How do I stop getting sick?

We have a 6 month old who goes to daycare during the week. As such, she is bringing every bug home with her. And she shares it with Mommy and Daddy. I think I have been 90% healthy for maybe 4 days so far this year. Other than that is has been colds and sinus infections. We try and keep everything clean but is there anything else we can do besides stick her in a bubble?  We know in the long run she will have a better immune system for this but why does she have to share?

Any tips for new parents are apapreciated!  Thanks!

Honestly?  stop using all the anti-bacterial soaps.    Contrary to what those companies want you to believe, there are "good" bacteria.

What grtechguy said.  Plus load up on vitamin c and zinc.  If you’ve had any antibiotics start eating some yogurt or taking probiotics to get your gut back up to speed.  

Try to get plenty of sleep as well. It's a struggle with a baby in the house but lack of sleep zaps your immune system of the resources it needs to stay strong. Vitamins and probiotics as mentioned above will definitely help.

Keep her away from stuffed animals at day care.  Plastic can be sanitized with bleach or a dishwasher, not so fluffy bunnies.   

I'll also add to get more exercise to the sleep and good bacteria thang.

Not crazy intensive stuff. You don't need to go out and "work out". Just get outside of the house where there is a bit more fresh air and get moving with a bit more intensity than normal for the day. Brisk walk, light jog, bike ride... that sort of thing. Maybe mix in a handful of push ups or something, and a few light stretches. Just don't wallow in your own filth.

Plus fluids and electrolytes (aka Salt). Fix up a nice homemade chicken soup. Go out for Pho.

Honestly, no, not really.  Sure, do all the common sense things...wash your hands, etc... By the way, I don't buy into the "stop using anti-bacterial soap" thing, you should use it IMHO.  But reality is, especially at just 6 months old, they're going to bring stuff home and pass it on.  It gets better as they get older. 

In reply to PMRacing :

I drive a school bus. Up to 529 different kids a day.  Once you are not sick go and get a flu shot. If you have health insurance it’s free at Walgreens.  I’m near 70 so I also get a pneumonia shot.  

Eat more vegetables and fruit.  Less packaged and prepared stuff.  I think Oatmeal is the only morning cereal I would eat. The rest of them there is likely more nutrition in the box they come in than the actual cereal. The nutrition they list on the side of the box? That’s almost all from the milk. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Are you saying my generic fruity pebbles with marshmallows are bad for me?

Try to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with you fingers if they are not clean.  Apparently  these are the primary pathways. 

aircooled said:

Try to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with you fingers if they are not clean.  Apparently  these are the primary pathways. 

So you're saying it's really time to kick that thumb-sucking habit?

I think this has just been a bad season for "it". 

My wife is a Dietitian in a hospital; growing up my mom was an elementary school nurse, I am around little kids reffing hockey all the time. In the past, I typically get about two colds a year. Take maybe 3 sick days the entire year--and that is stretching it. So far I've taken 3 since January 1. I'm battling cold after cold, my wife had pink eye (that was caused by a cold, not the fecal kind) and that transferred to me (she had laid down on my pillow without telling me) and then I got the cold. 
 

Had a fever of 101 last night. Still have one off an on (alternating between slightly chilly and then hot flashes with sweating). Headache. Just miserable. 

I did get the flu shot too. And it usually works for me in the sense of I don't get sick like others do from it. But this year there is just something bad out there. 

Look forward to the days when they aren't "shiny lipped germ factories" as my dad always referred to little kids.  I had the hardest time accumulating any sick leave when mine were little, now I'm knocking on the 500 hour mark (4 per pp).

Otherwise, as noted above you can try all the usual stuff (especially anything where their crud gets near your mucous membranes) but the reality is your kids are gonna pass along their germs to you.

In reply to frenchyd :

To be fair I’ve been sick several times this year but still got  up at 5:00am to start my day. Don’t get home until 6:30 pm so it’s a 13&1/2 hour work day. Well, the midday from 9:30-2:00 is usually charter time which doesn’t pay as well but it’s added income even if it does expose me to another 50-60 germ factories

Last  year I worked with double pneumonia twice before they were able to give me the two shots required to be immune from it.  

