Shielding with Only Child / socialising

[Milstow]

Hi!

DW & I have 1 DD age 5 & have been shielding since mid March (we went into lockdown as soon as things started heating up here).

Shout out to DD - she has been great. Keeping up with the sometimes loose / sometimes stricter homeschool routine (both of us are WFH as flexibly as poss - I do most of the school and work at night), taking part in zoom classes for ballet and zoom meet ups with friends, and has kept herself occupied wth toys and the iPad.

As lockdown has started lifting and new advice comes into play, I’m concerned that as others have started enjoying the parks again, and the thought of going back to school comes in September, that our little one is going to miss some vital socialising. I feel genuine guilt that as I’m on immunosuppressants, she is going to miss out on her friends. I fear the zoom meet ups are going to start fading out, and ones that do occur all the kids are going to be talking about playing out together. I obviously have my own fears about the return to school, DW returning to the office and the virus. TBH, not really sure how to go forward.

Would love to hear others Thoughts on this - particularly those shielding, and especially those with an only child. And if anyone has any resources to check out, I would be really appreciative.

Apologies for the long post, thanks for reading x

Yes, that’s really interesting, and kind of odd that biologic a would have that kind Of effect, considering they lower the immune system.

We did our fist park trip (not playground) walk on Sunday, without face masks. Honestly, I found it all pretty infuriating how many people weren’t socially distancing and how lax people were with their kids. I was quite depressed when we home about the worry and how this might go on for longer than we thought.

Hey, thank you for your comments. Appreciate the positive support.

Yes, I’m not just worried about the death bit. Just as, if not more worried about the continued illness.

Our walks have been fine up to sunday. Walking through the park, I found that folks really are bored with this and are just back to normal. I left my kids scooters
To help her get down from some to rocks, and turned around to find a toddler gettin all handsy in it, and his mum being so blasé about it “oh, he does that all the time”, it really annoyed me!!

Happy to chat about my illness. Most of our friends know about it any way and are v supportive. There was a few
In Our WhatsApp group that didn’t know we were shielding.
Have been organising some socially distanced picnics and other zoom activities and have to be hopeful that the other kids don’t go on about going out to the parks loads lols.

Really interested in seeing the positive effects of the biologics!!

My situation is very similar, my husband and 3 year old only have been shielding with me because I take immunosuppressants. We chose recently to begin having play dates with another family. The play dates are outdoors and because we live rurally it is easy for the kids to play without meeting anyone else. I don’t try to get the kids to socially distance (although the adults do) - I think it would have been very tricky for 3 year olds and I wanted them to be able to play freely and have a normal social interaction. I thought about trying to find another shielding family but in the end decided I would rather my child just play with a kid he definitely likes (and will be in his nursery bubble eventually) and where I get the benefit of hanging out with my friend too. The other family are not shielding but they are not in high risk jobs and I trust them to tell us anything we needed to know. It has been a real improvement in quality of life for us all.

We also are going to the local park/playground at quieter times of day and when the weather isn’t so good (we go out in all weather in normal times too and it’s amazing how many people are put off by grey skies and a bit of a temperature drop). Our area has a low number of cases and it is very unlikely that he will pick up the virus at the park. It is a very individual decision and has many variables depending on your own circumstances.

I take biologics for a different condition and my team are also very positive about the impact of biologics (and I have recently stopped the other ‘riskier’ drug I take). My basic understanding is that biologics suppress the part of the immune system that seems to become overactive in more serious cases of Covid. It is good to hear people with other conditions are hearing similar things about the impact of biologics.

My DH also takes a biologic (was infliximab but something else which I've forgotten now) and has been shielding. We have a 3YO who is an only child.

I have taken the view that outdoors activities are generally very low risk so have been taking our toddler to the playground since it re-opened. This has been really beneficial for all of us, especially as we won't be sending DS back to pre-school until September.

We are very strict on hand washing etc but don't wear masks outdoors.

This is just our take on it, and obviously you have to weigh up the risks yourself.

It's very tough

Hello, I am in the same situation. Also shielding as my 75 year old mother lives with us and I don’t want to take any risks. My daughter is nearly 4 years of age. I have been a teacher for 15 years so home schooling my daughter is the easy part, but finding her other shielding friends is the challenge.
Luckily I have a large garden with a climbing frame and trampoline, but nothing replaces the contact with other children so I have been to a couple of playgrounds just for her to be able to see other children even from a distance. We use hand sanitiser constantly and I don’t think it’s safe to play in the public sand (just as it was also unsafe when there was Polio).
Luckily she has older cousins who are also shielding but they are four plus years older so really not the same as having close friends of similar age.
Perhaps our daughters could meet to play together? Before COVID-19 my daughter’s best friend was also a five year old little girl but her mother is not shielding and she will be returning to school.
(If you need some support with home schooling I would also be happy to give some time to practice reading and writing and some fun mathematical problem solving games with your daughter.)

I am also shielding and keeping my (nearly four year old) daughter at home. I would love to find some friends for her who are also shielding as we are. We are in Hampton Court. What area are you in?