Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not go to fitness class when coach has sick kid and has spent hours cleaning it up...

64 replies

denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:02

Would you go to a class if you knew the coach was nursing a sick (vomit) child at home?
I don't know if I'm being OTT or whether (since I don't have to go) I should just miss it.

OP posts:
pimplebum · 20/01/2025 16:28

I use rubber gloves when cleaning vomit and wash my hands after touching a sick child and u disinfect the touch points the rest of us don’t get it

I also go for a wee before I leave the house and wash my hand again then

If you have reason to believe the instructor has lower hygiene standards don’t go

you could always wash your hands before eating so as not to pass on bugs

Original poster
denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:29

Theweekjr · 20/01/2025 16:25

I went to work today
my dd was up half the night being sick
I didn’t tell my colleagues. Why would I?
And if you had been one of my colleagues, and I’d told you this - would you have refused to come In?

Of course not, because work is very different to an optional fitness class.
I'd probably try and avoid close contact though.

OP posts:
sleetysnowflakes · 20/01/2025 16:29

If the instructor is cleaning up today (assuming she washes her hands) and catches it, she is likely to incubate for 24-48hrs then start shedding virus ahead of coming down with it herself… so maybe it’s the class in 3 days time you need to cancel

Theweekjr · 20/01/2025 16:30

You don’t want to go
so don’t
All the best with your run?!

Original poster
denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:31

sleetysnowflakes · 20/01/2025 16:29

If the instructor is cleaning up today (assuming she washes her hands) and catches it, she is likely to incubate for 24-48hrs then start shedding virus ahead of coming down with it herself… so maybe it’s the class in 3 days time you need to cancel

Or they both caught it at the same time only she hasn't gone down with it yet......

Bugs keep us on our toes.

OP posts:
Evilspiritgin · 20/01/2025 16:31

Theweekjr · 20/01/2025 16:25

I went to work today
my dd was up half the night being sick
I didn’t tell my colleagues. Why would I?
And if you had been one of my colleagues, and I’d told you this - would you have refused to come In?

No I wouldn’t refuse to go into work but I wouldn’t go anywhere near you

Livelaughlurgy · 20/01/2025 16:34

For all you know everyone in the class has a vomiting child though? I would only skip if I had something important coming up and it was super super inconvenient if I got sick and I was being extra cautious.

paranoiaofpufflings · 20/01/2025 16:34

I wouldn't go if as you describe you will be handling the same gym equipment. The sickness/vomiting bug doing the rounds is awful and I just wouldn't want to risk wiping myself out for a week for the sake of a class. Take yourself running instead.

Rozbos · 20/01/2025 16:36

I wouldn't go, why take the chance? I'd go for a run instead too.

heyhopotato · 20/01/2025 16:36

No absolutely not.

People are far too blase about this sort of thing.

I still can't believe how many people had that flu/virus thing at Christmas and were literally complaining about how bad it was while they were spreading it to other people without caring. As a species we have learned nothing.

I was reading reviews of a gym near me lately, half of them were complaining about the equipment and changing rooms not being clean and they'd contracted ringworm. Gyms are nasty.

Dotto · 20/01/2025 16:36

Nope. Too much of a chance of viral particle transfer for me, in the scenario of apparatus touching.

Original poster
denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:37

Livelaughlurgy · 20/01/2025 16:34

For all you know everyone in the class has a vomiting child though? I would only skip if I had something important coming up and it was super super inconvenient if I got sick and I was being extra cautious.

I know, that's why it's messing with my head a bit.
If me or my kid gets a sick bug we deal with it. It's horrible, but we'll be OK.

I had to 'hide' a facebook friend who gleefully posted whenever someone in her house was ill. One of her children was in my son's class. The anticipation of maybe catching it was horrible.

OP posts:
Original poster
denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:38

Rozbos · 20/01/2025 16:36

I wouldn't go, why take the chance? I'd go for a run instead too.

Come with me? 😁

OP posts:
Starlight1984 · 20/01/2025 16:45

How do you ever know what goes on behind closed doors? Every person you work with / interact with could be dealing with an ill child or relative?

Assuming the coach won't be up close and personal then it's highly unlikely you're going to catch anything isn't it?

