Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think they should have told us?

45 replies

muffintopsausage · 22/04/2017 08:32

Picked up DD at tea time from nursery to see that 3 kids have chicken pox. The tail end of it but they have it and have been in for the duration.

Ok parents still need childcare when their kid is ill but couldn't the nursery have at least informed other parents?!.

I asked one of the staff and she said 'oh yea, it's making the rounds'.

I thought kids are supposed to be kept off until the spots have healed over?!

My daughter is currently feeling like shit and we are expecting the spots soon Angry.

AIBU to think they should have told parents?! FFS they put out a email notice, a poster on front door and told us inside when we dropped kids off, stating there were nits going around a few months ago but they don't think to inform us about this?

OP posts:
Wando1986 · 22/04/2017 08:35

YABU. Same risk as getting on a bus or going to the swimming pool really. Get your kid vaccinated if it's a big deal to you. Just a thought.

BarneyRumbleton · 22/04/2017 08:37

By the time the spots come out it's too late. The incubation period is two weeks, so they needed to tell you a fortnight ago if you wanted to avoid it.

QuinoaKeen · 22/04/2017 08:38

Yanbu! That's really bad.

Haint · 22/04/2017 08:40

It's until the spots have scabbed over not healed. Waiting for them to heal could mean keeping them in quarantine for a month or more

Sirzy · 22/04/2017 08:42

Yanbu.

They shouldn't be in nursery but if the nursery is daft enough to accept them then they should let parents know and not charge them if they make the decision to keep their child off!

Jakeyboy1 · 22/04/2017 08:43

YANBU. Normal policy is exclusion until 48 hours after last scab dries.

flumpybear · 22/04/2017 08:43

My kids weren't allowed in Nirsery til the spots scabbed over!
Saying that they picked it up from a trip to centre parcs I think, it had been through nursery umpteen times and they didn't get it there

Snap8TheCat · 22/04/2017 08:44

YANBU.

Incubation and infectious period are not the same.

Chicken pox is only infectious around 48 hours before the spots appear until they crust over. If that happens at the weekend there is no reason to say the OP's child would have got it.

In the EYFS statutory guidance settings are supposed to prevent the spread of infection and accepting a child with chicken pox is a huge no no.

Original poster
muffintopsausage · 22/04/2017 08:46

The part I'm pissed off at if the fact they go apeshit over Nits. But chicken pox. Literally something that can be a very high risk to many people they didnt even mention!

I'd much rather her get it young so she can avoid it better when she's older - I've seen what shingles can do.

I'd have just liked to have known.

OP posts:
Original poster
muffintopsausage · 22/04/2017 08:48

Thank you, least I know I'm not over reacting.

OP posts:
Witchend · 22/04/2017 08:49

Children are fine to come back still showing spots. It used to be they could come back 5 days after the spots first appeared when mine were little. They still looked dreadful, but weren't infectious.

GlitterGlue · 22/04/2017 08:55

Are you sure they've been in the whole time?

RainbowChasing · 22/04/2017 08:57

How do you know the kids have been in for the duration of their illness? You only noticed they were spotty once they'd scabbed over, presumably when they returned to nursery after being kept off during their infectious period.

KateDaniels2 · 22/04/2017 08:59

Ds went back when his had scabbed over. But he still had some for 2 months after that. All scabbed over.

It isnt until they have healed. Ita scabbed. So the kids could have been out of the infection period for ages

Littledidsheknow · 22/04/2017 09:00

That's terrible.
As a PP pointed out, chickenpox could be very dangerous for some people with various health conditions. The toddlers may be cared for by older relatives or people with suppressed immune systems. Even healthy adults can be very very ill with chickenpox.
We had to cancel our Christmas holiday to my DPs a few years ago when DD woke up with chickenpox on the day of trave,l as my mum has never had it and would be risky for her because of a health condition she has.

Littledidsheknow · 22/04/2017 09:01

YANBU, by the way!

out4thecount · 22/04/2017 09:02

I'd much rather her get it young so she can avoid it better when she's older - I've seen what shingles can do.

I'm not sure I understand this. Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus. ie you can only get shingles if you've previously been infected with Chickenpox.

I agree that it's bad form to not inform you, and usual policy is to keep children off until the spots have healed over despite them having been infectious for a while prior to the spots appearing.

BeyondThePage · 22/04/2017 09:02

I'd much rather her get it young so she can avoid it better when she's older - I've seen what shingles can do

I don't get this bit sorry - shingles is a re-activation of the chicken pox virus - if you have had chicken pox, the virus can remain inactive in the nerve cells. Getting chicken pox early will not stop you getting shingles later.

FriendTillTheEnd · 22/04/2017 09:04

It's only still contagious if the spots still have a blister head and are 'active'. Once they've dried up/scabbed over, they are no longer contagious.

If they are in nursery at this stage, it's fine.

So you might well be over reacting.

Littledidsheknow · 22/04/2017 09:08

So you might well be over reacting Hmm

The nursery at the very least could have informed the parents of the outbreak, even if they thought the children were safe to return.
It would have given people the chance to be cautious - e.g. not visit an older relative, or plan emergency childcare in case their own child gets ill, just in case.

emmyrose2000 · 22/04/2017 09:11

YANBU

It's very irresponsible of the daycare not to inform parents, and equally irresponsible of the parents to send their kids to daycare with chicken pox.

Doyoumind · 22/04/2017 09:13

Are you certain these children have been in for every single day when they were ill? Sounds unlikely to me. If they have scabs they aren't infectious. If you had known what would you have done? Kept dc at home? Nits is a bit different as if it's not sorted by everyone children can get continually reinvested.

Shakirasma · 22/04/2017 09:13

I'm the first to be annoyed when people don't take CP seriously as I'm a parent and governor at a special school with many vulnerable students.

However in this case I think YABU. CP is not contagious after all the spots have scabbed over and it is expected for children to return to school or nursery at this point. The scabs can hang around for several days or weeks and there is no need to quarantine.

I think you are confused about shingles too. You cannot catch shingles, it's a reactivation of the chicken pox virus within your own body and you must have had CP previously for that to happen.

BusyBeez99 · 22/04/2017 09:16

I'm currently on holiday and there is a child with 'wet spots' still in the pool........

Shakirasma · 22/04/2017 09:20

And while it might have been nice for the nursery to inform parents that there had been some children off with CP, the reality is that it is always doing the rounds. In schools, at the park, in the supermarket.

I was once told that CP is one of the most contagious diseases there is. It's airborne and to contagious you could catch it from somebody in the next aisle of the supermarket without setting eyes on them.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.