3 week old has chicken pox - should i be concerned??

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Hello! Me again!

You may recall that DP came down with chicken pox shortly after DD was born. Now it appears that she has also come down with the pox, but nowhere near as bad as DP! She only has about 10 spots altogether, but they are deffo the pox. She doesn't appear to be bothered by having it, she's feeding well and generally happy with no temperature so i'm wondering if i should be concerned at all? I know there's not much you can do for adults with the pox but wanted to check if i should be doing anything WRT my three week old?

Consult your GP as KM says - but hopefully she's got off lightly. It also probably means that she won't be fully immune and may catch CP again when she is older.

yes. not just gp, but i think you should consult the maternity unit. they have more experience with tiny people
are you breastfeeding?

oh no!!

Hope Ellie is ok mate, PLEASE call GP/Maternity ward just to check.

Hope you are ok too xxx

I think be reassured by the fact she doesn't seem bothered! It might be wise to ask advice though, but I can't thhink what could go wrong unless newborns are more prone to complications? Which is possible..

Poor you!

I have given NHS Direct a quick call and i spoke to a lovely lady who has been a children's nurse for 25 years. She also said to just call the GP in the morning, who will just probably want to monitor her. I'm hoping she's got off lightly and doesn't develop any more spots.

Pukka - yes i am breastfeeding.

I think it is a big worry if the baby is just about to be born or a couple of days old, and the mother has it. I think it's because babies can develop a strange variant of it. I am glad you had some advice, hoping she will be fine, as others have said I expect she might not gain full immunity from this episode. Good luck x

DD2 had it at 5 weeks without any problems.

My dd2 had it at 2 weeks old ..... caught from her older sister and brother! She only had about 10 spots so hv said probably not immune. I was told it was not a problem as she was otherwise healthy. As someone else said it's not good if baby is only a couple of days old.

Doc says its nothing to worry about as long as the symptons dont get worse - not that there's anything that can treat it! Basically she'll be fine.

Thanx everyone

echo.. probably not immune.. my daughter had cp at one then shingles at 3.. unpleasant but not dangerous. But glad your dd is going to be alright.

Have you had it? She's probably getting some good passive immunity from you if so. I understood the problems tend to arise in cases where the baby catches it from the mother (who then hasn't passed on any immunity iyswim). I haven't had CP, but when they tested me was found to be immune anyway.

Yeah i had it when i was 25, so quite a few years ago now (i'm 39!). Was painful and uncomfortable as FECK but i'm guessing that she only got a mild dose because of my immunity. I'm hoping she'll not get it again now, but i'm well aware that as she's had a few spots, she could still get it big stylee when she's a little older.

DD had chicken pox when she was 6 weeks - I worried myself a bit by googling it, but on going to see the GP was calmed down as there is a chance of developing complications, but it wasn't as great as I (in somewhat new born fogged brain) thought.

She was pretty spotty, but wasn't ill with it - just slept a bit more. I am hoping that she doesn't get it again. Same with DS who had it two weeks before her, so was 1.11 when he had it.

It's a worry when they're so young isn't it, but as she was still her normal self and was eating fine etc, plus only had about 10 spots maximum all on one leg, i wasn't really overly worried, but just wanted to be cautious.