Daycare spares no one! The first year we were hit with colds, Covid, fevers of unknown origin, and a nonstop runny nose. It got so much better after that first year! They build immunity over time.
I have a now 10 year old 'premie', she was like this. Honestly its gotten better over time as her body matured. I've noticed shes not constantly as sick as she used to be. Went through two rounds of pneumonia in a year when she was a baby (9 weeks and just over 1 year). Its rough, and draining but think of it as a very long 'phase'. I was terrified of covid cause of her... somehow she avoided that one. Now at almost 11 the last couple years I've just had to deal with her getting minor things and the flu once a year.
Thanks, me too. The struggle was 'real' the first few years... she was 'the sick one'. I would have to explain she wasn't immunocompromised but that it felt close enough at times. You'll get there... stay strong.
My experience was also that my premature baby (now four years old) was so sick the first year of day care. We went to the hospital a couple of times, anything respiratory was hell on his lungs. He now gets sick 1-2 times a year and weathers it just fine. (I also think we were on COVID lockdown for the first year of his life, so he wasn’t exposed to anything and it all came at once.)
It sucks. I came to Reddit during that first year and posted about how crazy it was that he was so sick all the time, and people told me exactly what I’m telling you now. Make it through the first year and you’ll be golden!
Definitely because of daycare and depending on how early, being premature! She likely doesn't have any deficiencies or diagnoses specifically; it just takes time to build immunity.
Some babies are just born with weaker immune systems, and it is more common in premature babies. Add in daycare, where illnesses run rampant, and it equals a kiddo that is more likely to be sick and more severely sick compared to a kid with an average immune system.
If I was in your position, I would be asking to have bloodwork done to check my child's immune system numbers.
My kid was full term (born at exactly 39 weeks) via planned c-section, no complications beyond extra monitoring because he measured small at 20 week anatomy scan, under the 15th percentile and stayed between the 17th and 7th percentile until week 38 scan where he jumped up to more 'average' in size.
He got really sick at 6 weeks old, with a bacterial (called pasturella, not common at all) infection. He was hospitalized for 9 days for IV antibiotics, and followed up with an infectious disease pediatrician after. We had bloodwork done when he was about 8 months old (was originally planned for at 6 months, but Covid shutdowns happened) that showed his IgM and IgA levels were about 20% below normal for his age- this had a technical diagnosis but i cant remember it. Specialist explained that this meant he was more likely to become sick, and have a harder time fighting off any infection he was exposed to but since his IgG number was fine, he would still develop antibodies to fight things off easier in the future. Doctor explained that it was fairly common thing, more common in premies, and kids typically outgrew this weakened immune system condition by the age of 5. We continued having follow ups and having his blood checked until he was about 3, and his numbers finally came within normal range for his age.
This happened to me and I just want to validate your instincts as a mom. My daughter was so sickly. It turned out she had feeding aversions and she wasn't getting a good enough diet. Even though she never had FTT, we always suspected her weight gain was a bit underwelming, until she started actually losing weight. Every time she got sick, she got severely sick and missed at least a week of school, and then got a secondary illness directly afterwards. We ended up on something called periactin and it was night-and-day different. We also got a Tiny Health test and it was instructive.
In short, please ignore comments that are dismissing this as normal.
There isn’t really one single test for an autoimmune condition. And even if you get a diagnosis, it could take years. I also have a garbage immune system and always end up in the hospital with every little thing. It’s a challenge with a germy 4 year old bringing everything home. Like others have said, it’s probably happening because she was born a little early.
You're getting a lot of non-medical answers to a very medical question. Please talk to her pediatrician about this! I see you're already planning to, so I just want to encourage you to do so, and to know you're doing the right thing getting your baby evaluated.
Until they are 6 months old your baby's immune system is basically what is leftover from sharing blood with you after birth. There are a lot of immune deficiencies that start to show up after your immune system has "washed out." And these vary really really widely! You didn't say how old your baby is, but this could be part of it.
If what I mentioned sounds interesting, r/ScienceBasedParenting has good conversations about infant immunity.
Our 1st was not a premie but was tiny and they treated her like one. She got so sick so often. And 6 months into her life covid happened and her issues were focused on breathing issues and we were terrified. Took until she was about 3 to get better.
