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Original poster

Ideas for testing little people

82 replies

ndo4000 · 17/12/2021 17:45

Waiting for a PCR test for my DD3. Anyone got ideas about how to actually swab a 3 year old?!? I tried to do a LFT and she wasn't having any of it!!

Any suggestions welcome!

OP posts:
Original poster
ndo4000 · 17/12/2021 19:57

Thanks for all the suggestions!

@humdingle yes - going to have to do it sadly as she def has symptoms and it will alter many many things if she has COVID.

Think I'm going to try the fast asleep trick. Although I do like the idea of a nursery rhyme - "round and round the nostril like Chris Whitty says....if you don't let me do this, Santa won't bring any prez"! What do you think? It's not quite sing Happy Birthday while washing your hands, but it might work!

Annoyingly I didn't have the kit today as she slept most of the afternoon and is now conked out & I could probably have managed it.

Ah well. Bribery if not.

OP posts:
Bubblty · 17/12/2021 20:07

@MotherOfCrocodiles

Ah we have been going to drive through so no option to try later
Ah I seee this makes sense. There's no way I could get to do a drive through one!
ISaidDontLickTheBin · 17/12/2021 20:14

Well ordinarily I'd say go to a drive there centre and do it with her strapped on her car seat. But as you've already ordered the home kit, could you do it in a car seat anyway??

Agree with pp don't even try the throat. Personally I found lengthy explanations and negotiation had zero effect on getting my 3 yo to cooperate so I had to go with just holding their arms down and doing it fast. Then chocolate buttons afterwards!

polkadotpixie · 17/12/2021 20:20

With DS3, we ask if we can tickle his nose with the little stick whilst simultaneously bribing him with chocolate and his iPad

MargosKaftan · 17/12/2021 20:37

Just to say, have an 8 year old who hates them too and have had to resort to pinning her down. Makes it a 2 person job and yes, traumatic. I would happily pay for the spit tests. I assume noone in government has had to pin their child down to do a test.

JuergenSchwarzwald · 17/12/2021 20:42

I really don't understand why we don't have spit tests or the ones where you can just swab your cheek.

StonewalledNameChange · 17/12/2021 20:43

I second the suggestion to let DC do it for themselves. Had previously done two ‘trying not to be traumatic, ending up that way anyway’ with my 3yo when she suddenly decided she wanted to do an LFT like mummy. Was obviously lower stakes than a PCR but she did it effectively and happily. Will do that again when needed.

shreddednips · 17/12/2021 20:48

Unfortunately it's just been a get in, get out and get the job done thing with my DS who is a similar age. He hates it and I hate doing it to him, but it is quick. DH swaddles him in a blanket, i swab, and then we ply him with chocolate buttons. We tried turning it into a game, doing it on teddy first etc but it just amped up his anxiety. It might work for other children though; my DS is tricky to get medicine into as well.

The only time he's done it willingly is after he went to A&E, when he met a nurse who he fell madly in love with 😆 I told him the lovely nurse needed him to do his swab and he did let me do it. Sadly, this no longer works 😖

I know it sounds upsetting but I really don't see what else you can do if you have a child like mine who flatly refuses to have it done no matter what you try. If I don't swab him when he has symptoms, I can't work and I can't afford the basics. It's miserable and I wish it didn't have to be done.

beentoldcomputersaysno · 17/12/2021 21:21

Agree with others - just do the nose. I used to do a pick our noses song and who can try not to sneeze game, letting them do it themselves and then I 'check' (do test properly) for hidden bogies. They know they get some chocolate after, so that helps. I had to do the car seat thing initially - much easier if someone is with you. Now I just say we have to do a quick test to see if covid is hiding on us - a bit like when I check for nits/go over their teeth. They find teeth more traumatic as they don't get chocolate after!My youngest (toddler) I put an iPad on table in front of her and hold her head still against me and just do it. The game would build it up too much. Different strokes etc. I only managed doing it whilst asleep once, but others have had more success. Still wish there was a more kid friendly test readily available.

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:32

People who have pinned their child down to do test: why? Why did you HAVE to do the test?

I've taken my children for tests in the past. Younger children don't have to do the throat, only the nostrils, so that's a non-issue. But if your child would be traumatised by the test, why do it?

My youngest was terrified at the prospect of having to test. She hid when we were due to leave the house and was bawling when I found her. I told her she didn't have to do it and we left it at that.

We're in the UK in 2021 - you do not have to undergo any medical procedure without consent.

You're teaching a TERRIBLE message about body autonomy by pinning your child down to test them.

Notoironing · 17/12/2021 22:43

Hi Humdingle.
We have to do the test because any time they have a cough or fever for the last 18 months you have to do a PCR test or self isolate. Self isolation is now 10 days but used to be 14. Also, the entire family used to have to self isolate for 14 days if anyone had the symptoms.
So for instance - we are two working parents with three kids. If anyone coughed more than a couple of times last year we had to collect all three and no one was allowed to go out of our home for 14 days until we got a negative PCR result.
Now if one of them has symptoms we don’t all have to self isolate. However our childminder will not accept any of them if any have any symptoms unless they get a negative test result.
So if two parents work you have to get the test done. Or as I said upthread when our toddler gradually became more resistant to / refused the test I got to the point id have to leave my job as I couldn’t work with her self isolating next to me with a mild cough in perpetuity.

shreddednips · 17/12/2021 22:44

@humdingle

People who have pinned their child down to do test: why? Why did you HAVE to do the test?

