How often does your children get sick in Childcare?

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:23 GMT

Shera — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:23 GMT

Actually all the parents need to understand if their own child's body is more towards heaty or cooling base. Only from there, we can administer methods to counter the virus :love:

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:59:51 GMT

pinky — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:59:51 GMT

I mix honeysuckle + luo han guo to make it less bitter. Also this combination is good to get rid of heatiness and phlegm. It is not advisable

to take honeysuckle for more than once a week as it is too ‘cooling’ (as
advised by my TCM doctor).

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:40:11 GMT

Shera — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:40:11 GMT

Ds got into cc at 20th month. So far, he is sick for every 2.5-3.5months. His cc is all in air-con so he is pretty safe from mosquito bites. I will say that he hardly suffering from flu or cough :celebrate:

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:15:27 GMT

vfong1 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:15:27 GMT

Funz:
vfong1:
She's on cod liver oil everyday Actually it's very good for kids.

My sis in law boiled honey suckle drink for her. Taste not so nice but good for her.
Yah cod liver oil is good. Am giving my kids smart fish, fish oil but think maybe switch to scotts emulsion cod liver oil cheaper. I give them manuka honey as well. Especially if they tell me their throat hurts or if they start getting ulcers in their mouth.

Honey suckle is Jinyinhua rite? I was advised to avoid that if you have asthma. Even for honey, I gave my kids a teeny tiny drop to see if they have any allegic reaction.

Yes, it's jinyinhua. My sis in law also use that to bathe her. My DD is easily heaty person she don't really like to drink plain water. She drinks it when she gets rewarded for candy, ice cream.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:49:11 GMT

Funz — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:49:11 GMT

vfong1:
She's on cod liver oil everyday Actually it's very good for kids.

My sis in law boiled honey suckle drink for her. Taste not so nice but good for her.

Yah cod liver oil is good. Am giving my kids smart fish, fish oil but think maybe switch to scotts emulsion cod liver oil cheaper. I give them manuka honey as well. Especially if they tell me their throat hurts or if they start getting ulcers in their mouth.

Honey suckle is Jinyinhua rite? I was advised to avoid that if you have asthma. Even for honey, I gave my kids a teeny tiny drop to see if they have any allegic reaction.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:46:05 GMT

schellen — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:46:05 GMT

kiasu_pig:
schellen:
..

DD has learned that listening to parents and following a strict diet of only healthy stuff (and even no milk though she loves it) allows her to recover quickly and when she does, she gets rewarded with ice cream and milk. Now that she's older, she can also discipline herself when we aren't there to see what she eats, most of the time.
..
When a child is having fever, is it not recommended to give him milk? :?

Depends on what the fever is caused or accompanied by. If your child has gastro-intestinal illness together with the fever, like stomach flu, food poisoning, diarrhea, you cannot give any dairy products, even those you may overlook that has high content of dairy like milk bread. It will aggravate the illness and delay recovery.

Our DD hardly has fever but tends to have respiratory illnesses more often, especially with phlegm. Dairy products will just give you more phlegm so we don't give her those till she recovers. Since she loves dairy products, it motivates her to keep to the strict diet so that she can eat her favourite foods sooner.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:14:43 GMT

JennyP — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:14:43 GMT

Oh i see, that is great.

ya, one more thing is to check the meal in the childcare. actually i have change 3 childcare due to variuos reason. and my first priority is food, environment ( because he got sensitive nose) and no air cond ( the present have but the childcare set at 25, so still acceptable).
Some childcare, that is not have proper meal in the lunch time ( I saw it in my first childcare).

Good Luck

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:06:55 GMT

vfong1 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:06:55 GMT

She's on cod liver oil everyday Actually it's very good for kids.

My sis in law boiled honey suckle drink for her. Taste not so nice but good for her.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:03:12 GMT

JennyP — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:03:12 GMT

I agree with all mother said, my son got sensitive nose so he always get cold easily than other, but after i try to give him cod liver oil (original) i found he quite Ok and not need every month see dr now ( touch wood!!).

