# Poll--how many times was your baby sick before 1st birthday?



## Suzetta (Dec 21, 2003)

I know I should just blow it off...but my mom makes me so mad! There are family tensions between my dad and husband-as a result she has barely seen my daughter, her only grandchild. (this calendar year she has only seen her 3 times, but lives only 30 minutes away).

Anyhow, My precious babe went her first 8 months without a single sickness. Then at 8 months she got a slight cold, that only lasted a few days with my constant hovering. This week, she was diagnosed with stomach flu- which lasted a total of 5 days. I did take her to the ER twice, concerned about her vomitting. They gave her IV fluids as a precaution, and she bounced right back.

My mom suggested I take her to a specialist as she has been sick "so much" lately, and looks thin. Hello....she has only been sick twice-most kids I know are sick much more than that!

She is a very long baby, with a healthy appetite and is extremely active. At nine months, she was weighing 18 lbs before getting sick, now weighs 16 1/2, but is on her way back. She was full term, but weighed 5'13' at birth, so I think she may be genetically programmed to be small.

I really just want to yell at my mom that if she cared, maybe she should come see her instead of offering unsolicited advice...but instead I say nothing.

Am I missing something? Should I be concerned about my daughter, who is otherwise healthy, active and has a great appetite?, or is my mom just offering her $.02 to try to hurt me and make me feel inadequate in some way?

ETA... I would like to add that from the time I started bf dd, she pushed me to feed her supplementary cereal, as young as a few weeks old, and has always tried to get me to do crazy things like give her sugar water, dip a paci in sugar to tempt her to take it and many more ways of stuffing my baby with things she doesn't need! I politely refuse all these suggestions...

How many times did your little one get sick in the first year, and with what???


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## thoesly (Dec 23, 2003)

I think your mom is just pushing your buttons on this one, though maybe unintentionally. Maybe giving unsolicited advice is her way of being involved. Most kids are sick at least a couple of times the first year. If you don't think there's a problem, there probably isn't one.

My younger two were sick 2 - 3 times the first year -- ear infections and colds. Now my oldest was never sick his first 2 years of life. Turns out, he has autism, and part of the way that manifested with him was in the form of an immune system dysfunction -- it was hyper-vigilant and didn't let anything get past it. So never getting sick isn't necessarily healthy.

Enjoy your child. Try not to let your mom make you nuts. Trust your instincts.

Tara


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

I am totally anal and have actually written all this stuff in his baby book. :LOL

1. Birth: Chorionanionitis (complication of PROM and GBS).
2. 6 weeks: cold that daddy brought home from work
3. 8 weeks: thrush because Mommy was on antibiotics
4. 3 months: thrush (Mommy's sinus infection)
5. 3.5 months: upper respiratory infection, probably caught from cousin.
6. 3.75 months: Fifth disease
7. 6.5 months: upper respiratory infection & ear infection
8. 10.5 months: measles

After that, he had several colds & ear infections which I attribute directly to my quickly diminishing milk supply (due to pregnancy). Eli was actually very healthy most of the time, but his lungs were just shy of full-cooked when he was born so he had a few problems early on. He also seems to be prone to upper respiratory infections, which he almost certainly inherited from me. I'm hoping that he doesn't develop asthma, too.








8.


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## Elphaba (Nov 19, 2001)

My daughter didn't get sick until she was almost 27 months old -- her father brought the flu home for Christmas.







:


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

A ped. told my neighbor that most kids have an *average* of 3 ear infections in their first year of life. That isn't counting colds, flus, and other such things. Your baby has one up on _most_ kids!

I think my daughter had two mild fevers which could have been a result of anthing including teething her first year of life, but she was an ebf baby and home with me all the time.


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## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

My ds got his first cold at around 8 months. Then he got an ear infection at around 11 months, followed by a cold that lingered for a good month. I thought that was a pretty good health history overall.

When he hit 2yo he started picking up a lot more colds, but we also started doing a lot more activities around other kids (playdates, music class, etc.).

He got his first stomach flu about 1.5 months ago, and it was brutal. Didn't end up in the ER, but it was definitely his worst sickness to date.

Your dd sounds fine to me.


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## zerby (Mar 28, 2004)

Kelsey had an ear infecion at 9 months with no symptoms, and a runny nosy the last two weeks, as do I with the season change. I figure that momma milk has deprived me with a bunch of sick days from Kelsey being a "normal" FF baby.







: maybe I should have lied to my boss about breastfeeding!


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

We were very lucky. Our ds got two or three colds. One was a bad one, with night waking. No ear infections and no stomach flu.

Talk to your pediatrician (if you have one you trust, that is) and not your mom. What does she know. Really, what does she know? She's telling you sugar water on a pacifier? Really? Sounds like advice worth ignoring...


