How Often Does Your Baby Get Sick?

[bluegrassmom]

My daughter is 17 months old and is on her 6th or 7th cold this year (As I write this, it's June 30th). This is not different from last year. I was just wondering how often other kids get sick? Do they all get colds this often? My sister has a 18 month old son who has only had 2 colds this year and she does daycare for me so our kids are in close contact everyday!

[H.Starr]

My son is 10 months and has never had a cold. He currently has his first ear infection.

[Bec caV]

My six month old has only had one cold. We go out amongst people a lot, too (can't keep either of us at home :p )

[lismom2]

My dd gets several colds a year (snotty nose, etc.)...maybe 6? . My son has only had one cold and he is 8 months old. My mom was telling me that I was ALWAYS sick as a child with colds, but I am rarely sick now as an adult. I have always worked jobs where I was around lots of different people so I am always being exposed to all their germies :)

[tberry]

My son is 16 months and in daycare. I can't even count the number of colds he's had because as soon as one ended he caught another. He was sick for a solid 4-5 months this last winter/spring (not counting the pick-eye and norovirus, which he also caught). And of course, he had to bring it all home. I too was sick for a total of 3 and a half months. My mom keeps telling me that it builds up his immune system to catch so many colds this young. She better be right!

[moonemaiden]

My daughter was a NICU baby with some lung problems so we expected that she would get sick easily during her first couple years. Nope, she had 1 ear infection at 6 months and maybe 2 colds. She also went to a babysitter right away. It was a small daycare, with only two other children.

My son was born perfectly healthy except for a milk allergy. He will turn 1 in two weeks and has already had several colds and multiple ear infections. He stayed home with either my husband or me. We took him out into public occasionally but never daycare.

I wouldn't be able to say what normal is.

[NoAdditives]

My 8 month old daughter has never been sick, even when she's around sick people. My husband got very sick when she was about 3 or 4 months old and she was fine, not even a mild fever or sniffles.

70% of the immune system is located in the digestive tract so keeping that healthy will help keep your child (and you!) healthier. Probiotics, vitamins and plenty of Omega-3 fatty acids will keep the digestive tract intact and functioning properly and will strengthen the immune system.

[Jill_at_StorkRadio]

Thanks, this is helpful. About to have my first and want to know what I may be in for...

[TerrillMom]

You may want to check out this webpage. You might find something helpful.

http://www.ahealthcafe.com/safeathome

[may2mac]

Both of my kids are sick pretty much all winter long. I would say that Julianna probably has been sick at least 10x in the past year. Lauren has been sick probably 6x. My pediatrician said it is common for babies up to 4 years old to get 10 colds a year. After 4 their immune system improves naturally and they get sick less.

[Zack_Jenn]

Our 1st used to go through huges stretches of "colds" and then we found out she was actually suffering from allergies.

[PfafftownMomOF2]

I will never forget bringing home my second child and finding out the same day that my older daughter had pink eye! Then I got it too! Luckily the baby never got it. When my first daughter was young we used daycare but she caught everything that the other kids had. Having an au pair was not an option for me but many of my co-workers have chosen to keep their kids at home and have them cared for by an au pair rather than go the day care option. To find out if this is a good option for you check out http://www.culturalcare.com/_share/pdf/HFSurvey2009.pdf Cultural Care has recently posted a customer service survey that is very interesting:
Check it out!

[PRINCESS_KEILANI]

hello my baby girl is 10months and she has her first cough virus and there is nothing the dr can do for us but just keep her inside and give her plenty of fluids and rest and shes not sick but its an drag that she coughs here and there but its been almost an week so im hoping. keilani born 10/08/08

[RLTMommy]

My 14 month old son has been sick twice. I breastfeed. Do you ladies breastfeed or formula feed? They say breastfeeding helps with illness. So, I am curious whether you breastfed or not?

[The Loud]

the immune boost from breast milk

Breast milk does not provide any sort of immune boost. Breast milk is normal, so breastfed babies have normal immune systems, and get the normal level of diseases. Formula-fed babies have weakened immune systems, and have higher-than-normal levels of diseases. They even have higher-than-normal levels of some diseases for the rest of their lives.

For more about the proper use of language, check out this article:
http://www.bobrow.net/kimberly/birth/BFLanguage.html

Anyway, I've had 3 colds since my baby was born 10 months ago, and she caught them all. Two were so mild they didn't seem to bother her at all, and the only symptom was a bit of sneezing. One was pretty bad, though.

[Aegis]

We've been fortunate; our son has only had about 2 colds and he's 2 1/2 next month. He did have an ear infection which I blame on swimming, but it went away pretty quickly with antibiotics. My husband and I had various colds at different times and somehow our son never caught those-- I still can't believe it lol. Now, he did catch a what I figure was a stomach virus recently, but was only ill for a day and threw up once. Luckily he seemed to know something was wrong and didn't eat all day, so he only threw up was what he drank. Sorry if that was TMI. Anyway, I also breastfed for 22 months; not sure if that really helped or not, but if it did, awesome, if not, then awesome immune system lol. Maybe it was a little bit of both. ;)

[evilgirl80]

my baby has never been sick (knock on wood LOL) she is almost 10 months old...she ran a small fever when she got her first shots but that has been all, no snotty noses even...i breastfed her and feel that was the reason she is so healthy...i dont do anything special, we go everywhere people touch her she is around other kids and they are getting sick and she is not. My best friends child and her are 2 months apart and he has had ear infections and colic and eczema...my friend did not breastfeed!! my nephew and my daughter are 4 months apart and he has been in and out of the hospital with rsv...also not breastfed!!

[Babyblue9782]

My daughter has been in daycare since she was 7 weeks old. She had her first cold when she was 3 months old. She is 2 now and she had about 10 colds last fall/winter. You're not alone. It is true, they do build up their immunity. Might as well get it over now so that they are sick less when they are starting kindergarten. She did pretty good during the summer, but we already had our first cold of the season. I asked the daycare about her being sick so much last year and she told me that it was a bad year for colds. Hopefully this year won't be as bad!