Don't blow it...your nose, that is

>The biggest problem I see with young <3yrs getting sick is that a simple cold
>plugs them up, unlike the older kids/adults.

Well, the biggest problem we Moms see with chronically sick children
is that they whine, are listless, nothing goes right, have temper
tantrums at the drop of a hat and some of us (who aren't SAHM's) have
to miss work to be home with them. Which isn't bad, but it does
affect job performance. The also throw up on us, and get ear
infections that keep them up all night which keeps us up. And of
course we worry about them.

Also, if you mostly socialize with other parents of small children,
they don't want to see you so you have to go into solitary confinement
with these unhappy children for about a week.

And then, just when they are getting well, YOU get sick and you have
to care for active, happy children when YOU are not well. You can't
take a day off! Your temper gets short and it becomes hard to parent
effectively. And THEN, if he hasn't gotten it already, your husband
gets the cold and is miserable too. At which point...it is time for
the children to pick up a NEW virus!!!

I don't know if it is just where we live, but the kids normally get a
cold one in every 3-5 weeks, come rain, sun or snow. That's a LOT in
my opinion: let's see, that is 12 a year or more - does that seem
average?

They are 1 and 3 and not in daycare; I'm a SAHM...people say that
Luxembourg (where we live) is a 'sick place' though. I don't know on
what grounds but something is always going around here...

Yours,
Dorothy Lowry

At 08:50 AM 02/15/2000 +0100, Dorothy Lowry wrote:

>SNIP
>
>I don't know if it is just where we live, but the kids normally get a
>cold one in every 3-5 weeks, come rain, sun or snow. That's a LOT in
>my opinion: let's see, that is 12 a year or more - does that seem
>average?

This is from the Pediatric Advisor:

REQUENT INFECTIONS

DESCRIPTION

Some children seem to have the constant sniffles. They get one cold after
another. Many a parent wonders, "Isn't my child having too many
colds?" Children start to get colds after about 6 months of age. During
infancy and the preschool years they average seven or eight colds a
year. During the school-age years they average five or six colds a
year. During adolescence they finally reach an adult level of
approximately four colds a year. Colds account for more than 50 percent of
all acute illnesses with fever.
In addition, children can have diarrheal illnesses (with or without
vomiting) two or three times per year. Some children are especially
worrisome to their parents because they tend to get high fevers with most
of their colds or they have sensitive gastrointestinal (GI) tracts and
develop diarrhea with most of their colds.
SIMILAR CONDITION: ALLERGIES
If your child is over age 3 years, sneezes a lot, has a clear nasal
discharge that lasts over a month, doesn't have a fever, and especially if
these symptoms occur during pollen season, your child probably has a nasal
allergy. Allergies are much easier to treat than frequent colds because
medicines are effective at controlling symptoms.
CAUSES
The main reason your child is getting all these infections is that he or
she is being exposed to new viruses. There are at least 200 different cold
viruses. The younger the child, the less the previous exposure and
subsequent protection. Your child is exposed more if he or she attends day
care, play group, a church nursery, or a preschool. Your child has more
indirect exposures if he has older siblings in school. Therefore, colds
are more common in large families. The rate of colds triples in the winter
when people spend more time crowded together indoors breathing recirculated
air. In addition, smoking in the home increases your child's
susceptibility to colds, coughs, ear infections, sinus infections, croup,
wheezing, and asthma.
WHAT DOESN'T CAUSE FREQUENT INFECTIONS
Most parents are worried that their repeatedly ill child has some serious
underlying disease. A child with immune system disease (inadequate
antibody or white blood cell production) doesn't experience any more colds
than the average child. Instead, the child has two or more bouts per year
of pneumonia, sinus infection, draining lymph nodes, or boils and heals
slowly from these infections. In addition, a child with a serious disease
does not gain weight adequately nor appear well between bouts of
infection. Tell your physician if your family is worried about a
particular diagnosis so your physician can discuss this concern with
you. Also, recurrent ear infections don't mean that your child has a
serious health problem. They mean only that the eustachian tubes don't
drain properly.
Some parents worry that they have in some way neglected their child or done
something wrong to cause frequent colds. On the contrary, having all these
colds is an unavoidable part of growing up. Colds are the one infection
which can't be prevented. From a medical standpoint, colds are an
unavoidable educational experience for your child's immune system.
DEALING WITH FREQUENT INFECTIONS
1. Look at your child's general health.
If your child is vigorous and gaining weight, you don't have to worry about
his or her basic health. Your child is no sicker than the average child of
her age. Children get over colds by themselves. Although you can reduce
the symptoms, you can't shorten the course of each cold. Your child will
muddle through like every other child. The long-term outlook is good. The
number of colds will decrease over the years as your child's body builds up
a good antibody supply to the various viruses. For perspective, note the
findings of a recent survey: On any given day 10 percent of children have
colds, 8 percent have fevers, 5 percent have diarrhea, and 3 percent have
ear infections.
2. Send your child back to school as soon as possible.
The main requirement for returning your child to day care or school is that
the fever is gone and the symptoms are not excessively noisy or distracting
to classmates. It doesn't make sense to keep a child home until we can
guarantee that he or she is no longer shedding any viruses because this
could take 2 or 3 weeks. If isolation for respiratory infections were
taken seriously, insufficient days would remain to educate children. Also
the "germ warfare" that normally occurs in schools is fairly
uncontrollable. Most children shed germs during the first days of their
illness before they even look sick or have symptoms. In other words,
contact with respiratory infections is unavoidable in group settings such
as schools or day care.
Also, as long as your child's fever has cleared, there is no reason he or
she cannot attend parties, play with friends after school, and go on
scheduled trips. Gym and team sports may need to be postponed for a few
days.
3. Try not to miss work.
When both parents work, these repeated colds are extremely inconvenient and
costly. Since the complication rate is low and the improvement rate is
slow, don't hesitate to leave your child with someone else at these
times. Perhaps you have a baby sitter who is willing to care for a child
with a fever. Because there are so many working mothers these days, "sick
child" day care programs are starting to spring up around the country and
can be another alternative to staying home with your child.
If your child goes to day care or preschool, he or she can go back once the
fever is gone. There is no reason to prolong the recovery at home if you
need to return to work. Early return of a child with a respiratory illness
won't increase the complication rate for your child or the exposure rate
for other children. Likewise, you don't need to cancel an important social
engagement because your child has a minor acute illness. In addition, you
don't need to take your child out of preschool or day care permanently
because of these repeated illnesses. Consider switching to a small
home-based day care if your child is less than 2 years old. Also find
another day care if someone on the day care staff smokes on-site.
WHAT DOESN'T HELP
There are no instant cures for recurrent colds and other viral
illnesses. Antibiotics are not helpful unless your child develops
complications such as an ear infection, sinus infection, or
pneumonia. Having your child's tonsils removed is not helpful because
colds are not caused by bad tonsils. Colds are not caused by poor diet or
lack of vitamins. They are not caused by bad weather, air conditioners, or
wet feet. Again, the best time to have these infections and develop
immunity is during childhood.
Written by B.D. Schmitt, M.D., author of "Your Child's Health," Bantam Books.