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Covid

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Original poster

My 10 year old has tested positive, help!! What do I do?

47 replies

Wintersnuggles10 · 19/11/2021 22:29

Hi everyone. I feel really silly. All through this pandemic I've been stocked up with medical stuff and cleaning stuff. Cleaned the house. Sanitiser. Wear a mask etc etc.

My son has tested positive today. I was expecting it because there a few off with it in his class. Anyway, I've panicked, gone to pieces and can't remember what I should do!!
He's in his room at the moment, but what is the advice regarding this now? I feel absolutely terrible at the thought of making him stay in his room for 10 days!! Or that he can't come near us :-(
The rest of us are negative at the moment but I'm conscious that this might change. My anxiety has absolutely gone through the rough. I'm worried about him and also about me and his dad getting it as we are both high risk but are both double jabbed. I'm scared :-(

OP posts:

clarkkentsglasses · 20/11/2021 03:40

@CloseYourEyesAndSee

Stop panicking Get him out of his room Be normal

Exactly this

What the fuck is all the mass panic, Jesus life goes on

Frazzled2207 · 20/11/2021 07:31

@MadamMoth

My then 10yo had covid last Christmas. It was all a bit different then and we didn't know better than to isolate him. He was delighted being bought his food and being allowed to play ps4 with no interruptions. Still I snuck in every day to give him a cuddle and kiss while no one else could see!

Pleased he was ok with it but at no point was there ever any advice that children should be isolated in their rooms

Bagelsandbrie · 20/11/2021 07:33

Please don’t keep him in his room!

littlepeas · 20/11/2021 07:39

Oh my God, unless you're going to drip feed that one of you is vulnerable, just behave normally FFS. My 10 year old had it over half term and yes, me, dd, dh and my mum all went down with it too (other ds escaped again - been exposed loads at school too and still not caught it) - I am actually relieved that it is over and done with. It is wrong to confine anyone to their room within their home, let alone a 10 year old child.

Exhausteddog · 20/11/2021 07:49

My 11 year old has it. He is isolating and we are all carrying on as normal, feeling sure that if we are going to get it, we will. I’m not prepared to make him miserable over it. I’m not hugging and kissing him and had the windows down in the car when we went for the PCR but otherwise just behaving normally.

Similar here. Ds (12) has it. He doesn't want to be confined to his room. We are trying to keep slightly further apart than feels normal (and no hugging) but otherwise carrying on reasonably normally. I have excused him from unloading the dishwasher (which is one of his normal chores) because I thought it better that he's not handling plates etc that we will all eat off but he's putting all the recycling out to enforce at least a few seconds of fresh air!! We have very few opening windows downstairs (in living area - just patio doors) so not even ventilating that well. Day 9 here and so far no one else has it. (Were having PCR tests today)

MamanSparkles · 20/11/2021 07:54

It's not a dripfeed, she said in the opening post that both she and DH are high risk - ie vulnerable!
That completely changes things.
OP

DramaLlllama · 20/11/2021 08:14

We’ve had this this week too. DD (8) has tested positive. We are not isolating her, however I’m doing all the hands on stuff (I’m triple jabbed) and DH keeping his distance but still in the same room erc so not actually isolating. It’s an airborne virus so we have all been exposed before we knew it was covid anyway. To be honest, I’m glad we are getting it out of the way before christmas. DD is fine so far, has had much worse colds.

DramaLlllama · 20/11/2021 08:14

Sorry - when I say not isolating her, I mean not isolating her from from us in the house. Clearly she is being isolated in the house and not going out!

KissKissButtCheek · 20/11/2021 08:34

When DD10 had it she was quite poorly, she even slept in with us as there was no way I was going to leave her on her own.

Get him out of his room and carry on as normal x

Bagelsandbrie · 20/11/2021 08:35

@MamanSparkles

It's not a dripfeed, she said in the opening post that both she and DH are high risk - ie vulnerable! That completely changes things. OP

I am in the clinically extremely vulnerable group but have had both vaccinations and a booster and I have a 9 year old ds. There is still no way I’d be keeping him separate from the family / in his room. The long term damage to his mental health would be worse than Covid!

liveforsummer · 20/11/2021 08:36

Who did you think was watching you and what did you think would happen if someone knew you were giving him a cuddle? Last Christmas there was no orders to lock a child away. There was no different in home advice than there is now.