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## hjohnson (Mar 2, 2004)

DS got a cold at 10.5 months and it took 4 antibiotics to finally kill the ear infection. The ENT thought it was hanging on due to allergies. Since then DS has only had 2 colds and a double ear infection since he turned 1. He is pretty healthy.


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## Piglet68 (Apr 5, 2002)

We've been fortunate so far (though of course I'd like to think it's my Super Milk!







).

DD had about 2 or 3 little colds in her first few months. They were all minor and lasted about 3 days. Mostly it was hard for her to nurse with a stuffy nose, and she hated the bulb-sucker, but otherwise she weathered it fine (which is more than I can say for DH and I, who passed it on to her after we were both laid up in bed for over a week! maybe we should be drinking mama's milk!).

And she had one ear infection when she was about 7 months old. I had to take her to the doctor and she was on antibiotics.

Since that ear infection.....knock on wood....she hasn't had so much as a sniffle and she is now 22 months old.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

T Wow, so noone else's kid had the measles? :LOL


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

:LOL Looks like Eli has that market cornered!


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## anothermama (Nov 11, 2003)

My dd was sick a GAJILLION times, too many to count, by the time she was 1 and it was because she was in daycare by the time she was 6 months old.







And it was always a virus and I was always told it was normal.

I honestly couldn't count the number of times she was sick with something and she ended up with really severe ear infections and got tubes before her first birthday. Blech.


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## sleepies (Nov 30, 2001)

FIRSTBORN:
1 time the first year
(ear infection at 2 months of age, one round of antibiotics fixed it forever).

SECOND:
ZERO
he made it to 18 months before getting sick and puking.
he made it to 2 years before needing antibiotics for a sinus infection....

so far that is it. other than a runny nose here or there that didn't last and didnt' ammount to anything.

PS.
i think i have been lucky. my friends kids are sick more.

have you tried a daily bath? im convinced that is what keeps mine healthy.....my friends that bathe their kids less seem to be more sick more often. im no scientist or anything, but it might help???? maybe you do give daily baths...maybe it wouldn't help, but thought id give my advice


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

h gees I can hardly remember who was sick wjen. I know my last had influenza A at 4 months, has had countless cold (I live in the midwest. sniffles and coughing are a way of life, not an illness), threw up a few times, and has ahad one rash or another since the day she was born. And I consider he my healthy one.


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## Parker'smommy (Sep 12, 2002)

My ds got thrush at 1 day old...antibiotics given to me during childbirth.
He then was cold and illness free when he got a very mild ear infection at 11months old.

He then got really sick this January and had to be hospitalized.









He is 26 months old now and I definitely attribute his good health to breastfeeding ( we call them magical milk fountains!) and staying at home. Kids that in daycare are sick much more frequently as they are exposed to so much more and even if they are bfing, mom isnt exposed to everything they are so doesnt produce every antibody for baby. DOes that make sense?? ALthough I hear that kids that stayed home will get more sick when entering school than kids that went to daycare. So, its a trade-off, unless of course you homeschool.....

But saying that, you cant keep your kid from catching every germ out there unless you intend to live in a bubble!

As far as your mother, well, she isnt even around to know whats going on! DOnt let her bug you, your child has not been sick that often at all!!!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by sleepies_
*
have you tried a daily bath? im convinced that is what keeps mine healthy.....my friends that bathe their kids less seem to be more sick more often. im no scientist or anything, but it might help???? maybe you do give daily baths...maybe it wouldn't help, but thought id give my advice*
A daily bath might help reduce exposure to germs, but it's actually not a good thing. First, most babies' skin can't take being washed that often. Secondly, the 'cleaner' you keep your child, the more likely they are to develop allergies later in life. Kids need to get dirty, they need to be exposed to germs both good and bad.







Most people don't need to take a bath every day until early puberty (when we start to stink).


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## Proudmomoftwinsplusone (Feb 21, 2004)

my 10 month old boys have each had three colds, two small ones and one with low fevers.


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Once, with a very slight cold.

However, we both caught a hellish stomach virus when he was about 15 months.....

peace,
alsoSarah


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## Bearsmama (Aug 10, 2002)

Right at DS's first b-day he got his first ear infection. Other than that, I can't remember even a fever.

But ask me about the 2nd year...with more contact with other kids, dirty hands, etc., well, since January of this year (he's 27 mos now) he's been sick like 1x/month!


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## dallaschildren (Jun 14, 2003)

*


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## indie (Jun 16, 2003)

DD was sick twice. Both times I was sick too and she got better much faster than I did (which made it hard to take care of her and be sick myself). Both times we got it after hanging out with elementary school teachers. They are carriers of all kinds of nasties.


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