Taking DD out with hand foot and mouth

[Geneshish]

I'm pretty sure she has it. She is fine in herself, no temperature.
NHS advice says she is fine to go back to nursery but they have a policy that she isnt allowed back until scabs have healed. Fair enough.

So do I need to keep her in the house for the next few days or are we ok to go to the shops/zoo/park if I take careful hygiene measures?

It’s really contagious so although the NHS say you don’t need to isolate them I stayed away from other babies for a week with my DS.

I wouldn’t avoid being outside generally, just direct contact with other children.

Please don't take DC to the park you will infect anyone who touches the same equipment that your DC has

Oh yes, I would definitely keep her away from contact with other kids and areas like playgrounds.

Please be very careful. Not wishing to sound melodramatic but my son almost died from a febrile convulsion brought on by hand, foot and mouth just before his first birthday. It was the scariest few days of my life. Hand, foot and mouth can be really nasty for some people so please for the sake of a few days, keep her away from others.

My DS had it for a few days before we knew what it was
He'd been at school and when we had the diagnosis I rang school to tell them and they said they didn't have a policy re foot and mouth and he could go in. I kept him off anyway as he wasn't eating. His older sibling did not get it.

Stay in for a few days till scabbed over

My nursery say it's fine to go in with it so I wouldn't have put any other restrictions on us when DD had it.

Don’t. I caught it from visiting a friend whose toddler had it - I didn’t touch or even go near the toddler deliberately. I was admitted to hospital and in a great deal of pain, with scores of blisters in my mouth and throat.

As others have said taking her out for some fresh air is fine but I'd avoid other kids etc. Both me and DD have had it and it can be really nasty and painful for some people

It's highly contagious before spots appear, which is why the NHS has no exclusion period.

We carried on as normal, though kept away from babies. Our nursery has no exclusion policy for it and encouraged us to continue DD settling in sessions as she was well in herself.

And yes, it's particularly hideous for adults.

@SybilDisobedience

I caught it off my DS and can concur it’s horrendous in adults. My hands felt like they had been through a blender and were swollen. Had the same as you with blisters in my mouth. Had norovirus a few weeks after and that was preferable, as was childbirth!

For God’s sake, just don’t

@TriangleBingoBongo. Isn’t it nice when you hear someone else has had the same horrendous illness . No one believed me when I said I had what is typically a children’s disease. It took me ages to forgive my mate with the toddler - only in my head, though, I knew it was an irrational viewpoint

@TriangleBingoBongo @Sybil Another adult sufferer here too! I got it in December and my hands were covered in boils. I’d never experienced pain like it in my life. And my left hand is scarred from it now.