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’d go, babies are snotty all the time. Better to get germ exposure regularly and early.

Yabu and selfish. What if another baby that's younger picks something up. Just because you need to get out, don't be selfish. Go for a walk, what does a 12 week old know anyway?

Not really until nearer 1 I'd say.

Please don't go. If it was just a runny nose that would be different, but as you've both been unwell with it then it wouldn't be right to spread it. You can still get out and about but not to a room full of newborns and new mums.

Maybe go out to the shops and/or meet a friend for coffee instead?

I would if just a cold. My experience of the baby and toddler activities is that most of them have cold symptoms on and off at this time of year anyway.

Yes, friends can then decide if they fancy their chances of possibly catching a cold.

Another thing to note OP is that baby groups will sometimes have one or two babies at least who were born prematurely. You can’t always tell. My friend’s baby was and his chest is particularly prone to infections which affect him worse than most babies.

I took my daughter to paid baby groups at that age when she was poorly and just avoided stuff like church playgroups as they were free.

Colds aren't 'bad' for babies, they are inevitable and my dh works in a school so would always bring home stuff anyway. Babies with older siblings will catch loads too.

It's a cold not a deadly disease

Not all babies are super snotty - mine wasn’t. He’s got a great immune system from time in hospital; sadly! He’s rarely ill and doesn’t typically have a runny nose.

I wouldn’t go to baby groups with an unwell baby, no. You’d have been treated like a leper if you had, around here. Go to the park/for a walk/for a coffee; but don’t deliberately mingle with other small children.

I’m not sure why having family around is relevant. We don’t have anyone but me & DH, and never have. We still don’t take DS to nursery if he’s unwell, and they have a strong reputation for sending them home if we did. It’s not exactly fair to immunocompromised kids to keep getting them sick… or any kids; to be fair.

Ironically our nursery has a lot less sickness and kids being off than a more lenient one nearby 🤷‍♀️

It could be covid, unless they've tested otherwise. Not ideal to spread around.

Mmmm I guess. On a side note, are pregnant women eligible for covid vaccines? I had several through work and covid at 26 weeks so not sure. Genuinely curious.

Do people really go to places after being laid up ill themselves for days, that aren't important or crucial, where the demographic also attending are all likely vulnerable to catching it and/or likely to just have a really shit time if they are ill?

Just to get out the house for an hour? ☹️

I haven’t been offered one. I’ve got a vax schedule for flu, RSV and whooping cough, but Covid has not been mentioned or booked.

People do it, but I always used to think they were very selfish.

I imagine you’ve gone now but in case this helps anyone else with similar decision making, please don’t go. RSV bronchiolitis is no joke even in healthy babies, and you have no way of knowing about the particular health vulnerabilities of parents or babies in the class. Having nursed babies on ventilators because of RSV, I can assure you their parents were not thankful that their immune systems had been ‘strengthened’ by exposure to the virus.

This isn't true. Exposure to viruses isn't helpful and can cause long term damage especially in very young babies.

Yes pregnancy makes you eligible for the autumn booster.

You are eligible. You'll probably get a message from your GP at some point or you can just go to a pharmacy yourself.

I agree with the majority on balance - don’t go.

Although I guess if it was today you’ll have either gone or not by now!

I think as a pp has said, fine if it had only ever been a bit of a snotty nose. But this has clearly made you both properly unwell.

It’s not fair on the other babies!

Erm actually nope. Where do you do your research tik tok? 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

That would be incredibly selfish to put other babies at risk (some babies end up in hospital with what to others is "just a cold") for something so unnecessary.

It was completely normal for a few babies to turn up with colds at all the classes we went to. I didn't think anything of it. I generally went to classes that were oversubscribed and needed to pay by the term.