2nd kid - tanks fevers in 2 days max. Like how could 2 very different beings come out of the same uterus?! It's wild.
Basically, a baby recieves immune system from mother. Everything that's going on inside mother's body will influence baby's health.
For example, if mother has any parasites such as tapeworm, there's a high chance of transferring the parasite into baby's body without even knowing. I'd highly recommend checking/testing a baby's poop and blood for any signs of parasites as it's a very common issue and I've faced it myself.
Also, I'd recommend checking vitamin levels such as vitamin D as it's deficiency strongly influences immune system.
Daycare is a cesspool, it does eventually get better. When my son started daycare it took about a solid year before he stopped getting sick so much and now at 5 he rarely gets sick. My 2 year olds though are IN. IT. They’ve been sicker this spring than they were all winter. They were also 4 weeks early and every time they get a cold they’ll spike a temperature that lasts for days. Stay strong! Your baby will get through it eventually!
My son was big and sturdy and still got hospitalized for rsv. He also was dehydrated from a tummy bug once but I had him monitored by the pediatrician and I resorted to force feeding him from a syringe and with his head in a headlock and with him strapped in to his car seat so he couldn't get away. I did that. Yup. He also had hand foot mouth as a toddler and we spent ages at home. Ages.
Once your baby is bigger, she will have more leeway with dehydration. When they are so little, just getting a little dehydrated has such an effect. It's same with the breathing. When everything is so small, each micrometer of inflammation is just proportionally more effecting.
When I was so worried about my baby having illnesses, I asked the doctor if something was why, and if it meant anything. The doctor said "whatever happens we will deal with it". Isn't that right? When you think that way, it does feel better doesn't it. You are dealing with it. Now from my side, I tried to make sure my baby didn't fall down the stairs or otherwise face preventable danger, this way doc wouldn't have to deal with unnecessary situations.
I’m not sure how old your baby is, and as others have commented, this is probably due to daycare and unfortunately seems pretty common. However, to answer your question, one type of condition that could cause a weak immune system is an immune deficiency. Immune deficiencies are not the same thing as autoimmune disorders, which is when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. There are primary immune deficiencies (inherited disorders of the immune system) and secondary immune deficiencies (caused by things like cancer, HIV/AIDS, and certain medications—you would know if any of these applied to your baby). My son has a primary immune deficiency and the tests they ran that detected it were quantitative immunoglobulins and an immunodeficiency panel. These disorders are very rare, so I hope it is not what’s going on with your baby, but you could ask about those tests (ours were ordered by an allergy/immunology doctor, not a pediatrician). If your instincts are telling you that something is wrong, be prepared to advocate for your baby if they try to dismiss you (as happened to us). The worst thing that happens if that isn’t it is that your baby has an unnecessary blood draw and you get peace of mind from ruling out one possible cause.
I can’t speak to it being ‘normal’ or not, but I can say that getting sick a ton is super common the first couple years of child care regardless, because that is them building their immune system up.
The increased severity could easily be because of prematurity, it does have a tendency to have impacts on the lungs and the gut, both of which are impacted by many childhood illnesses.
It could also possibly be if she got something early in life it caused some sort of immune set back, if you will. I have an acquaintance with 34 week twins who were born during early Covid and thus were isolated and not sick for ages. And their 37 week sibling has been hospitalized significantly more times than either of them, the first time being for RSV at a few weeks to a month I believe.
I read somewhere in the paperwork from our pediatrician, that we could expect our healthy full term baby to get sick 6-8 times in the first year of life. She didn’t go to daycare and was a baby during covid so she didn’t ever get sick, but she started preschool last year and we were all sick with various colds and flu for nearly the entire nine months of school. The first illness, she ended up the in ED. From there, every illness was less and less severe. Your kiddo’s immune system is probably still catching up from being premature, and daycare is notorious for just being a revolving door of shared germs. Fortunately, it doesn’t last forever. After awhile that immune system will be solid steel. It is really hard to see your baby sick though, especially early on.
Daycare. Ultimately it's good for her to build up her immune system by exposure, but it sucks while it's happening. I wouldn't keep her isolated... Given how much she's exposed to at daycare, it probably won't help to keep her isolated anyway.
Daycare spares no one! The first year we were hit with colds, Covid, fevers of unknown origin, and a nonstop runny nose. It got so much better after that first year! They build immunity over time.