OP you just carry on as you would if your dc had flu or a winter vomiting bug - be prudent about cleaning (although that's less important for covid as we know for its transmission is rare to none. Might help you feel you are doing something though) and keep some windows open as a means of ventilation. I'd probably avoid prolonged physical contact if vulnerable but most 10 year olds can cope without that anyway.

Vallmo47 · 20/11/2021 08:53

My 10 year old daughter and I are clinically vulnerable and both had covid last month. I’m also double vaccinated and it wasn’t a horrific experience for either of us - she only had a runny nose for a day or two! We’ve definitely had worse colds.
What you need to try to do is curb your mind OP. Treat it like the cold it is.
We didn’t isolate from each other and her brother and dad didn’t catch it, despite even sharing towels on occasion. Please relax, don’t isolate your child and just subtly up the cleaning and hand washing. GL!

littlepeas · 20/11/2021 09:33

Apologies op - I missed the bit where you said you were vulnerable - that does make it a harder decision.

MadamMoth · 20/11/2021 11:29

@Frazzled2207 @liveforsummer

Agreed. What I meant by things were different then was that we had no vaccines and we were overly cautious. We did let him out of his imprisonment after a couple of days . My other dcs have caught it more recently and we didn't do anything like that.

Realitea · 20/11/2021 11:32

My dd has tested positive today and is also 10. I haven't even considered keeping her away from us at a time she really needs us there for her. I might open a window or two but apart from that I'm not going to keep her separate

x2boys · 20/11/2021 11:43

My teen had it at the start of the summer holidays ,being a teen he was quite happy to isolate himself ,he was ill for about 48 hours and I did hug him ,neither myself or dh caught it off him

LindaEllen · 20/11/2021 11:54

18yo DSS was quite frankly thrilled at the prospect of gaming in his room for 10 days straight, having meals brought to him, and not being yelled at about lying in for as long as he wanted. We didn't actually tell him to isolate. It was his choice. In fact I'd go as far as to say it was his idea of a dream!!

A 10yo? I wouldn't make them isolate unless they actually want to, and are completely comfortable with it. They're not well - let them do whatever comforts them the most.

Dee1975 · 20/11/2021 12:35

You just need to take extra measures. Wash hands regularly. Don’t face each other when you hug. Wipe down bathroom after they use it.
For DD9 we put a tv in her room. This was a novelty for her and she ‘choose’ to be in her room more. We also let her eat in her room in front of the tv (again another novelty!). But we didn’t force her. Isolating a child at that age is a bit cruel. Just do what you can.

Warhertisuff · 20/11/2021 12:58

I think it depends on how "high risk" you are. If you're on chemo and are likely to have little to no immunity despite the vaccines, that's different to having a somewhat higher than ideal BMI.

Bobholll · 20/11/2021 13:13

‘Who looks after the kids?’ - you do, sick or not. I looked after mine when I felt pretty miserable with covid. I had no choice, my husband was away working. I dragged myself out of bed, dosed up on painkillers & coffee & carried on. It was tough but it’s what you do as a parent.

We’ve just all had a nasty stomach bug. Me & my husband were taking it in turns to throw up all night on Thursday. We felt hideous yesterday but we got up & looked after our kids the best we could. It wasn’t a great parenting day but they watched TV & we got through it.

It’s highly unlikely both parents would be sick enough to need hospital. & in the incredibly rare event they were, most people have a support system in place. I’d take in family & friends kids in a heartbeat in an emergency, covid or no covid! I’m not vulnerable (bar asthma), I’d do anything to help them. I’ll take my chances with covid!

Original poster

Wintersnuggles10 · 25/11/2021 15:18

I've just seen everyone's replies, I didn't think anyone would comment!
I calmed down after the first day. Yes both myself and husband are CEV. My booster Jab is next week.
We gave our son the choice, he chose to isolate in his room. His door is wide open, he has his own bathroom. I take him all his meals. He's got his playstation and is gaming with his friends every day who are also off with covid. I go in and have lots of chats with him. He's enjoying having a lie in and chilling out. He's been given school work to do. It's day 9 now from first symptoms. The rest of us still negative so far. He's dealt with it so well and he's perky and cheery. We've been outside in the garden together for fresh air every day. Back to normality tomorrow!

OP posts:

Cacee3029 · 25/11/2021 15:29

If my 10 year old caught it, he wouldn't manage 10 days in his room - i don't think he'd even last 10 minutes tbf. He is autistic though. If it was me, I'd just carry on normal ish. Extra wiping off surfaces, excellent hand hygiene and hope for the best. 10 seems a bit young to be isolated in his room. Even more so with my 6 year old. I don't think we could social distance at all.

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