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Original poster

Anyone's dc had a test? Ds has to have one

23 replies

LupinsNotLilys · 01/09/2020 18:21

Anything I should know/ would help him for when he has it? Looks pretty unpleasant

He's 7 and has asd/adhd so not sure how it's going to go 😬

OP posts:
BonnieBrown · 01/09/2020 18:34

My DS who is 6 had one in July.
I didn't go with him. DP said there was lots of tears and it ended up being a 2 person job.

But my DS can be dramatic and also I don't know what it feels like to have the test so I may be not being so empathetic to his experience of it.

Good luck x

Desperado24 · 01/09/2020 18:43

I have had three.

Honestly, its not the most pleasant thing in the world but no worse than a trip to the dentist for example.

How does he cope with stuff like that? Can you contact the people doing the test and speak to them in advance

Triangularbubble · 01/09/2020 18:52

For my child with ASD it would need very heavy bribery. They have a price for everything/anything unpleasant! I’ve already bought a number of very desirable and much coveted objects related to their special interest in preparation for any testing. But although they have sensory issues they can cope with discomfort for short periods if they have to, obviously each child is different and some genuinely cannot tolerate it.

They’ve already seen a sibling tested so they know what the test involves, otherwise I’d probably need to show them the instruction pictures - from experience of other procedures they’re much better if they know exactly what will happen and how long it will take, otherwise they tend to think it will keep getting worse and go on forever and panic. Telling them this is as bad as it gets and will be over once I count to ten helps.

DipSwimSwoosh · 01/09/2020 18:57

My 6 year old had one today. I wasn't there but his dad said he hated it and couldn't tolerate the 10 seconds. Hoping for a negative before school starts tomorrow! He's picked up a cold somehow but I know they won't let him into school unless he has a negative result as he's coughing occasionally.

Elephantday82 · 01/09/2020 19:04

What’s his understanding like? Can you do a social story with pictures?

My son is severely autistic. I can’t even clean his ears with a cotton bud so there’s no way he’d tolerate a test. Took 9 people to hold him still for gas when he needed a general anaesthetic 🙄

Original poster
LupinsNotLilys · 01/09/2020 19:04

Thanks for the replies. He's quite tolerant of pain but very squeamish of stuff going in his body (had a canular earlier this year and he hit the roof)

He's come down with a temp and snuffles today so school need a negative test before him and his siblings can go to school. Was due in tomorrow. All in good time

OP posts:
Original poster
LupinsNotLilys · 01/09/2020 19:06

His comprehension is ok @Elephantday82 I think he's understand I just fear it may be a hold down job and I don't want to do that to him. Must have been stressful for your Ds Thanks

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Sassenach85 · 01/09/2020 19:11

Very similar thing with dd - she had to be held down even with the new toy as a bribe. She freaked out tbh. She had sore sinuses anyway so I guarantee it was probably as sore as she thought. She knocked it out my hand but we sent it anyway. Came back negative!

Frazzled2207 · 01/09/2020 19:15

My 7 yo was not keen but coped. It was supposed to be in for 15 seconds- I don’t think we managed anywhere near that long but luckily we still got a negative result.

AllTheUserNamesAreTaken · 01/09/2020 19:54

DS age 6 had one a couple of months ago as part of a research study. No one I knew has had one so didn’t realised how unpleasant it would be for him. He was really enthusiastic to begin with as he knew it was helping the scientists but he didn’t like it at all. It took some bribery to get him through it

Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 01/09/2020 20:06

DS 2 had his fourth this morning. We both work full time and he’s at nursery 5 days a week so for every cough and cold we need a test.
He last had one two weeks ago. With a small one, we can hold him down and get it done as quick as possible. We have no tears but he needs a good cuddle afterwards, and then they forget about it. Good luck.
I am lucky DS is so young.

Bridecilla · 01/09/2020 20:08

Took ds (8) today. He was fine with the throat bit but hated the nose swab. The tip is too big for kids I think and he freaked out. Lots of bribery needed!

SmilingAloe · 01/09/2020 20:16

My DS 9 and 11 had a test a couple of weeks ago. It was fine. Genuinely not bad, the noise bit tickled and the the throat bit made them gag but only for a second. They were not remotely fazed by it. And my ds 11 has sensory issues.

lljkk · 01/09/2020 20:20

Bloody hell, 4 tests on a 2yr old.

Sassenach85 · 01/09/2020 20:48

Yeah the tip of the swab seemed big for me so must have felt huge to dd - I felt awful for her

Jrobhatch29 · 01/09/2020 21:04

We bribed my 4 year old (we think he has asd/adhd) with a new sonic game for his switch. We went too far with the bribe because he wasn't bothered by the test lol. We probably could have just bribed with a biscuit or something ha

CoffeeandChocolateplease · 01/09/2020 21:09

I took my 11 year old DS for one a couple of weeks ago - he has had a persistent cough for months and needed a negative test before we could access further doctor's treatment. He's usually a bit fussy with medical procedures but he watched Minecraft videos on his phone and didn't flinch so I would recommend that if you think it might help.

MadeForThis · 01/09/2020 21:24

Dd was tested yesterday. Drive in test centre. She's almost 5. We were advised that the throat is very hard to get in young kids so it was fine to just swab each nostril.

She did get upset before, more nerves and not knowing what to expect.

I put some cartoons on my phone to distract her and it was over quickly. Took her for ice cream after.

She said it wasn't too bad. Didn't hurt. But she wouldn't be too excited about doing another one.

Test results today. Negative.

Original poster
LupinsNotLilys · 01/09/2020 22:04

Glad to hear of the negative results and thanks for the replies. Booked in for the morning.

I've explained it's a test and why. Not explained the how yet but I will in the morning.

This years slowly doing me in. Bring back 2019!

OP posts:
nancypineapple · 01/09/2020 22:52

Took my squeamish 9 yr old today as shes caught the mother of all colds and has her first day back in school since early March tomorrow. it's just a cotton bud up the nose for those under age 12 now thankfully as I would not have been able to do the throat swab on her. If you can give him a cotton bud to try before you go out and get him to help you do it. Good luck xx

onedayinthefuture · 01/09/2020 22:55

@Greaterthanthesumoftheparts

DS 2 had his fourth this morning. We both work full time and he’s at nursery 5 days a week so for every cough and cold we need a test. He last had one two weeks ago. With a small one, we can hold him down and get it done as quick as possible. We have no tears but he needs a good cuddle afterwards, and then they forget about it. Good luck. I am lucky DS is so young.
I'd seriously consider a childminder, someone who has less kids to look after. Nurseries are germ pits and 4 tests already on a 2 year old is a bit much.
Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 02/09/2020 06:52

I agree 4 tests on a two year old is a nightmare. Thankfully here, we’re in Switzerland, we must have different tests because they only do the nose and the swabs are tiny.

We are considering a nanny when DH starts his new job in the new year. Using a childminder would only help slightly in that there are fewer kids, but if they get a cough they still can’t go back until they are tested.

We don’t really want to change things at the moment though as his nursery is amazing. All the colds seem to come in clusters, this one I put down to the fact that our schools weNt back mid-August. My theory is that all the big brothers and sisters started sharing germs and spread them to younger brothers and sisters in the nursery. Keeping my fingers crossed this is the last one for a while.

I was speaking to the doctor yesterday and he basically said to get used to it, that this is the new normal.

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