What was your Child's general health as a baby and/or toddler?

[saidie10]

I like polls, I don't know what it is about em...they give me some kind of sense of normal, some kind of sense of "you are not alone". Who knows, but I like em.

 

A brief overview of my two boys general childhood health:

 

1. Seasonal allergies treated with both medication and steroid breathing treatments.

2. On the low low end of the growth charts for height and weight.

3. Early speech development.

4. Darn Cute (oh wait that is just my opinion, not a statement of general health).

5. Always seemed sick with ear infections, strep, URI's...etc. All kinds of ear, nose, respiratory and throat illnesses basically.

 

So that about sums it up!

[Iowadawn]

Just a little additional info. My boy was healthy as can be (not as much as a sniffle) until I quit breast feeding him at 10 months. A week later we were in the doctor's office and from that time on his health hx is littered with illnesses and symptoms. By 20-22 months he was "operating on a different frequency" we often said & other family members would comment. Dawn

[MomWithOCDSon]

My son was exceptionally healthy . . . on the outside. He seemed to have a "super" immune system and rarely, if ever, caught any of the viruses or infections making the rounds of child care, preschool or grammar school. What he did suffer with, though, were constant ear infections, basically from about 14 months until we finally got ear tubes in both ears at the age of 3. After that, the seasonal, dust and cat dander allergies struck and have stayed with him to this day.

[philamom]

My child(10) was also healthy until I stopped breastfeeding (14 months). Around 16-18 months, she started getting sinus infections every 4-6 weeks. They assumed it was allergy related but, mostly, testing was always negative. In between sinus infection (after being treated with abx) she was completely fine, no symptoms, until next infection. This went on until her first severe PANS episode at age five. Then she had less sinus infections but continued with PAN episodes until becoming chronic April 2009. She has always been on the lower end of chart for weight, not height.

Edited November 1, 2011 by philamom

[nicklemama]

I voted normal childhood illness but in fact, I'd really say he had less than ave. He was/is rarely sick. He's taller than ave, motor skills always ahead, late talker. He is survivor. He spent the first six months of his life in a Russian orphanage. Now, he's battling PANDAS.

[momcap]

My DS8 is currently at 95%ile for both height and weight, but has been anywhere from 95% to off the chart at each check point. DH and I are both big and tall, so no surprises there. He passed all developmental milestones very early. He had what I assume to be a normal amount of illnesses until the PANDAS started. He had his initial PANDAS onset at age 3. There were problems before that, but probably related to lyme. About a year after PANDAS onset he was constantly sick, as were all 3 of our boys.

 

My youngest DS just turned 5. He currently has ASOs in the 700s that won't go away, and non-interfering OCD. He's happy and bright. Not PANDAS, but...? He got sick about 1 month after I weaned him, and from that moment on our entire family was always sick. He had asthma and chronic ear infections and was never ever well. He's finally well now since starting lyme treatment. He's almost 1.5 inches shorter than his brothers were at their 5 year birthdays. He's still at the 80%ile, but considering our other children's height I wonder if all the illness could have affected his growth. IDK.

[mama2alex]

Our ds had health and mood issues from the very beginning. Cried every day for the first 5 years of his life. A fair number of colds/infections early on, but not over the top. First pneumonia at age 3 1/2 - six pneumonias by age 9. Asthma with viral illnesses starting at age 6 - one month after DTaP shot. Severe cat allergy identified at age 7 1/2 (probably developing from birth as we owned a cat when he was born). He is tall for his age though.

[airial95]

Could only vote once but I have two PANDAS kids - some additional info on my son (who I voted for - he's more severe)

 

- never had any allergy issues, and was exceptionally healthy, only 2 ear infections prior to 18 months (he was in day care, no surprise there). The only other unusual thing is he had severe reflux as an infant and had to be on Zantac daily until just after his 1st birthday. His PANDAS started with an impetigo infection - which was his first one at the time.

 

- His height and weight were above average/average up until last year. Last year he stopped gaining weight, he's 4 and has been 34 pounds for almost a year. He's in the 70%-ile for height, and 30%-ile for weight, but is only in the 7%-ile for BMI - which is considered severely underwieght (so I voted no). We just found that out yesterday at his 4 yr well-child visit. The dr. is running a bunch of labs, and is concerned, but not overly since he's had a chronic strep infection for clost to 2 years now, and has food issues with his OCD. He goes for a T&A in 2 weeks, so he's hoping that will clear the infection and help us get his PANDAS/OCD under control better and we'll see him start gaining weight again.

 

As for my daughter - who was just dx PANDAS about a month ago:

 

- she does have allergy issues, latex, kiwi, bananas, seasonal, penicillin. She's also had several ear infections, strep throat at least 4 times that we know of, and tubes in her ears 2x and adnoids removed earlier this year. (Had we known PANDAS for her then, we would've pushed harder to get the tonsils out too!).

[tantrums]

It was hard for me to choose between constantly sick with infections and normal childhood illnesses.

 

My son is now 8 and has had PANDAS for exactly two years. He didn't have infections except for two ear infections, yet he developed "glue ear" at 3 and had to have his adnoids out and tubes put in. He had strep twice and we only discovered it by chance. He had chronic chronic croup though... OMG I swear he was on steroids more than he was off of them for the first 6 years of his life. He was DX with croup 10 times in one year and lived with "that cough" for probably 90% of the year. Anytime he would get the simplest cold, it would turn into croup.

 

WHen he got H1N1 which was the precipitator for PANDAS, it was the FIRST time ever something did not develop into croup. I was so excited for a week or so, then he developed PANDAS. Our allergist said it was kindof a trade off. His immune system changed so it was now his instead of croup. I told her I want the croup back!

 

He has always been very small though. Born at 5 pounds and wasn't ever even ON a chart until this year when he touched the bottom.