At least one kid sick at all time in cold weather months. Are we the only ones?

[pinkmint]

Does it seem like this for anyone else? It really does seem like we cannot go any stretch of time in the cold weather season where there's not at least one kid who is has fever/ sore throat/ etc/ some kind of virus.

 

Is this a little kid thing? Does it get better when they are older? 

 

It's frustrating because we can't really do anything or go anywhere if it means dragging the sick one along, but someone's always sick. When the grownups are sick it makes it hard too, but we get better faster and know how to cope better. I just want to hear that we are not the only ones. Is this normal?

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by pinkmint

[BarbecueMom]

Normal for us, sorry. I think it is a lots of littles thing. We typically get 2-3 stomach bugs, a respiratory/cold thing, and some random contagious thing (pinkeye, fever, etc.) between November and April every single year. And each thing takes its time working through the family.

 

We stay home pretty much all winter, except for sports activities, eat healthy and wash diligently, and still get sick a lot. 80% of it was coming from swimming lessons. We aren't doing that this winter, so we'll see if it helps.

[Shellydon]

We are rarely sick.  2 of my 4 got sick last year for about 4 days and that was it for the entire cold/flu season, so what you are describing is not normal for us.  We have gone an entire year+ with no one getting sick.

 

Things that might help us:

Hand cleaner in the car that we use constantly from Nov.-Feb.

Everyone bathes and washes hair every single night.

No re-wearing of clothes and PJs

Diet heavy in fresh fruit and veggies year around.

Elderberry syrup

 

My SIL constantly has sick kids.  She was the one that pointed out to me that the fact that we are 'cleaner' than her family (her words) by having everyone bath and wash hair every night and not re-wearing clothes.  She feels like that is the key to keeping the germs at bay.  I am not sure, but it works for us and we'll keep doing it.

[prairiewindmomma]

Do you have good health routines?

Adequate sleep

low sugar

at least 4-5 servings of fruit + veg a day

washing of hands before eating

changing of clothes before bed (for us, because we're immunocompromised, it's after being in public during high flu season)

30-60 min of fresh air daily

[HSmomof2]

Do you have good health routines?

Adequate sleep

low sugar

at least 4-5 servings of fruit + veg a day

washing of hands before eating

changing of clothes before bed (for us, because we're immunocompromised, it's after being in public during high flu season)

30-60 min of fresh air daily

Practicing the good health habits definitely helps, but the age of your dc will help a lot, too. Our illnesses seemed to reduce significantly after our youngest was about 8.

[mathnerd]

We change clothes immediately after we come home from being out in public spaces - we even wash our jackets once a week. DS needs to take a shower every single day that he heads out of the house which are all the days that the weather is good. He does not re-wear any of his clothes. And I make elderberry syrup and give him 1 tablespoon every morning. These have cut out the constant sick days for us.

 

PS: I used to stop by the local drug store and pick up any supplies that I needed because it was very convenient for me. I kept falling sick a lot during those 2 years and then, I realized that i was amongst sick people there each week and catching their germs. I now shop in regular grocery stores only!

[Lisbeth]

Elderberry syrup + teaching my kids to minimize touching their eyes, noses and mouths as a general hygiene rule means mine are not sick very often.  One illness usually goes through our house per year, and that's about it.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Lisbeth

[hjffkj]

We are rarely sick and don't do any of the above things previous posters have mentioned aside from eat tons of fruits and veggies and getting adequate sleep.

[mamiof5]

Knock on wood we have had good health thank God! Even when they were little. The occasional cold of course, but not bad. Lots of vitamin C, sleep, Emergen-C (for adults and some of the kids now that they are getting older), orange juice etc

[luuknam]

Nope, usually I'm the one that's ill (like, I've had a cold for almost a week now, and I've maybe heard one little sniffle out of one of the kids but they're fine). I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis a couple of decades ago though. My kids do get ill sometimes, but not anywhere near as often as I do. 

Edited December 2, 2015 by luuknam

[Stratford]

We have years when we acquire more illnesses than our average, typically a year that a kid is starting preschool.  (This happens to be a starting-preschool year.  Woohoo!)  However, it usually only affects the preschooler.  Otherwise, everyone usually gets maybe a cold or two during the winter months.  Usually nothing pediatrician-worthy.  

 

The year I started working in an ER I was sick ALL.THE.TIME.  However, after that first really horrid year, I never really caught anything. 

[ScoutTN]

My kids get a mild cold once or twice a year, that's about it. We haven't seen the ped except for check ups in three years.

We do wash hands often, eat well, get good sleep, play outside etc. Normal stuff, nothing extreme.

I am pretty vigilant about not using public water fountains. We bring water bottles eveywhere.

[happypamama]

We have had years when we get a lot of colds and years when we get nothing. Lots of sleep, lots of water, little sugar help, but it seems, for us, to correlate with how many littles we have. I know that's not true of everyone, but it seems to be for us.

 

Things I do to counteract germs:

Raw milk

Probiotics (on my list to do)

Germ Fighter oil blend on feet and on throats and behind ears

Really pushing hand washing when we have been out

No public water fountains, water bottles only

Limiting trips to the library with the small ones -- the toys are germ factories, and we just pick up holds.

[goldberry]

I can't speak to your OP, but we go on a trip to another state every year for Thanksgiving.  For SEVEN years, DD has gotten sick during this trip every year.  I used to think it was viruses she wasn't used to being exposed to.  Now, who knows?