constant bugs!

[kamath]

I am totally fed up with constant coughs and colds in our house. My son seems to pick up every bug going at nursery and then passes it onto his 1 year sister and sometimes myself. We have got through so much calpol and snuffle babe since October and none of us get any sleep !

It has started to become a joke now - once he seems to get over his cold and cough then another comes !

Anybody else having this problem and any tip on how to help the cough etc and for us all to get some sleep!!!

any magic cures !!

xxxxxx

[RenF]

Hi,

We too have had a cough and cold filled winter (and my daughter gets a cough whenever she is teething too...)

One thing which I have found really works is the calpol plug in which you can buy from boots. The thing itself is quite cheap, refills are where they get you with the price (think ?6 or so for five, and each one lasts one night only). But- it works amazingly well! My daughter stopped coughing the first night we put it in, and we all got some decent sleep. Absolutely swear by this now.

Had looked into getting a vaporiser but lots of mixed reviews (and concern about rooms ending up soaking wet etc), this is a much cheaper option, and in my opinion works brilliantly.

Hope you're all feeling better soon.

[Strawbs]

We are in the same boat, my son literally gets every bug from nursery. We have the boots electric vaporiser which is a god send for a runny / blocked nose nd the Vicks steam vaporiser for when he has a cough.. I just keep telling myself he will one day have the immunity of an ox! I totally sympathise with you, I really do.. Also Vicks on the soles of the feet with socks on seems to help his cough too .

[duchessofdulwich]

vomitting bug ear infections and now tonsilitis ! weather is not helping x

[Pickle]

Generally we have been quite lucky and avoided the majority of bugs, but frustratingly since last night all 5 of us have been hit by the sickness bug, a mere 3 weeks after the last dose which stuck me and my two little girls! Horrible. :-(

[WorkingMummy]

Poor Pickles!!! The vomiting bugs this year have been awful.

I think this year has been worse than average. For my clan it started last September when first I and then my then 2.5 month old contracted whopping cough. (The vaccine for pregnant women was introduced just after I had him and he had not had a full course of jabs to protect him by the time I got it.) Convalescence from that took ages. I am over it completely now but he is still wheezy. Plus he's had a very runny cold since about early December. Just can't shift it.

The girls have been ok, but we did all come down with norovirus about 4 weeks ago - one by one. Not pretty.

Oh, and chicken pox for 2.5 yo came right after the vomiting bug.

[canela]

I think this year it has just been colder for longer. we were fine and congratulating ourselves at the end of Jan for all our strategies having worked....really warm clothes, lots of oranges, etc. then Feb was just one thing after another - chicken pox, vomiting and flu all round. I had a bad cold for TEN DAYS which was a nightmare for going to work. all my friends have had a similar Feb low-point.

So, Kamath, I hate to say I think all you can really do is damage limitation. Complete prevention is impossible.

One thing I do think is effective is being strict about not letting little ones back to school or nursery until they are completely completely better. I know is a pain for work and/or cabin fever, but in my experience if they go back too soon they are more than likely to pick up the next bug, or just get a set-back on the original one.

hope everyone gets better soon and here's to the spring arriving soon - please, please, please!

[Pickle]

A week of sunshine would do wonders for everyone, I'm sure - it doesn't even need to be warm, just to see the sun would be lovely.

Neither of my girls have had chicken pox (son had them when he was 2), that would top things off nicely!

Off to put on another load of washing, then attempt to tackle baby Pickle's car seat (I fear all hope is lost, there's a lot of crevices in a Maxi Cosi infant seat - might be time to go forward facing!)

[MsMaz]

Has anyone else had this sickness bug which is mainly explosive yellow watery diarrhoea for days? Whole family had it - apart from one - and I escaped lightly, but my 6-year-old is now on 6th day, and he's vomited now, too. Maybe a doctor trip tomorrow. Hoping it ends soon. All the bugs seem to start from 2yr old son - maybe from his nursery.

[Bellenden Belle]

MsMaz - yep both Baby Belle and I have had that bug. I had it from Sunday Til Friday - it was awful. Pharmacist said not to take anything for it, just Dioralyte. It was awful - you have my sympathy. but it passes. Pretty sure there's nothing the doctor can do.

[MsMaz]

Well we did stop by the nurse for a check-up at the surgery last week as my little one had been in A&E last Sunday with a huge, swollen eye at same time as stomach bug and had to go on antibiotics, too. Fortunately, she gave us a prescription for Dioralyte as by then everyone was down with the bug - we've got through boxes of the stuff and still have loads more thankfully.

It does seem like a particularly long one, doesn't it - 6 days? I only had it for half a day but felt rubbish in the lead-up.

Fingers crossed it'll be over for him soon as everyone else is better now. I've been nursing kids (and dad at home now for 9 days in a row!!! Aaagh. Glad you and baby have bounced back.

[Ole]

in our household, since the 1st of December, we have had the following:

1 x chest infection

2 x flu

1 x chicken pox

1 x acute tonsillitis

1 x faringitis

3 x colds

[Sol]

I give my kids Manuka honey 15plus and sambucol during winter, specially when they get ill and they do get better quite quickly and haven't got sick as much. By the way you should give Sambucol just to over 3s and honey to over 1s.

[WorkingMummy]

Aaagggghhhhhh!

It's a holiday weekend.

The sun is out - a bit - for the first time in months.

So, enter stage left:

- Another vomiting bug for four year old

- What I think is a urinary tract infection for two year old (seeing celdoc at 1.30)

- The mother of all conjunctivitis for baby (caused, again, by constant cold he's had practically all his life).

Poor darlings. V bad luck on them all as we had a lovely outing with their cousins planned.