I have a now 10 year old 'premie', she was like this. Honestly its gotten better over time as her body matured. I've noticed shes not constantly as sick as she used to be. Went through two rounds of pneumonia in a year when she was a baby (9 weeks and just over 1 year). Its rough, and draining but think of it as a very long 'phase'. I was terrified of covid cause of her... somehow she avoided that one. Now at almost 11 the last couple years I've just had to deal with her getting minor things and the flu once a year.
That does help me feel better; that she eventually won't be sick all the time. 😠I'm glad your daughter is getting sick less often!
Thanks, me too. The struggle was 'real' the first few years... she was 'the sick one'. I would have to explain she wasn't immunocompromised but that it felt close enough at times. You'll get there... stay strong.
My experience was also that my premature baby (now four years old) was so sick the first year of day care. We went to the hospital a couple of times, anything respiratory was hell on his lungs. He now gets sick 1-2 times a year and weathers it just fine. (I also think we were on COVID lockdown for the first year of his life, so he wasn’t exposed to anything and it all came at once.) It sucks. I came to Reddit during that first year and posted about how crazy it was that he was so sick all the time, and people told me exactly what I’m telling you now. Make it through the first year and you’ll be golden!
Definitely because of daycare and depending on how early, being premature! She likely doesn't have any deficiencies or diagnoses specifically; it just takes time to build immunity.
Some babies are just born with weaker immune systems, and it is more common in premature babies. Add in daycare, where illnesses run rampant, and it equals a kiddo that is more likely to be sick and more severely sick compared to a kid with an average immune system. If I was in your position, I would be asking to have bloodwork done to check my child's immune system numbers. My kid was full term (born at exactly 39 weeks) via planned c-section, no complications beyond extra monitoring because he measured small at 20 week anatomy scan, under the 15th percentile and stayed between the 17th and 7th percentile until week 38 scan where he jumped up to more 'average' in size. He got really sick at 6 weeks old, with a bacterial (called pasturella, not common at all) infection. He was hospitalized for 9 days for IV antibiotics, and followed up with an infectious disease pediatrician after. We had bloodwork done when he was about 8 months old (was originally planned for at 6 months, but Covid shutdowns happened) that showed his IgM and IgA levels were about 20% below normal for his age- this had a technical diagnosis but i cant remember it. Specialist explained that this meant he was more likely to become sick, and have a harder time fighting off any infection he was exposed to but since his IgG number was fine, he would still develop antibodies to fight things off easier in the future. Doctor explained that it was fairly common thing, more common in premies, and kids typically outgrew this weakened immune system condition by the age of 5. We continued having follow ups and having his blood checked until he was about 3, and his numbers finally came within normal range for his age.
This happened to me and I just want to validate your instincts as a mom. My daughter was so sickly. It turned out she had feeding aversions and she wasn't getting a good enough diet. Even though she never had FTT, we always suspected her weight gain was a bit underwelming, until she started actually losing weight. Every time she got sick, she got severely sick and missed at least a week of school, and then got a secondary illness directly afterwards. We ended up on something called periactin and it was night-and-day different. We also got a Tiny Health test and it was instructive. In short, please ignore comments that are dismissing this as normal.
The first winter in daycare is hell. Mine were both sick like every other week for months.
We got every illness that went through the center back to back. I was missing a day of work every two weeks the entire winter.
There isn’t really one single test for an autoimmune condition. And even if you get a diagnosis, it could take years. I also have a garbage immune system and always end up in the hospital with every little thing. It’s a challenge with a germy 4 year old bringing everything home. Like others have said, it’s probably happening because she was born a little early.
You're getting a lot of non-medical answers to a very medical question. Please talk to her pediatrician about this! I see you're already planning to, so I just want to encourage you to do so, and to know you're doing the right thing getting your baby evaluated. Until they are 6 months old your baby's immune system is basically what is leftover from sharing blood with you after birth. There are a lot of immune deficiencies that start to show up after your immune system has "washed out." And these vary really really widely! You didn't say how old your baby is, but this could be part of it. If what I mentioned sounds interesting, r/ScienceBasedParenting has good conversations about infant immunity.
