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Original poster

Should i take Ds out when he has Chicken pox?

31 replies

amyjade · 29/04/2008 10:34

Ds (17 months) is on day 3 of chicken pox with more still appearing.I have to take Dd2 to pre school this afternoon and then pop to the shops, is it ok to take Ds out when he's obviously still contagious? I have noone to watch Ds and i don't want Dd2 to miss pre school as this is only her second week. If i put the rain cover over his pushchair then surely he can't pass it on to anyone else?

OP posts:
soremummy · 29/04/2008 10:36

NO I wouldnt go out with him

foxythesnowfox · 29/04/2008 10:37

Yes, I would (and have). Sounds to me as though you are being considerate, so I wouldn't worry. Hope he is OK.

stuffitllama · 29/04/2008 10:41

Yes I would. You're being very considerate but life must go on. But you know -- usual thing about pg women at the pre-school drop off.

bringmesunshine · 29/04/2008 10:43

Please be very careful - personally I wouldn't take DD2 to pre-school as she is quite likely to develop it due to having cloase contact with DS.

Also there may well be mums at pre-school who are pregnant but haven't announced it yet and they are well advised to avoid getting it now.

You have my sympathies my DC had it one after the other at the beginning of the year - can you get DH/DP/friend to pick up some bits from the shops.

Until all the spots scab over they are infectious!

foxythesnowfox · 29/04/2008 10:48

but you can't be under house arrest, especially if you already have little ones. Make sure the pre-school know and can warn everyone. Its Chicken Pox season, its rife in Spring for some reason.

Original poster
amyjade · 29/04/2008 10:48

Thanks for the advice, i'll leave Ds in the corridor away from the other kids at pre school and make sure i keep the cover on him in the shops.
Dd2 is likely to have contracted it from ds but surely i can't keep her away from pre school for 10-21 days which is the incubation period?

OP posts:
foxythesnowfox · 29/04/2008 10:51

Exactly. When my DC1 had it, the pre-school knew and would run DC3 home for me, but never asked for her not to go. And they most definately would have if they were concerned. I have 4 DCs. Not getting on with it just isn't an option. You have to expect to deal with it at sometime.

littlepinkpixie · 29/04/2008 10:56

Please dont take a child who is infectious out. It isnt just about pregnant women. My daughter is immunosuppressed and will have to go into hospital if she gets infected with chicken pox.
I know that children are infectious prior to the rash appearing, but I think it is extremely antisocial to take a still infectious child into public places

Flowernat · 29/04/2008 11:02

no I wouldn't go out to preschool with a child with chickpox.Even in the corridor.I see why others say yes its fine.|Its no fun stuck at home etc.If you warned playgroup now but didn't go there until not contagious.That would seem fair.We had a really bad time with chickenpox in my then 4 mnth and my DH.His face is still scarred now and he was in bed for 4 wks solid covered EVERYWHERE.It was hard to find skin not spots.Its good for the kids to get it and get immunity so they don't get it & suffer when they're older i guess.Telling playgroup now would give more vunerable groups a chance to avoid playgroup if they wanted.although once its at playgroup loads will get it anyway.

Flowernat · 29/04/2008 11:12

yes i'd agree with pink pixie.I had to do all sorts to get on with normal life when we were the house of chicken pox.Thats just the way it is with contagious diseases.If they're at the contagious stage I wouldn't take them out especially where there are loads of very young children.People will still catch from yours before you realise etc but once its obvious and you know its only fair to avoid playgroup.

nickytwotimes · 29/04/2008 11:14

No, you shouldn't take ds out, for all the reasons given below!

Flowernat · 29/04/2008 11:15

Couldn't a friend come and take your lo to preschool for a bit if thats what you want?

quint · 29/04/2008 11:16

I wouldn't take them out. DD1 had chicken poc and the spots appeared the day after her birthday party so I had to contact everyone that was there (a few did go on to catch it) We were then stuck in the house for the next 5 weeks as after DD1 had it DD2 caught it (unsurprisingly).

