Going to baby class with a cold

[Heavyrainagain]

AIBU for this? My DS 12 weeks has a cold, he is mostly over the poorly stage and now just a bit bunged up. I have it too and I’m the same.

We have a baby sensory class this morning. WIBU to go? I really feel I need to get out of the house after spending a few days on the sofa. I plan to take Milton wipes for anything we touch and sit apart plus not put him in the centre for the group activities.

I would have taken my baby if they were over the worst and just a bit snotty

I wouldn't do this, go for a walk instead

I wouldn’t, you can still go out to coffee shop/shops but I don’t take my baby to baby groups when she’s a bit poorly, she’s 5 months old now but our class has babies as young as 4 weeks old in. Our class as a rule doesn’t allow babies to come unwell as it can so easily pass round and then all the babies end up poorly

If it was work or school and you/child felt OK then I'd still go in or send them in. (Just adding that to show I'm not one of those "omg you sneezed why are you out the house" types.)

Not a baby class though where literally every single person there is potentially vulnerable. Babies cos its babies, not least because an ill baby is misery for everyone, and fairly new mums who generally have a rubbish immune system anyway for a little while.

Go for a walk if you need to get out the house.

I wouldn't, I'm sorry. Tiny babies with colds is no fun for anyone. I totally understand you feeling the need for the outside world though - could you just go into town and have a walk around, maybe a coffee and cake so you're around people but not too close to other babies? I used to go into town twice a week while I was on mat leave, just to see other humans.

My opinion comes from my son having RSV at 10 weeks which he must have caught at a baby class.

Personally I wouldn't. It's not fair on the other babies and parents.

I would go

I wouldn't go as I don't think it's fair to pass a cold to other little ones, it's miserable for them. You can still go out and get your out and about fix but why pass on the lurgy?

Go for a walk instead. Would you like someone doing it to you?

YABU. I understand getting out of the house I really do but go for a walk! Don’t go knowing you’re unwell around little babies. I know some babies at them groups are newborns. I wouldn’t visit a friends little baby with a cold so deffo wouldn’t go to a sensory group.

I wouldn't, 12 weeks is very young and it will really piss all the other parents off

I think a runny nose is fine - they’re pretty constant. My baby once saw a poorly friend with a cold. Her mum said she was over the worst of it and “just had to get out”. Of course it can’t be proven but my baby developed the same nasty cough a few days later and we took a while recovering from the sleep set back. I have a weakened immune system and coupled with being pregnant and in the constantly nauseous and exhausted first trimester, I had a miserable time when I caught it. I would have been more annoyed though if I was back at work and had to take even more time off for yet another illness.

You’ll always hear people say “It’s so important for their immunity.” Yes but they won’t have a terrible immune system if people took their babies for walks or to quiet parks when unwell for a few days, and temporarily avoided baby groups where, let’s face it, babies are pretty close. In my experience, the people who say this are like the parents I mentioned above. 😂

I wish people would think that not all babies will deal with a cold or certain illness as well as theirs. Illnesses can present logistic nightmares for parents when their kids can’t go to nursery, or if an older sibling catches it and is then off school, meaning parents have to be off work too. Not everyone has family around to rally round and provide childcare.

Logistical*

Go! If you stay home for snot, you're not leaving the house for at least 5 years.

Try 15+ years! Then again once they start uni!

Well hopefully once they're 15+ I can leave the house and just leave them at home to fester.

If it is a sitting around singing class and your baby is non mobile and they won't be sharing toys etc I'd go for it.

If my baby was clearly feeling unwell with cold - irritable, loads of sneezing, coughing no I wouldn’t go.

If my baby was getting over a cold - bit of a runny nose still but seemed themselves I’d go. Babies and toddlers seem to have constant runny noses in winter.

If baby was recovering from something more than a cold eg something that had given them a temp (not including jab temps in this) then I wouldn’t go incase I passed on something nasty.

I’d go if baby is just a bit snotty. You’d never leave the house otherwise.

Really don’t like the comments about going anyway. I understand when kids go nursery etc / toddlers you can’t stay away but we’re talking newborn - tiny babies here.

Go for a bloody walk and get some fresh air if you're fed up with being cooped up.
Why on earth would you even consider this?!

100%! It’s not like it’s important or urgent to go to, you have a choice. Don’t go

A baby sensory class will have babies up to a year old, many of whom will have older siblings and just be starting the infinite cycle of winter colds.

Obviously stay home with vomiting, high temps etc, but snot is fine to go out and about with, at any age. If you have a newborn and you're worried about colds, give the optional baby classes a swerve until they're a little bit bigger.

If you need to get out of the house, You can still do that - go to the park, walk round the block, don't go into an enclosed space with other vulnerable human beings.

Op says she has had a few days on the sofa (ill I assume). And mentions baby has actually been poorly. Not just a bit congested.

For me this is the key thing here. Not a bit of a snotty baby.

Work, school and other important things - yes you can't dodge them every time you have something contagious if you feel well enough to go in.

One baby sensory class is not even a tiny bit important.