DS just started Pre-K and keeps getting sick!

[wenmc]

Deleted

 

[padams]

Been there, done that experience...

Have your ds wash his hands and change clothes as soon as he walks in the house from pre-k. You might even consider having him take a bath or shower when he gets home.

If your ds had been to daycare, mother's morning out, preschool, or even a lot of Gymboree or other group activities, he would be immune to most of the colds, etc. by now. He'll be better by spring, and certainly by kindergarten.

The good thing for the younger siblings is that they will build up their immunity sooner in life than their big brother did.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

If you're worried about germies NOW....

My 2 year old started daycare for the first time on August 23rd. That weekend he came down with a cold (kid was rarely ever sick his first 2 years) and passed it to me. It turned into bronchitis for me. Then it turned into strep throat. Then it turned BACK into bronchitis. Then I had pink eye in BOTH of my eyes the following day after finding out the junk had turned back into bronchitis. THEN it turned into a bad sinus infection (I don't think those are contagious though).

Today is the *first* day since August 23rd that I've felt normal and good again. And the daycare just released a note that impetigo has been exposed there, so I wonder if we'll get that...(btw, aside from my son's cold, I was the ONLY ONE in the family that was that ill; but it was all stuff running through the daycare).

 

[Robinrs]

My son never had the illnesses, he just passed them on to me. I had pink eye 4 times and all kinds of viruses. He had his first "cold" in his teens!

There is no way around it, though, it's better to get them immune to them before school when they will be dealing with germs on a minutely basis.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

You're definitely not alone.
Our middle daughter was sick all the time once she started in a daycare center. There was a time I thought I would never sleep again as she was up throwing up or running a fever all the time.
Our pediatrician at the time said that kids get about 500 virii by the time they start kindergarten. Not sure if he was exagerating or not but it sure seemed like we were all sick all the time with something.
The week I had our latest baby our middle daughter was sick with a stomach flu, then I got it the say before I gave birth. It was horrible. The day after we had our baby in March my husband got it. I had to get my Mom to stay home with a day old baby while I went to the daycare to get our middle child. I was concerned about our newborn getting sick but I was assured that she would get her immunity from me through breastmilk. The flu continued through the house as my older daughter got it. It was a rough week!
Hang in there, there isn't much you can do except enforce handwashing and covering coughs and getting rest.

 

[mjkacmom]

When my oldest was that age, I'd say 5 days out of 7 she was sick. Fortunately, her younger siblings then started to build their immune systems when they were just toddlers, so by the time the twins got to preschool, they were never sick anymore. October - May, every year. Now they're all in school, and rarely get sick - they've had it all!

 

[acejka]

goodness... and i was going to ttc... maybe i will stick to dogs if I have to deal with all of that in 4-5 years....

 

[jenrose66]

So this is kind of going along with the topic of this thread...do any of you have "difficult" children. I think what's annoying me with DS being sick so much is he resists everything I do to try and make him feel better. He won't blow his nose, and trying to get him to swallow medicine is like fighting a war. Before I was pregnant I didn't care I would just hold him down and force it in his cheek with a med syringe. Now I can't do that because he's 40 inches tall and 40 pounds with really long strong legs and it's too dangerous for me to go into combat

Today I snuck some stuff in his chocolate milk and made sure he drank the whole glass of milk...but the tissue thing is really getting to me. I'll say "use a tissue" I sound like a broken record. I have a box of tissues in every room...yet all he does is inhale snot or wipe it on his nose, sleeve, the carpet...it's so gross.

 

[mrodgers]

How long can I expect this to continue. Is this something that goes on for a month, six weeks, the entire year?

For us, both kids when they started kindergarten, yes, the entire year. Not only that, but both of them ended up with hospital stays in Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh during their kindergarten years.

Kindergarten is allowed 20 days sick per report card period for our school. My oldest used up all 20 days every report card and would have been more if it not for weekends, in-service days, and holidays.

The following year in 1st grade with my oldest (now 10), she rarely got sick. My youngest is in 1st grade this year and it's too early to see how much she will be sick.

 

[Hannathy]

So this is kind of going along with the topic of this thread...do any of you have "difficult" children. I think what's annoying me with DS being sick so much is he resists everything I do to try and make him feel better. He won't blow his nose, and trying to get him to swallow medicine is like fighting a war. Before I was pregnant I didn't care I would just hold him down and force it in his cheek with a med syringe. Now I can't do that because he's 40 inches tall and 40 pounds with really long strong legs and it's too dangerous for me to go into combat

Today I snuck some stuff in his chocolate milk and made sure he drank the whole glass of milk...but the tissue thing is really getting to me. I'll say "use a tissue" I sound like a broken record. I have a box of tissues in every room...yet all he does is inhale snot or wipe it on his nose, sleeve, the carpet...it's so gross.

unless it is an antibiotic don't worry about it! Seriously most of what we give people when ill is just to make them feel better and not to really do anything for the illness.

If it is an antibiotic he has to take it but if it is just tylenol or decongestant offer and then don't sweat it if he refuses.

My Ds doesn't like to take meds and will not take a liquid, he has been taking pills since he was 3. He just won't take meds, so unless it is an antibiotic he doesn't get any. He had surgery when he was 3 and they were discharging him the nurse tried to give him pain med after they took out the Iv and he said no, she said you really should take it or it is going to hurt this evening, He looked right at her and said "I'd rather have the pain" and true to his word he didn't take a bit of the pain med or any tylenol during his recovery!

so give him lots of liquids, Popsicles and don't worry about it.

