[mommytoEli]

two of my littles are sick AGAIN...they are sick often....but not eli. eli RARELY gets what passes through our very large family....flu, cold, whatever. he shares a room with one son, sleeps 3 feet away....will go with him to the bathroom to throw up, and will STILL stay well. eli has issues.....sensory, i suspect he's allergic to milk and asthmatic...all things we are working on.....but he seems to have the immune system of a champion. do you think this is typical of kids from third world countries? is your kid often sick, or do they also seem to not pick up the illnesses that come through your home?

i sometimes laugh at the thought of my future....all my kids home sick, and still sending eli off to school. lol.

[mcnay1]

Good for Eli!!! That is awesome...

My kids, both from Guat, do not have the Iron Immune System. For the first year that they were in daycare, they got and brought home every illness that was going around. They arent sick often anymore, but they do bring home the occasional virus. I would not lable their immune systems as overly strong. If JD gets something, it is inevitable that Will will also get it and vice versa. in fact, JD was sick last week and Im just waiting to be home with Will a day or two this week

Glad you got a really strong little boy, though...

[mommytoEli]

yeah...me too. his foster mother fed him honey bottles (i know *GASP*) everyday for 10 months from the day he was born...and she said it helped this. who knows? lol

[SKL]

Knock on wood, I'm almost afraid to post this. My older daughter is so strong. She hasn't been "really sick" since she came home 13 months ago. 2 or 3 times she caught something that was going around throughout our house, but she was over it within a day or two, much faster than everyone else. I have never felt even the temptation to give her any medicine. My younger daughter, who came home at the same time, is a bit more susceptible to bugs and takes a bit longer to get better, but has still never been to the doc for illness and has only been given a little Tylenol maybe 3 times. They are not in daycare (our nanny comes to our house), but they do spend some time with other kids each week and have regular exposure to folks who are out and about. I hope all this means they have strong immune systems and I'm knocking on wood one more time.

[dspakowsky]

My kids are never sick, but I'm a SAHM with them, so I think that helps (not as much exposure).

[praying4rlittl1]

I think about this a lot, especially as flu season approaches again. Emilee has been home over two years and has never been sick. Never. Not one time with anything.

I think it very likely has to do with the fact that her immune system had to "fight" so hard in Guatemala, that she has massive resistance to everything. I still am in awe of it and keep waiting to find out what she's like when she's sick.

[giovanni7460]

Giovanni is sick a lot. He gets a cold and it lingers forever. He has asthma. Three weeks ago he got his first ear infection. He is still on antibiotics and his nebulizer 3 tims a day. I just asked the DR. about this. I feel so sorry for him. His colds are always 3 weeks long. Anthing like stomach lasts for days on end. He is in school now but even when he didnt he got sick. I am a stay at home mom. So I am always surprised that he seems to be sick so much. Antonio is sick now. He has been home 2 years and really this is the first time that he is as sick as he is. I really worry about G. I dont know if this is true or not but I believe his mothers nutrition had a lot to do with it. She is Maya and I believe had a very bad poor life. He is also on INH. My heart is really sad for this little one. I hate putting all these meds in my kid. I hope that I am doing the right thing. How much can a kid take anyway?
Patty
listening to my son cough as I type this and feeling bad over it.

[DDAmasa]

My son is almost three and manages to pick up almost everything that passes through his daycare. The first year in daycare was the worst. He was sick every other week. It's a bit better now, but he definately doesn't haven an iron immune system, I"m sorry to say. Unfortunately, he passes along what he gets to me.

[nurse_reedle]

Isaac seems to be pretty normal as far as colds go. He has been sick, but not a lot. I breastfeed him and am a stay at home mom though....I think that helps.

[becky]

Rarely ever sick and she is almost 7 years old. My biological kids were sick constantly!! She has been in preschool since she was 4 months old, so she has had lots of exposure...just has a great immune system I guess.

[luv2teach2]

I think children in daycare are more prone to illnesses the first year. When my DD came home the first year she was not in daycare and never got sick. last year her ist year in daycare she got everthing and anything that she could that I used all my sick days up at work. I'm hoping this year it settles down

[Quesita]

Liana has never had a serious illness (oh please... may it stay that way!!!) but she gets every little bug that goes around. And because she has sleep problems, which means I don't sleep enough, which means my immune system is not what it should be, I get it too. Sometimes we then pass the bug back and forth. We were sick in August. And then it felt like from late September thru early November, either one of us or both of us were sniffling and sneezing and coughing. It was a hard run.

It has been a couple of weeks that we have both been healthy. And it is so amazing to feel healthy, and to not be caring for a kid whose nose is running and who wakes up coughing and crying.

But I'll take the constant little bugs in exchange for a serious problem.

[pjb1967]

OMG- That so funny, I never thought of it having to do with our kids coming from a 3rd world country.
My daughter will be 3 next month and has only had ONE cold when she was 10 months old. She also goes to daycare full time. She has NEVER had a prescription for anything, never had an ear infection. Only missed daycare that one time at 10 months.

When she 1st came home I used to save my vacation days to use when she got sick but it never happened. I do know many other local family who have adopted from Guatemala and their kids are sick ALL the time, I guess I'm just lucky.

[LISAKAYE]

The first winter Carter was home he was sick. He will be home 2 years in Jan and ever since that first few months home, he has been very healthy. (my mom watches him in our home)
He has never even thrown up. I sure hope he has an iron stomach, because I am not so good with such things.
Knock on wood, fingers, eyes and toes crossed all stays the same!!!

[annaguat]

All my children from third world countries, 6 of them, are not likely to have regular colds and flue type of illness.

Some do however have issues with asthma and exzema. My two eldest Guatemalan children have asthma issues and my DD 17 has stomach isssues that the doctors have not been able to find the origin off. She however has never had a cold or flue in the 14 or so years she has been home. Her asthma is set off by cigaret smoke, we are none smokers, but I think it might be from exposure before she came home. The stomach/abdominable problems are debilitating and have been an issue for the last three years or so for her. The two eldest Guatemalan children 19 and 17 also both get horrible migrains.

My Pacific Island DD gets rarely sick and if she is gets it, it is for a day or so. My Pacific Island son has major allergy issues that show up as exzema and cold like symptoms. He does get colds and flues.

The babies from Guatemala, now 3, have had one or two mild colds over the last 2 1/2 yrs they have been home. They are never sick.

We are a stay at home family and I do think that helps. We do however have 5 more bio children in the same age brackets and they get sick way more from colds and flues. Also when they get it it is heavier and longer then when one of the others gets it.

So I do think my children that came home from a third world countries seem to be stronger over all.

Anna