Hi all. My little girl will be 2 years old in a couple of weeks. She has got a cold in January, Feb, we skipped march, April and currently she has one. First 3 colds she got an ear infection in the RIGHT ear. i saw 2 ENTS, speec eval and hearing checks were NORMAL. One ENT told me if she gets one more ear infection bring her back and we will discuss tubes, the other ENT said if she gets 2 more infections in 2 months she will get tubes.
I am a nurse who works part time night shift. I put her in a 1/2 day daycare in someones apartment so she could have some more
socialization and she LOVED it. She got this current cold from that one day. Believe me, I know I can't keep her in a bubble and I don't mind colds but I do mind when EVERY one leads to an ear infection. My pediatrician believes that she will get sick going to this daycare. there are only 6 kids there.
This cold started with just a temp of 101 that lasted 3 days. If she has a fever tomm. it will be 4 days. She really had no other synmptoms. i took her to ped. twice and both times ear check was OK.
Now it's a waiting game because the cold symptoms have started. Runny nose, cough. i am praying this doen'st lead to an ear infection but it seems inevitable.
I'm just so stressed with baby # 2 coming on top of it . any thoughts or support would be greatly appreiated.
has any of you had a toddler with so, so many colds? spring has been here and she is STIILL getting colds!
thanks in advance
thanks to all of you for your responses. It is NOT allergies. the reason I know this is because EVERY time my little girl gets
a cold, I get it. Probably because I am pregnant and MY imminuty is down.
Im just throwing this out there, but does she use a pacificer? My son was always sick and had ear infections until I took it away, its been a year and I think hes been sick once and no ear infections. We got threatened with the tubes too. :(
The hard truth is that we all need to build up an immunity. Either it will be now or it will be later. If you could keep her home she'd probably have about 6 colds per year. She'll have twice that many the first year in daycare. Or, you could wait until preschool and she'd do it then. OR, you can wait until grade school and she'll do it then.
When my husband and I moved to California we were sick constantly the first year. We stayed for 4 years. When we moved back to the midwest we were sick again the first several months.
When I first started my daycare I got everything that came through. Now I'm sick maybe twice per year. I have so many allergies it's possible I'm sick more. I wouldn't even know :) I don't get miserable or fevers though.
When I first put my daughter in daycare I swear to you she had a cold every week, not every month.. I think it's just natural.. as time goes on she will build up an immunity to a lot of the colds and will get sick less.. It's just a lot of new germs she is coming in contact with. With the ear infections I know they are not fun.. and maybe tubes should be considered, I don't know much about them.. Just know this will pass and she will not get as sick next cold season.. Just think of the great immune system she is building up.. good luck.. it will get better..
I would suggest taking her off of cows' milk. That was definitely the cause of my son's ear infections. I don't know about the colds, but for sure the ear infections are related to milk, if she drinks that.
Hi Kate.
My 2 YO went through the same thing this winter. It turned out also that he has allergies...
Jilly
My son is 16 months and often had a runny nose (clear) and cough, it turned out to be allergies, fortunately we didn't have the ear infections. His pediatrician prescribed clariton, which I only give to him when I feel he needs it and it helps.
You said your daughter has a fever of 101 so it sounds more like a virus. Her body will probably eventually just develop a stronger immune system, that's how it was with my first son who was in daycare and often got colds, at 3 now he rarely gets sick. Don't stress about baby #2, even if baby #2 gets a cold from the exposure to germs...she'll be fine.
I just had my younger twin to the dr. for the 3rd time in as many months for lasting cold symptoms. She's also fighting the ear infection & fever issues with them as well. Turns out she has allergies. You may want to have her checked for those.
Also, as a former daycare worker myself, kids pass everything around to each other. Daycare could very well be making her sick. Unless you have your little one in a bubble, she's going to get sick until her immune system matures. Praying for relief for you!
Is it a cold or allergies? First and foremost the baby needs her immunities built up. I am a huge believer in supplements, especially if your immune system needs help, and your daughters obviously does.
I would include multivitamin and probiotics and if you have not changed your house to non-toxic cleaners I would do that too. Many believe asthma to be on the rise due to cleaning products and other things that give off toxins in the home.
Go to my profile and check out my website if you would like to see a few things that may help. They sure did for my family
Some people use warm garlic oil to help prevent ear infections.
Ear tubes are an easy fix. Our little guy had ear infection after ear infection. He got tubes last Summer and they have now worked their way out. But there has not been one incident of ear infections since.
