To think its wrong to try and make your child ill for your convenience?

[LittleMissGerardButlerfan]

I can't believe there are people who would willingly let their child catch something for their convenience like chicken pox, because it suits them to have it then!

Yes children catch things, and it's inconvenient sometimes with work etc. but am I wrong to think its mean to deliberately expose your child to an illness?

These people have always existed, OP - I remember being sent to a chickenpox party when I was a child and all my friends visiting when I had mumps

< the fact that I hadn't been vaccinated gives you a clue as to how long ago it was! >

I've never done this, but I assumed that the rationale was to get some illnesses out of the way as kids, as they're often more serious for adults. I don't think it's about convenience.

As the poster above says,but the thought process behind it is not for convenience its something to do with attempting to build natural immunity.

But yes IMO it's not good

Couldn't you have said this on the thread it's obviously about?

Thread about a thread. I wondered how long it would be...

I had lots of friends come around when I had mumps too and have only just now made the connection!!

Friend of mine yesterday was talking about her DD2 who has never had chicken pox. She's going to get a vaccination at huge expense because friend does not want her DD to suffer and it gets more dangerous the older a child gets, I think. This girl is 7. So I'm not really sure I think it's unreasonable of parents to make sure their children go through a rite of passage of childhood at a particular time, or by a particular age....

As the ubove poster said, nothing to do with convenience, it's about the illness being less serious for children. With chicken pox the body builds immunity once it has been caught once - making it a lot less likely to be caught again. chicken pox can be very severe for adults but children normally handle it a lot better, with less risk of complications. That's the rationale. Don't think I would send dd out specifically to catch it but can see why people do.

I remember my mother sending my sister and myself to see friends with german measles and telling us to get them to breathe all over us. Neither if us ever caught it.

This will get deleted because MNHQ don't allow threads about threads.

But, chicken pox is generally thought of as a mild illness that it is best to get out of the way.

That's despite it being dangerous for pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, people taking steroids (eg for asthma), people on certain medications...

and of course, it's a mild illness with some itchy spots, a minor inconvenience, something to get out of the way when you're a kid cos it does no real harm then, right?

Well, unless you get toxic shock syndrome, sepsis, pneumonia or encephalitis.

Why start a new thread? Why didn't you comment on the actual thread? Threads about threads are against MN Talk Guidelines.

It's only dangerous to pregnant women right at the beginning, or right at the end (a friend caught it on the plane over to stay with us, when I was 7 months).

I went to a chicken pox party when I was little, once infected I got time off from school to watch tv and eat crisps and chocolate (never allowed usually) and never had to worry about getting it again. Chicken pox is not something you want as an adult, especially during pregnancy, yet it's relatively harmless for a child, so it makes sense to infect them when they're young.

I have had CP more than once. So have many people I know.

"relatively harmless" .... I realise they are rare, but there are some "relatively" severe and life changing complications of CP that can occur even in healthy children.

I couldn't cope with the guilt of knowing I'd deliberately exposed my child to infection albeit with the best of intentions, if they then went on to develop those complications.

Take the argument on the original thread. Don't start another.

I remember my mum getting chicken pox when she caught it off us as kids (she was in her 30s) and then my auntie and uncle also caught it. They were all so ill they couldn't get out of bed for about 3 weeks.

Worry about yourself, it's ultimately a parents decision whether they expose their child to chicken pox isn't it? Are you saying I should take my 2 out of nursery everytime there's a case of chicken pox there? By sending them I'm exposing them to it potentially?!?

Back before immunisations, these kinds of parties were very common. My mum told me all about her german measles party during the war.

I don't think there is any need for them these days.

When I was little I was sent to a sleepover at a friends who had CP and also shared a room with my sister who had it twice. I never caught it.

Makes me nervous as hell now as I could potentially have it as an adult.

having chicken pox is on guarantee that you will not get it again one oe mine has had it three times ,none oe them mild

I disagree with the principle but I don't think it's about convenience

Baby there are people at your nursery who deliberately send children in when they know they have chicken pox?!

When DS caught chicken pox naturally he narrowly missed having to go to hospital because of the effect it had on his asthma.

There was a thread here earlier this year about a poor young boy who was left critically ill thanks to chicken pox - if anyone is considering deliberately exposing their children (not that that is what the poster in question did) or things its just a mild disease I suggest searching in children's health for that thread.

To set out to make your childen poorly makes no sense to me!

Sirzy, it's very rare for chickenpox to cause serious complications in small children. Very unfortunate and scary when it does, of course.

I didn't take ds to a chickenpox party but I was glad he caught it when he was two. Although the itching is miserable, it's far better to have a mild experience when you are young rather than a severe incapacitating illness with much higher risks of complications when you are an adult.

As for it being dangerous to some other people, indeed, that's why you are supposed to keep your child away from public places and anyone who hasn't already had it. Highly irresponsible to take a pox-ridden child out and about. I wouldn't have dreamed of it.

of course its rare but it does happen and why would any parent want to deliberatly expose a child to an illness that could have serious complications? Yes most will get it as part of childhood anyway but that is different to a parent deciding they want their child to be ill.