Are all babies classed as being in the shielded group?

[ConfusedChop]

I was just wondering as I can't find anything online about them being within it. I received one of the letters for my one year old saying that he falls into the vulnerable category and apart from eczema he doesn't have any other underlying conditions.

Personally whether categorised or not I would want to isolate with my baby

Oh he is. He's definitely not leaving the house at all and hasn't for weeks now.

Was just wondering

I ahve a 5 week old baby and worry about him as not much has been said about newborns. I'm not so worried about my older children as I know most children get it mildly but I am concerned about my baby.

I have a one year old and haven't had any letters and none of my friends with small children have been told to shield them. Certainly no government advice I've seen suggests it.

Pretty sure babies and children don't have to be shielded, just socially distanced the same as the rest of us? Shielding is for people with certain very high risk health issues who have got a letter telling them.

Vulnerable is not the same as shielded

I got one of these letters saying that I am at risk due to an underlying disease or health condition. Called the GP and they are not sure why I got the letter.

Theoretically, young babies (iirc it was those 6 months and younger) are at elevated risk of pneumonia generally. Pregnant women are more susceptible to contracted illness due to suppressed immune system.

Therefore, logically, I would imagine that newly post partum women and quite young babies would be vulnerable to this coronavirus. However, there isn't the the data yet to make any determinations.

I think babies under one are seen to be more vulnerable than other children based on the small amount of data we have but I didn't think they were to be shielded.

None of the shielded categories are age groups.

They all relate to pre-existing medical conditions

Frankly, I doubt you would want to shield with a new baby. For it would mean no one in same room as you two for weeks on end, and if you cannot move out cohabitants and your house is not big enough to have separate facilities, then considerable additional cleaning

But if you or your baby have any of the relevant ‘shield’/exceptionally vulnerable conditions, then of course you have to find a way to manage it.

As far as I know, babies (and children under ten generally) are the lowest risk group. There is no current advice to shield or isolate them unless they have certain conditions.

I have a 9 week old and haven't received a letter, in fact I couldn't even get a telephone gp appointment for him when he had a cough. The gp's surgery are still keen for him to come in for his 8 week jabs (after we finish self-isolating)

BTW: this is the ‘shield’ list. There are quite a lot of conditions which would class you as vulnerable but are not severe enough for shielding:

a) Solid organ transplant recipients.
b) People with specific cancers:

• people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy
• people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy
• people with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
• people having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
• people having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
• people who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs

c) People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD. d) People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell). e) People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection. f) Women who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired.

Although children are the lowest risk group, experts have said that there's no enough data bout under 1s to draw conclusions about babies specifically.

*about

No.

Thank you everyone for your replies . I spoke to the drs earlier as he's also due his jabs soon too and they've said it's because of a cream he has for his eczema that can suppress your immune system that's why he's to be shielded.
Thank you all again

Vulnerable is not the same as shielded.

The shielded group is a very small group of under 2 million who are extremely vulnerable.

Unfortunately, being vulnerable doesn't qualify you for anything very much, it just means you should take additional precautions.

I'm going to link to my other thread which has all the criteria and links in it. Hang on

Being 'vulnerable' does not make you part of the 'Shielded' group - if you're confused, see below www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3869495-Being-vulnerable-does-not-make-you-part-of-the-Shielded-group-if-youre-confused-see-below

Thank you @Clymene for your information. I understand the different between vulnerable and shielded and I apologise for my confusing post. My son is classed as in the shielded group as stated on the letter I received for him today. The reason I asked the question was because I was caught off guard after receiving it an confused about why. I posted on here straight away (hence the vulnerable/shielded mix up) but after talking to the doctor they explained why he was in that category.

Not sure about older babies but for newborns the advice is to isolate as much as possible. I’m due any day now and my midwife has said to have no visitors from family and friends until the end of the 12 week period the government stated for vulnerable people (so mid-June) and to reassess the situation then. So not shielding them, as you still need to go to appointments, but definitely social distancing.

She said that under 5s, and particularly under 1s, are more at risk of developing pneumonia, so the current advice being given to people with young babies is to mix with your household only until things settle, even after the lockdown is lifted.