I always remind myself to give him 5ml every morning when he wake up

Beside, his favourite is chocolate and he will eat everyday though he is sick:P

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:59:23 GMT

vfong1 — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:59:23 GMT

My DS doctor knows that she’s in childcare and she’s 2.5 years old and recently she has got running rose with slight cough. But her immunity got stronger actually compared to the 1st 3 months of this year.

He advise her not to go childcare as it’s too early age for her. My sister in law told me she could attend 3 hrs playgroup instead. However, I think she has been learning well in school and I’m reluctant to withdraw her from there. How?

My DS doesn’t like to go school (I think is the separate anxiety) but when she’s there she’s happy cos of the friends.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:56:23 GMT

kiasu_pig — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:56:23 GMT

pinky:
It is pretty common for them in the first 6 months so don't worry too much. It happened to my son too when he started childcare

and on his first visit to the doctor, the doc simply said, \"He is in childcare right?
don't worry, give him 6 months for his body to build up its own immunity,
then he will be fine.\". Sure enough, it was true.

i certainly hope so - thanks for assurance. :roll:

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:10:53 GMT

pinky — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:10:53 GMT

It is pretty common for them in the first 6 months so don’t worry too much. It happened to my son too when he started childcare

and on his first visit to the doctor, the doc simply said, "He is in childcare right?
don’t worry, give him 6 months for his body to build up its own immunity,
then he will be fine.". Sure enough, it was true.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:04:44 GMT

kiasu_pig — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:04:44 GMT

schellen:
..

DD has learned that listening to parents and following a strict diet of only healthy stuff (and even no milk though she loves it) allows her to recover quickly and when she does, she gets rewarded with ice cream and milk. Now that she's older, she can also discipline herself when we aren't there to see what she eats, most of the time.
..

When a child is having fever, is it not recommended to give him milk? :?

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:07:01 GMT

Funz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:07:01 GMT

think it is a norm and the good thing is the most kids do get better as in fall sick less. My kid's PD said that on average, kids do fall sick about once a mth maybe even more for childcare going children. But they usually do build up their immunity and will fall sick less often after 6mths or so. However, it is important that we take good care of them and let them recover well when they do fall sick or it may lead to longer term issues.

My gal has allergy rhinitis and is on long term nose spray. My boy is asthmatic when he was an infant but so far for the last 3yrs, no attacks. Touch wood.

My girl too kept falling sick initially. And each time she fell sick, she passes whatever bug to her brother. She started childcare at 2yrs old. By the time she was 3, she hardly fall sick. And when my boy started childcare, he did not fall sick that often. Now, I would say their health is pretty good. thank god.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:04:28 GMT

jedamum — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:04:28 GMT

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:32:18 GMT

kiasu_pig — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:32:18 GMT

sashimi:
..

And hey, don't worry about enrichment classes at age 2.5; play at home and childcare is enough - save your money for when they're older, eg. music, art at 4+. :)..

Thanks for all the responses. I guess i am not called a \"kiasu_pig\" for nothing! At times, even disgusted by myself. Ugh!
Supposed to bring him go see his PD at 4, but he slept the whole afternoon. Dunno whether tomorrow need to take leave again... haiz.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:27:42 GMT

Karenjj — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:27:42 GMT

I can totally understand how you feel. My girl was previously attending 3 hr playgroup, but we pull her out because she keep falling sick. The last was over a period of 4 months. It was either flu, cough or fever… and she cannot seem to fully recover. Money is secondary but it’s real heartache for mummy…

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:12:12 GMT

sashimi — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:12:12 GMT

Hi - I understand and sympathize, including the monetary opportunity costs. IMHO it can't be helped, as you probably realized. If you don't give him the exposure now, it will be just as bad come kindergarten, or primary school - in fact all through adulthood.

The only thing you have to bear in mind is that you thus have to consciously try to improve your son's immune system. Besides the painful \"exposure\", another key element is getting enough rest. Children who do not get enough rest (eg. sleep) are prone to get sick more often. AFAIK many parents still neglect sleep.

Another consideration will be diet. Plus, when your son is old enough, ensure he gets good, natural, supplementation. And live a generally balanced life; drink lots of water; don't always sleep in air-con, etc.

The above combination helped my daughter a lot. With conscious effort, by age 5 or 6, your son should be strong enough, and you can finally stop making doctors smile so much whenever you visit them.

