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Covid

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Original poster

You don't have to isolate within the home!

72 replies

DockOTheBay · 22/12/2021 23:19

A lot of people seem to be saying things like "I've tested positive, I'll have to have Christmas lunch in my bedroom alone" or "DH has tested positive, now I have to work from home while looking after a 4 year old on my own".
Just a reminder that you don't HAVE to isolate from family members. You don't HAVE to deep clean the bathroom every time one of you goes in etc.
I realise some people may choose to do this if they live with an unvaccinated or extremely vulnerable person, but you don't have to!

OP posts:

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 08:00

I know this!

But when my DD2 caught it from school we made her isolate in her room. She caught it in October - luckily her isolation ended the first day of half term where we had activities planned for the week. However, if she had passed it on to the rest of the household it would have meant staying in longer and we wouldn't have been able to do the things we had planned!

My niece currently has covid and her mum is making her isolate in her room. Her isolation period is nearly up but if her mum gets it it means another 10 days for them inside and them spending Christmas on their own.

BigBenji · 23/12/2021 08:14

@Shudacudawuda

I’ve been a bit shocked people have isolated their own DCs.

Me too! My DD had it, she's 8. It didn't even occur to me to shut her away in her room.

She still was given plenty of hugs and kisses, I accepted it was our turn to all have it. None of us caught it off her though.

I don't think people have been isolating children that age.

When my teens had it at different times, they were happy to stay in their rooms for most of the time, use a separate bathroom and come down for time in the garden and to eat outside - it worked as none of us caught it.

My 9 year old would not have been able to stay in her room, so I think it very much depends on the person and the age.

LynetteScavo · 23/12/2021 08:16

People need to do what's best them re isolation within a household. People really need to think for themselves, use a bit if intelligence and not scoff at others who chose to be careful in their own home.

DH could potentially be very poorly of he caught Covid. He stayed well away from me when I had Covid and would if I had flu.

DD chose to give me hugs, because that's what she needed, more than not catching a virus.

Honeygoldcaramel · 23/12/2021 08:16

How old is she, @BusySittingDown?

I just can’t imagine doing that to my child … anyone really. It’s awful

OhPleaseJustLast · 23/12/2021 08:22

I think it depends on your circumstances. Both my dh and I work from home. We withdrew both children from school when the first one got it (with support from the school), so we weren’t going anywhere. I wasn’t going to isolate the 7 year old that got it first, that’s just cruel. So when my dh got it from him, isolating him seemed like shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted. Plus, we know a lot of people who have had covid recently or currently, and 80% of them have mild cold symptoms, or no symptoms at all. I don’t isolate in my room when I get a cold, so why for this?

U8976532 · 23/12/2021 08:32

There was a thread a few months ago where a non vulnerable household made their teenage son isolate but it was ok as he was allowed in the shed

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 08:38

It was really sad! She's nearly 11 and was absolutely fine - overjoyed at being able to eat her meals in her bedroom in front of the TV to be quite honest. It's never allowed usually - always downstairs at the table. She would have been more sad to not be able to go to Alton Towers and see the musical at the theatre we had booked for half term. Our other DD isn't vaccinated yet so was at risk.

Had she been younger we probably wouldn't have done it. If she had been upset about it we wouldn't have made her either. We just would have just taken the risk of catching it/cancelled our trips. As for the "that's so awful" - she's a pre-teen and spends the majority of her life in her room anyway! She spoke to her friends on FaceTime all the time.

Honeygoldcaramel · 23/12/2021 08:40

Is this where we are, eleven year olds forced to stay in one room?

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 08:43

Btw, my first post says that we "made her". Sorry, we didn't actually force her, just told her that it was probably best due to the risk of the rest of the household catching it and having to isolate for longer. She was fine with it. She did play in the garden as well.

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 08:45

@Honeygoldcaramel

Is this where we are, eleven year olds forced to stay in one room?

Cross post! But no, we didn't tie her up and gag her. You make it sound like they're being abused 🙄

Honeygoldcaramel · 23/12/2021 08:49

Well, it is a form of abuse, to be honest. Enforced isolation and lack of outdoor space isn’t OK (imo) because it’s in a presumably warm and affluent home.