I've taken my children for tests in the past. Younger children don't have to do the throat, only the nostrils, so that's a non-issue. But if your child would be traumatised by the test, why do it?

My youngest was terrified at the prospect of having to test. She hid when we were due to leave the house and was bawling when I found her. I told her she didn't have to do it and we left it at that.

We're in the UK in 2021 - you do not have to undergo any medical procedure without consent.

You're teaching a TERRIBLE message about body autonomy by pinning your child down to test them.

Because I can't send him back to childcare if he gets Covid symptoms and I don't do a PCR test. He gets coughs with every cold, so that's a lot of potential isolation periods. If I can't send him to childcare, I can't work, and our finances were decimated by the lockdowns. It would very quickly get to the point where I couldn't put food on the table.
Notoironing · 17/12/2021 22:45

Also I agree - I’m a huge believer in bodily autonomy and one of the things I loathe about this whole thing is that the idea of privacy and autonomy on health is out the window. Hence I now let me dc do their own tests including my toddler. But I make sure they do a very thorough job and do the rest of the process to make sure it’s done correctly.

shreddednips · 17/12/2021 22:48

And trust me, I don't feel good about doing it. It's horrible. But it's not in his interests for us to get into any worse a financial situation. I wish I didn't have to choose between distressing him with a swab and being able to cover our living expenses, but that's what it boils down to.

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:50

@Notoironing @shreddednips
Thanks for the quick replies.
In our house, we also have two full time working parents. But school and after-school club doesn't insist on us doing PCRs, nor do they quiz us about them. I'm not sure if settings are allowed to? I've only recently twigged to this. Instead, I monitor for symptoms and/or do LFTs at home according to what the kids are comfortable with. There are countless reasons that a child gets a temperature or whatever. We keep them off if they're unwell, otherwise they go to school.

Notoironing · 17/12/2021 22:52

Awful isn’t it shreddednips
(Great username)
I’ve been in such despair at times when my toddler wouldn’t do the test. If you have to work, and also at times we had two kids couldn’t go to school for 2 weeks unless the toddler did a test, what else could you do?

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:52

To add, I think the thing is that once I've said to school we're going for a PCR then that's when they say they won't accept them back until a negative result. Whereas if I just don't share that information with them in the first place, I can send them back as soon as they're well / have a normal temperature etc. Which is the way it should be.

Notoironing · 17/12/2021 22:53

Humdingle - they are not following the rules.

Solasum · 17/12/2021 22:53

@humdingle if I had allowed my DS to have complete bodily autonomy from age 1-4, he would probably have never had a decent teeth clean, and his teeth would have rotted. So for a long time there were towels and headlocks involved. He has no memory of this and now once he has grown up a bit he is happy to clean his teeth as necessary.

Likewise he never wanted to go in a car seat, but I made him do it anyway. Because sometimes as a parent you have to make things happen whatever way you can. Covid testing is a legal requirement. In my book that means you just get on with it. DC feelings about whether it should happen or not are immaterial.

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:56

@Solasum no, testing is not a legal requirement. Isolation is a legal requirement in certain circumstances, testing never is and nobody can force you to undergo testing.

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:57

@Notoironing

Humdingle - they are not following the rules.
But what rules are they not following? I've never heard of any setting insisting on seeing test results?
shreddednips · 17/12/2021 22:57

[quote humdingle]**@Notoironing* @shreddednips*
Thanks for the quick replies.
In our house, we also have two full time working parents. But school and after-school club doesn't insist on us doing PCRs, nor do they quiz us about them. I'm not sure if settings are allowed to? I've only recently twigged to this. Instead, I monitor for symptoms and/or do LFTs at home according to what the kids are comfortable with. There are countless reasons that a child gets a temperature or whatever. We keep them off if they're unwell, otherwise they go to school. [/quote]
Our childminder won't accept him if he has a cough or temperature without a negative PCR. As far as I know, childminders are allowed to set their own policies regarding this. If she is a close contact of a child with omicron, which she would be if any of the children contracted it and came in, she will need to self isolate and close her setting. So I completely understand why that's her policy.

humdingle · 17/12/2021 22:58

@shreddednips fair enough, I can see how childminders could do this (and can understand why they'd want to)

mswales · 17/12/2021 23:00

People just don't understand what the terror is like for some children. I can only test my four year old if there are two people to help me - one to hold down his arms and one to hold his head in a lock while I get the swab. All the while he is screaming and thrashing with the most visceral distress and fear I've ever seen in real life. When I try to do it in his sleep he immediately wakes up and pushes me away so I can't get a proper sample. It's absolutely horrendous. Can't believe people are judging - imagine what this experience is like for the parents who have to pin their kids down!

shreddednips · 17/12/2021 23:02

According to PACEY, childminders are within their rights to set their own policies about whether children can, for example, attend if a member of their family is infected but they are negative. I have no idea whether they are entitled to ask for proof of results (she doesn't). But as far as I know, there is also a legal requirement to self-isolate if you have Covid symptoms unless you have a negative PCR. Or am I wrong?

I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable just not telling her and sending him in once he's better. It's her livelihood. And his coughs linger, so it would be immediately obvious he had Covid symptoms.