# Worried, was your child sick a lot after starting school for the first time?



## siddie (Jan 15, 2003)

My ds is 4 and a half and started preschool in early August. Since then he has had conjunctivitis, croup, a high fever and vomiting that turned out to be strep throat. With the high fever/vomiting/strep we had to take him to the ER for iv fluids he was dehydrated and that was when they figured out he had strep. Now he has a cold. Oh, and he was bitten by another child which broke the skin and had to take antibiotics for 5 days for that.

He usually gets very high fevers (102- 105) when he is sick so I don't sleep when that happens. He had a febrile seizure when he was 16 months old.

I talked to my Dad today, he said it sounds like he is immunocompromised. To say the least this freaked me out. Dad also said some other mean things but that is a whole other post. I am thinking of pulling him out but he really loves the school and his teacher is wonderful. The flu publicity is really scaring me this year. I don't know what to do. The doctor has never said anything about immunocompromisation to me... I am scared he will get really sick.


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## mamaduck (Mar 6, 2002)

Yes, when my oldest started preschool for the first time he was sick almost constnatly. In fact, our whole family was. It was hard because we had a new baby at that time. Very hard. We have not had another year like that one since then. Even with our 2nd child starting school for the first time, they just haven't been sick like that at all. I think their immune systems of toughened up substantially since that first year.


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## MumTo4 (Oct 17, 2004)

When DD Sophia started preschool last summer she was sick a lot. Now she is in kindergarten and has "that cough" thats going around


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## boomingranny (Dec 11, 2003)

is you Dad an MD? why don't you call your pediatrician and ask her? My dd started daycare very young and when she was 1 - 2 years she was sick A LOT! it was very stressful and scary. Now, she barely ever gets sick while her classmates who didn't go to preschool are busy toughening up their immune systems!

good luck. Also, try some immune system supporters - check out the health and healing thread.

cheers


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## tammylc (Apr 4, 2004)

Since my DS entered daycare 6 weeks ago, he has had 3 colds. My pediatrician tells me that I can expect the rest of the season to be like this - he's just going to be sniffly all the time. But by next year, he'll be sick much less often, because his immune system will have figured out what to do.

Similiarly, a friend was just telling me yesterday about a study that showed that daycare and non-daycare babies have the same number of colds by the end of kindergarten - it's just that the daycare babies get them much earlier, and the non-daycare babies don't get them until they start school.

So, my guess is that you can't stop it, only delay it. As awful as it is (and I know it is!) in the long run it will lead to a stronger immune system and better ability to fight off germs.


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## Ceinwen (Jul 1, 2004)

My dd who is 21 months, has been getting a horrendous number of colds (mostly just sniffles and congestion) from playing with other children at playgroup and just other little people in general.

I'm not a doctor, but I am a nursing student - and immunocompromised is usually what people get after they've had radiation therapy or chemo. Or even people with AIDS or HIV - not healthy kids who pick up a little virus.

Don't worry about it.


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## nikirj (Oct 1, 2002)

My kids got all their exposure from the church nursery. They got sick nearly every week for a couple of months, and then I suppose they'd gotten everything and have very rarely been sick since. DD started preschool (she's 4) this year and has only been sick once, and it wasn't from school (my sister came to visit and passed it from the midwest to the west coast - seriously, it is weird, she got it there, gave it to BIL, who gave it to sFIL, who gave it to me, who gave it to my family, who gave it to a family we're friends with, who gave it to a family THEY'RE friends with in Oregon...we're spreading contagion...it's a bad cold too, lasts over 2 weeks).

Anyway...

It is normal for them to be sick all the time when they first start getting exposed to other kids. It is part of the growth and development of the immune system. I'm glad that it happened for my kids while they were still nursing, they seemed to get it over with faster and with less stress (easier to keep them hydrated). It totally sucks that your son tends to run high fevers







. If it is any consolation, the general consensus now is that as long as there isn't anything artificial involved (as long as the body is imposing the fever, and there isn't extra heat from external sources), you can get up to about 107-109 before it gets dangerous (the old standard proved to be true only if the heat was external - ie sitting in a hot car or hot bath). DD tends to heat way up, too. DS not so much so, but he has been the one to go into a seizure from fever, and it was at a much lower temperature (only like 102, but he never seems to get that hot when he's sick, unlike DD). It was scary, yes. I hated that. It sucks when they're sick. But to a certain extent it is inevitable, and supposedly if your immune system doesn't learn how to deal with this stuff when you're a young child, colds will be harder to deal with for the rest of your life, so even if you managed to avoid this stage entirely, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.


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## acrathbun (Apr 27, 2004)

I have a daughter who is immunocompromised, and no, she does not have HIV nor is she undergoing chemotherapy or radiation.









I think what your dad *may* have meant (and didn't say very well) was "he sounds like he may have an immune deficiency."

Like I said, I have a child w/ an immune deficiency and it does not look like what you are seeing.

It sounds like your child is going through normal illnesses associated w/ school.

However, if you would like to do a little bit of reading about Primary Immune Deficiencies, here are some links:

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/pid.htm

http://www.primaryimmune.org/

Hopefully, by now, your son is feeling better.


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## siddie (Jan 15, 2003)

Thank you for all of your replies. No, my dad isn't a doctor and I have reason to suspect he may have been drinking when he said that.

I read about the immunocompromised symptoms and it doesn't sound like he has any of them. He never has recurring infections that are difficult to treat and certainly does not have hiv. Acrathburn, I hope your dd is doing okay. Thank you for the links. He just seems to get hit harder than other kids when he does get sick. Of course our neighborhood friends usually say stuff like oh, my dd never gets sick, just a few sniffles. Hearing THAT really makes you feel good after being up for 3 days with a fever of 102-103 and 2 trips to the ER. He went 5 months last year without getting sick much, just a few sniffles but since starting preschool it has been rough. I really try to provide a healthy diet with vitamins and probiotics and fresh fruits and veggies. He probably picks up a lot more of this stuff because he still tends to put his fingers in his mouth occasionally or (shhh --- picks his nose) despite constant reminders not to and to wash hands often. Our family doesn't seem to handle stress as well as some others, perhaps that contributes to why he is getting sick too. I have to get a handle on my fears when he gets sick. He is my only child after 15 yrs of trying to conceive.


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## mamaduck (Mar 6, 2002)

Siddie, I would make sure he is taking vitimins. Or at least Vit. C everyday. And also, for awhile, we gave our child echenacia (sold for children from the health food store) several times a day and that seemed to help some too.

I can understand and relate to the constant worry. My younger one had reactive airways as a baby, and I still stay awake all night hovering over him when he gets a cough.


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## daileyjoy (Aug 10, 2004)

I think almost all kids get sick like this when they begin school so I would not worry too much. I would however begin boosting his immune system now. I have both my children on sweet Echinacea twice a day and we have not been sick this year, I would look into some herbal immune system boosters and see if you can't give him a little boost before people really begin snotting and coughing all over the place.

Jennifer


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