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Children's health

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Original poster

If your child had chicken pox as a baby

60 replies

ChickenPox7 · 09/04/2022 22:54

Came on here to ask a CP question and can't believe how many threads there are! Definitely the illness of the moment.

Anyway DS (4) has it. He has a 6 month old sister and based on the other thread it seems likely she will get it too.

Does anyone have stories of their under 1 having chicken pox? I'm so worried about my baby. I googled and the first 2 stories I read were about a 6 month old that had to be hospitalised and tube fed for a month and another who ended up with encephalitis and never recovered ;(

Would love to read better experiences to calm myself down a bit. Thank you!

OP posts:

Original poster

ChickenPox7 · 09/04/2022 22:56

She is 6 months old and has already had bronchiolitis, covid and now chicken pox. Just feel so guilty and like I am failing her completely ;(

OP posts:

Aurorie11 · 09/04/2022 22:56

My daughter had it at 25 weeks caught from her brother. She was completely covered in spots, but we have a photo of her smiling broadly. She was fine, a few pox scars. Oaty baths helped

megletthesecond · 09/04/2022 22:56

Mine both had it really mildly as babies. They were grotty and out of sorts one day, the next a handful of spots popped up. No worse than a cold.

They both managed to have a "proper" dose of it a few years later.

NerrSnerr · 09/04/2022 22:58

My youngest was about 3 months old when he got it. No problems- he did get one on his eyeball so we saw a GP but it didn't need treatment and healed fine.

dementedpixie · 09/04/2022 23:01

My ds had it around 6 months and then had shingles around age 3

whatty · 09/04/2022 23:02

My middle child had it when my eldest had it and she was 6 months old. It was very mild- and she has then had shingles at aged 7. No suffering from either CP or shingles thankfully.

EssexCat · 09/04/2022 23:03

My daughter had it at 10 months. Caught from her elder brother.

She had a very ‘typical’ case, very very spotty and quite grizzly but nothing major and she recovered easily.

Garman · 09/04/2022 23:03

My son got it when he was 10 months old, symptoms wise he fared much better than his 3 year old brother, but he did get absolutely covered in the spots and has a couple of bad scars, one on his face which breaks my heart. You just have to watch them closely for any of the more serious symptoms and have them seen to immediately if needed, a lot of people wait because they assume its "just" chicken pot and not actually serious.

RandomMess · 09/04/2022 23:06

One of mine had it at around a year and was just covered and was really unwell but turned out she also had a bacterial ear infection.

Another had it 8-10 months and only had a couple of scalp spots and only knew she had CP as was checking it as there was an outbreak at the childminders.

maygirl · 09/04/2022 23:06

My son caught it at 4-5 mths old. He had quite alot of spots but was fine in himself. I worried he'd get it again after catching it so young, but he didn't when his little sister had it when he'd have been around 5, or since & he's a teen now.

Pixiedust1234 · 09/04/2022 23:12

I know this is not what you are asking but I do want to give you some hope. The day I brought my 2nd child home (she was a 37week baby) my 6yr old came down with chicken pox. To make it worse I had had a cesarean but DH still went on a works training week. Basically I could not keep my children separated as I had no help but baby was fine. She didn't get her immunity from me bc I had never had it either (both of us still haven't had it 22 yrs later). HTH

SophieG121 · 09/04/2022 23:15

My 3 year old recently had it and then my 5 month old caught it a couple of weeks after. Baby did seem to have it worse as he had more spots and was especially sore in his nappy area, but he did recover quicker.

It's definitely doing the rounds at the moment, all schools and nurseries near me are rife with it!

choirmumoftwo · 09/04/2022 23:20

DD had it at 9 months when DS caught it at nursery. His symptoms were pretty mild, she was a bit miserable and had more spots but nothing major. DH was the real problem - he caught it from them and was hospitalised for a week. Still has problems with his chest now due to internal scarring. He never had it as a child.

