to be shocked by people taking a child with a temperature to a party and giving them calpol

[happybiggirl]

Message withdrawn

I thought this was going to be about me, had both kids at a party today and dd1 was unwell but was asthma and allergies and I gave her piriton meds when we were there.
I would have left her at home but had nooone to look after her and she had perked up a bit just before we went.If she had had a temp/needed calpol I would have stayed at home or at least taken her home when she needed it.

I agree with DG/Marina and others. I'ld consider a child who was shaking with a temp of 40 to be too ill to attend a party.

DG - re:chickenpox. I was advised by the Nurse Practitioner that it was perfectly acceptable for me to take DS (with chickenpox) food shopping etc.

Doesn't it depend on what was causing the temp and what the child's personality is.
My ds used to get ear infections with every cold and got a temp of 40+ each time, so I'm really used to that level of temp with him. Last month he got an ear infection, had a high temp as a result and then his ear drum perforated. I took him to the doctor who confirmed my diagnosis and the proceeded to tell me that he appeared to have impetigo and strep throat as well. Luckily the antibiotics that were prescribed for the ear infection would also deal with the strep. Ds had a party to go to that evening. I specifically asked the paediatrician what he thought and he said that he didn't see any reason why ds shouldn't attend. So after 2 doses of antibiotic and a dose of ibuprofen (calpol doesn't work on ds) ds happily went off to his party. Given that the doctor said that he wouldn't be contagious and since he had been in class all week with all the party attendees, I couldn't see why not.

Agree DG etc

Having said that I have dosed ds just before we went to a party when he was getting over an illness - and he was fine - I did this with full knowledge and permission of host

I think if you are unsure about whether to take a poorly child / recently poorly then ask the host. They know better than you who else is invited and whether there will be any problems with mild illness etc - for instance children undergoing cancer treatment (the case at a party we were at recently) and things like that

Oh I was going to say I love it when a mum is dosing her child in secret because she doesn't want you to know they are ill in case you get all huffy

you can smell it and I always say "oh doesn't X look a bit peaky today, is she ok?"

impetigo is extremely contagious

am surprised GP had nothing to say about impetigo

agree Twigg, Impetigo is extremely catchable and can be very nasty.

And I can't help feeling, even issues of infectiousness aside, that a child with an ear infection, strep throat, and impetigo, needs to be at home, not dosed up and at a party. They will recover all the quicker if they have been allowed to rest at home IMO.

I understand he had been with other children all week - but that was before the diagnosis of strep throat and impetigo; once you know that what he's got, then it's inappropriate to send him to a party!

I can't get over it, I am really, really surprised that a medical practitioner would say that a child with impetigo could attend a party that day!

I suppose they are the experts - maybe being on the antibiotics means it's ok?

I had suspected that it was impetigo and had been treating it with antibiotic cream as soon as it appeared and it was 3 very small pimple spots on his face. I don't think most parents would even have known what it was. I assume that if it had been larger or untreated, it would have been a different case. The strep throat was very odd anyway, since ds didn't have a sore throat and was actually feeling just fine (we hadn't even noticed that there was a problem until the doctor did the routine check in his mouth). In fact, the only thing bothering him was the pain of the ear infection (not contagious) which stopped hurting once it perforated. I don't make a habit of sending my children off to parties when they are sick, but in this case ds felt fine and the normally quite conservative paediatrician (not just a gp) had ok'd it. It was really just meant to be an example of a time when a dosed up child could be ok to go to a party.

that child with temp of 40 is allowed out of bed, let alone taken to a party. When my ds had temp of 40 I was v worried about him; he was floppy and couldn't keep anything down (or up). No way would I want to put other children at risk of infection either.

He can't have enjoyed the party, and would have put a damper on it for others too, so what's the point?

What about conjunctivitis? I constantly hear on MN and in RL that kids just get lots of bugs but is there a problem with minimising it.

DD goes to a Nursery where you will more often than not See kids running around with snot hanging from their nose and I would say that DD has a big nearly every two weeks.

The nursery have a policy though that conjunctivitis will not be allowed in the Nursery. DD had it over the Easter holidays and was a lot better than she is with some of the bugs she picks up.

Before Nursery she was rarely ill and I don't hold with the view that there is nothing you can do and it's better for their immune system. Where is the research to support that. Intuitively I think it can't be good for a child to lurch from one cold/bug to another with only a couple of days normally. It must effect theory personality if nothing else.

Perhaps the child was desperate to go to the party and she was the kind of mother who could bear to disappoint him/her.

Chances are they are all at playgoup together so they will all get it anyway.

Im sure if the child was THAT ill they would have gone home.

I dont think children are kept from nursery with conjuctivitis because they feel ill but because its very contagous - thanks to DS I have had it for the last 2 weeks.

Meant to say type of mother who could not bear to disappoint him/her.

40 degrees, though?

That's a pretty high temp.

If mine are too ill for a party I phone up and explain, then ask if they would mind keeping a party bag back to ease the disappointment- no one ever minds.

Why does an ill child have to go to a party? Would it kill his parents to miss such a glittering social occasion? Gah, they should stay at home watching Scooby-Doo and eating Ritz crackers.

On the day of one of dd's birthdays, a mum called up and said her dd seemed ill and had a temperature - nowhere near 40 though mind you, so she was taking her to the GP to see what it was and her dd might not be able to attend. Then she called back and said what it was, that she wouldn't be bringing dd but the girl was bitterly disappointed. So could she come round one afternoon to play instead -which of course was fine with me.

She came round one afternoon with the present (since they'd already bought it I suppose), played, had a couple of little cakes and she went home with the party bag from the party. Everyone was happy.

I reckon THAT is the way a considerate and sensible mother would handle it. I'd be annoyed if someone brought a sick dc to one of my parties. I'd think she's a complete idiot basically.

Actually that was harsh but it is what I think.
I have more sympathy for parents of the child whose birthday it is. I could imagine if say you've booked well in advance to hold a princess party in a castle or something (you can do that here in Germany and it is affordable), your dc would be really disappointed if their birthday party was cancelled because they were sick but I do think you should be upfront about it and inform the other parents in advance.