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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to take child with chicken pox to playground?

53 replies

Liz79 · 29/01/2011 19:15

Dd is 3. Should I keep her away from the swings etc? It is generally quiet with not many other people, she doesn't go near anyone.

OP posts:

Original poster

Liz79 · 29/01/2011 19:48

Thursday night. She was at nursery on Wednesday - half the class were absent with it.

OP posts:

purepurple · 29/01/2011 19:51

Then you should stay away from other people till wednesday, really.
Recently, a 10 year old boy at the local school was taken to hospital from school because he suffered a stroke as a result of exposure to chicken pox.

Kendodd · 29/01/2011 19:53

Chicken pox...what to do...I am torn between wanting my children to get it, hope for the best, and get it over with. Or try my best to avoid it all the time (their whole childhood) and risk them getting it when they are older and it is usually worse or worse still when they are pregnant.

I know loads of people are going to come on and tell me I'm mad to take the slightest risk with chicken pox... but for most children it is mild and it is very risky when older especially in pregnancy. I know you can get it more than once, but that is very rare, I think?

LadyBiscuit · 29/01/2011 19:54

purepurple - that's not right. It's 24 hours after the spots have all crusted over

suzikettles · 29/01/2011 19:54

Dh took ds to the park on the last day that he was possibly infectious, but the reason he took him was that it was pouring with rain so absolutely noone about. He just got him head to toe in waterproofs and went puddle jumping (was summer).

Otherwise, not worth the risk of passing it on.

Original poster

Liz79 · 29/01/2011 19:55

Thanks for all your help. I knew cp can sometimes be nasty but I'm shocked by some of your stories. Hope everyones relatives are ok. You wouldn't know there was anything wrong with dd except for the spots.

OP posts:

jellybeans · 29/01/2011 19:55

Please stay away from people. It would be very selfish to go out and about where they are vunerable people. I am sick of seeing people with pox in libraries etc. When mine had it, I stayed in for weeks (they got it one after the other). If forced to go out I would stay away and put a raincover on (if in a pram). usually I stayed in the car and watched older DCs went to school on their own or asked another mum I knew outside school to take them in.

suzikettles · 29/01/2011 19:56

Kendodd - you're actually most infectious a couple of days before the spots come out so your dcs will almost certainly be exposed without you knowing it.

purepurple · 29/01/2011 19:58

No ladybiscuit, its 5 days from the beginning of the rash
see here

ziva · 29/01/2011 19:58

i had it as an adult and it developed into pneumnia (common enough complication in adult CP)it was horrible.i was never so sick.i avoided it for two pregnancies which was so stressful,and got preg just after i caught CP so had to wait to see if the virus had affected the baby.thankfully she is fine.

DirtyMartini · 29/01/2011 20:01

Don't go anywhere that you might meet anyone at all.

We did go in the car to a deserted beach when DS had it though. We let him run on the sand near the water and if anyone else had been about at all, we would have seen in time to avoid by at least 50 yards. But there was nobody, and at this time of year I expect it would be the same; if you are anywhere near a beach you could try it.

whydobirdssuddenlyappear · 29/01/2011 20:07

I think that HPA advice is on the low side, to be honest. They say 5 days off school, but once you count the inevitable weekend in there, you're looking at at least 7 days. According to the NHS website, it's till all the spots have crusted over, which they say is 'normally' around 5 days from the start of the rash, and according to Dr William Sears (Baby book author) it's 24 hours after all spots have scabbed.
DS has got it at the moment. He's had a rash since Monday. He's still got fluid filled blisters, because he's had a bad dose. DD had it 2 weeks before. Her rash was scabbed over within a week. Perhaps the length of time it takes them to scab over depends on the severity of it.
Anyway. We've been stuck indoors for 3 weeks now. It'll be at least another week, too, as DS is still suppurating and now I have a breakthrough dose too, so I'm contagious.
House of plague...

whydobirdssuddenlyappear · 29/01/2011 20:08

Oh, point of my 1st para (which I forgot to put in) was that, given the potential severity for the pregnant, very young, very old and immunocompromised, I'd take the longest possible period of isolation (ie 24 hours after scabbing). I couldn't live with myself if I passed it on to someone who had serious complications as a result.

Northernlurker · 29/01/2011 20:10

Chicken pox is contagious through close contact. You can take her out but you need to keep her away from close contact with people. No buses etc.
Best thing would be to go to the park in rain in wellies and waterproofs - nobody else will be out then!

Most likely we are all frquently exposed to CP as children are infectious before it's obvious. It's not the case therefore that by staying in you can significantly reduce the risk in the community. It's high anyway. For the sake of your own conscience though and to avoid getting toasted on here it's best to stay in as much as possible till the spost dry up.

LadyBiscuit · 29/01/2011 20:49

5 days after the appearance of the rash was the height of spottiness for my DS. There is absolutely no way I could have taken him to his CM - she would have told me to sod off (and quite rightly I think).

purepurple · 29/01/2011 21:02

ladybiscuit, I work in childcare and we accept spotty children, as long as they have followed the exclusion period as stated by the HPA. Your childminder should do the same, surely?

poptyping1 · 29/01/2011 21:13

A child I work with has an illness and if he cought chicken pox he would be hospitalized for weeks...

justcarrots29 · 29/01/2011 21:15

I have read a lot of information about CP too and have always heard that the spots need to be scabbed over because the liquid inside them is contagious. This is usually 5 days as the HPA suggest but not always. In fact my daughter was in for 2 weeks because she was coming out in lots of fresh batches of blisters for 10 days and was very poorly. 5 days at a minimum really.

portaloo · 29/01/2011 21:27

I'm glad I read this thread. My DD came out in chicken pox spots a week ago on friday (21st Jan) and now the spots have turned into little scabs, some of which have come off (whether due to her scratching/picking at them or not I don't know). There are no blisters at all, just red marks.

I am still worried about going out though, and don't know what to do about nursery next week since it's only been 8 days since spots first appeared. :o(

I've got friends telling me to keep DD in until every spot has vanished, that way I can be sure she isn't contagious anymore.

Cabin fever is rife in my house.

portaloo · 29/01/2011 21:29

Should have stressed that DD still has quite a few scabs. Some of which are on her face.

suzikettles · 29/01/2011 21:39

Once the spots have all scabbed then you're no longer infectious. It can take ages to go away - ds has still got a red mark on his back from one and that was months ago.

crisptart · 29/01/2011 21:45

Seriously? No you bloody well shouldn't! FFS. If you child has chicken pox it's highly contagious and a danger to others.
Have you even thought (or do you even care) about others such as pregnant mothers whose unborn babies could suffer for example?
Chicken pox is only for a few weeks or so, surely you can manage to not go to playgrounds for that amount of time!
So yes, if you're serious YBVVVVVVVVU.

LadyBiscuit · 29/01/2011 21:48

I wouldn't have felt comfortable taking him out if his spots hadn't scabbed over - I have a number of immuno-suppressed people in my life which probably makes me more cautious than most. The advice seems to vary, and with something like chicken pox, personally I'd err on the side of caution.

whydobirdssuddenlyappear · 29/01/2011 21:49

Portaloo I feel your pain. My two have just had it back to back, and now I have it. We'll have been in for a month. Just hoping the weather's ok tomorrow so we can go to some deserted marshland in the car and at least get some fresh air in a place where there won't be any people...

rasta · 29/01/2011 21:53

I am pregnant and also have no immunity against chicken pox. I'd be in very hot water if I came across it now, for my sake and my unborn child.

I'd be pretty pissed off if someone knowingly brought their infected child out and risked infecting others TBH.

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