What happens with a child who needs to self isolate?

[SpruceTree]

I have lots of questions and would appreciate the wisdom of the MN hive mind.

How would it work if your child needed to self isolate? Surely they can't be shut in their room on their own for 2 weeks? Would they be allowed to use the rest of the house?

What then happens to the rest of the family? Would the whole family then have to self isolate because the child was moving through the house?

What sort of age do you think a child could self isolate at home? I think it's very hard for a mature adult to cope in a room alone fur 2 weeks, let alone a young teenager.

What happens if both parents need to self isolate? Do they have to do this separately or can it be in the same bedroom? In the case if both parents self isolating, what do you do with the children? They can't be sent to the grandparents as elderly are more at risk.

Even if the children are a bit older (tweens/teenagers) and can cook meals it seems cruel to have the parents up in their rooms for 2 weeks with no contact.

Originally I thought self isolation meant just staying at home, but now I realise it means actually isolating yourself in one room within your home and I just can't see how it works with children.

DH and I were discussing the practicality of self isolation so we can plan how it might work.

Are people buying latex gloves/surgical masks to use at home if self isolation is needed or if a family member was ill with corona virus. I guess you would need the gloves to collect the isolated persons used plates etc.

Is it true that corona virus is a new type of SARS virus?

I think teenagers will be fine. Just collect the plates after two weeks and leave the WiFi on

The reality is that self isolation for a single person in a multioccupancy house only works where there is a) a spare room b) two bathroom c) it's one adult who needs to self isolate in a two adult household. Children aren't particularly at risk of complications so you may well not realise they have it.

@Aramox who has enough plates to let them build up for two weeks?!

In my opinion if this virus gets into your home it’s pointless attempting to isolate one person, most of the general public have no idea about serious infection control and can’t grasp the concept that isolation means isolation. A poster on a thread said that if her and her family were in isolation she would wait until it’s quiet outside to walk the dog. This is most people’s idea of isolation.

If the virus enters your home it’s likely it will spread through your family.
How can a 4 year old be shut in their room for 2 weeks? Who would actually do that do their child. If one of mine came down with it I’d try to protect myself as much as I could but because I love my children and can’t bear seeing them unwell or distressed I would be there for cuddles. I would isolate myself along with them.

What @Bexbug said. Simply won't be possible to isolate a child on their own.

We would have to isolate as a family because we only have one bathroom. If we had two it would be manageable as I'd move the spare kettle and washing up bowl into the spare room, as well as washing up liquid and a j cloth, the small tv and games console, a plastic bottle to fill up with water, and enough meals that can be done using hot water such as noodles, pasta (just takes longer), steamed foods, soups, etc.
I'd find being away from my baby for two weeks hard, but that's the beauty of video calling, and pre baby I'd have loved having two weeks shut away in a bedroom with just a phone and a tv. I'm very much an introvert though

There is no way I'd leave my eight-year-old or 12-year-old to self isolate on their own. If someone in our house has to self isolate, as far as I see it all of us do

I’d probably isolate with whichever child was unwell and send DH and the other DC to stay elsewhere.

My plan is for everyone to be in their rooms, poss dh can have our room and I'll sleep on the sofa bed and have the full run of the downstairs. Well someone had to feed everyone!?

If one of us has to then we all will. Realistically, by the time you realise one of you has been exposed to a case, you will likely all have mixed anyway for a few days. The exception would be if one of you travel alone to a high risk area - but why would you do that now?

The likely reason going forward for having to self isolate will be exposure to a known case - as I say it will take time to find this out, by which time it will be too late anyway.

I cannot believe anyone would even consider leaving their child alone in isolation, that is incredible. Poor kids!

Pickle, so zero social contact for 2 weeks? Just staring at the same 4 walls? No thank you, we will be out in the garden and playing board games etc. Mental health is more important thank you very much.

I’d probably isolate with whichever child was unwell and send DH and the other DC to stay elsewhere

Pointless, you'll have been in contact for days probably at that point and you'd just spread it. IMO, if one person in your household has been compromised, you all have and should isolate accordingly. That's exactly how the cases are spreading!

Mrs stranger, I do agree tbh. It'd be so hard to keep everyone separated and just passing food out means you'd probably get it. But I can't understand people who are keeping half the family in and half are carrying on as normal. It's bonkers. It has to be All or nothing!

I am reading this thread with this face

If your child needs to self-isolate, then everyone in the house needs to self-isolate 🤦‍♀️

It is not a given that everyone in a household would be affected, a young child can't self isolate but care can be taken that they don't hug cuddle the baby that one parent stays mostly with sick child washing hands etc before dealing with other child it also depends on size of house if you live in 4 bed house with 2kids keeping them apart is much easier than if you have 2 bed flat with single living space, I think then the advise is staying 1 metre away to avoid actual droplets it would be hard there is no doubt

I had a young baby then I would absolutely keep them separate. Much easier to keep a stationary baby to one room & wash hands before contact etc
Id still isolate everyone though.

*if 🙄

I don't have a baby!

People are still not understanding this virus! It is believed to be contagious during the incubation period, if you are incubating it you will be spreading it unknowingly. Your whole household will be infected, your whole family will have to isolate together. If you send your apparently healthy Dh and kids off to great aunty Mabel they are likely to come down with it a couple of days later. Then poor old aunty Mabel might not see her next birthday. Most of our houses in this country are too small to be suitable for self isolation. Whole families will need to self isolate together.

@MrsStrangerThing yes, that’s what will have to happen. Think about the poor people in China who were holed up in apartments for 5 weeks.

If kids school closes but with no known cases does that mean they have to self isolate?

You all have to isolate together surely.

If had a young baby then I would absolutely keep them separate

How would that work then? They can't do anything for themselves so a parent would red to be isolated with them.

OP, I don't see how a young child could be properly isolated- as a PP says, imagine the impact on their mental health. Evan adult criminals in prison aren't kept in solitary confinement for too long because of the risk to their mental health - I wouldn't risk that with a child - far better to isolate the family and invoke the Blitz spirit.

Longines,

Yeah the whole house would have to self isolate but I'd still keep a young baby as separate as possible and keep it to one parent contact with very high hygiene practices.
I'm talking proper newborns here though, their age and newness/zero immunity makes them very vulnerable. Even if it makes it futile, I'd want to at least say I'd attempted to try.
The least exposure may mean a lesser illness, and that may save a life 🤷🏽‍♀️
No point having dad or little Billy practically coughing in the new baby's face and then one day wondering if you could have done something different in a worst case scenario.

Yes, but at least one parent is going to be having close contact with a newborn.

So it's just as dangerous for the newborn for Billy to be coughing in mum's face too - it's best to isolate both of them than to have a parent exposed to everything then bringing all the germs to the baby at feeding/changing time.

I live alone with two DCs if one had to isolate then we would all isolate . We’d probably have all been exposed anyway and I would want to be with my DCs reassuring them .