Number of Antibiotic Doses in 1 Year?

My kids were in daycare, so they got everything coming and going. Strep, colds that led to ear infections, colds that led to sinus infections. They took antibiotics a lot for the first 2 years of their lives. Blech.

On the plus side, they have great immunities now and rarely get sick.

In my opinion, they are on antibiotics often when they are Kindergarten aged and below. It decreases as they get older.

We aim for my 10 year old to be on antibiotics 0 times per year. She was on them once this year. I wish I could say that for her when she was 3.5 years old.

My daughter once had a horribly infected throat. The doctor told us regardless if it was strep or not my daughter should still take an antibiotic because it looked like a bacterial infection. Just because it wasn't strep doesn't mean an antibiotic wasn't needed. Is your child doing better? I find antibiotics work very quickly when needed.
FYI...My sister was once hospitalized because her throat swelled so much it was effecting her breathing. She had mono.

Did the doctor give a diagnosis after the strep test came back negative?

Just because your son doesn't have strep does not mean he doesn't have an infection. I had a doctor take a look at my throat once and tell me that it was either strep or tonsillitis. She said that if I wanted a strep test she would give me one but that I needed antibiotics either way. I opted to skip the test and just take the meds.

Our doctor absolutely does not over prescribe, so when she recommends antibiotics, I take them.

You can't really compare your families health issues with anyone else's. My son is 13 and is prone to strep/bronchitis every year so he's get them once or twice a year. And this just started a couple years ago before that he was never sick. My daughter is 16 and I think she got a UTI once back in 4th grade and that's the only time since she was a baby. Some people probably have consistently sick kids and/or run them to the doc for every little thing so not sure any of us answering this will help you at all. Good luck.

The kids in my family who have tubes probably had 2-3 courses of antibiotics during the winter at that age. They were also in daycare.

After tubes, we went to hardly needing them at all. And then once they hit school, way down - usually not at all. Their tubes have fallen out too - it's more that they get everything in daycare.

It depends on how sick you are.
Our son had pneumonia and rsv as a baby - so for awhile it seemed like he was on a lot of medications - but he was definitely sick and not taking meds was not an option.
The poor kid had to breathe!
It got better as he got older.
When he was not quite 4 his tonsils swelled up till they were almost an obstruction.
They were not infected but they interfered with eating, drinking, swallowing anything, breathing and sleeping.
Right after his 4th birthday we had his tonsils and adenoids out.
Best thing we ever did.
He hardly got sick at all after that and now rarely gets sick at all (he's 17 now).

So your son hasn't got strep?
Thanks goodness for that!
He might still have any number of other bacterial infections.
I wouldn't go so far as to say he's taking the antibiotic for 'nothing'.

mine were on a LOT due to chronic ear infections. in fact, their pediatrician put them on 'prophylactic antibiotics' for a while, insisting they wouldn't raise their resistance.
even then it sounded super wack to me and i took them off after a while.
it's really futile to compare your kids with 'the average kid' because chronic conditions and burgeoning pharmaceutical industry make 'average' very, very disparate.
khairete
S.

Just like JustNeedSomePrivacy my daughter, my daughter has a single ear infection when she was two. Nothing the next twenty years...knock on wood!!

My two youngest are 10 and 11 and antibiotic protocol was just changing to be more conservative when they were babies. The 11 year old had something ridiculous like 10 ear infections in 8 months so he was on round after round of antibiotics until he was 18 months old. Since then, maybe 4 more if that. The 10 year old maybe 4 times total. Neither of them has been sick in years.

