Page 3 | Or is it impossible to test a 3 year old?

whatatool · 2021-11-14T12:18:47+00:00

4 hours of tears ( mine and theirs) and still can't get a swab anywhere near. How TF are people doing this?

Nikki305 · 14/11/2021 17:18

@Heckythump1 okay, but in Germany they have a 'lollipop test' where young kids suck on a swab and this is used to determine whether they have covid. I wish our government would make this available here

Heckythump1 · 14/11/2021 17:22

Oh wow! Haven't heard of that one, sounds far preferable to trying to get the swab up the nostrils enough times!

TracyLords · 14/11/2021 17:33

You have my sympathy OP.

DS was 4 when he was first tested and I bribed him with new hotwheels. We all got tested at the same time and it ended up fine.

But I know lots of people are struggling getting young kids to be tested. In the walk in centre yesterday there was a child screaming in distress: I felt it for both them and the poor parent

FatLadySang · 14/11/2021 18:23

With ours we put CBeebies on the iPad and a chocolate star before and then after. Only do the nostrils.

IDontDrinkTea · 14/11/2021 18:26

We prepped before trying. Practiced on dolls with cotton buds, and every time the doll had a swab, the doll got a chocolate button.

Whenever I’ve tested DD she’s now fine with it. We call it a nose tickle and she knows when she’s done she gets a treat. All the prep has been very worth it

AmyDeirdre · 14/11/2021 23:39

@Heckythump1 We've done the nasal and saliva tests here.. the nasal was upsetting for dc but the saliva was no issue at all, it's just a spit into a tube

allbartwo · 15/11/2021 00:53

At what age does holding a child down so you can stick a swab up their nose become unacceptable?

TheLastLonelyBakedBean · 15/11/2021 00:56

Bribery.
I've also done a couple whilst my DC was asleep

elliejjtiny · 15/11/2021 01:18

I've got a 7 year-old who has asd and an 8 year-old who hates anything medical due to multiple operations. I was dreading having to test them but my 7 year old actually likes the test as he's a sensory seeker. With my 8 year old we make it into a game. I let him be my assistant and we set up the living room with dining chairs like a waiting room. We test each other and then we call the "patients" (the other dc) in one at a time to be tested. It's my 15 year old who I struggle to test tbh.

Skysblue · 15/11/2021 11:13

I’m not sure it’s worth it, I’d rather stay home for ten days. But I appreciate not everyone can do that.

44PumpLane · 15/11/2021 11:26

I have twins who are 4, we have done loads of LFTs and PCRs from when they were about 3.5.

The first one I took cotton buds with me and got them to stick the cotton bud up my nose and give me a test so they could see it was nothing to worry about.

We only ever do the nose, never the throat, never have any issues with the result.

One twin is fine with it the other has to be bribed with 5 chocolate buttons straight after (obviously I give them both the bribe to be fair)!

There is currently an outbreak in their class and approx 50-60% of the students have tested positive..... Ridiculously they told everyone to send the kids in whilst waiting for results, so loads of positive cases got sent in to school and were collected in dribs and drabs through the day as results came in assuring maximum spread!

Heckythump1 · 15/11/2021 15:12

@44PumpLane

I have twins who are 4, we have done loads of LFTs and PCRs from when they were about 3.5.

The first one I took cotton buds with me and got them to stick the cotton bud up my nose and give me a test so they could see it was nothing to worry about.

We only ever do the nose, never the throat, never have any issues with the result.

One twin is fine with it the other has to be bribed with 5 chocolate buttons straight after (obviously I give them both the bribe to be fair)!

There is currently an outbreak in their class and approx 50-60% of the students have tested positive..... Ridiculously they told everyone to send the kids in whilst waiting for results, so loads of positive cases got sent in to school and were collected in dribs and drabs through the day as results came in assuring maximum spread!

We had exactly the same in my daughters class, I think it must be PHE's advice that they should stay in school whilst waiting for PCR results if asymptomatic though. I still don't know how my DD has managed to avoid it, seeing as all her friends did!

44PumpLane · 15/11/2021 18:43

@Heckythump1 I currently have one twin positive and one twin negative.. No idea how one has avoided it but we have been LFt'ing her every day since the negative PCR and still nothing!

modgepodge · 15/11/2021 19:06

I have a 2.5 year old and she must have had about 15 tests due to endless coughs and colds and the odd temperature. She absolutely hates it, even with having let her practice on a doll, do it herself, treats after etc…we now take 2 of us and one pins down, one tests. Unfortunately childcare won’t have her back with a cough without a test result, and as a teacher I can’t just take 10 days off to isolate her. I do think it’s quite traumatising, she now starts crying if she sees me doing a LFT on myself and the flu vaccine was no fun as she expected it to be worse than it was.

Maddiemoosmum0203 · 15/11/2021 19:44

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