Eleven is awfully young, but I wouldn’t do it to anyone of any age.

Sorry, I’m not trying to give you personally grief, I know a lot of people do it, but it does shock me. It is honestly not something that would even occur to me to do.

Delatron · 23/12/2021 08:51

I’m always shocked when people say they isolate children in their room. I remember the thread about the boy sleeping in the shed. I remember a thread where a poster wouldn’t even let her son in to the kitchen or walk around the garden.
I tend to get in to massive arguments on those type of threads. If we’ve got to the stage where we think isolating young children (below teenage age) in their rooms for 10 days is ok, then we’ve all lost the plot. It’s cruel and selfish quite frankly.
They tend to justify it with ‘oh they’re happy in their rooms’
Not for 24 hours a day with no human company. That’s very unhealthy.

Adults. Fine. I’d happily lounge around in my room. Teenagers it really does depend on the situation. Older teenagers and it may be ok.

Vulnerable people in the house? Maybe they move out rather than isolate a child.

When my DS (11) had Covid we did not isolate in any way. I played board games with him for hours as he was lonely and bored. He wanted hugs. Who denies a child hugs? Most of us are vaccinated who cares if we get it! I didn’t get it from DS in the end but an adult at a party. Hug the kids!

RedHot22 · 23/12/2021 08:53

There’s no way I would make a family member isolate in their room, especially at Christmas. We would just distance

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 09:00

She wasn't enforced! As I said previously - had she been upset or traumatised we would have just stopped the isolation. Although as a preteen her life didn't change dramatically! We still interacted with her - I didn't get a hug off her for 10 days which was torture (we're very cuddly usually) but made up for it after.

Also, if anyone else had caught it I wouldn't have been able to see my mum for longer. She's in a home and if anyone in the household has covid you shouldn't visit. I wasn't able to see her at all for over a year, wasn't allowed to hug her until recently. I don't want to risk not seeing her in the last months of her life.

Anyway, hopefully it's the last time we will have to have anyone isolate.

BusySittingDown · 23/12/2021 09:02

Covid has been hard for many. Just trying to limit the spread.

Hiding this thread now that I've been made to feel like a child abuser.

RedHot22 · 23/12/2021 09:04

@BusySittingDown

Covid has been hard for many. Just trying to limit the spread.

Hiding this thread now that I've been made to feel like a child abuser.

Please don’t feel bad x My post was aimed at you specifically.

My DD was the only one without Covid in our house and chose to SI in her room

Honeygoldcaramel · 23/12/2021 09:04

Busy, I do sympathise with you as it is damned if we do / damned if we don’t. I wouldn’t have done it and I can’t not be honest about the fact it shocks me when people do, but it clearly isn’t child abuse

RedHot22 · 23/12/2021 09:05

Urgh wasn’t

Lalliella · 23/12/2021 09:09

We just made DD sit on a different sofa! To be fair she did spend most of the day in her room but came out for mealtimes. But she didn’t test positive till day 5 so we figured if we were going to catch it we’d have caught it by then. We didn’t catch it at all.

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 23/12/2021 09:23

Everyone has different pressures and I don't know what I would do if I had to choose between isolating a child and risking a vulnerable family member but for me instinctively I just could not isolate DS
from the rest of us. It felt like shunning which is a form of ritual punishment
The poor kid already felt bad that he had it and so we couldn't go to his grandparents or see his cousins. I could not do something that would be seen as punishing him further for a thing that is in no way his fault.

AlwaysLatte · 23/12/2021 09:24

There are a lot of things we're 'allowed' to do but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do - for instance I was pinged and could have gone out one evening where I would be sitting next to a completely unvaccinated friend and I chose not to go. As it turns out I didn't get it but I didn't know that at the time.

Nat6999 · 23/12/2021 14:18

We are living with my 83 year old mum & ds isolated in his bedroom when he had Covid, I am ECV as well. We sent his meals up on the stairlift, he was happy to stay in his room playing on the Xbox all day.

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