I exposed my children to Chicken Pox -Did I do the right thing??

[moodywren]

Tbh I didn't know for sure my friend dd had chicken pox until afterwards but I did have and idea thats what it was.
Now I am wondering whether I should have kept them away, or whether its best to get it out of the way.
Told dh my friends dd has chicken pox but didn't tell him i took ds's round there. He'll go nuts if he finds out.
On the good side I think dh parents might not want to come around so much for a while

Get the pox over with, I reckon. My DD (9 months) has got it just now. She's fine just v. spotty.

Obviously, like any disease it can be serious but very very rarely.

I wouldn't worry too much. It's approx. 3 weeks incubation before any spots appear.

So many people have the screaming abdabs now about these childhood illnesses that when I was a kid, were just part of being a kid. Yes, I know some can be nasty but rarely.

Erm, well. There is no point in worrying now is there, because what's done is done. If you had even a vague inkling before you took your kids round then that was the time to do your worrying about whether or not you should go

FWIW, my mum said that in the 70's they had chickenpox parties and that the 'pox was just something you had. It isn't nice when you get it though all the same.

Probably not politically correct, but I would've done the same

I'm also in the "get it over with" brigade.

DD had chicken pox at 2.1yrs and was absolutely fine.

Friend had it at 39yrs and was off work for 2-3wks and in agony.

I know what I'd rather go through...

When DD did have chicken pox I let everyone know and gave them the choice as to whether they wanted to visit - all our friends with young kids raced round

Have heard about chicken pox parties too

Have tried this numerous times with dd. If I've heard of a poxy child when dd has been fit and well we've gone round and tried to get her to catch it. Shes cuddled poxy babies, we've tried all sorts. Now at the age of 8 she still hasn't had it. A friends little boy started with spots yesterday. I thought about dashing round with dd. then I thought - why bother - shes clearly not going to catch this when its actually convenient for us.....

I've decided that if shes not got it by her mid teens I will consider getting her immunity tested and if shes not immune then getting her vaccinated privately.

ds2 was exposed loads of times before he actually caught it!

i had them as an adult, they're awful

btw they can be pretty dangerous in mid-pregnancy so please tell your friends if one of your children might be infected.

best to catch it as a child. I exposed all 3 of my older ones deliberately hoping they'd get it all together but noooooooooooo, 2 weeks apart. Sigh.

i would have thought they'd catch it at some point from the community without deliberate exposure.

dd1 finally caught it at nursery, despite its having gone round in her old nursery last year.

am waiting for dd2 to break out with it, but dd1 incubated it for 3 weeks before she did, so who knows.

FWIW, dh was exposed to it in the community repeatedly before finally contracting it at the age of 7.

just because they're exposed to it doesn't necessarily mean they'll get it.

thats so true expat... some kids just seem to fight it off.....

Oh heavens, I have been trying to expose DS2 to chickenpox for over a year now. I have literally begged other parents to come visit with their spotty DC or let DS go play at theirs, so we can get it over and done with b4 he starts school they all shunned me . And for heaven's sake he'd better contract it long b4 he hits his teenage years, Please be for his sake if nothing else.

Maybe not the choice that everyone would take, but at this rate he might just come down with it when I have a newborn in the house, would have been far better to get it over with ages ago.

Have been trying to expose my 2 to this but no luck as everyone seems to avoid it and so noone we know gets it.So annoying of them.
Am of the firm belief that as it's worse when someone is older better to get it over with.
Don't happen to live in S Wales do you????

My DD aged 6 has had CP FIVE times, each time it's been confirmed by a doctor (not the same doc each time, so no continual misdiagnosis) apparently there are no other spots like it. Each time has been pretty mild, she's only been poorly and miserable for a few days leading up to it, and no scars or other effects etc, thank goodness.

After bout no3, we made an appointment with the Consultant at our local hospital. He said that getting CP once is not necesarily true, there are a variety of strains of CP and once you've had one strain, you're unlikely to get that strain again. I can hardly believe my DD has managed to contract 5 different strains of it. If she gets it again, we're going to look into provate vaccination.

Does anyone know why America vaccinate their children against CO as a matter of course but it's not offered over here?

private, not provate. Doh!

Dd came down with the pox on the day that we moved house. Not convenient!

My only recommendation is that if your ds has chicken pox, do not let him go digging in the garden to cheer him up - infected cp spots are not fun!

American vaccination against CP.
ok, this one is controversial.
A LOT of American parents think it's only promoted so that parents don't have to take time off work to look after kids with CP.
But it is true, like someone else said, CP can develop into a serious illness (very rare, but it can happen), and vaccination prevents those cases and hence a few deaths.
I read, though, that lack of wild circulating cp increases incidence of shingles -- because exposure to active cp prevents shingles in people whose antibodies to cp are starting to wane (exposure to active cp reminds body to make more antibodies).

So cp vaccination may prevent deaths in young, at cost of more deaths (from serious cases of shingles) in the old.

Complicated, eh?

I have had shingles three times am I likely to get it again if ds's do get chicken pox?

I didn't even know there was a vacine for chicken pox. (is there a thick smiley thingy)

my (perhaps wrong) understanding is that you are less likely to get CP again, moodywren. If you get exposed to cp in your kids your immune system will be triggered to make antibodies and so help keep shingles from re-emerging from inside you.

One claim is that the cp vaccine prevents shingles entirely (ever). I don't know if that's proven or not.

Lol at the parents thing.

I did the exposure thing though. It was the perfect time really, ds1 was an older toddler, dd was 6 mnths off starting school. I wanted her to get it out the way before school. They weren't even particularly ill with it so I was glad I had done it.

I exposed mine at 1.5. better early than late. it wasn't bad as she did not scratch herself.

One of my Mum friends has bought her daughter round every time mine has had CP with the hope of hers catching it, but no luck - and little point in my experience as catching it once does not mean you won't get it again.

One question - childminder told me one mindee has chicken pox. both myself and my daughter has had it. I am 7 months pg, what should I do?

If you've definitely had it you should be fine. I was 6wks pg when DD caught CP - I checked with GP and was told it was OK

thought so. pfiuuu, thanks.

Second what Amazon said, is only dangerous if you haven't had it already.