antibiotics and kids

silverharp

we have managed not to give our son antibiotics, he is 3 now although on 2 occasions we got scripts from the doctor if he got worse. I gather from my wife that although people publicly say that it is better not to give them most parents get them for their kids? is it down to work pressures to have the kids back at the creche etc?

deisemum

My older boy is 12 years old and he hasn't seen his doctor since he was about 3 years old and he's usually very healthy (now he'll possibly be sick before the week's out) but he's accident prone and has broken a few bones in his time. He's only had antibiotics on 2 occasions when he was small.

My 10 year old boy has only had antibiotics on one occasion when he was 4.5years old and that was for a dental abscess.

My own personal opinion is that they're very easy to get. Some of my sisters, one in particular is forever bringing her children to their doctor, sometimes for the slightest thing.

kelle

I must admit I get so paranoid when my children are sick and I bring them to the doctor all the time. Usually a GP will write out a prescription for antibiotics advising me to wait and see if child gets worse, which they usually do. Then i'm so worried they'll develop meningitis or pneumonia, so i give them the antibiotic. Afterwards I feel so bad when I read about other children who've never been on antibiotics, and so worried when I read the articles about children having too many antibiotics. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Cathmandooo

I seriously hate hearing of children on antibiotics! My niece is only 2 and has been on a good few already, cant understand it! Both parents work so maybe it is something to do with rushing her back to the creche but really how can you risk your childs health like that! They weaken the child in the long run and lessen their immunity to future germs and infections. It really bugs me :mad:

littlebug

I can't understand why anyone would think working parents put their kids on anti bs so they can rush them back to the creche... surely if it's a viral infection anti b's won't do any good anyway.

I do wonder if it's partly to do with how the child deals with the illness. For example some kids get more sleepy and quieter when they have a fever while some scream the house down and don't sleep at all (mine:(). I have some rules of thumb that I follow.... if the child still has a fever when he wakes up on the 4th day I take them to the doc which usually means anti b prescription. If a is gone after 2- 3 days but returns a week later then I tend to take them quicker. Unfortunately my son tends to get ear infections at the tail end of every cold. Experience tells me that even if these go away in a couple of days they will come back within a week unless he has an anti b.
it's usually ears in our house Coughs and colds I wouldn't bring to the doc unless it was going on for weeks and weeks.

Can I ask the parents who think it's a terrible thing to put your child on anti biotics what kinds of illnesses your children have had and how they have reacted to it?

Kernel32

littlebug wrote: »

I do wonder if it's partly to do with how the child deals with the illness. For example some kids get more sleepy and quieter when they have a fever while some scream the house down and don't sleep at all (mine:(). I have some rules of thumb that I follow.... if the child still has a fever when he wakes up on the 4th day I take them to the doc which usually means anti b prescription. If a is gone after 2- 3 days but returns a week later then I tend to take them quicker. Unfortunately my son tends to get ear infections at the tail end of every cold. Experience tells me that even if these go away in a couple of days they will come back within a week unless he has an anti b.
it's usually ears in our house Coughs and colds I wouldn't bring to the doc unless it was going on for weeks and weeks.

We have two kids and one falls into one category and the other in the other your describe. Our 5 year old always got sleepy when he was sick. He has had antibiotics only once, but he also never got ear infections and was rarely sick until he started pre-school. Our 20month old always gets an ear infection at the end of a cold and she screams the house down. Because we had never experienced an ear infection we let the first one go too far and she had it in both ears and was inconsolable. We ended up at the doctors and had to give her antibiotics. We are more vigilant now and she has had them several times now, but we always wait a bit to see if it clears up which it has a couple of times.

My point is you can't base an opinion from your experience with one child. Our children are very different in so many way, this just being another way. We never ever thought we would have to use antibiotics so much based on our first child but things change and you have to adapt.

High&Low

Generally a younger child under 2 is far more likely to need antibiotics than an older kid.

The reason for this is:

1.that as you get older your immune system becomes stronger;

2. younger kids when they get a cold or chest infection find it harder to cough up the mucous as their lungs are not strong enough, this can develop into a bacterial infection and require antibiotics.

However if you're kid is prone to ear infections, they will require more visits to the doctor.

kelle

Cathooo wrote: »

I seriously hate hearing of children on antibiotics! My niece is only 2 and has been on a good few already, cant understand it! Both parents work so maybe it is something to do with rushing her back to the creche but really how can you risk your childs health like that! They weaken the child in the long run and lessen their immunity to future germs and infections. It really bugs me :mad:

Well, Cathoo, I hate children being on antibiotics too. I work, but there was a time I didn't and it was scary being at home all day with a sick child. When the doctor prescribes antib and the child gets worse, you're faced with no bloody choice but to give them! If I could predict the future and know the child was definitely going to get better without them I wouldn't go near the doctor in the first place. Mine get ear infections, too, and I'm faced with the prospect of ear damage/deafness - is that fair to them in the future? Why can't you understand it that your niece was on a few antib's already? I'm sure her parents wouldn't have visited the doctor in the first place without good reason and, like me, they wouldn't just give them to her to ensure quick recovery so she can return to her creche.
Anyway, i'm glad to say my oldest son took quite a few antib's in the first 4 years of his life and he hasn't had any since July 2005 (that was for Impetigo - can only be cured by antib's)

themadchef

I think saying that parents put their kids on antibiotics so they can return to the creche quicker is not something i have ever heard of before.

I think every family case is individual, in that some children are just sick more often than others. Personally one of my four have had them prescribed once and certainly needed them at the time. Most doctor are very very reluctant to give them out!

When a parent brings his/her sick child to a doctor it's not for a quick fix of antibiotics just to speed up recovery, it's because they believe that whaterver the doctor reccomends will bring that child back to full health as quick and painlessly as possible. You certainly don't walk in there demanding them.

When your child is ill, all that's on your mind is them, bills, work, creche be dammed!

RIRI

themadchef wrote: »

When a parent brings his/her sick child to a doctor it's not for a quick fix of antibiotics just to speed up recovery, it's because they believe that whaterver the doctor reccomends will bring that child back to full health as quick and painlessly as possible. You certainly don't walk in there demanding them.

When your child is ill, all that's on your mind is them, bills, work, creche be dammed!

Well said!
Most doctors don't prescribe anti-biotics unless they're necessary. We've been lucky that we've had no need for them (yet!!). I seriously doubt any parent would medicate their child just so they can get back to work sooner - what exactly are you getting at Cathoo??

nesf

Cathooo wrote: »

I seriously hate hearing of children on antibiotics!

You know, occasionally a child actually might get sick and need them. You make it sound like putting whiskey into a baby's bottle or something.