How many times have your kids had antibiotics?

[Anonymous]

10 year old- once
6 year old- once
4 year old twins- once for one, never for the other

[Anonymous]

I feel like I’m an outlier. I can’t add up how many time my kids have been on antibiotics. My oldest got chronic ear infections when younger (ended up with ear tubes because they were affecting his hearing) and was also in the PICU with pneumonia on an IV antibiotic drip as a toddler. My middle kid went through a couple years of recurrent strep, but now hasn’t had it in a while. So it comes in waves and then they can go years without needing an antibiotic.

My youngest is 5 and I don’t think he has ever taken an antibiotic now that I think about it.

I’m grateful to have antibiotics when needed though. We are incredibly lucky to be alive in a time when we can easily treat infections whereas infection used to be a major cause of death in the past.

And my kids microbiomes seem fine. I’ve also had to take antibiotics for pneumonia, UTIs, etc. and I’m totally fine. But I eat lots of yogurt, so maybe that helps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

Not true. Doctors offer them for most ear infections still. The research does not support it but it is done anyway.

Most ear infections are bacterial. Less than 10% are mild viral with no other symptoms. They might start at viral, congestion in the ear from a viral cold. It’s at risk to become bacterial infection. High fevers come with viral illnesses and bacterial illnesses. Bacterial ear infections are usually more painful. I’m not going to take a risk that my child’s is the viral one.

This is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

Not true. Doctors offer them for most ear infections still. The research does not support it but it is done anyway.

Most ear infections are bacterial. Less than 10% are mild viral with no other symptoms. They might start at viral, congestion in the ear from a viral cold. It’s at risk to become bacterial infection. High fevers come with viral illnesses and bacterial illnesses. Bacterial ear infections are usually more painful. I’m not going to take a risk that my child’s is the viral one.

ugh. my 3 year old has had 5 rounds of antibiotics for ear infections within 5 months. always starts viral-- but ears would never drain-- would cause hearing loss and then eventual fever-- twice amoxicillin didn't resolve it after a week so they then gave augmentin as well.

we just did ear tubes and adenoid removal because of this and i'm hoping this dramatically slows down use of antibiotics/reduces ear infections

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

Not true. Doctors offer them for most ear infections still. The research does not support it but it is done anyway.

Most ear infections are bacterial. Less than 10% are mild viral with no other symptoms. They might start at viral, congestion in the ear from a viral cold. It’s at risk to become bacterial infection. High fevers come with viral illnesses and bacterial illnesses. Bacterial ear infections are usually more painful. I’m not going to take a risk that my child’s is the viral one.

This is incorrect.

You have to state what part is incorrect or your statement is worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

So what are doctors giving antibiotics for if not for bacterial infections?

They're giving them for viral colds that go on for longer than 4 days and people banging down their doors demanding them for their "sinus infections".

[Anonymous]

We have been lucky that DS was a healthy baby and now healthy kid who rarely gets sick. He has had antibiotics once, maybe twice? He just has some minor allergies.

DH on the other hand got lots of ear infections as a kid and was on antibiotics and it was miserable and painful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

Not true. Doctors offer them for most ear infections still. The research does not support it but it is done anyway.

Most ear infections are bacterial. Less than 10% are mild viral with no other symptoms. They might start at viral, congestion in the ear from a viral cold. It’s at risk to become bacterial infection. High fevers come with viral illnesses and bacterial illnesses. Bacterial ear infections are usually more painful. I’m not going to take a risk that my child’s is the viral one.

Yes but most healthy , immunocompetent children over age 2 without a high fever, and a unilateral ear infection, will clear it on its own in about the same amount of time. Prior to the introduction of antibiotics, kids didn't routinely die of ear infections or have ear infections that never went away. Most of them did, eventually. Occasionally they didn't, and led to complications. But even today, when a kid comes in with an ear infection and the ear has been hurting for less than a day, and their fever is around 100, and it's just on the left side- the recommendation is to watch and wait, and only start antibiotics if the fever goes up over 102, the pain becomes severe and not responding well to motrin/tylenol, or the pain persists for another couple of days. I always educate to watch and wait when I prescribe an antibiotic for an ear infection. I'm very clear, and it's in my written discharge papers too. If parents don't listen and start it that same day, that's on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

So what are doctors giving antibiotics for if not for bacterial infections?

A lot of illness is viral, so antibiotics are completely useless. And in any case, people do have immune systems, believe it or not. Or they would have, if they didn’t destroy them with antibiotics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

Not true. Doctors offer them for most ear infections still. The research does not support it but it is done anyway.

Most ear infections are bacterial. Less than 10% are mild viral with no other symptoms. They might start at viral, congestion in the ear from a viral cold. It’s at risk to become bacterial infection. High fevers come with viral illnesses and bacterial illnesses. Bacterial ear infections are usually more painful. I’m not going to take a risk that my child’s is the viral one.

This is incorrect.

You have to state what part is incorrect or your statement is worthless.

Make me

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old, I think never. The kid never gets sick.

My 18 year old had lung infections so frequently as an infant that he was on them pretty constantly, and then several times a year after that for sinus infections and ear infections. It wasn't until a few years ago, with allergy shots and other interventions that we got better control. His gut health seems fine, but we knew that was a risk. There just weren't other options.

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader has multiple times for ear infections (eventually got tubes), then several rounds of strep in early elementary and then a couple times for walking pneumonia.

My 1st grader has only had them once or twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think overprescribing is generally a thing of the past - our childhoods, moreso than our kids'. If my kid is getting prescribed an antibiotic, it's really only for something that needs an antibiotic (like strep) to avoid progressing to something worse.

So what are doctors giving antibiotics for if not for bacterial infections?

They're giving them for viral colds that go on for longer than 4 days and people banging down their doors demanding them for their "sinus infections".

Doctors can tell when a viral illness becomes bacterial. The discharge becomes thicker, greenish, a temperature gets higher, the pain gets worse. That’s what they do all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4th grader has multiple times for ear infections (eventually got tubes), then several rounds of strep in early elementary and then a couple times for walking pneumonia.

My 1st grader has only had them once or twice.

Same with ours, oldest was on them a lot, youngest hardly ever. Both are young adults and are fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes you get a great parenting award and the rest of us have screwed up our kids.

No OP is an antivax troll. Ignore do not feed the idiots.