Uta100 · 20/01/2025 16:47

I wouldn’t because I’d rather avoid getting a vomiting bug. It’s just one class. Not worth the risk imo.

sprigatito · 20/01/2025 16:47

@Theweekjr wtf?! You don't know the OP from a hole in the ground Confused

OP I would give it a miss. That's probably because we've been utterly ground down by bugs non-stop since October, including noro over Christmas. It's just not worth it.

Starlight1984 · 20/01/2025 16:49

denhaag · 20/01/2025 16:37

I know, that's why it's messing with my head a bit.
If me or my kid gets a sick bug we deal with it. It's horrible, but we'll be OK.

I had to 'hide' a facebook friend who gleefully posted whenever someone in her house was ill. One of her children was in my son's class. The anticipation of maybe catching it was horrible.

Show quote history

The anticipation of maybe catching it was horrible.

Do you suffer from severe anxiety OP?

Surely having children yourself you know that there are always bugs going around, and pretty much everyone with kids or who is around them (teachers, parents, childminders, swimming teachers, tutors etc etc) will be exposed at some point or another. Why would you spend time anticipating catching what is just a minor bug?

FoxDox · 20/01/2025 16:55

I would not go. I am slightly traumatised by my experience of vomiting bugs though as when my DC were young, they kept getting them - but one after the other, which seems to go on for quite a while with three under 3, and then I would get it too, usually while still cleaning one of the ill ones up 🤢

I hate people now who casually mention that they have had vomiting or diarrhoea (or their DC have) when you are already with them. My MIL was a recent example, when we were already at her house for dinner and she casually mentioned that she had been on the loo all day with it 💩 So, I don’t think your instructor should even go ahead with the class!

Crunchymum · 20/01/2025 17:01

I have emetophobia so it would be a hard no from me, but I know I don't think rationally about anything vomit related.

I've had therapy (and I am loads better than I used to be believe it or not!) but I still wouldn't go.

Crunchymum · 20/01/2025 17:02

FoxDox · 20/01/2025 16:55

I would not go. I am slightly traumatised by my experience of vomiting bugs though as when my DC were young, they kept getting them - but one after the other, which seems to go on for quite a while with three under 3, and then I would get it too, usually while still cleaning one of the ill ones up 🤢

I hate people now who casually mention that they have had vomiting or diarrhoea (or their DC have) when you are already with them. My MIL was a recent example, when we were already at her house for dinner and she casually mentioned that she had been on the loo all day with it 💩 So, I don’t think your instructor should even go ahead with the class!

To be fair the instructor isn't ill, they've just been exposed to a poorly child,

I have 3 DC and haven't caught every sickness bug each of them have had!

ItWillBeDone · 20/01/2025 17:04

I wouldn't go, OP. I'd go for that run! There's a reason why there's a 48 hour rule in schools. Some of these bugs are massively infectious.

Moveoverdarlin · 20/01/2025 17:07

Providing you don’t snog them I think you’ll be ok. I would just hang nearer the back of the class. When I go to yoga I’m at least 25 foot from the instructor. Wash your hands after. I think you’ll be fine.

AlohaRose · 20/01/2025 17:08

You are being completely OTT. You have no idea how many other people in the class have sick children, partners etc or are hospital nurses, health care workers etc. If you are all using the same equipment you are far more likely to catch something from one of the other attendees rather than the coach who will be far more conscious of cleaning their hands before touching anything.

Dotto · 20/01/2025 17:10

Moveoverdarlin · 20/01/2025 17:07

Providing you don’t snog them I think you’ll be ok. I would just hang nearer the back of the class. When I go to yoga I’m at least 25 foot from the instructor. Wash your hands after. I think you’ll be fine.

It's not in saliva unless someone's just vomited. Viral particles from a vomit plume can be in hair, clothes, on objects, transferred from hands etc. It only takes a few teeny particles to spread. Antibacterials don't work (some antivirals / bleach does) and it survives on surfaces for days and days, sometimes weeks.

FoxDox · 20/01/2025 17:20

Crunchymum · 20/01/2025 17:02

To be fair the instructor isn't ill, they've just been exposed to a poorly child,

I have 3 DC and haven't caught every sickness bug each of them have had!

Show quote history

You’ve been lucky 🙈 i had twins when my older DD was only 20 months old - and they got them again and again after they started nursery. Even now, if someone in the family is sick, I shout “wash your hands!” before offering comfort and then run for the Dettol and isolate that bathroom. I didn’t care about bugs of any kind before though, so might a little OTT on that based on experience!