 

[marcyinPA]

So this is kind of going along with the topic of this thread...do any of you have "difficult" children. I think what's annoying me with DS being sick so much is he resists everything I do to try and make him feel better. He won't blow his nose, and trying to get him to swallow medicine is like fighting a war. Before I was pregnant I didn't care I would just hold him down and force it in his cheek with a med syringe. Now I can't do that because he's 40 inches tall and 40 pounds with really long strong legs and it's too dangerous for me to go into combat

Today I snuck some stuff in his chocolate milk and made sure he drank the whole glass of milk...but the tissue thing is really getting to me. I'll say "use a tissue" I sound like a broken record. I have a box of tissues in every room...yet all he does is inhale snot or wipe it on his nose, sleeve, the carpet...it's so gross.

My DS is 11 now, but he used to throw up every med I gave him. It was awful. I think he started taking things nicely around the age of 8. I can remember a couple of times having to give him suppository fever reducer and that was probably what changed him. He HATED it....and started taking the children's tylenol. He did better with chewables than liquid. The liquid made him gag.

As for the "tissue issue"....I threatened to use the sucker (you know, the bulb syringe you get from the hospital) if they didn't blow their noses. My kids HATED that...and that is what got them blowing!!

 

[mjkacmom]

unless it is an antibiotic don't worry about it! Seriously most of what we give people when ill is just to make them feel better and not to really do anything for the illness.

If it is an antibiotic he has to take it but if it is just tylenol or decongestant offer and then don't sweat it if he refuses.

My Ds doesn't like to take meds and will not take a liquid, he has been taking pills since he was 3. He just won't take meds, so unless it is an antibiotic he doesn't get any. He had surgery when he was 3 and they were discharging him the nurse tried to give him pain med after they took out the Iv and he said no, she said you really should take it or it is going to hurt this evening, He looked right at her and said "I'd rather have the pain" and true to his word he didn't take a bit of the pain med or any tylenol during his recovery!

so give him lots of liquids, Popsicles and don't worry about it.

The only time I medicate my kids, besides antibiotics, is if they're having an allergic reaction, are in pain, or have a fever over 103. They symptoms tell you that their body is fighting infection.

 

[golfgal]

So this is kind of going along with the topic of this thread...do any of you have "difficult" children. I think what's annoying me with DS being sick so much is he resists everything I do to try and make him feel better. He won't blow his nose, and trying to get him to swallow medicine is like fighting a war. Before I was pregnant I didn't care I would just hold him down and force it in his cheek with a med syringe. Now I can't do that because he's 40 inches tall and 40 pounds with really long strong legs and it's too dangerous for me to go into combat

Today I snuck some stuff in his chocolate milk and made sure he drank the whole glass of milk...but the tissue thing is really getting to me. I'll say "use a tissue" I sound like a broken record. I have a box of tissues in every room...yet all he does is inhale snot or wipe it on his nose, sleeve, the carpet...it's so gross.

My DS is 11 now, but he used to throw up every med I gave him. It was awful. I think he started taking things nicely around the age of 8. I can remember a couple of times having to give him suppository fever reducer and that was probably what changed him. He HATED it....and started taking the children's tylenol. He did better with chewables than liquid. The liquid made him gag.

As for the "tissue issue"....I threatened to use the sucker (you know, the bulb syringe you get from the hospital) if they didn't blow their noses. My kids HATED that...and that is what got them blowing!!

I did the same thing-chewables are great-so are those fast melting things you put on their tongues. I also had to "help" them blow their noses-get the kleenex for them and hold it while they blew their nose.

 

[luvsJack]

I work at a preschool and while kids do pass things around, the school should be taking some steps to help prevent this:
1. Anytime there is a contagious illness reported, it should be posted so parents know to watch for symptoms and can hopefully catch it early.
2. Kids should wash their hands with soap and water upon entering the classroom. (The other reason we do this is for our severe peanut allergy - that way if someone had peanut butter toast for breakfast we help to exposure for the allergic child.)
3. All classroom tables, sinks, bathrooms should be disinfected daily. We have hospital strength sanitizer that we use to clean with.
4. The school's illness policy should be enforced. I hope they gave you one!
5. Any toys that are sneezed on/mouthed/etc should be removed and sanitized before being used again.
6. After a child (or teacher!) blows his/her nose he/she needs to wash his/her hands with soap and water.

Sickness is unavoidable, but I think each school needs to take steps to try to cut down on kids passing it along.

Exactly this. In addition to the above, we kept down illnesses by opening as many windows and doors as possible EVERY day (even in winter, just not as wide and not as long)--clean air helps a huge amount--this will help at home too. Every evening after all the children left, all the toys and shelves were sprayed with Lysol spray and weekly washed with bleach. We also sprayed almost every surface the children touched with Lysol twice a day. Bleach should be used to clean everything in the classroom.

Even with all of this some kids (not all, just seems that way) would pick up every little bug that came along. They just have to build up the immunity. Dd was in child care from 4 weeks old-5 years, straight into K. Until she had mono last year, she has rarely been sick.

As for meds. I agree with others. I don't force Tylenol or cold meds. Only antibiotics. I think sometimes we are so quick to give Tylenol that we don't allow the body to fight off infection naturally.

 

[monorailsilver]

Not sure if this was posted but when my kids come home from school whether it is preschool or elementary school the first thing they do is wash their hands.

A few years ago, I took my dd & her friend home from gymnastics & I said to them to wash their hands. Her friend said "my mom doesn't make me do this." DD's friend was always sick, granted my kids did get sick, just not as much.