Going to day care is going to build their immune systems. They do it now or wait until they are in a group of kids again. If they wait until kindergarten they miss lots of school just growing their immune systems then. If your little one has no other health issues then let them go and think about the tubes.
My son just turned 4, and has been in daycare since he was 5 months old. For the first 3 years of daycare, he was sick pretty much from October to April (mostly colds, a few stomach viruses and one ear infection -- so I consider myself lucky). The kids would just pass whatever it was back and forth to each other all winter. This past October - April (so when he was 3.5 - 4), he was hardly sick at all. It's tough to get through those first few years, but everyone who says that daycare children will build up an immunity before kindergarten is right!
I have so many friends and colleagues (including many nurses) who have learned the value of boosting their children's immune systems with supplementation (which as you know was recommended 10 years ago by the AMA). Most doctors don't have as much nutritional training as nurses do - many had not one course in med school - so they tend to go the "tubes" route. It seems to be very h*** o* the kids, on the parents and on the pocketbook to keep paying co-payments for visits to specialists without trying the supplementation route first. I can't tell you how many people have avoided all this stress and illness, not to mention the time required for all those sick days and visits, by giving their kids, and themselves, the nutrition that's just not in our food anymore. Studies have shown that, even if you eat organically every day, you'd need about 4000 calories a day to get all the necessary nutrients. And who can eat like that?
I'd be happy to give you more info and let you try another approach. It's worth it for your poor sick little one, not to mention your own peace of mind.
We are literally at the doc every month. Sometimes 2xs a month. My baby is 4 and started out the yr with strep. We have had 2 colds since, knock on wood! I hope as she gets older it will get better. I don't think there is much you can really do. Just keep washing her hands, and sanitize. A vitamin would be a good idea (mine refuses to eat hers!)
I didn't read all the responses, but SLM is right... whether now in daycare or later in school she'll be sick a lot for about the first year in care. I tell families to expect a cold a month throughout the cold season and 2 or 3 other flu viruses are likely. It's just the first dip in the germ pool and it's the way it goes.
I would make sure that your daycare has a good policy for hand washing and cleaning toys, but that won't prevent illness completely. Kids at infant and toddler ages have their hands in their mouths and noses constantly, sneeze and cough on things and each other...
I would also talk to your Dr about allergies though... that could cause cold-like symptoms and possibly a fever that comes and goes...
Good luck Mama! The good news is that when she does start school, her illnesses will likely be less often and last a shorter period of time. My kids get sick half as long as other kids and they get about 2 colds a year.
You've already heard the building up the immunities theory from many posters. It gets better. I also started giving my kids Immunity Plus gummy vitamins. sometimes my 2 year old spots them out but my 5 year old loves them and reminds me if I forget. Last winter we were at the doctors 4 or 5 times. This year we managed to avoid them until last week (for a checkup and shots). Also, my kids picked up things from going to the doctor for a checkup last year.
allergies. what is in the day care home that is not in yours? pets, smoke, cleaners, lots of stuffed animals? if the answer is none of the above have your day care worker buy a mold test at lowes and run it. She may have hidden mold. I can relate on the ear infections totally. and I agree a cold will turn into an ear infection. So I would be looking at things in the house of the day care that can cause allergies. Ask your ent for an allergy test. My son has lots and lots of ear infections even after tubes and they are going to give him an allergy test. And from the answers I have gotten on here all of my questions come back to the same answers allergies. start her on a decongestant that is safe for a 2 yr old. It may ward off the ear infections but no garantee but worth a shot.
argh, my son's 2.5 and has been sick - dec, jan, feb, march, april....i'm PRAYING no sickness in may! the sicknesses were strep, croup, and the last one ear infection. i took to after hrs doc & even once to the ER & each time was just treated w/antibiotics. i finally took him to regular pedi & was told to give him nasonex & claritin DAILY. idk about that. i've been doing it though, that and a multi-vitamin. i really don't know how the rest of the month will go obviously, but my pedi admitted she doesn't know why he's sick so much - tonsils are fine - whew - so she wanted to try this. can't test 'em for allergies til they're quite a bit older. mine's in daycare FT. as well as me hating him being sick SO often, i HATE having to call in so much to work! i have no back up plan. :(
anyway, just letting you know you're not, although that doesn't help, but hopefully my anti-allergy meds for my sweet boy will help...least for May!!! :)
