My Daughter Gets Pneumonia Every Year!!

Boy, can I relate.
I had the same sort of thing with my daughter.

Here is what I learned:

I needed to build her immune system stronger. I watched her sugar intake . Vitamins Minerals and Protein build the system, Sugar tears them down. What was the common denominator of the year? Halloween! Plus all the sugary things she was getting in her AM Cereal, and who knows what else.

So, when she was eating all the bad stuff, her immune system went south and she would get sick. I did a lot of checking on supplements to build immune system. ( I found the ones on the market.....even what we think are the better ones had artifical this and that, sugar and stuff that really shouldn't be in vitamins.) I bought her candy back from her, threw it out and with the money she bought a special Barbie she wanted. I went through the closet and got rid of a lot pre made foods, yes, even the Mac and cheese because of all the artifical ingredients. I did my research and put her on Shaklee supplements. (I can put you in touch with my person if you need one.) and "Voila"!

It made the entire families health better as a result.
Let me know if I can help in any way.

D. V

If you know the cause of the pneumonia that would help you decide what to do. There are viral and bacterial sources for pneumonia. Did she have RSV? You could consider the RSV vaccine if you feel she is at risk for that. There is also a pneumococcal vaccine that can help prevent certain types of pneumonia.

If anyone in your home smokes that is probably a huge contributor. Cigarette smoke actually paralyzes the part of our respiratory tract that moves mucous and bacteria out of the lungs.

My 5 year old son was the same. Since we moved he has not had pneumonia ones. It turned out that we had black molt in our old house and that must have caused it. Might be something to investigate.

During the winter months the heater makes the air in the house pretty dry and for people with sensitive lungs it is good to have a humidifyer going 24 hours a day.
Also I am sure you know this but don't let her around anyone who smokes.

I am sorry to hear that. That has to be hard every year..Is she old enough to get the pneumonia shot yet?? I've heard of it, but I do not know the age they are allowed to get it...I'm sure your pediatrician would have probably mentioned it by now though if she could...Maybe you could try taking her to a specialist & see if they can help in any way...Best of luck!!

Hi! First, just forget the old wives tales about wet hair and no coat and gloves, temperature has nothing to do with how people get sick. Obviously, it's good to keep her warm in the cold and to make sure her hair is dry before going out in the cold because you don't want her to feel cold or get hypothermia, but it won't ward off illness.
I don't know much about the pneumonia shot. I would look in to it. Have you been to a specialist? I don't know if an ENT doc covers pneumonia, but someone must!
I didn't see anything in your request about cleanliness. One important thing with kids is keeping hands as clean as possible. Get wipes in your purse to clean shopping carts before putting her in them. Wash your hands and hers anytime you get home from public places. Keep something like Purell in your purse for when you can't wash hands. They even have foams and sprays now instead of the gels! You can get kid- and food-safe spray from Clorox to spray on highchairs at restaurants, just read the directions. I know people are worried about anti-bacterials creating a super germ, but keeping your pneumonia-prone daughter safe is more important.
She's old enough to learn the correct way to cover her mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing and not to touch her eyes, nose, or mouth with dirty hands. No sucking fingers or a thumb either!
Hope at least something here was helpful.
Good Luck! I hope she gets through this winter healthy:)

J.,

I believe that there are pneumonia shots that can be given at the places flu shots are given. I am not exactly sure of the exact ages etc... Google flu shots and your city....

I hope she doesn't get sick this year....it is good you are prepared.

A.

Hi! I wish I had an answer for you but I don't. My son is 20 months old and he too has had pneumonia once a year, but he gets it in the Spring/Summer for some reason. I always take him to the doctor when he starts to cough but they never hear anything in his lungs. Both times the pneumonia was diagnosed I had to take him to urgent care where they are more thorough and did an x-ray even though they couldn't really hear anything in his chest. Luckily it was caught early enough both times that he didn't require hospitalization.

Since the last time he had pneumonia in May, I actually stopped using a humidifier when he gets sick. He always seemed to get sicker after using the humidifier and the same thing happens to me so I discontinued use.

Good luck with your daughter! Here's to hoping this year will be different!

Don't know if you have ever considered a chiropractor, but my son used to get pneumonia and all that other fun stuff and this has really helped. If you don't want to go that route, definitely try fish oil to your child's diet.. it boosts the immune system and can help fighting stuff off.

Has you pediatrician tried to discover the cause of the frequent pneumonia? Has he referred you to a pulmonoligist, allergy/immunolgist? Frequent bouts of pneumonia is not normal. Especially pneumonia serious enough to be hospitalized for. Does she get frequent ear infections? My son is 23 months old and has been hospitalized for pneumonia 3 times with the inability to keep his O2 sats above 91% without 2 liters of oxygen. I have been seeing a pulmonoligist at Rush who is trying to figure out the reason. My son has been checked for cystic fibrosis which, thank God, was negative. He has been diagnosed as an asthmatic and has been put on several medications to try to keep him from getting sick. He is still congested all of the time. Our next step is to do a biopsy of the back of his nose to check for cilliary immotility and his pulmonologist wants to take a look at his lungs with a scope to see if he can find the reason. If you need someone to talk to, please contact me. Maybe further invesitgation of a possible cause would help you out!!!!!

Hi there,

I am a patient advocate for patients with Immune deficiency. Your daughters case sounds like many of my patients that are now diagnosed with a classification of immune deficiency.

There are many options out there for her other than the local rounds of antibiotics. I can help you ask the right questions to her physician. So many kids go un-giagnosed causing life time issues with there lungs after reaccuring pnuemonia.

Please fell free to email me at ____@____.com and I can try and help you and your daughter get on the right track.

H. S.

You sound like such a contented Mom....congrats to you! I'm not sure about the illness thing....my husband still gets bronchitis every year at this time of year! It sounds like you are doing a good job, though. Is she in daycare? That could be part of it.

Anyway, good luck to you...hope this year goes better. Maybe she'll grow out of it!

K.