I just took the night time stuff at night and the daytime stuff during the day and toughed it out. 

Grtechguy said:

Honestly?  stop using all the anti-bacterial soaps.    Contrary to what those companies want you to believe, there are "good" bacteria.

One related tip: Don't trust the hand sanitizer to work by itself. Apparently there are a lot of bugs it doesn't do anything to.

Beyond that, I don't have much to add - just the usual "eat well, get enough exercise, and enough sleep."

I feel your pain. SWMBO is a babysitter and if those little humans get sick, she gets sick, then I get sick. Missed almost an entire week this month because of it. Over it.

This will sound a bit hippie, but rest assured, I am a scientist at heart.

I'm finding some serious help with cutting out some inflammatory foods.  The question is, which ones are inflammatory for you?  Hard to tell.

When your body is inflamed (attacking something it thinks is bad even though it isn't), it spends a disproportionate amount of time fighting the phantoms and doesn't have enough staff to attack the stuff it should.  It's spread too thin.  You can avoid touching your eyes all you want, but most of these bugs have so many ways of getting onto you that the best way is to fortify the walls, not avoid contact.  They'll find a way to contact you no matter how safe you are, what soap you use, or how much you don't hug your kid.

Normally I like straight-up science and I won't hesitate to use bleach, cough syrup, and Lysol, but this is one place where you might want to make an appointment with a naturopath.  Find one that is also an MD and takes insurance.  They can order a blood test and allergy panel that will help narrow down things that are potentially causing inflammation.  Take their advice, don't take their advice, doesn't matter. All you're out is a $25 copay.

Zinc, oregano essential oil (for both symptoms and defense) and vitamins C and D.

A lot of people think that naturopaths are all about "wave this herb around your doorway to cast out the flu spirits," but they aren't.  They use science to determine that item X is causing a chemical inflammation.  They just do it without randomly prescribing antibiotics and steroids.

According to my Doc, the Flu shot this year was only about 10% effective. It is ravaging through the Casino I work at. This morning I woke up with a runny nose, this is not going to be good

I came down with a cold/flu thing a couple weeks ago. First time I had a runny nose/cough/sore throat in about 5 years. It sucked for a couple days and I had a mild fever and even took a day off work. I can't imagine being sick more often than not. That would suck. Does the 6 month old also get sick this often? I would be more worried about them than myself if so. If not, maybe your immune system just needs time to catch up.

2 things, both are intended as jokes with no real value towards solving the OP's problem:  

1. Die.  Can't get sick after you're dead.
2. Use oregano oil.  You'll still get sick and or die, but at least you'll smell like a pizza.

When we put our first born into daycare my wife and I had the same experience.  Always some minor infection. 

Those daycare places are where the kids get exposed to everything out there and develop anti-bodies.   

Unfortunately the parents are also exposed and they may not have been exposed to those viruses before.    After close to two years it mostly stopped.  I guess we caught everything available, developed our own anti-bodies, and that was it.    I have to say I get sick less often than I used to before that experience.

AngryCorvair said:

2 things, both are intended as jokes with no real value towards solving the OP's problem:  

1. Die.  Can't get sick after you're dead.
2. Use oregano oil.  You'll still get sick and or die, but at least you'll smell like a pizza.

This^

Wish I could help. I successfully avoided 2 rounds of the “funk” that was going around our house...till Friday. :/

jharry3 said:

 

Those daycare places are where the kids get exposed to everything out there and develop anti-bodies.   

Yeah, not using daycare is pretty much the only option.  Obviously that's financially pretty hard for many people, and even then that's mostly just delaying it until they start school anyway.

Most of the colds/etc are viruses, so anti-bacterials don't do much to them.

Sleep and a good diet (including vitamin supplements).    

My first year teaching I was sick as a dog, for the same reason you have been. After that, I didn't get sick for YEARS. About 3 after I left teaching. It was great. Except that first year.