DS (4 years) has had a shocker of a week - he spent last Monday night in hospital with an asthma attack brought on by a cold, only to have it develop into pneumonia on the weekend. He has improved alot since starting antibiotics but he has been so naughty the last few days, culminating in his kindy teacher having a word with me after school because he behaved so badly at kindy today.

I am hoping this behaviour is due to his being sick and having a disruptive and unsettled week. I even put a note in his kindy diary to let the teacher know that he may still be off colour and not his usual self but when I spoke to her she didn't seem to think that had anything to do with it.

Has anyone else noticed their child's behaviour gets a bit worse after illness? I'm anxious about sending him to kindy on Friday now in case he plays up again and we have a bigger problem on our hands.

Thanks for reading,
SS

Absolutely. DD at the moment caught a mild cold, she only really has a snuffly nose but she's turned into horror child lol. She's just been really quick to 'crack it' if something doesnt go her way, she has very little patience at the moment.

But I guess it's normal, we'd probably react the same way if we were feeling seedy and kept having do to things we didnt want to do!

Amanda

Absolutely!!!

DD had a major major tantie at the ECN clinic the other day when I went in for her 2 year old weight and height check and the nurse was all for giving me brochures on mental health issues in toddlers . I took her to the docs that afternoon and found out she had severe tonsillitis.

Poor love just was not up for getting out into the world that day.

I would imagine your son felt exactly the same. Maybe keep him at home (if you can) for the next couple of days until he feels good again and recovered from his ordeal.

yes for sure!!!!! and if i kept her home everytime after an asthma attack she had she will never go to school. I try to understand and give her some space since i know shes sick but oh boy its hard!

Yes, yes, yes!

My dd was in hospital late last week with asthma and her behaviour was a nightmare for the entire week prior. I have since had friends say that they know their kids are getting sick when they start playing up.

Without a doubt!!

For sure!

When Josh gets run down his exzema flares up and he gets agro! At the moment his exzema is the worst it's been in a year and his fuse is very short.

He's been so bad that I've had to growl at swimming and football training this week. This is a child who is usually very quiet and well behaved in public!

Not sure if this helps but have you looked at whats in the antibiotics he's on (guessing he's still on them to get over the pneumonia)? I don't mean the active ingredients. The inactive stuff like colours and flavours and preservatives.

My DS can be a nightmare when sick depending on what antibiotic he's on. After DD (8mths) started screaming every time she had children's panadol I started looking into the flavours they put in kids medicines. Depending on the medication theres some pretty nasty stuff they use for flavouring and colouring.

One pink antibiotic DS was on not long ago resulted in no day time naps, tantrums, hitting, yelling and screaming... you name it. It was horrid. Even after we swapped him to something else the behaviour lasted another two days. The only one we've had so far that hasnt been a problem is amoxil (and it still has questionable stuff in it).

Of course being sick can turn them into nightmares just by itself but I've noticed the antibiotics definitely contribute to my kids behaviour.

In one word: absolutely!

most definitely. my mum even remembers when we were kids. used to hate it when we were sick but hated it more for the first few days when we got well

Totally! DS has croup and tonsilitis atm ( he is 4.5 years ) . He is taking Augmentin Duo and Redipred. Not a good combination I say!

Lou

Does the teacher have her own children? She would realise it can take a while to get over being sick. Just like adults.

And as another PP said, the antibiotics can affect behaviour as well. One antibiotic my daughter was on made her a bit agressive and uncooperative.