chicken pox - the risks to dd2 and ds

[nearlythree]

Dd1 (4) has chicken pox. I'm concerned about ds, who is only 10 days' old - will he be immune? Also dd2 (2) has been unwell. I understand that she is likely to get a bad dose because she is living with dd1 and has been repeatedly exposed to it. I've even read that the children should be separated. Please can anyone help, I am really worried about my family.

my ds's have both had it recently. second one got more spots but wasnt poorly!
Not sure about baby though. I did know a baby born with it, so maybe babies can get it!
should be ok though.

I was told by my midwife that the baby may be immune if the mother is immune but there is still a chance they may not be.

poor you - hope your dd is doing ok with it right now. Are you breastfeeding? This is fabulous for providing antibodies. I think it's really rare for babies to get it. You could always speak to your doctor (duh I bet you're thinking!) because there are antivirals that can be prescribed even to babies if they are at risk of getting it badly.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I did bf for a week but have had to give up for loads of reasons but mostly soreness. I am immune so hopefully ds will ahve some immunity but no-one can say for how long, and I'm worried dd2 will get it late by which time his immunity will have worn off. Dd2 has also been ill lately (she was in hospital when I had ds) so I don't want her getting anything else.

Does anyone know if you can have chicken pox with a high temperature but no spots?

You can only have one or two spots. I had only three spots and my mother said she might have missed those had she not been on the look out for them as my brother and sister had just had chicken pox - and my mother is a doctor!

How ill is your dd1? When my ds1 had CP, we counted about 50 spots in total and thought that was bad enough but he wasn't actually ill with them. Then, 2 weeks later, ds2 and dd caught it and they had at least 50 spots on any one part of their body - literally every inch was covered with spots. But neither of them were ill either - ds2 had a temperature for one afternoon, that was all. Maybe your dd2 will get off lightly.

Oh, I forgot to say dd was only 11 months old when she got it and I was still breastfeeding her, so breastfeeding is not a sure way of providing immunity, so don't beat yourself up if your baby catches it and think he would have been OK if you had breastfed for longer.