What vitamins, probiotics, etc. do you give your kids to build up immunity?

[Tiger926]

We have had a rough month around here - DD6 who never gets sick has been hit hard with some type of virus. Has had 2 rounds of antibiotics, plus mono, blood and chest xrays that all came back negative. Doc says some kind of virus that really took her out - she missed this entire week of school with fever, sore throat, extremely lethargic, a mild cough and very swollen glands in neck and armpits.

She is a very healthy girl, so after this, we are wanting to give her some probiotics to build up her good bacteria after the antibiotics. Also, we are wanting to give her and our DS2 vitamins. We aren't huge believers in vitamins as we eat well: all 4 food groups, no junk food, pop, drink water/milk and occassional juice, fresh foods, grilled meats as opposed to fried.

Can anyone make recommendations for probiotics or vitamins for building up immunity during this nasty cold/flu season?

Thanks for all suggestions, Tiger

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids get a gummy flintstones daily, but I don't think they help much. What built up my kids' ammunity was being constantly sick as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. With 5 kids, my kids brought a ton of illnesses home to younger siblings.

Now that they're all in school, they rarely get sick!

 

[woodkins]

As a probiotic I give my daughter Threelac 1 packet 1x per day. We also do a standard multivitamin and Coromega brand Omega 3 supplement (fish oil). We have seen a huge improvement in her overall health, immunity and attentiveness/behavior.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

we are getting over the same virus! DD7 missed a week of school as well. We do flinstone vitamins with extra immunity and lots of fruit. My son got the virus (5 yr old) and only missed 1 day of school. I really don't know what works and what doesn't. I hope you get some answers, I'm in the same boat.

 

[paulabarber]

My hubby is a big believer in Echinachea but I have always kind of laughed it off, even though he rarely gets sick, even when the rest of us do. We had a HORRIBLE spring at our house with multiple rounds of strep and ear infections. With the H1N1 rampant, I decided at the start of this school year that I was going to do anything I could to help boost my kids immune system. I started giving them both a disney gummy vitamin (from Target) along with the Gummy Immune Boost (Made by L'il Critters from Target) that is designed for kids. It contains Echinachea plus Zinc and Vitamin C. We also eat healthy using primarily organics with no sodas, packaged snacks, syrup or sugars. And I also upped my nagging about washing hands constantly.

I don't know if it is just a crazy cooincidence or not, but neither of my children have been sick since school started and they have ALWAYS both had at least one cold, virus, etc. at the start of a new year. We are packing both bottles to take with us for our upcoming trip to Disney.

 

[CLR4321]

We use echinacea, which can be bought in an extract, in pills, in teas and in juices. The extract is the easiest with kids because you can mix it into juice.
I also keep this stuff on hand, especially during the fall and winter: http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/simply_nutritious/lemon_ginger_echinacea It is awesome. I haven't had a cold last longer than 1 day in about 4 years because of this stuff. If I start feeling congested, sick, etc, I drink 3 bottles that day and 1 or 2 the next. I will be feeling fine by that evening. The lemon and ginger are also great for sore throats....it gets rid of one pretty much instantly. My son also takes a children's complete multivitamin every day.
Despite common belief, vitamin C does not prevent or treat colds. It will help you to be more healthy, as all vitamins do, but there's nothing special about it as far as colds go.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks to all for your advice - I just realized I forgot that being in Canada, we don't have many of the products you are listing. I am going to look out for some of them tomorrow though!

Thanks, Tiger

 

[Tiger926]

we are getting over the same virus! DD7 missed a week of school as well. We do flinstone vitamins with extra immunity and lots of fruit. My son got the virus (5 yr old) and only missed 1 day of school. I really don't know what works and what doesn't. I hope you get some answers, I'm in the same boat.

So sorry to hear this. What did your doc say? My pediatrician assumed it was tonsillitis and should have swabbed but didn't, so we took those antibiotics (we were all sick). Then a week later went back as tonsils were even bigger. He again didn't swab her throat as he made a judgment call - more antibiotics. Here we are this week and pediatrician is away, so I went to our family doc, who is a longtime family friend (treats us like his kids!), and he did a thorough exam, swabbed, chest xray and blood. All came back negative! Oy! He believes it's just a really bad virus - didn't say anything about H1N1 as she doesn't really have a cough, nor any gastro issues at all.

DD felt great today, and just went to bed at 8:30. Her temp was about normal all day, but I just took it and it's at 100. Not too worried as she was running around and had on a sweater. Hopefully, she sleeps well tonight as we are going to a Wiggles concert next week, and we won a contest for a meet and greet, so she and my DS2 are very excited to meet them! We all need to be mucho healthy for that!

I hope your children stay healthy!! Tiger

 

[BelleRocks]

Just a note about echinacea, you shouldn't take it for more than 2 weeks at a time or it begins to lose effectiveness. If you want to take in on a regular basis you should take in cycles.

The year my daughter was 5 she had strep throat 4 times, 2 of those requiring 2 round of antibiotics EACH. That was SIX ROUNDS of antibiotics in a year. By the end of the year her immune system was so beaten down she had a freaky immune reaction called HSP. That was when I started looking into vitamins!

Rainbow Light Kids One Multistars is really good quality, based on a whole food concept. I also added garlic supplement, which functions as a low-grade antibiotic. Garlic is also great for kids or adults with chronic sinus infections, or who get sinus infections very easily.

During the past year or so, I have added elderberry as a general immune/anti-viral. Google "elderberry" and "flu". It has had really good results.

Anyway, she hasn't had strep in over two years now! Who knows for sure, but I'm sticking with my program!