This is especially important now that we live in a paranoid world where a little flu bug is treated like the plague.

And hey, don't worry about enrichment classes at age 2.5; play at home and childcare is enough - save your money for when they're older, eg. music, art at 4+.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:43:16 GMT

kiasu_pig — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:43:16 GMT

[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]

My toddler is sick (again).

My toddler of 2.5 years old kept on falling sick after entering childcare. For the last 4 months, he fell sick at least every fornightly. Everytime he fell sick, besides taking leave to take care of him at home, we not only felt heart-pained over his health, but also the amount of money that went to waste. For example, the additional enrichment classes we enroled him for in his childcare, enrichment classes in the weekend, his school bus, and medical bills ...

I know the usual thing that toddlers will fall sick often when they entered childcare, and the exposure actually make their immunity system stronger, and blah blah blah ... But, I'm no rich parent, so the missed enrichment classes actually makes my wallet's hurts! Aarrgh ...

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:43:02 GMT

MLR — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:43:02 GMT

2.5yo DS was in infant care since 4mo, now in full day childcare.

His history of illness is more related to his allergic rhinitis condition than the common colds and flu.

He had 5 bouts of ear infections from 5mo till 2yo. The infections are mainly caused by his allergic rhinitis condition (no thanks to DH, who has the same condition). Whenever the weather changes, it will trigger his condition>blocked nose with mucus that doesn’t flows out, leading to nasal back drip and then follow by cough. If the nasal block doesn’t clear quickly, it leads to ear infections = very high fevers=vomits= tons of extra laundry/lots of cleanups/sleep deprivation…

He has been on zyrtec and nasonex since he turned 2 and till date it has controlled the condition very well and has no infection (TOUCHWOOD).

Due to his condtion, well ventilated environments and strong immunity is always on our minds. So we don’t on a/cs (installed but hardly ever on) except for very hot afternoons, he attends non-a/c centres, lots of outdoor activities whenever possible, we don’t go shopping centres except whenever necessary (also i m not the shopping type, me go in buy whatever, then leave). DS also don’t like sweet (i mean taste and candies), cold (anything except herbal teas), so i don’t hv problem with ice-cream/candies/chocolates. Its not that i don’t give them, he himself doesn’t like them. He prefers savoury stuff like cheese crackers, potato chips, keropoks. He also doesn’t like chicken, prefers pork, loves fish/ green veg and for fruits only papaya and watermelon. He eats brown rice cereal everyday (as snack or as one main meal), this was recommended b’cos of his condition. He doesn’t take any supplements. Other than water and formula, he will only drink herbal tea, and also his own dislike for sweet and cold stuff do help in reducing his intake of sugar.

IMHO, child’s state of health play a major role rather than the environment contributes to how prone he/she to illness/ailments. After talking to friends and also thru reading posts here, come to conclusion that due to the more stressful environment that our children are growing up in, their immunity are affected, contributing to frequent bouts of illness. Just my 2 cents…

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:11:29 GMT

vfong1 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:11:29 GMT

sashimi:
schellen:

Pure fruit juice may still be very sweet so just dilute with water. When DD was a toddler, I think we gave her 50:50, then when she got older, we increased it to 70:30 (70 = juice), and so on.
No leh, I still give her 50:50.

vfong - it'll be good if you can establish what is your DD's weakness. It could very well simply be too much ice cream and candy. Moderation is the key, not total elimination. I guess depending on how the child is brought up, it may or may not be difficult. My DD loves ice cream like mad, but so far, somehow we've managed to discipline her to only once a fortnight. To be frank it's almost too good to be true, I often wonder if someone else cheats with her..... like her grannies....

Anyway, I suggest you give cod liver oil regularly, in health and in sickness. The thing about cod liver oil is the omega-3 fatty acids, which promotes immunity.

See if it makes a difference. If not, try something else. (eg. the honey i suggested. Honey is a natural antiseptic with anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. Best part, totally natural and it's sweet so kids usually love it. Better than candies).

As for fruits, as my wife says above. The thing about some juices is that it's too sweet, so will feed bacteria as well. For citrous juices, my understanding is that the strong citric acid aggravates inflamed throat surfaces, which worsens sore throats and coughs. So, no juice is best during flus, coughs.

