to take my chicken poxed child out?

[Chickenpoxmama]

Dh thinks I was so I want to know what you think.

My toddler has Chicken pox - spots appeared Tuesday. Dh did two days working at home and now I've taken leave. The days dh did at home I was able to take older child to school but dh couldn't do that today because of getting in to work. So I put toddler in pushchair and took her, keeping well away from everybody. (dh fine with that bit) then we proceeded to a nearby supermarket to buy a few bits - newspaper for me, chocolate buttons for toddler, stuff to make older child's birthday cake, fruit, fresh bread. The supermarket was nearly empty, toddler in pushchair at all times, I kept at least 2 feet and mostly 3 feet away from people. I didn't go to the deli counter because there was an elderly couple there just in case and I asked the checkout lady if she'd had CP before handing her the magazine toddler held all the way round. She had. Toddler is not coughing or sneezing and obviously I didn't let her touch anything or anybody except her magazine (which she is so thrilled with ) So aibu?

you were careful so think is ok.

If the spots have all crusted over then its not possible to pass on, are they?

do you need to ask.

Yes of course you are, those things you mentioned were not essential.

Do not take cp kid out please.

You have been very careful, but still a big risk to people like me - pg with no ability to make immunity - and immunosupressed.

Obviously if you HAVE to collect older kid, etc, then you may have to go out, but otherwise yabu to go out, yes.

YABU. Maybe you came in contact with a woman in the early stages of pregnancy.

do you not have any neighbours/friends who could take your older DC to school?

Shopping trip sound unecessary.

You're very brave posting this

YABU. From what you've posted it sounds like you and your DH have mon-fri jobs. Tomorow is Saturday. Your non essential shopping could have waited.

YABU

dh works in a supermarket. he is immune suppressed due to transplant. he wont hav been working on the tills, but would be on shop floor.

we know he cant stay in and away from germs, but please please dont do this again.

Sorry but agree YABU. Rubella is contagious and it can kill or maim anyone who is immunosupressed or unborn babies. My friend at junior school had a hole in her heart and was deaf in one ear as a result. And she was relatively lucky.

Quarantine is a pain in the bum but compared to the damage you can inflict... when ds and I were going stir crazy, I took him round to friends whose kids had had CP, or headed to the park at quiet times keeping well away from any passers by (luckily it was empty).

Spots are partly crusted, some are, some aren't.

Nicky - I am aware of immunosuppression issues but CP is spread by contact or by sneezing and coughing. None of which apply in toddler's case.

I was also keen to get her some fresh air and what daylight there is - poor kid has been inside for three days.

Nobody else available to take older child to school and we were no closer to anyone in the supermarket than walking to school.

I'm not that brave - have namechanged

I guess the other thing that occurred to me was that I took toddler to exactly the same place on Monday - when she was infectious but I didn't know it. Unless anybody actually picked her up and hugged her though then the risk would have been of the same low level as today. That low level of risk is surely present in the community at all times?

YWNBU to take your older child to school, but I think YWabitU to go to the supermarket, as PP's have said the shopping you mentioned was not essential and either you or your DP could have got it after he had finished work.

edam - it's not ruebella. Did you mean CP?

YA totally U. I say this having taken my chicken-poxy ds out a couple of years ago after 10 days and having received a total bollocking from my GP sister as he was fully crusted (just mostly). You have no idea who you might come near, or how long germs hang around and you can't guarantee in advance that you wont pass someone with low immunity or anything else that leaves them really susceptible to getting ill.

I guess you just need to ask yourself how you would feel, if, for example, some selfish thoughtless mum had brought her infected dc somewhere near you whilst you were pregnant (and you hadn't had chicken pox previously). Would you just think 'oh dear, she must have needed to get out poor thing' or 'how dare she risk the life of my unborn child, the selfish, stupid cow?' (of course you may be a more forgiving person than me, but its what I would have thought).

wasn't, obviously.

