My son has had back to back colds for 3 months now and probably at least one cold a month since he was one. He is in a small daycare in someone's home, but those kids are not sick as often as he is. He has had allergy testing done and it came back with no allergies. I feel tremendous guilt over the fact that I was not able to breastfeed him due to medical reasons and I am afraid this is why he is so sick. I am all about organic and healthy foods. I have tried eliminating dairy, but it did not help. I have given him various multivitamins, elderberry, even putting garlic in his food, but he still gets sick! Please any advice would be appreciated.
We had the same issue after a nine week "cold". She was on several antibiotics and we got to one doc in the practice who said "she has asthma".
They gave us the inhaler and her dry cough she had had for weeks- was gone!
Hi E., let me tell you that even by breasteeding your son, not all sicknesses will be eliminated. Don't feel guilty about it. It might be because of the environment in your house. Are you sure that they were colds? or were they jst cold symptons? There was a time when my daughter had frequent cold-like symptons: runny nose, sneezing, coughing. We thought that it was a cold, but it turned out that it was because of the old air-con in her room. It was dusty and she would, as a result, inhale the dust particles and it irritated her nose and throat a lot.
If you are sure that they were colds, don't worry. Babies and toddlers get sick all the time. Maybe it's just that his immune system is a bit weak. The colds will strengthen his system and he will be healthier as he grows older. Give him fresh orange juice to drink as a source of vitamin C. Make sure he maintains good hygiene habits like washing his hands. When the cold hits, ensure that he gets plenty of rest and fluids, and encourage him to blow his nose to expel germs out of his body, so he gets better soon.
Good luck!
C.
stop taking him to daycare
This may be a total long shot, but worth mentioning. I have a friend (grown woman) who was telling me that she was always sick with colds, non stop. She was going crazy trying to figure out why this was happening. I suggested she take a look at all of her water faucets and clean them. They tend to have mold build up either on the surface of the spigot where it's really hard to notice. Well, turns out that was the problem! She replaced her shower head and cleaned all of her faucets and now doesn't get sick any more! You never know.
By the way, no offense to anyone else, but I don't think it's normal for kids to be that sick, mine never were.
This is common in kids. My boys have been sick back to back since winter started. My youngest had bronchitis at the beginning of this month and was hospitalized for it and hes 9 months. My oldest is almost 2. Both of them have had colds every month since winter started. My dr said it's common. I am not a health nut but my kids eat a good diet, I couldn't breast feed either. My oldest didn't latch and wouldn't try. My youngest was born 4 weeks early and the Korean hospital I had him at wouldn't let me touch him so I couldn't breast feed. I tried pumping and gave him what little milk I could get out. But my milk ended up drying up before he came home. If you are really concerned about this talk to your pediatrician :)
That's completely normal at that age for him to be getting back to back colds. Please don't feel guilty for not being able to breastfeed your son. When my daughter was that age, she was sick ALL the time. Every 2-3 weeks she would miss a day or two of preschool due to being sick. Daycare is not the only place your son could be exposed to germs. If you take him anywhere (grocery store, Target, Walmart, etc.) he is going to pick up germs. Kids this age are notorious for putting their fingers and all kinds of other things in their mouths which exposes them to more germs. Eventually his immune system will get stronger and he'll get sick less and less often. It took about 1 year of of back to back colds, ear infections, strep throat, stomach bugs, etc. before my daughter's immune system got stronger and she was able to fight things off better. She's 5 years old now and started kindergarten in August and she hasn't missed a day of school yet!
Same thing with my daughter for 3 yrs nonstop. Three sets of tubes before age 3. My niece has always been sick all the time too, and she was diagnosed with some kind of autoimmune deficiency. Forget what it is - lacking autoimmune a deficient? My daughter tested neg. Don't know if your doc has tested for that yet. I think my daughter was tested for that around the same age as your son.
Don't you love Robin's response.... as if you can just up and quit your job... SOME people have to work! Sheesh!
