Why Is My Child Always Sick?

Since most illnesses are seasonal and particularly frequent during the winter, they tend to be compressed into a few months, giving you the impression (or confirming the reality) that your child is sick all the time.
What makes my child get sick?
When germs beat the body’s defenses and gain entry into the child’s body, they take over the body’s cells and use them to make more germs. The germs settle in the body, resulting in a ‘malfunction’ and causing the symptoms of the illness.

How does his body fight back?
The immune system responds to fight off the infection by sending its army of chemicals, antibodies and blood cells to the area to fight the invaders. The amazing thing about the immune system is that it has a memory. Once it has seen and fought a germ, it remembers it and defends itself much better the next time the germ visits, often killing it before it can ‘settle’ and cause an illness. Unfortunately, the battle itself can make your child feel sick as well. Because young children haven’t been around for very long, their bodies have not been exposed to many of the germs that surround us. Therefore, they get sick often. This leads us to an important fact: In order to build immunity, children have to get sick. As your kids get older and have the opportunity to build immunity to more illnesses, the frequency of illness becomes much less.
How often should I expect my child to get sick?
In the first year of life, you can expect your child to get sick approximately 8 – 12 times! It’s not much better in the second year when children get sick an average of 6 – 8 times. These figures refer to the usual childhood illnesses: colds, stomach “bugs,”and flu-like illnesses, not serious or life-threatening ones.
Are there any factors that make my child more vulnerable to illness?
• Nursery school
In a world where both parents want or need to work, the number of children who go to nursery has risen, and the age at which they begin going has gotten younger. The more children your child is exposed to, the more likely it is that he will get sick.
• Passive smoke
Exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke is another factor, as smoking has been shown to increase the frequency and severity of all respiratory infections as well as ear infections.
• The strength of his immune system
Parents must realize that some children get sick more often than others. Children are not all the same and their immune systems do not all function at the same level of efficiency