To take DS out trick and treating with chickenpox?

[Cherubneddy1]

DS 6 is more excited about Halloween than birthdays, Christmas, anything else. But he's woken up this morning covered in spots; clearly chickenpox.

WIBU to take him out trick and treating, on his own away from other children, if I kept him well back from people's' doors? He would genuinely be excited just to see houses all decorated ( and his sister could collect sweets for him.)

He is very well in himself.

Yes, that sounds like such fun.

Imagine a night where you're ill, contagious, dressed up as a giant squid or whatever, dragged from house to house as you stand on the street in the freezing cold watching other kids get all the attention and sweeties.

Any kids who want to say hello to you must be told not to approach under pain of death.

Home owners will ask why little Timmy isn't coming to the door like all of his friends, and on being told the reason why, probably holler at you to effing get your effing sick child effing home.

Hire a bunch of Halloween movies and popcorn and have a nice night for him at home. 👻

I suppose that giving someone an infectious disease is a trick........

You definitely shouldn’t be popping out for milk with him!

It’s contagious and airborne and if you are going trick or treating presumably other people/children are too. How are you going to keep him isolated in that situation? Other kids will be walking past him, possibly going to the same houses at a similar time etc. It’s really selfish to even consider this.

(And others are right- he literally shouldn't be going out at all). Having to stay indoors with a 4 month old for 10 days nearly drove me scatty but I knew it was the responsible thing to do. I hadn't had experience of chicken pox for 30 years either so understand your position of not knowing- but both the NHS website and people here are all saying the same thing: do not take him anywhere until he's scabbed over and is no longer contagious.

On further reading, I agree. Give Trick and Treating a miss this year. Hope he feels better soon.

Play games at home and Halloween treasure hunt. Don’t take him out you could make someone else very ill with shingles.

Its not ok to go out trick or treating or have trick or treaters come to your door. Do a celebration in your house and don’t land someone in hospital. If he wants to see the houses decorated why not drive around but don’t get out, don’t collect sweets or give sweets.

It sucks but missing one halloween, you are risking someone dying and never seeing another halloween. It sounds dramatic but is sadly true.

Mother dragon- popping to the shops for milk with a child can put people at risk. I take it you’ve never known someone in intensive care because someone exposed them to chicken pox?

ridiculous and exceptionally selfish.

Just WOW

Don’t take him out you could make someone else very ill with shingles.

Or Chicken pox! 40 year old female here who's never had it and will probably NOT be opening the door to the little darlings.

I only clicked this thread to see what level of MN horror had been reached. Nearly a full bingo card completed, so thanks op :)

(Probably best not to take him this year, but I imagine that's a message you got very clearly quite a few posts ago...)

you could make someone else very ill with shingles.

You can not catch shingles from chicken pox.

Jesus Christ. So if someone undergoing cancer treatment answers the door to you and your child then it's just tough luck if it kills them?

It's a bugger - last year I missed my older son's party entirely because I had flu - but there we are. You know it'd be unreasonable, otherwise why post?

make it a really fun evening in for him and his sister. Dress up, do the monster mash, whatever. Freaky fun food and scary film. Pumpkin carving. The works. Next year comes round quickly!

Look, he might feel ok now but chickenpox moves fast and he may be a shivering, miserable mess by evening. And it's going to be cold out.

If your area 'does' Halloween, could you compromise and drive him around the streets to look at the doorways? or would that be too cruel?

Could you nip out and get some of that 'police scene' or biohazard tape from anywhere selling Halloween stuff (or get someone not lurgied to, on second thoughts) and then go to town making your front door a true biohazard, so you don't get any knockers?

I would. He's not going to be touching anyone and you could put a scarf round his mouth/nose in case he sneezes etc and gloves, keep him at the gates/pavement.

Tbh though he might not be up to it later anyway.

Drive around all the haunted looking houses in your car, warm and no possibility of infecting others.

Don't walk around with an infected child.

soup I know you are correct, but I think a lot of people use 'shingles' to refer to chicken pox in adults. And adults can very much catch chicken pox from children.

It also isn't impossible to experience chicken pox twice. The virus doesn't always lie dormant and you can have a second first response to the virus IYSWIM.

So the people saying they 'caught shingles' are likely correct in thinking they caught the virus but using the wrong words to express that.

Stay in. But sister has to go to school unless she is actually ill. You can't keep a child off every time they might have caught something from a sibling or they would never be in school.
My ds had pox and dd didn't get it. She was exposed again when her cousins had it but still didn't get it. So it's not definite that sister will come down with it.

If you turned up at my door or my grandparents door with a child who had chickenpox I'd be fuming with you, it can kill please don't be that parent OP said she wasn't planning to do that.

soup its a bit like people using 'cold' for any virus that isn't that bad, and 'flu' for any that is. In reality influenza can be a non-event and particular strain of rhinovirus you take exception to can lay you out for weeks.

No don't do this. I caught chicken pox from my DD years ago and it hospitalised me (wasn't immuno-suppressed). It's not always just a few itchy spots it can kill.

mere if the OP turned up at my house with a chickenpox covered child at a distance and his sibling digging around in my sweet jar I would also be fuming.

There is just no need for this. Stay home OP.

Just to clarify things a bit:
You don't catch shingles from chicken pox. When you have CP, after it clears up the virus lies dormant in nerve cells. It can reactivate and come out as shingles for a number of reasons, but exposure to CP isn't one of them. You can, however, catch CP from a person who has an active shingles outbreak (if you've not had CP before).

If you've had CP, then you can't pass it on to someone else just because someone in the house has it. E.g, my DS2 had CP, my DS1 was ok to go to school as he's had CP years ago and therefore is not going to pass it on as the virus can't infect him and replicate in him due to his immunity.

CP is contagious and passed through the air. It is generally a normal childhood illness but like others have said it can be very dangerous in the very old, young or immuno-suppressed (e.g. post-transplant or cancer treatment).