be less likely to give him antibiotics for an ear infection now that he is older.

I believe the AAP recommends antibiotics for ear infections only until a child is two years old. If the child is two or older, they do not recommend antibiotic use.

We also gave him antibiotics around 8-9 months for a persistent cough. He'd had it for over a month and it was seriously disrupting his sleep. It cleared up within a few days of starting antibiotics.

My doctor is, IMO, appropriately conservative with antibiotics and recognizes that most ailments are viral and will not respond to antibiotics. He won't prescribe just to make us feel like he's doing something. If he thinks it's viral, he says so, and we treat symptomatically.

Even though DH and I both work, and often having trouble taking time off work to be home with DS when he is sick, we (and our pedi) try not to jump the gun with antibiotics (which won't be effective if it's a virus, anyway), but to wait, watch, and be absolutely certain it's a persistent bacterial infection before giving antibiotics. That said, I have no qualms about giving DS antibiotics when it's clear there IS a persistent bacterial infection, he is suffering, and I know that antibiotics will help him.

Dang, lost my long post! Let's try this again.

Asmom2evan wrote, antibiotics are useless for viral infections. Abx are for bacterial infections. Most things kids get at daycare are viral.

I have given abx for ear infections twice, although DD has had them a few more times. Ear infections are awful - its heartbreaking to see our kids in so much pain. But my research found that abx do not shorten the length of most ear infections. So the goal is to provide pain relief and help make my DD comfortable while I support her immune system and the infection resolves itself. Goggle "ear infection without drugs" and you'll find lots of info from a variety of sources!

Abx for ear infections are the single most commonly prescribed drug in the US. A recent study from the Netherlands showed that abx use did not shorten the duration of the infection, and increased the risk of future infections.

The conversation seems to have gotten pretty specific about ears here. I've heard more parents talk about "masking" symptoms such as pain or fever with things like Tempra, Motrin or Tylenol, so that they can take kids who are sick or coming down with something to daycare anyways.

While we see our GP annually for well-child check ups, we mostly see a naturopath for acute illness in DD, for the reason that our NP is able to effectively treat so many childhood illnesses that the GP can't do anything about. Homeopathics have been especially effective for us (I'd never used them before DD).

The first year in daycare was like having the black plague in our house. After that, I think most WOHMs would agree that it gets easier. Your child has developed some antibodies, their immune system is maturing, and kids are learning how to wash hands, not mouth toys, etc. Also, around 3 yrs, the shape of the ear canal changes, so that ear infections become less common - it angles instead of being a straight line from the sinuses. For DD's second winter in daycare we started some homeopathic supplements to help boost her immune system in Aug/Sept that we continued through the winter. We had hardly a sniffle. These were recommended by our NP based on DD's constitution and the kind of things she usually gets. I'm not into self-prescribing for homeopathics, since I think it takes an experienced ND to choose the right treatments. So homeopathics, fish oil, probiotics - anything to help keep DD's immune system healthy in the first place - are what we do. On top of trying to have a very healthy diet, exercise and rest of course (we don't always do as well as we'd like, like anyone).

Sick days are the worst part of being a WOHM. Is DD sick? How sick? Will she get worse? Who's going to stay home, me or DH? If I take her in, will I get a call to pick her up part way through the day? If we stay home today, what about tomorrow? And of course, seeing my little munchkin miserable. :

The ear oil that some of us refer to is mullein-garlic ear oil. Works wonders. Not sure about using it with tubes.

You can find much more information about natural treatment of ear infections in the MDC Health and Healing section.

Another note. A good pediatric chiropractor is trained in adjusting the spine in order to help fluid drain more efficiently out of the ear. Last year when my dd was struggling with ear infections, this is the only treatment that we used, and successfully. Fevers can be scary, but this is how the body tries to kill viruses and bacteria so the fever should be allowed to run it's course.

But if we continue on, I shall have to move this to Health and Healing!

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The reason I posted my OP in here is because I thought that working moms probably have to deal with more sicknesses and also the pressures of getting their kids better faster, yk? I know I would have no problem "waiting it out" if I were at home.

I certainly don't mind trying to get back on topic though. I am fine with searching Health & Healing for natural ear infection remedies.

for my two, we don't use antibiotics very often at all... ds did have antibiotics about 2 weeks ago for the first time in over 2 years. Dd hasn't had them in longer than that... we go to our chiro at the first signs of illness (and regularly in between illnesses). I've found that most of the things my kids get at daycare (as mentioned above) are viral.

Part of the reason kids get sick less often when they don't take antibiotics is because the antibiotics also kill beneficial bacteria in the gut. When the beneficial bacteria are gone, opportunistic bacteria move in to fill the void left and can cause subsequent infections. If and when we use antibiotics, we supplement with probiotics between doses to help the gut maintain it's population of beneficial bacteria.