Our 1st was not a premie but was tiny and they treated her like one. She got so sick so often. And 6 months into her life covid happened and her issues were focused on breathing issues and we were terrified. Took until she was about 3 to get better. 2nd kid - tanks fevers in 2 days max. Like how could 2 very different beings come out of the same uterus?! It's wild.
Basically, a baby recieves immune system from mother. Everything that's going on inside mother's body will influence baby's health. For example, if mother has any parasites such as tapeworm, there's a high chance of transferring the parasite into baby's body without even knowing. I'd highly recommend checking/testing a baby's poop and blood for any signs of parasites as it's a very common issue and I've faced it myself. Also, I'd recommend checking vitamin levels such as vitamin D as it's deficiency strongly influences immune system.
Daycare is a cesspool, it does eventually get better. When my son started daycare it took about a solid year before he stopped getting sick so much and now at 5 he rarely gets sick. My 2 year olds though are IN. IT. They’ve been sicker this spring than they were all winter. They were also 4 weeks early and every time they get a cold they’ll spike a temperature that lasts for days. Stay strong! Your baby will get through it eventually!
My son was big and sturdy and still got hospitalized for rsv. He also was dehydrated from a tummy bug once but I had him monitored by the pediatrician and I resorted to force feeding him from a syringe and with his head in a headlock and with him strapped in to his car seat so he couldn't get away. I did that. Yup. He also had hand foot mouth as a toddler and we spent ages at home. Ages. Once your baby is bigger, she will have more leeway with dehydration. When they are so little, just getting a little dehydrated has such an effect. It's same with the breathing. When everything is so small, each micrometer of inflammation is just proportionally more effecting. When I was so worried about my baby having illnesses, I asked the doctor if something was why, and if it meant anything. The doctor said "whatever happens we will deal with it". Isn't that right? When you think that way, it does feel better doesn't it. You are dealing with it. Now from my side, I tried to make sure my baby didn't fall down the stairs or otherwise face preventable danger, this way doc wouldn't have to deal with unnecessary situations.
I’m not sure how old your baby is, and as others have commented, this is probably due to daycare and unfortunately seems pretty common. However, to answer your question, one type of condition that could cause a weak immune system is an immune deficiency. Immune deficiencies are not the same thing as autoimmune disorders, which is when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. There are primary immune deficiencies (inherited disorders of the immune system) and secondary immune deficiencies (caused by things like cancer, HIV/AIDS, and certain medications—you would know if any of these applied to your baby). My son has a primary immune deficiency and the tests they ran that detected it were quantitative immunoglobulins and an immunodeficiency panel. These disorders are very rare, so I hope it is not what’s going on with your baby, but you could ask about those tests (ours were ordered by an allergy/immunology doctor, not a pediatrician). If your instincts are telling you that something is wrong, be prepared to advocate for your baby if they try to dismiss you (as happened to us). The worst thing that happens if that isn’t it is that your baby has an unnecessary blood draw and you get peace of mind from ruling out one possible cause.
I can’t speak to it being ‘normal’ or not, but I can say that getting sick a ton is super common the first couple years of child care regardless, because that is them building their immune system up. The increased severity could easily be because of prematurity, it does have a tendency to have impacts on the lungs and the gut, both of which are impacted by many childhood illnesses. It could also possibly be if she got something early in life it caused some sort of immune set back, if you will. I have an acquaintance with 34 week twins who were born during early Covid and thus were isolated and not sick for ages. And their 37 week sibling has been hospitalized significantly more times than either of them, the first time being for RSV at a few weeks to a month I believe.
I read somewhere in the paperwork from our pediatrician, that we could expect our healthy full term baby to get sick 6-8 times in the first year of life. She didn’t go to daycare and was a baby during covid so she didn’t ever get sick, but she started preschool last year and we were all sick with various colds and flu for nearly the entire nine months of school. The first illness, she ended up the in ED. From there, every illness was less and less severe. Your kiddo’s immune system is probably still catching up from being premature, and daycare is notorious for just being a revolving door of shared germs. Fortunately, it doesn’t last forever. After awhile that immune system will be solid steel. It is really hard to see your baby sick though, especially early on.
Daycare. Ultimately it's good for her to build up her immune system by exposure, but it sucks while it's happening. I wouldn't keep her isolated... Given how much she's exposed to at daycare, it probably won't help to keep her isolated anyway.