Soft play with hand, foot and mouth - yay or nay?

[FoxtrotSkarloey]

No idea what the done thing is. DD has hand, foot and mouth (checked by the doc that it's nothing more serious). She has four spots on her chin and no other spots or symptoms. PHE guidance is that there isn't an exclusionary period and nursery are quite happy to have her still go in.

We're due to go to a soft play party on Saturday. Would you still go?

[ButterflyAway]

You keep her at home… why would you want to give other kids it?!? You’re not even allowed to put them into school or nursery with HFM so no, you don’t take them to sodding soft play

[Littlejayx]

Definitely not!

[Tightsonmyboat]

The nursery are completely negligent here by allowing her in with HFM

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

Seriously?

[bangonthedoorgroovychick]

Absolutely not! Why on earth would nursery say that's ok?

[Shmithecat2]

No, you shouldn't go! I can't believe you've even asked that question . Your child may only be experiencing mild symptoms, but that doesn't mean that any child they might infect will get off as lightly.

[FoxtrotSkarloey]

I've asked the question because she is still allowed to go to nursery and I've not been in this situation before. It isn't negligent if they are following the PHE rules.

Thanks for the kind, helpful and constructive replies

[AnyFucker]

Are you kidding ?

[mumsie8]

This is why i never take my children to soft play. Ever.

[Perching]

What replies were you expecting then? 🙄

[minipie]

Ok people are being harsh, I can see why you’re confused if nursery is still letting her go.

I wouldn’t be taking her to the party though. HFM can be really miserable especially if older kids and adults get it.

[2lsinllama]

NHS recommend staying away from school/nursery until they feel better and it’s not a notifiable disease so technically you could go.
But think how you will feel if/when there is then an outbreak linked to that party?
Personally I wouldn’t even consider it.

[Clymene]

NHS advice is not to stay home:

Staying off school or nursery
Keep your child off school or nursery while they're feeling unwell.
But as soon as they're feeling better, they can go back to school or nursery. There's no need to wait until all the blisters have healed.
Keeping your child away from other children for longer is unlikely to stop the illness spreading.

I have to say I'm surprised!

[Gingernaut]

Nay.

And why is she allowed at nursery with a contagious disease? 😲🙄

[IDontDrinkTea]

Im pregnant and currently have HFM after a parent brought their child to a toddler group with it that I attend with my daughter. Just because your daughter is fine, other people might not be… I feel rotten with it, and my toddler was up until 2am crying in pain

[ButterflyAway]

@Clymene my doctor told me I couldn’t send the kids to school/nursery the multiple times they had it, can’t believe they’ve changed that all three kids felt awful with it, they preferred chicken pox over HFM!

[MeanMrMustardSeed]

V weird that nursery are letting her go. I wouldn’t be at all happy if my child was there. It’s highly contagious. My brother caught it off my DD year’s ago and his nail on one of his affected feet has never recovered! He had days off work he was so unwell with it.

[whatswithtodaytoday]

I suppose the assumption is that all the children at nursery have already been exposed so there's no point in excluding her.

You do not take her to soft play and expose a whole bunch of other children. Please.

[ButterflyAway]

@IDontDrinkTea have you got any oats in the house? Bit of an old wives tale but stick some in a sock and run a bath with the sock over the tap. It seemed to helped my youngest but didn’t do anything for my older two. Hope you’re both feeling better asap

[DJS88]

My daughter caught HFM from soft play, she was covered head to toe and in an out of hospital as it was so severe. So, no - don’t take her, not everyone will be lucky enough to only have it mildly!

[MeanMrMustardSeed]

Reading the official advice above, I seem to remember, that like other illnesses, it’s most contagious before symptoms. Maybe by the time the blisters have come out, crusted over, but not fully healed, it’s no longer contagious. I would definitely keep her off until this point.

[FawnFrenchieMum]

I must admit I was very surprised to see there was no exclusion period for it when my children had it when they were small. Based on that I wouldn't isolate / exclude my child from others.

[HungrySausage]

Yeah I agree that everyone is being harsh in their delivery of their responses, because nurseries do allow children to attend with HFM, but I agree that in this situation I wouldn’t let her go to the party OP.

[omfgimgettingmarried]

OH MY GOD NO!

[PrimeraVez]

I’m really surprised because I thought it was highly contagious - it’s currently going around my son’s class and the school were very clear that affected children should stay home until well again (we are not in the UK)


Honestly, if I was at a soft play with my kids and saw yours had H, F and M, I would be massively unimpressed and leave immediately.