Notwithittoday · 09/04/2022 23:25

My baby caught it from her older siblings when she was 6 months. I think I read all the stories you have and was terrified waiting for her to come down with it. I’m not going to lie, it was scary for a few days. She was so much worse than her older siblings. She was covered and they look awful. I was scared every morning to see how much worse she was going to look. We had one night of high fever and a lot of crying when I was on the verge of taking her to hospital but then she fell asleep so I just sat watching her. The next day she was better and we had a few more grizzly days. She bounced back quite quickly. With hindsight it was made more scary by how terrified I was of all the stories I’d read. Somehow she only has one small scar as do my other two who had it mildly.
If I were you I would get all the things together now if you haven’t already. Poxcillin mousse is good for the private parts as it’s antibacterial as well, some people find virasoothe helpful but we got the most relief from old fashioned chamomile and oats sock in the bath. I also used a bit of dermol 500 in the bath as it’s an anti microbial and soothing.
You are not failing her. You sound like a good mum. My first was always poorly with one thing or another in her first year. It sucks but you’re here for her.

Lindy2 · 09/04/2022 23:25

My DD had chicken pox when she was about 9 months old. She was fairly spotty but not unwell. I put her in a loose baby grow which covered the spots without rubbing and allowed her to stay comfortable.

She wasn't phased at all. I felt it was actually a good age to get it over and done with.

maryberryslayers · 09/04/2022 23:27

If she's doesn't get it before she's 1, wait 4 weeks after her jabs and get her vaccinated privately at boots.

It's a standard childhood vaccination in many other countries, I really don't understand why we put children through such an awful preventable illness here.

floridapalmtree · 09/04/2022 23:27

Mine caught it at 4 months old and it was a mild dose, not many spots and he was absolutely fine. He caught it off elder sister aged 4 from nursery, at the same time 2 year old son had it although he had more spots.

Hope your baby gets better very soon.

Howmanysleepsnow · 09/04/2022 23:28

My Dd had it at 6 months. She had 230 spots (I counted!) but didn’t seem to feel unwell beyond an initial temperature that calpol managed and was too young to scratch!

Scarybutnecassary · 09/04/2022 23:33

My son had chickenpox at 6 months…his toddler sister got it and she was absolutely fine!! My youngest got it as a 4 year old and he was really unwell..now 18 years later all children fit and healthy!!

Shortbreadselection · 09/04/2022 23:38

My dd was 6 months when she had it. Wasn't too bad - I remember thinking her nappy must have been really uncomfortable as she had lots of spots on her bottom'
Think we used camomile cream and possibly antihistamine if she was allowed (the older two were).

Notwithittoday · 09/04/2022 23:40

@maryberryslayers

If she's doesn't get it before she's 1, wait 4 weeks after her jabs and get her vaccinated privately at boots.

It's a standard childhood vaccination in many other countries, I really don't understand why we put children through such an awful preventable illness here.

Agree with this. I didn’t know you could get them vaccinated and kicked myself for not looking into it.

ouch44 · 09/04/2022 23:53

My DD had it at 6 months old. Her face was covered but I remember she wasn't really very poorly with it and not too bothered by it. She still has a few scars on her face and abdomen where she caught them with her hands.

She did however get Shingles just recently at 13! Which getting CP young is a risk factor for. Nurse didn't mention anything about getting a jab but I suspect she might benefit as I believe she may be at risk of getting shingles again

TokenGinger · 10/04/2022 00:05

Top tip - don't bathe them. It's a common misconception it helps. All it does is spread it further. The heat of the water causes the blisters to weep, and the herpes virus is then in the water that's being used all over their skin. People think the bath helps them "come out" - it doesn't, it helps them spread the infection.

Poxclin mousse dries them out really quickly, and wipe their areas with a damp cloth if they need a clean, but for a couple of days, they should be okay and it really does help stop the spread.

My friend is a nurse in a GP surgery, who specialises in dermatology, and gave me this advice when my DS had chickenpox.

BonjourCrisette · 10/04/2022 00:08

DD got it at 11 months and it was quite mild. Was delighted to have got it over with so easily but not so delighted when she got it again at 7, really badly. Be warned that a mild case at a young age may not confer much immunity.

nocoolnamesleft · 10/04/2022 00:12

The most important piece of information is missing: have you had chicken pox? And how are you feeding? If you've had chicken pox, then some immunity from you will have crossed the placenta. By now that will be fading, though if you are breast feeding, it can keep it topped up. Because of this, many babies have relatively mild chicken pox. Fingers crossed this is the case for your DD.

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