 

[andijean]

I am very interested in everyone's recommendations. We all have colds right now and are 5 weeks away from our Disney trip. I went and got kangavites multi for the boys and healthy 2 go DHA for the Omegas. I want to build up our immunities b/c we have never gone to Disney well, always sick during our vacations. When I was standing there in the vitamin aisle yesterday, it was so hard to know what work and what makes one brand better than another. Anyone have any insight.

 

[RMulieri]

Nothing, NADA, ZIPPO ....She takes a daily multivitamin with fluoride.She NEVER gets sick( and is in daycare before Kindergarten during the week)..I am a healthcare provider and so is DH, we rarely get sick.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks - today she has a rash all over her arms, trunk, part of her neck and back of things. I just called my doc at home, so I'm waiting for a call back. I am perplexed - not sure if it's just the virus? If she had strep or scarlet fever, her swab would have been positive. She doesn't have blisters on feet, so no hand/foot/mouth. She has had blister looking things on her tonsils and her tonsils are huge, but a negative swab? We are very perplexed...

She is resting now, as she is tired, does not have a fever, rash does not itch, and no other symptoms besides her cough.

Tiger

 

[BelleRocks]

It is possible to get a negative swab and still have strep. There is another test they can do that takes longer. In the mean time, if the symptoms are strongly indicating strep (which it sounds like) the doctor may go ahead and put her on antibiotics until the other test comes back. It is really important not to wait too long to get on the antibiotics if it is indeed strep. I would get her back to the doctor.

 

[Tiger926]

It is possible to get a negative swab and still have strep. There is another test they can do that takes longer. In the mean time, if the symptoms are strongly indicating strep (which it sounds like) the doctor may go ahead and put her on antibiotics until the other test comes back. It is really important not to wait too long to get on the antibiotics if it is indeed strep. I would get her back to the doctor.

I guess you missed that in my original post - she has already been on 2 rounds of antibiotics, with little change. I am still awaiting a call back from my doc, so not sure if it's just a rash from all of her fevers this week?

Thanks, Tiger

 

[RMulieri]

Thanks - today she has a rash all over her arms, trunk, part of her neck and back of things. I just called my doc at home, so I'm waiting for a call back. I am perplexed - not sure if it's just the virus? If she had strep or scarlet fever, her swab would have been positive. She doesn't have blisters on feet, so no hand/foot/mouth. She has had blister looking things on her tonsils and her tonsils are huge, but a negative swab? We are very perplexed...

She is resting now, as she is tired, does not have a fever, rash does not itch, and no other symptoms besides her cough.

Tiger

Could be 5th disease.My daughter had it a few months back.had a rash all over trunk ,arms, and legs.Sore throat etc. Or it could be Coxsackie virus.I had that one it was a body rash with blisters and sores in the mouth.BOTH are going around

 

[estherhead]

My s-i-l swears by Emergen-C. I bought some for my dh when he was sick a few months ago but he didn't really take it. So I got a cold last week & was too busy to take a break so I went ahead & started taking it: 2-4 doses a day. I swear I would wake up in the morning & feel ill & by night feel better, each dose making me feel better!

I lose my voice easily so I did still have a scratchy voice for a few days. But other than that the cold was super short & I never lost my energy. I've taken Zicam in the past & like that for shortening colds, but this Emergen-C stuff actually gave me energy as well.

So when we go to WDW in 5 weeks I'll be making my family drink a cup of Emergen-C every day for a few days before we go & taking it with us in case someone does get sick.

Can't wait to read any other tips. I got terribly sick last visit despite using Zicam & hand sanitizer obsessively so here's hoping for good health this year.

 

[Tiger926]

Could be 5th disease.My daughter had it a few months back.had a rash all over trunk ,arms, and legs.Sore throat etc. Or it could be Coxsackie virus.I had that one it was a body rash with blisters and sores in the mouth.BOTH are going around

Thanks - they've had both, so this is different than both of them. Doc was here last night, and said it looks like it might be from the virus? But I just remembered I used a new organic soap from Costco this week, so I'm wondering if that might be it? It's gone down a lot, but it's still there and that is frustrating because she needs to get back to school- hasn't had any fever since Wed. night and has been home in the house for 6 days now. We all have allergies/sensitivities and so we are very picky about our soap, but DH found a new organic/no fragrance/sensitive soap at Costco, so this might be the culprit?

Thanks so much, Tiger

 

[amy_225]

I have a son with immune system problems, and he is usually sick much more than everyone else. Last year about two weeks before our Disney trip, I started making the kids drink Airborne every day. I don't know if it was that or not, but they stayed well throughout the trip and weren't sick the rest of the winter. The year before that, we had all four kids get sick on our trip (scattered days, of course!!) so it was not much fun
I plan on starting the Airborne again before our trip in December, especially since we have a four and a half hour plane ride.

 

[Erica09M]

Breastfeeding

Sodium ascorbate, keep a ton of it on hand and take it daily; take even more of it when we feel symptoms coming on.

Garlic (definitely not before age 1, but we're actually holding off until 2 for Isabel to be safe)

My 4 year old take a probiotic daily, she has GI issues and I noticed a wonderful difference when she started taking it.

We also see chiropractors regularly. This also helps maintain a good immune system, google it for more info if you'd like.

Vitamin A

Vitamin D

Echineacha- 2 weeks on 2 weeks off

I could list some other things too, if needed.

 

[jacksmomma]

DS takes a daily multivitamin and a fish oil supplement. If he comes down with something he is sick for about 12 hours and that is it.

Lots of people have mentioned gummy vitamins, but our ped told us to use the regular ones because the gummys do not have all the iron kids need.

If I start feeling ill I usually take a dose of airborne. It seems to work for me and DH.