Take plenty of Vit d3 and zinc.
drink apple cider vinegar with honey.
sambucol black elderberry syrup
Eat lots of fresh vegetables, especially mushrooms, onions, garlic and greens.
gargle
use a neti pot (with distilled water)
plenty of sleep

The first winter was bad. Sick from Oct to April (6 months to 12 months) more or less. Got tubes which were great. DD is 3.5 YO and hadn’t really been sick since. You go through it now or later. You kinda just have to get through it.

It absolutely sucks, and, for us, we had a second round with our second child.

It has gotten better, but it took awhile. We had a reprieve between kids.

Honestly for me this was the hardest part about being a parent of a young child. When everything was running smoothly, I could keep up, but the illnesses were so tough.

It does get better, and I try to tell myself that for everything one of us catches, it's something that our body learns how to fight and it helps keep us healthier down the road.

Hang in there.

I had a great immune system until I had a kid. I caught everything he got plus stuff he didn’t. About 75% of the time I took him to the pediatrician, I caught something—he never did. Prior to pregnancy, I rarely got sick and when I did, I got over it pretty quickly. But for about 2.5-3 years, i caught everything and it would linger.

I seem to have turned the corner (fingers crossed). My advice is to buy CloroxPro Hydrogen Peroxide and wash your hands obsessively. (Note Lysol also sells hydrogen peroxide cleaner but it’s not effective on as much stuff including norovirus)

https://www.cloroxpro.com/products/clorox/hydrogen-peroxide-disinfecting-cleaners/

Check your Vitamin D levels and supplement with zinc. It makes a huge difference for me.

OP. Thanks all. Really hard to imagine an end to this parade of sickness but helps to hear it will get better.

Make it through this winter, and I promise, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I had the same problem...DD got the sniffles, I got a full-blown cold and sinus infection. DD had a mild case of HFM, I was the sickest I've been (short of flu) in my life for nearly a week. DD bringing home norovirus was probably the worst. After the first year in daycare (really, that first winter), the constant illnesses eased up. Now, we average a mild cold or 2 a year.
Try to keep from getting too run down. I know that is easier said than done, but I think I was hit so hard by everything because my sleep that first year was nonexistent.

I was in the same position 2 years ago and also desperate for advice/help. I am only here to say that the following year was way better and she wasn't sick as often and this year has been even better. Hang in there- it is really hard, especially with the pressure of work piling up/expectations at work.

Anonymous wrote:OP. Thanks all. Baby is 10 months. She’s never had an ear infection so I think we got lucky there.

You're probably in the worst of it since this is the first winter plus by 10 months all of the immunity they get from the mother has worn off.

OP. Thanks all. Baby is 10 months. She’s never had an ear infection so I think we got lucky there.

How old is baby? Sorry, no advice only commiseration. My immune system is terrible now. I got a nasty respiratory / sinus infection earlier in the year the ttook two rounds of antibiotics to kick. I think you just get used to it. Brace yourself for Jan. There’s a week in mid jan the last 2 years basically half of the class is out every day from a variety of illness

The first year your kid is in organized school or childcare (so if you have a nanny, the first year of p/t preschool) is usually going to be pretty bad no matter what, but it gets better. (Although there is the rare child that just avoids illness and has a beast of an immune system.)

Take care of yourself. Make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating healthfully so your body can do a better job of fighting those bugs. Sleep is a huge one which I'm sure is tough with a little one.

If your little one is getting ear infections all the time, look into ear tubes. It was a game changer for us. Once we did it, he stopped getting sick so much.

Maybe this is more of a rant than seeking advice (but if you have any, please throw my way!) but goddamn, being sick all the time is so hard. With the exception of HFM, the baby usually only gets a mild illness, like a runny nose or one day of a low fever and seems completely fine the next day, but every time it hits me so hard. Sometimes I even get the illnesses going around daycare that she seems to skip, like this week's stomach bug. I'm so so grateful her immune system seems better prepared for daycare plague than mine, but seriously, why am I getting every little thing? I wash my hands but doesn't seem to matter.

I feel like I could cope if it were just random colds but it seems like every other week I have some new bug that completely knocks me on my ass. I'm missing so much work, behind on everything, and just overwhelmed and miserable. When healthy, I feel like balancing everything is really not bad and I'm very happy, but being healthy never lasts long. How do you deal with this? Considering a nanny but baby seems to really like daycare so I'm hesitant to change anything.