Anyway... (sorry that really annoyed me)... breastfeeding is not some sort of magic silver bullett for illnesses. I didn't breastfeed either one of my children and I haven't had problems with either one of them as far as being sick.
It's pretty normal at his age though. Give it a couple of months and it will pass. His body is cycling through all the germs & viruses that it hasn't had a chance to build up an immunity to. Keep doing what you are doing, keeping him healthy with nutritious foods, and he will be fine.
May I ask what vitamins you gave him? If they were synthetic, it is doubtful they did him much good. If you'd like info on the most absorbable vitamins on the market, check out www.oligofructosecomplex.net. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more on the company that manufactures these incredible supplements. Good luck!
Some other options that may be affecting him:
--old carpeting (either at home or at the sitters)
--some kind of new mold
--has he been checked for an ear infection (both of my children's symptoms of an ear infection are the same as colds--runny nose, sneezing, coughing, etc)
--too dry of air...a humidifier will help or keep a pot of water on the stove on a low boil
--pet dander
My daughter has had a cold/cough since they got out for winter break (mid december). She was sounding like a seal barking. After the 3rd visit to the doctor for it, they gave her some cough medicine that seems to be working.
Don't beat yourself up for not being able to breastfeed. You did what you could. Him being sick is NOT a result of you not breastfeeding.
Do you really believe, E., that breast feeding him would have cured all his ills? Do you believe that it's a magic elixir that prevents sickness?
That being said, sure, breastmilk gives immunities from the mother to children for the first year or so. Breastmilk is wonderful and the perfect food for babies. But millions upon millions of babies have been brought up on formula for the first year and then cow's milk thereafter and have been perfectly healthy. By placing this guilty burden on your own shoulders that you have caused your son to be sick by not breasfeeding him is not fair and not realistic. It is ALSO an excuse.
Stop using this as an excuse and get down to business figuring out what is making him sick. Change some things up. Is he chilled in the house? Does he wash his hands enough? Do you sanitize in your home? Is he around a bunch of sick kids? Is he is daycare where there are cramped spaces and not enough sanitizing?
Have they done bloodwork on your son, outside of allergy testing? Has he seen and ENT?
You need to be a detective with him and figure this out. And let go of the breastfeeding guilt nonsense. You aren't doing yourself or him any favors by rehashing this over and over in your mind.
Good luck,
Dawn
My son started daycare when he was 2 1/2 after being home with me and he pretty much had a runny nose nonstop for his first 6 months there. I was actually surprised when he nose WASN'T running ;) It could be that the daycare has drier air than you do in your own home and it irritates his sinuses or he's just gotta get through this and then he'll be healthy again. Unfortunately, daycare is a germ fest but once he's through this he'll be sick less of the time (usually only during cold season) and it will be easier. I breastfed both of my boys but my sister was breastfed as a child and she has been one of the most unhealthy people I know. Breastfeeding is great for them but it's also not a "magic bullet" you did what was right for you.
I have been there and I still am -- my 3 1/2-year old has a constant runny nose from November to March. (I breastfed her until she was a year and a half!) No allergies really either. She does have asthma -- definitely keep an eye out for signs of that.
But just because he doesn't have allergies, doesn't mean that particles in the air won't bother him. If I were you, I would try some of the things that people try for dust allergies -- get covers for the mattresses, keep the bed room super clean, get rid of carpets if you can, and try to air out the house as often as you can. Check your drains for mold -- and smell around the house to see if you can detect any other moldy odors.
Some things you can try to ease his symptoms are -- steaming in or near the shower, sinus sprays or rinses (definitely expect some bribing here but worth a try because they seem pretty effective on the days I can convince my kid to use them), allergy medicines (I know there were no allergies, but it might be that the doc didn't detect it for some reason - worth a try). For the coughs at night, try some vaporub. I like the idea of using a pot on low boil for humidity -- a humidifier seems like a mold trap to me and I am on a mission to rid my house of as much mold as I can.
I am thinking that colds and allergies are actually quite closely related -- it seems like an allergy or nasal irritation really makes us susceptible to infection.
Is spring here yet?