My oldest is 17 and back then, they used to prescribe antibiotics for everything (this was back when we were encouraged to use cold medicine as well). It's been years since his last antibiotic but from birth through kindergarten I would say a conservative estimate would be 20 or more prescriptions...ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, scarlet fever, strep...you name it, he had it. They were all in daycare the same amount of time so I think it's not a coincidence that he's the one I stopped breastfeeding the earliest (12 months, with lots of supplementing with formula), fed solids at 4 months and fed commercial, processed baby and toddler food. That's just what we did back then, and I think he's just one of those people who could have benefited greatly from the stronger gut health that comes from eating primarily whole, natural foods. I breastfed the younger two much longer, held off on solids until they were 7 months old and fed them very little commercial baby food (none for my youngest, actually, he had all real food) and they don't have anywhere near the allergies my oldest has and they just have better immune systems and stronger overall health.

My 11 yr old has not been on antibiotics in several years. Granted, she is a healthy kid. But, or pediatrician is also very conservative with antibiotics. We share his philosophy of not giving them unless we know it's a bacterial infection. I don't believe in giving them "just in case".

My son is almost 12 and has been on antibiotics twice. Once when he was 2 or 3 for an ear infection. Once in 3rd grade for strep throat. My daughter who is 6...has she ever been on them? I can't remember. Maybe once when she was very young. I am lucky they are healthy...but I also tend to wait to see how they will do before going to the doctor. I just jinxed myself typing that. I don't think you should worry about it...4 times that is about once a year. If they are needed they are needed and that's not bad compared to what some kids go through. My nephew had so many ear problems and ended up with multiple surgeries. He was on antibiotics very often as a young child. Finally now at age 10 he is doing better.

My son (now 24) was on antibiotics probably 7 or 8 times (or more) from April to January when he was just an infant.... he ended up with MANY ear infections (and repeat antibiotics), and even ended up with ear infections while he was ON antibiotics.....

If they are needed, they are needed. He is now 24, 6 ft tall, and I don't think he was negatively impacted by them...... on the other hand, if he hadn't had the antibiotics, he might have ended up with much more serious ear problems. (He had tubes put in when he was 13 months old... and still got ear infections.)

I realize it may seem extreme for him to be on antibiotics 4 times, but if the doctor thinks it is best, why do parents constantly question a doctor's wisdom and experience? Do you have the medical training to know whether a child needs antibiotics?

I would much rather trust the doctor's experience and knowledge than random people on the internet......

Welcome to mamapedia!!

My soon to be 16 year old has been on ONE antibiotic this 12 month period.
My 13 year old has NOT been on ANY antibiotics in this 12 month period.

When they were that age? I tried REALLY hard NOT to put them on antibiotics. I wanted their bodies to be able to get strong and fight. For ear infections we used the drops. My 13 year old had tubes in when he was 1. After that, he didn't have ear infections often.
He had strep twice in one year when he was 10. It was REALLY bad the second time so the doctor recommended tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy as he was getting a lot of sinus infections - that was 3 years ago - to be honest - he hasn't really been sick since - maybe a stomach virus but nothing serious.

I would have a serious talk with my pediatrician and find out why he's pushing so many antibiotics.

My kids are 10, 7, and 5. They've each been on antibiotics once or twice. The last time was our 7 year old and it was over a year ago. I really think some kids are more prone to ear infections and strep--luckily, my kids are not.

My daughter is 9 and has been prescribed antibiotics twice in her life, we didn't need or use them either time.

Our doctor doesn't give them that often.

my son is 5 he had one round of abx when he was 3
my dd is nearly 4 and has had 2 rounds, one during infancy and once when she was 2

My children are 8 and 5. The elder has had antibiotics three times in her entire life. The younger one, twice. Thankfully they seem to have healthy immune systems.

IF both kids see the same doc and that doc doesn't push antibiotics on the 2 year old then perhaps all those years of training have made it where they see something they feel truly needs treatment.

If the doc doesn't put your other kiddo on them all the time then something must be going on.

I think you need to look for a new doctor. My kids were never put on antibiotics unless there was a very specific reason, and a positive diagnosis.

My 3 1/2 year old daughter has been on one full dose (10 days) for UTI when she was about 2 1/2 years old. My 13 month old has never been on antibiotics.