And what is wrong with the back/front garden, or just a quick walk up and down the street if you need fresh air? You're hardly going to get that in the supermarket.

Yes you are VU....you can't help what you don't know, so before apparent symptoms it is okay...but when you know your child has a very contagious illness that can be serious for anyone especially for people who have health implications or are in a vunerable group, my goodness how selfish.

You did not know before you went out that your dd wouldn't sneeze, vapour and droplets can spread further than you think....

YABVU. It is an airbourne virus and easily spread,and as others have mentioned it can have devastating consequences for the immuno compromised and pregnant women.

Taking your child out when you're unaware that they have chicken pox is unfortunate but not irresponsible, however taking them to a supermarket when you know that they are infected most certainly is.

Yes there is always a risk on infection when one goes into such crowded places but there's no need to increase it.

Airborne even. It's a virus not an Aussie band.

YABU, I too have a chicken poxy child at the moment. From what i have read over the last couple of days, the pox is airbourne and clings to fabrics for a while too so it's not just contagious from contact.
Why did you just not wait til DH was home before going shopping, that's what i did last night.
With regard to taking older DC to school, I don't know what i would have done so cannot say whether you were BU to do that or not.

I think you were unreasonable.
Mine have had more tummy bugs , sicknesses, and (swine flu!) than i can say this winter and spent days and days in. I think it's selfish to deliberately take them out.

YABU to take her into the supermarket for non-essentials. My ds caught chickenpox and that led to autism.. He caught it from a mother at scholl bringing her CP son into the hot stiffly nursery cos 'it's too cold to leave him outside' She could of waited outside with him but she wanted to gab with her friends. DS caught Cp and had a huge spot on his skull.

I agree you need fresh air for your dc but you could of got that by walking your other dc to the school gates

YABU I have just had a houseful of chicken pox and we havent even considered venturing out with it!
First 3yo DS came down with it then 5 month old DS and I got it and I thought I had already had it! and then 5 month old dd got it and she has really suffered as hers got infected.

It scared me that I could have gotten them when I was pg with my twins and anything could have happened.
Obviously they are contagious before the spot come so you cant always help it but you shouldnt knowingly take a poxy child out as you never know who you will meet!
And its not just pox you can pass on but shingles too and that is very nasty!

Yeah, sorry, CP not rubella! But similar precautions and dangers apply. It can be very serious indeed for unborn babies and people who are immunosuppressed. As well as being more serious in healthy adults than children anyway - much more likely to result in hospital admission and serious complications such as pnuemonia.

I wouldn't want to take the risk that my poxy child could leave an unborn baby with brain damage, or cause someone else to develop pneumonia, septicaemia or meningitis.

NHS advice is: "You or your child should stay at home until all of the blisters have fully crusted over, and this usually happens five to seven days after the first blister appears. After the last blister has burst and crusted over, you are no longer infectious.

"Chickenpox spreads via tiny droplets of saliva and nasal mucus in sneezes and coughs from an infected person. The virus is already in these droplets, which is why it spreads so fast."

Dh will be delighted to be vindicated by mumsnet opinion.

Just as a point of interest though - has anybody caught chicken pox and not known the source - cases at school, friend's child, relation etc? I know the source of this case and thinking through cases in my acquaintence we have always been able to trace the contact - and it's always been a close contact transmission rather than from simply walking nearby.

Always irritating when that happens but afraid your dh has you bang to rights in this case.

I have no idea where ds caught chickenpox, he'd been exposed previously and not caught it, when he finally went down with it no-one else we knew or had been near was ill.

I have no idea how mine caught CP. And it was a particularly nasty strain. YABU and you WILL tell your DH that he has been vindicated won't you ?

It's not just coughing and sneezing.
You can catch it from having a conversation with someone with chickenpox. Or being in the same room for 15 mins +
www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2586.aspx?CategoryID=200&SubCategoryID=200