To think it’s so selfish to take sick kids out in public places

I have a lot of sympathy but coughs and colds last for weeks, if you didn’t do things with them you would miss so much.
the Christmas activities cost a huge amount and need to be booked well in advance often/ dates can’t be changed so can see why they don’t want to cancel unless really necessary.

Honestly my kid has had a snotty nose since she started nursery in September. If we did as you asked we'd never leave the house.

To be fair . I wouldn't keep mine at home with just a cold , anything more I would but running nose and streaming eyes I wouldn't as basically we'd be at home all winter.
If it's any consolation I semi work in this are abs the flu peak this year is estimated to happen 3 weeks earlier than usual around the first week of jam so hopefully we're nearing the worst of it.

Honestly don’t see what the big deal is, it should just be normalised in society as common courtesy, on public transport etc. I guess it still doesn’t stop the asymptomatic spread though ie before people develop symptoms. Might make people who need to avoid risk of getting sick feel a bit less worried sitting in front of someone on a train who’s coughing. Just wear a mask indoors if you’re symptomatic, it’s not a hardship.

Medical grade masks do work to protect the wearer though.

West Aussie here. We are encouraged to keep sick children home from school and stay away from workplace when unwell. Not a fan of the UK approach.

Some of us are still wearing them.

Yes, but at rather lower rates. Which is a good thing

And yet people in Japan still catch colds and flu….

The good masks (FFP2 and better) do work both ways and are what you need if it's what you're breathing out or in that matters most.

To catch a spray of droplets at source from a sneeze or cough and to stop those droplets going all over surfaces, the sick person wearing one is best.

I look hideous when I've got a bad cold. I would happily wear a mask around Tesco out of vanity alone!

There is no way you can tell how sick another child is so in that fact YABU . e.g. you say red cheeks but that can be a symptom of a lot of things not just fever. Just wiping your nose too much gives you a red face, the child snuggled down might not have slept the night before so is tired, given Calpol is in now way a reflection of how ill or what illness a child has.

I'd take my children out with coughs/colds etc. I've been known to give Calpol for a fever then go out. But I have a DD who throws a fever when she isn't even sick.
If we are well enough to work / go to school etc then we are well enough to go anywhere. If I stopped everything when my children got a cough or cold we wouldn't do anything from Oct to Easter every year.

9 times out of 10 things are contagious before you even show symptoms so the seemingly health person next to you could be infecting you, not the visible sick person.

Yes, I have this - one month today! I am presuming I am no longer contagious...

Yes, I took my daughter to the theatre on Sunday and it was absolutely full of sick children coughing their guts up. Several looking very unwell and sleeping through most of the performance. This is a show we have been to every year for about 7 years (apart from during Covid) and I do not remember it being like this before. Both of us have come down with colds today. Thanks, selfish people.

Face masks don’t work by preventing you from catching the virus, they work by preventing the person who has the virus from spreading it. So it is the selfish people taking the sick children out that should be making their children wear them in this scenario.

People are becoming increasingly selfish & only care about themselves & their family. They don’t even think about who they might be spreading their germs to. It was interesting on holiday in Japan where anyone who was ill wore a mask to stop it spreading to others. A great idea, but most people here are far too selfish to do it.

YANBU but you'll get pages of people justifying this because of their own wants and needs. People are very selfish these days.

It's tricky really, because wherever you, especially at this time of year, there will be sick people (obviously so and those not so obvious). I never took mine to events when they were clearly unwell, purely because I feel that it's really shit to drag a kid somewhere when they'd be much better off at home. The money's been spent whether you go or not, it's just a matter of what you prioritise.

Overall, YANBU.

Take this from someone who usually does let these things work her up - don't waste your precious energy on getting angry about it. Instead, accept the fact that people are gross and selfish. They will take their kids to places they know they'll infect others, just to get their 'money's worth'. I think, if you're going to do that, at least do everything you can to stop yourself/the kid being a superspreader. I.e. use lots of tissues to cover up coughs and sneezes.

Initially, I did think YABU because it's a part of life in the winter. It is what it is unfortunately. I think the real issue here is inconsiderate people. Calpol'ing your kid at an event is ridiculous. Stay home. OP, your annoyance is justified.

My youngest gets red cheeks when he has a cold because he constantly wipes his sleeve across his face (he's 2) so he looks more ill than he is. My eldest has had a cough for about 8 weeks now, is otherwise fine.

OP do you realise you use the phrase "visibly running a fever" repeatedly.

Do you know what a fever is? It's a prolonged raised temperature, and its not typically assessed by observing visually.

You literally cannot say those children were definitely very ill. Children cough & sneeze a lot. They are often pale in winter. At this time of year the weather yoyos between freezing & mild amd its quite common for children to be overdressed & get too hot, thus the red cheeks & bright eyes. Its exciting and there's a lot going on, children have often been kept up late & are exhausted.

Oh and don't get me started on runny noses becaise my kids seem to have them all winter and are perfectly well. They are just prone to catarrh and rhinitis.

near very obviously sick kids constantly coughing and visibly poorly with bright red cheeks/clearly running a fever.

You cannot bloody tell

One of my DC coughs a lot. Asthmatic.

We went to the theatre this week, my DH insisted on our two both being bundled up in thermal vest, tshirt, thick christmas jumper. It was the end of a long day, they were shattered, they were too warm so yep, bright red cheeks, looked tired and dopey. They were absolutely fine just ready for their beds when we got home.

Feverish children can often be pale actually not red cheeked.

As pp have said, the infectious period is often before or very early on in an illness. Eg a family might go out with two apparently well children, one of whom may start feeling ill later on, by which point they may have already passed on things to those around them.

I’m immunocompromised (cancer) and don’t expect everyone else’s world to stop turning because of me. YABU OP.

This.