flu...

[nataliecn]

So - a friend of mine's 6 year old son, is constantly getting the "flu".. and unlike her, I actually really worry about it.
Sunday night he was up all night ill, and he's ill again today.. vomiting, upset stomach, etc.
Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?!
I suggested some sort of food allergy merely because if I throw out more serious things, she'll probably get angry at me.

I'm just really worried about the poor kid, because he has the "flu" atleast 3-4 times a month, and there has to be something causing it......

am i over-reacting? or do you agree that there has to be something causing flu like symptoms....

EDIT : I guess one other thing I should mention is he is a preemie, so I'm sure that has some effect with it but should he still be dealing with the flu that frequently?!

 

[Booksmart]

I don't think you are over-reacting. I am not a parent myself but I do study child development in school.

It could be that because he is a premie he just has a weakend immune system. Although a lot of times premie babies grow out of any complications, this could potentially be one of them

I also agree with you that it may be something in his environment. Food is a good one, he also may have some sort of reaction to a chemical used in the home. Weird stuff happens like that and if he was a premie his system may not cope as well.

The only other thing that came to my mind was migranes. As a child I used to get them quite often but my parents didn't know what was the cause of my vomiting (2-3 a month) until I was older and diagnosed with them. They are nasty headaches as many adults know, I just don't think they realize that children can have them too.

I really hope that helped. Also if you do decide to confront the mother please be very careful. I could easily understand that she may not want to recognize that there is a problem with her child and might be offended that you think she doesn't care enough to pay attention to this herself.

Good luck

 

[Erised]

I personally thought of IBS when I read it. It's caused me a lot of trouble during child hood and I often had to stay home with an upset stomach and vomitting. But in all fairness, there's a lot of things it could be.

I can understand why she thinks it's not too bad though, as to her child it's normal. It was for me too when growing up. And to be honest, I'm not sure if you'd find any doctor to take it serious =/

Still, I hope you'll get her to understand there might be something wrong. Something that could easily be treated, like food allergy/intolerance or IBS. It would definitely help the child =)