Thanks very much for your imformative reply. I really have lots to learn as my kids are quite young.

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:10:24 GMT

vfong1 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:10:24 GMT

Poohbear:
Sharing my experience...

DD1 (in K1 now) started in childcare at 18months... in the 1st few months, she went down a lot in terms of weight.. and could not sleep well.. keep waking up in middle of the nite n cry... so end up not enough sleep n was sick every month for the 1st 6 months.. either cough, running nose , fever, etc... but it got better as she got used to the place n resistance improved... now she is still in childcare and well most of the time ( Thank God).

DD2 ( in N2 now) started at 20months.. but since the DD1 went childcare and came back sick for first few month, DD2 also got infected so end up was started falling sick from abt 8months old... that was the negative part.. but DD2 didnt really fall sick after she started childcare..seem like DD1's bouts of illness helped built up her resistance... DD2 was down initially once every 2 months... now is less ... but still more often than DD1.

I also try to brew liang cha every weekend... like barley, chrysanthemum, etc. Also, i give Delrosa rose syrup daily to supplement Vit C. Other than tat, try to give more veg n fruit.. usually 1 fruit per kid after dinner, eg 1 pear or 1 apple. Oh yes... cod liver oil too, i always forget to give.. but i know its very good for them...

As for sweets and ice-cream, i don really control. They ask , i usually will give. They dont ask very often.. sweets.. mayb once or at most twice a week.. ice-cream.. abt once a month...

I heard from my hubby that drink too much barley will promote phelgm, is that true?

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:55:36 GMT

Poohbear — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:55:36 GMT

Sharing my experience…

DD1 (in K1 now) started in childcare at 18months… in the 1st few months, she went down a lot in terms of weight… and could not sleep well… keep waking up in middle of the nite n cry… so end up not enough sleep n was sick every month for the 1st 6 months… either cough, running nose , fever, etc… but it got better as she got used to the place n resistance improved… now she is still in childcare and well most of the time ( Thank God).

DD2 ( in N2 now) started at 20months… but since the DD1 went childcare and came back sick for first few month, DD2 also got infected so end up was started falling sick from abt 8months old… that was the negative part… but DD2 didnt really fall sick after she started childcare…seem like DD1’s bouts of illness helped built up her resistance… DD2 was down initially once every 2 months… now is less … but still more often than DD1.

I also try to brew liang cha every weekend… like barley, chrysanthemum, etc. Also, i give Delrosa rose syrup daily to supplement Vit C. Other than tat, try to give more veg n fruit… usually 1 fruit per kid after dinner, eg 1 pear or 1 apple. Oh yes… cod liver oil too, i always forget to give… but i know its very good for them…

As for sweets and ice-cream, i don really control. They ask , i usually will give. They dont ask very often… sweets… mayb once or at most twice a week… ice-cream… abt once a month…

Reply to How often does your children get sick in Childcare? on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:33:04 GMT

sashimi — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:33:04 GMT

schellen:

Pure fruit juice may still be very sweet so just dilute with water. When DD was a toddler, I think we gave her 50:50, then when she got older, we increased it to 70:30 (70 = juice), and so on.

No leh, I still give her 50:50.

vfong - it'll be good if you can establish what is your DD's weakness. It could very well simply be too much ice cream and candy. Moderation is the key, not total elimination. I guess depending on how the child is brought up, it may or may not be difficult. My DD loves ice cream like mad, but so far, somehow we've managed to discipline her to only once a fortnight. To be frank it's almost too good to be true, I often wonder if someone else cheats with her..... like her grannies....

Anyway, I suggest you give cod liver oil regularly, in health and in sickness. The thing about cod liver oil is the omega-3 fatty acids, which promotes immunity.

See if it makes a difference. If not, try something else. (eg. the honey i suggested. Honey is a natural antiseptic with anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. Best part, totally natural and it's sweet so kids usually love it. Better than candies).

As for fruits, as my wife says above. The thing about some juices is that it's too sweet, so will feed bacteria as well. For citrous juices, my understanding is that the strong citric acid aggravates inflamed throat surfaces, which worsens sore throats and coughs. So, no juice is best during flus, coughs.