DD is unwell, 3 month old in house

[Username19273]

DD is unwell, we have a 3 month old DS.
Am I being unreasonable to say we should try to keep a bit of distance between the two to avoid DS getting ill.

Yes I think it’s fine to ask people who are ill to do what they reasonably can to keep germs to themselves.

We don’t go mad but we put a bit of space between ourselves when eating etc, don’t have the sick people help themselves from communal dishes but be served. Put all tissues straight in the bin, don’t be hugging other family members apart from parents.

Just basic consideration really.

Yes, I completely agree, this seems extreme! We had something called the “poorly quilt”, a small one left from baby days . Mine loved being tucked up on the sofa with it !

update, have just asked not to pick baby up and wash hands… we are not asking her to isolate its a bad case of the flu not any sort of sickness bug. Sorry for not explaining further…
strange on the question about step child…

@BournardTourney

Where did you read the DD had Ebola?

Step child or new husband and baby

Blimey.

I don't know how I survived the 1960s.

Definitely ask the teenager to give the baby a wide berth, and follow basic hygiene - washing hands and tissues straight in the bin etc.

I might even encourage them to stay in their bedroom, hot chocolate on demand, etc.

But thats about it.

This is ridiculous and I work in public health. I have 3 children fairly close in age, there is 0 chance that I locked any of my children in a room and boiled their clothes because they had a cold 🤣 (even with a newborn), children build up their immune system over time via exposure, granted I wouldnt intensionally infect them, but short of "wash your hands" and "don't cough over the baby", my children certainly weren't banished to their room with a towel, plate and fork!

Just curious what this has to do with the question asked?

You asked if you were unreasonable asking your DD to keep her distance. Yes because in a family home and unit it’s pretty much impossible. The only time times these types of questions come up here is when the older child is a step child or has a different father. The new families always seem to take priority and the older kids shunned, ignored, left to fend for themselves and held to a higher standard.

@Yeoldlondoncheese still find this very bizarre. I simply was asking the level of interaction people think is reasonable with a young baby in the house and child that is able to keep their distance to a certain extent…
as I said it’s not about locking them away, just being slightly more precautious with a member of the family with a undeveloped immune system

Flu vaccine would have made the whole thing significantly less likely in the first place, mind.

No!

👏👏👏

whilst I do agree this is on the more extreme precaution side, I do think PP responses have been quite harsh. Everybody has their own way of dealing with things and some of these processes are not out of the norm.
if it was a sickness bug I’d definitely be more likely to follow a lot of what you have said. My partner is self employed and we currently rely on his salary due to poor maternity pay.

as I say… everyone’s different so it’s fine to respect someone else’s opinion and move on

No we don’t know if the daughter is a stepchild or has a different dad, but OP does want to know why it’s being asked, saying it’s a bizarre question.

However still no confirmation. Interesting.

I would think that the reason it "only" comes up with step-children is more because if the older child is within 4 years of the baby's age then you haven't got a hope in hell of stopping the little one from getting sick. The same parents are less likely to have a teenager or tween and a baby.

OP, given the age gap I think it's worth a try, but realistically most viruses are contagious before there are symptoms.

Would you be following this advice if the mother of the baby was sick? Are there centres you can give your child to for the period you’re ill so you can quarantine? Stop it.

@feedmee its our teenage daughter and our baby… I just find women on these threads very bizarre. And I’m wondering what difference it would have made to the answers hence why I didn’t confirm. I’m sure if I had said it’s was DSD the responses would have been absolutely useless.

its our teenage daughter and our baby…

I think you mean his teenager daughter...

DSD starting new school in yr9 and struggling to settlr
Username19273 · 07/10/2025 15:58
DSD started a new secondary school this September after moving in with us to live

The reason posters were questioning is because if it was a ’traditional’ family of one mum, one mum dad, kids fully related - this type of thread would not have been started. When one kid gets ill better believe the other’s plus parents will eventually get it.

The issue of keeping them separated is only brought up when it’s a blended family situation and it’s always step--mum trying to keep step-kid away from the shiny new baby. Case in point.

oops

Try to keep home well ventilated and keep a hepa filter (or borrow one) on.

@IronMa1den yet again another fucking bizarre person with far too much time on their hands. They are our children because we live in our house together and we parent both of them. We have been together 7 years… I have a son and it would be the same if I was talking about him, it’s really nobodies business if I don’t say who is who.

If I was the horrible wicked step mother you seem to be talking of, why on earth am I on mums net getting advice for daughter who is struggling in new school?

There’s no oops about it, the information in hand was irrelevant you bunch of weird women

Imagine only taking a small snippet from that post because the rest doesn’t fit your narrative. What a sad little life

Well firstly, she doesn’t have a bad case of flu because if she did, she’d be in bed regardless. So she’s probably got a heavy cold.
I wouldn’t particularly like her picking the baby up either if that’s the case. There's simply no need to.
Just encourage her to follow sensible hygiene advice and wash her hands regularly and I’d be anti bac spraying door handles etc but that’s just me and I do that regardless anyway.
If she had a sickness bug, I’d definitely expect her to stay in her room.
You can’t protect your baby from every cough and sniffle though unfortunately!