HELP! Toddler always sick at playschool/creche

Hi there

I share your sentiments to the TEE!!! Everything every lady has typed here has been true for both my daughters, including asthma diagnosis, pumps, you name it we have tried it... This is mainly because my youngest has cyclical neutropenia (google it) and has a low immune system so we have literally tried EVERYTHING for her not to get sick and to boost her immunity.

This year, against by better judgment we sent them for the flu vaccine! I am happy to say I am glad to be so wrong about it! My little one only got sick ONCE this winter, and now again - with the sudden change in temperature in Gauteng... we went from 5 paed visits in a month to 2x this year so far!

Use it, don't use it... Just my personal experience...

Hi Karmie,

I share your frustrations!! The moment my LG started playschool at 2,5 years of age she started getting a cold almost every 4 - 6 weeks. The colds would last anything between 2 - 4 weeks. Usually I would have to keep her at home for about 5 - 7 days. In other words she would get anything from 8 - 10 colds per year. That is apparently in the perfect "normal range"!!
In holiday times she would be healthy so I KNOW that she gets it from school.

I was at first talking a lot to the school about how sick children should not be allowed at school, but after a few years I have realised there is nothing absolutely nothing that is going to prevent this whole cycle. The school was so nice to try their best by spraying disinfecting spray once a week into classrooms (same as what gets used in hospitals), getting special hand wash soap for kids and making them wash their hands like 3 times per day...and still nothing helps. The only thing you can do is to take her out of school. I know certain moms who take out their young kids in winter months since those are usually the worst times.

I must have tried every vitamin or supplement on the market....the only thing that made a difference was when she was closer to 3,5 years old we taught her how to gargle with saltwater twice daily. Since then we have seen a decline in the amount of colds she gets and length of the cold.

I have tried deselex for about a year and a half - no luck. I have tried giving Celestamine at the sign of a runny nose - no luck. I have given daily vitamins, pro-biotics, zinplex, omega 3...We have been giving Avamys nose spray and sterimar daily....and the list can go on and on....Absolutely nothing helps. Despite the fact that I don't know if anything makes a difference I still continue to give all of the above.

We have a humidifier since the are is extremely dry in Gauteng.

The only thing that I do believe in is cutting out dairy. The Pead confirmed to me that if there is phlegm (which many children get from eating dairy) this is the perfect "medium" for any viral germs to grow in. Cutting out sugar as much as possible is very important as this is also a wonderful growing medium for all type of nasty bugs. This has helped us too. I have become quite good at finding substitutes for dairy and how to cook/bake without dairy. I recommend getting a calcium supplement if one cuts out dairy and make sure to consume dark leafy greens rich in calcium. "Chia pudding" is very high in calcium among many other great nutrients.

I would caution against using antibiotics and perhaps make sure you are not with a doctor who writes an antibiotic script without it being really necessary. Antibiotics is not good for a developing immune system.

Like the others said, you must ride it out. My LG is 6 years old and there has been improvement but she still had 6 - 7 colds in the past year.

Good luck to you. My child gets near impossible and is very hard to cope with. It really is emotionally tiring to care for a sick child. xx

My lg is on deselex everyday, will be for some time to come, as well as avamys nose spray and monte-air at night

She also had her grommits done at bout 9 months

At our recent ENT checkup he put her on allecet, its the same as deselex but cheaper

Makes a world of difference

Oh and regarding the ear infections there is nothing worse! I know! When she sleeps get a wedge so she doesn't sleep flat. And I'm not sure if you clean your LG's ears, I don't at all. I was told by the ENT, don't bring and earbud to that ear unless you can see it on the outside. It's the only time I will clean her ear and once a week I pop a drop of sweet oil in the ear and massage her ears underneath the actual ear!

The ENT was adamant he would see us again especially after having her get grommets so early and at 3 years old she still has her grommets.


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Thanks Maj and Lauz for your replies and words of encouragement.

Maj, I don't suspect a bigger issue. She has always been healthy. The first time that she got the sniffles was when she went to playschool. We keep her at home until she is well (not wanting to get other kids infected), but when she goes back to school again it is just 3-4 days then she gets sick again. At the moment she is an anti-biotics. She has an ear infection for the first time We like your idea of 3 days a week, but of course we won't get discount for that from the school, but I think we might try that regardless. She started school in the month after she turned 2, in September this year.

Oh my goodness Lauz, that is quite a hectic journey! Thanks for the tip on Deselex.

Hi Karmie,

I can vouch for it it is normal. My lg started at a day mother at 4 months, max 10 children. In the first year we were seeing the Paed about twice a month, she eventually had grommets at 7 months. And we went on to see the Paed once a month from there on. I tried crèche guard, zinplex, probiotics you name it.

From 1-2 years we were down to seeing the Paed every two months but thankfully it wasn't for ear infections anymore it was every other disease you could get and chest infections, I had her on viral guard in this time span.

From 2-3 years we've seen the Paed sporadically, throughout the year. The only thing we have done this year differently is start giving her some multivitamins, omega oils and vitamin c, when she feels like it and not fuss over giving her all those things. Also when she last got sick the pharmacist spoke openly about deselex to me. And said that deselex can be given to a child everyday if need be.

As soon as my daughter starts with a runny nose I pop her with deselex and it seems to work wonders. Stops the full flu from kicking in.

I was told by many that a child shouldn't start school before 3 years. Unfortunately I can't afford to have my child at home and paying for a nanny, that I'll be watching on camera 24/7.

Good luck and hope she starts slowly getting better as her immune system starts kicking into overdrive.






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Hi Karmie,

I can only imagine how exhausting this must be! How long has your daughter been going to school? from the start of the year?
It doesnt seem like your daughter just has a snotty nose though.

My LG is at a play school with a similar setup, she initially did have a runny nose quite often, but i have only had to give her antibiotics once in the 1 year that she has been at school. The runny nose tends to ease in summer, but picks up a bit come the cooler seasons.
My daughter however only attends school three days a week, (tues, wed & thurs). I dont know if that makes a difference, but perhaps that is a suggestion. decrease the no. of days that she is at school, and see if things improve. The baby and your LG still get the benefit of the school days, but it also gives her immune system time to recover a bit without being bombarded with more germs!
I would also ask other mums (if you see them-I dont, as we all drop off at diff times, and I have an au-pair picking her up) if their kids get sick as often as well.
Does the GP/pead just put her being sick due to school? do they suspect a bigger issue?

Keep up the immune booster, probiotic, and perhaps add omega's-they are fantastic!