if your kids have never had the flu, what do you feed them?

[Anonymous]

I think it’s kind of ridiculous to go through this exercise. It’s all anecdata.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People, it’s all about hygiene. OP’s kids probably don’t wash their hands enough.

This times a million.

Ha, I’d say the opposite. We have pets, don’t wash our hand enough, and aren’t opposed to the five second rule. DC and I almost never get sick even though I practice zero precautions during cold and flu season. Like maybe one cold a year, even when things are going around work and school and others are dropping like flies. I think it’s our environmental exposure that has built up our immune systems, plus 95% just genetic luck to have strong immune systems. I don’t worry at all, except now I’m a little nervous with corona virus that I may have to totally retrain my child on better habits.

We do eat really well - probably 3-4 times the recommended amount of produce with very little meat and lots of beans and whole grains. I don’t think it hurts, but still think it’s mostly dumb luck.

Same with us, all of this minus pets. We never ever get the flu shot.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 12 and 9 - got the flu for the first time last year. Daycare, preschool and public school.

They eat pretty well but have low iron and vitamin d so clearly not well enough. No flu shots. I have to remind them to wash their hands after going the bathroom at home still !! (Public bathrooms they do it)

I haven’t had the flu since 1998.

We are probably asymptomatic carriers or just genetic freaks.

[Anonymous]

Room sharing fraternal same sex twins with wildly different genetics, one gets flu twice sharing everything and the other stays healthy. Healthier kid eats slightly less meat and sugar but mostly the same diet.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it’s just luck. Viruses seem to be opportunistic. My DH and my 17 year old just got over the flu (confirmed Flu A). I didn’t take any extra precautions. I still slept in the same bed with my DH. I didn’t get the flu. I usually get the flu shot. This year I just jet it slip. My DH and my son did get the flu shot. My immune system is not super strong. It may be my turn next. I think it’s usually just luck. You happen to be exposed when you are run-down and your immunity is low.

I do take elderberry syrup and zinc. I’m not sure it helps, but it can’t hurt.

[Anonymous]

My son has never had the flu. I never breasted him yet he was always healthier than other kids I knew. He didn’t go to daycare which is a cesspool of germs. That helped a lot. He doesn’t eat a very balanced diet and never has. He has always gotten a flu shot and so have I. I’m an ES teacher and I am rarely sick. I have never come close to using up my sick days. I cash some in the following year for extra money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We get flu shots every year and the kids have never had the flu that I know of. I can’t think of the last time I had to flu, though I’m sure it must’ve happened some time in my 36 years of life, so there might be a genetic component to getting severe flu as well.

This. I think I've had a fever as an adult maybe twice? I have an 8yo who has a stuffy nose or cough on occasion, but never fevers (and we skipped a flu shot the past few years--I know, I know!). Spouse, a physician, gets a fever pretty much at least once per winter--I think spouse is made of weaker stuff.

I was just thinking about this. I get plenty of colds and vague,annoying viruses (achy, headache, stomach off) but no fevers, ever, even with strep. I have had what must have been the flu only once in my life, in my twenties. I remember hallucinating briefly so must have had fever. Other than that, nothing. I get flu shots most years since having kids but some years I don’t and again, no flu. But it is not like I am that person with a stellar immune system that never get sick otherwise. And no, my kids have never had it either.

[Anonymous]

When i get the flu shot, it's a high chance i will catch something and get strep, flu and pneumonia.

The few years that i don't have the flu shot, i worry and worry but do not get sick that winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I breastfed my kids for years. Interestingly we have never had strep throat or any other bacterial infections (yet?) although they catch viruses and get high fevers. Maybe it is a genetic thing.
-OP

OP, this is us as well and my kids have never had any bacterial stuff and have never been on antibiotics ever and they are tweens. No ear infections, allergies, strep, pneumonia etc. They had viruses, including the flu, and got over them in 2-3 days. According to my ped, this is good and this is how they create immunity.

[Anonymous]

We had the flu one time and DC gets occasional virus/ bacterial infection. What I noticed is that increasing the water intake and feeding DC more vegetables during this time consistently shortens the recovery period. We also avoid dairy, sugary and oily food when sick, but allow food with more sodium, like instant noodles with a side of several different vegetables during very congested days only.

[Anonymous]

My kid got sick a LOT her first year of daycare (she started at 6 weeks) and then some her second year and then almost never since then. She was not breast-fed and eats a relatively normal diet at age 11. She is very, very active and probably sleeps a low-side-of-normal amount of hours at night.

I'm super healthy; her dad not so much. I think she gets her general healthiness from me. I think I've taken 3-4 sick days in the last 3 years. She's taken none.

We get flu shots every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has never had the flu. I never breasted him yet he was always healthier than other kids I knew. He didn’t go to daycare which is a cesspool of germs. That helped a lot. He doesn’t eat a very balanced diet and never has. He has always gotten a flu shot and so have I. I’m an ES teacher and I am rarely sick. I have never come close to using up my sick days. I cash some in the following year for extra money.

My kid went to daycare from age 1-3. I think this strengthened her immune system, actually. She was sick that whole first year, but really hasn't gotten sick since. She's now a third grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When i get the flu shot, it's a high chance i will catch something and get strep, flu and pneumonia.

The few years that i don't have the flu shot, i worry and worry but do not get sick that winter.

[Anonymous]

interesting about the berries. I buy them at least 4 packs at a time. I also believe in cod liver oil, just like my grandma and her grandma took every morning as children. I don't give my kids or myself the flu shot, I don't think i've ever had the flu and so far neither have my kids. We got 5 reports this year of the flu in my eldest's class this year.
I also breast fed exclusively and have never given my kids antibiotics, they survived a few ear infections just fine with watchful waiting about 2 days.

[Anonymous]

lol, my kid eats poptarts and pb&js. His immunity has nothing to do with his crummy diet. Despite giving him fruits and veggies at every meal, he has not consumed one in months--yet rarely gets a cold, and has never had the flu. My MIL claims my husband was the same way as a child.

Meanwhile, I eat more vegetables than anyone in our house, and catch every virus known to man.

I feel like everyone's immune system has a spectrum, and diet can help bump you up or down a bit but it's not going to drastically change stuff.