What is the best age to get chicken pox?

[Somersaults]

DD is 10mo. Too young? We have a playmate with a friend we rarely see tomorrow and it seems she may have chicken pox. I'd love to keep the playdate but I don't want to expose DD if the risk is too great. I know people used to have 'chicken pox parties' to try and get the children to catch it while they were young. I don't know much about chicken pox and whether I should just stay well away or whether it's not a big deal if we keep the playdate and she does happen to catch it.

I wouldn't want someone in nappies to catch CP - my dd caught it at 17 weeks and she still has scars on her bum and even on her legs where the nappy rubbed - the nappies were obviously at the top of her legs, but the scars have grown down he legs and up her back.

I wouldn't wish cp on anyone - you have no idea how badly it will affect them till it's too late. Oh, and the scabs in her nappy got infected. I didn't even know skin infections even existed, her chicken pox resulted in two different ones...

Oh dear. Your poor DD. Thank you for the advice.

Both mine had it when they were in nappies - DS was just under 2 and DD was 6 weeks. Both were fine. I wouldnt have deliberately exposed them to it but they caught it when they did.

Definitely not 40, trust me!

Deliberately exposing your child is pretty stupid at any age.

Under 1s have a higher risk of shingles as a child

Thanks everyone! How long do I need to wait before we can rearrange our playdate? When is it safe?

Incubation period is between 10 and 21 days, and they start being contagious a few days before the spots appear and stop being contagious from when the spots are crusted over (roughly 5 days)

there is a higher chance of childhood shingles if they get chicken pox under 1 year. There is also a chance they will get chicken pox again. DD had it at age 3 and ds had it at 5½ months. He went on to get shingles at age 3 whixh wasnt nice (for me as well as him!).

The incubation period is 10-21 days and they are contagious for 1-2 days before the rash appears and for around 5 days after the rash appears.

What MirandaWest said. No shingles & evidently immune in subsequent outbreaks.

I'd say best to get it over with after 2 months old & before starting school.

I have heard about the increased risk of childhood shingles but nothing I can do about it I suppose. And I do wonder if DD has enough immunity to avoid getting it again as she was bf at the time so wonder how much was her fighting it IYSWIM but anyway she got it then (and was v spotty) so what will be will be.

your lo may not have had shingles but having chicken pox under 1 year gives an increased risk or childhood shingles. Why not wait until after 1 year and let them catch it as a matter of course by attending nursery or school.

directed to lljkk btw - I wouldnt deliberately expose at that age but you cant help what has already happened

DD nearly 7 and DS nearly 9 now so hopefully won't get it again.

DS is 7 and never had it so a lil worried I over protected him!

What is the baseline risk, Vodka, & how much is it elevated by having CP under 1?

If the baseline risk of childhood shingles is extremely tiny, then 100 x extremely tiny is still very tiny. Assuming that having CP under 1 increases the chances of childhood shingles by 100x, that is. And 100x would be quite a huge increase, as risk increases go.

I wouldn't want DC to miss nearly a week of school due to CP (or shingles, I guess); but I suppose MWest & I didn't exactly choose when our kids got CP, anyway. If I could choose & plan for CP, that alone (being able to choose when DC got it) would probably, to me, be worth the extra risks (that you mention). OP could skip this opportunity & her child get CP next week anyway.

DC1 had it at 4mo, now 4yo, exposed many times and no recurrence, she coped well and tiny scars.

12mo DC2 was exposed recently, which was fine by me. Vaccination would be ideal but costs a fortune.

I had it at about 6 weeks old, wasn't very ill and have no scars. The downside was that it affected all my baby teeth and they came through with a brown line across them and they all pretty much decayed from that line. I had to have lots of them extracted just before I was 5. And I still remember how horrible it was. Oh and my DM caught CP off me and was ill for weeks.

DS had CP when he was nearly 4. He has a couple of scars and that's it. He was back to his normal self in a week or two. DP caught them off him tho. He was really ill and was off work for nearly a month. He had blisters absolutely everywhere. His DM cried when she saw him and she only saw half of it.

DD2 had it at 3 months. Very poorly, severe scarring. Really miserable. Poor little thing learned to scratch her back by wriggling side to side.
It was so bad that I really think vaccination would be a good idea,

I agree with the first response - the best age to get it is once they are out of nappies! If they are still in nappies the spots in that area take much longer to heal. It's also much better if you can explain to them that "if you scratch it will get worse not better" and "don't fight me, this cream will help your spots get better" - so they need a bit more cognitive skills. I'd avoid it for now if you possibly can.

All three of mine have it atm (7yrs, 6yrs and 18 mths) it's horrible and they've all been quite poorly and found the blisters very painful. My youngest has probably got off the easiest but he does have some in his nappy which cause distress. I would hate to think I had put them through this deliberately. Your DD will get it at some point.

Mine had it at 4 and 8 - I thought ds1 never would. It seems to come around every few years and a whole class will get it, don't worry too much.

They were both quite poorly for a couple of days, high temps etc. but I think to have been very small like your dd might have been very distressing as they wouldn't have had any idea what was happening.

At least I could reassure them iyswim. I'd say somewhere between 4 and 6 is probably the best time.

Please don't deliberately expose her. Dd1 got it at 3 1/2 when it did the rounds at nursery. She was quite poorly with it and has lots of scars now, 3years later. Dd2 caught it from her, she was 10mo. Hardly ill at all but more likely to get it again.

No one should deliberately aim to make their child ill for the sake of convenience!

CP like everything else Carries risks, I know 2 children who have died as a result of it (infection through scabs) with no underlying problems, no mater how small the risks I wouldn't like to have been responsible for that would you?

Your DC will get it eventually and I'm sure they will he fine but let nature do its thing, and if you have seen friend in the previous Weeks it may well have started anyway.

I’ve never had chickenpox (37 years old). My 7 and a quarter year old dd has never had chickenpox. My 2 and half year old son has just developed an odd looking spot on his cheek and I don’t know if it is it or not. Worried.