Its not worth the hassle, although I hated being stuck in as did the girls, I still think it wa the right thing to do. We just did lots of baking, drawing and dress up.

bringmesunshine · 29/04/2008 11:28

"" Dd2 is likely to have contracted it from ds but surely i can't keep her away from pre school for 10-21 days which is the incubation period? "

Amyjade - it is pre-school not exam years - treat it as a holiday from school but don't expose people when you don't HAVE to that is selfish!

Play in the garden, do some baking, have a treasure hunt, look at the cbeebies website, watch some dvd's, plant some flowers/bulbs, do some digging, pick up bits from the gardens, blow some bubbles etc etc etc

My DC2 had it very severely and DC1 had horrendous complications, is is not fun

Flowernat · 29/04/2008 11:37

i'm pleased to see i'm not the only one who thinks its madness to take child with chickpox to preschool and for bit of shopping...I think its too late now because they're off out already!My DH shudders at the mention of chickpox just remembering how bad it was for him and my littlest.I'd had chickenpox as child so was fine but I had 3 inc him all with increasing severity of symptoms.At no point did I think I'll just pop out with them,we definately stayed put.I don't want to sound mean to Amyjade but i'm genuinely shocked.

Original poster
amyjade · 29/04/2008 11:43

It might not be exam years but Dd2 is still settling in, it's only her third day at pre school and i feel it's important not to break the routine, and not taking her for the next 10-21 days just in case she gets it is a bit over the top. She may not even get it!!

I am quite aware of what other things i can do with my children thank you very much and the word 'selfish' is a bit harsh. What about the child that gave it to my Ds there parents must be 'selfish' as well!!

OP posts:
littlepinkpixie · 29/04/2008 11:46

I dont think anyone is saying you shouldnt take your DD out in case she gets it. They are saying you shouldnt take out DS because he is infectious.
I dont think that you can blame parents who unknowingly infected others by taking out a child before they had developed a rash, but once the rash is there then I think it is selfish to take an infectious child out.

Original poster
amyjade · 29/04/2008 11:47

I am not the person to lecture about infectious diseases and i know well enough the side effects of every disease!! but surely with a plastic rain cover over him is going to stop ant chance of it being transmitted?

OP posts:
foxythesnowfox · 29/04/2008 11:50

But they are going to get it! At some point, and sooner rather than later is surely preferable?

If you were in my position, 4 DCs under 5 who didn't all catch it at the same time, what would you honestly do? If you had no family nearby, and no help?

Its not the plague, its a childhood illness that, unless in specific examples such as littlepinkpixie, they will catch. From somewhere.

Keeping a child out of pre-school incase she is infection is madness. She might not even have it!

bringmesunshine · 29/04/2008 11:50

oh for godness sake it is her third day I would doubt you have established a routine so quickly

To potentially expose other children/parents/people with compromised immunity is selfish. She does not need to be at pre-school it is a choice you are making. In my opinion a wrong choice.

My DC were off school/pre-school for a month as:

they were very cranky before the spots appeared and personally poorly children need to be at home not elsewhere.

I know 2 mums who were pregnant at the time but were not saying and I was not going to expose them to it. As it turns out I now know of another who was pregnant at the time but was keeping it quiet.

I think you need to rethink your plans.

foxythesnowfox · 29/04/2008 11:51

littlepinkpixie - sorry, that wasn't worded well. I was trying to say its relatively harmless in most cases, but I am rushing.

I think chicken pox can be bad, but it is pretty unavoidable.

Elibean · 29/04/2008 11:54

FWIW, CP is going round dd's pre-school atm (its the season) and one Mum I know has exactly this situation. She brought her dd (with CP, about 2yrs) in buggy and left her in courtyard (with teacher in attendance) and took her DS in. Rightly or wrongly, there is no question of her DS - who hasn't had it - missing pre-school because of it, even though I would have thought he's far more likely to infect other children than his sister, who is not touching or playing with any of them, or even sharing enclosed space.

Neither of mine have had it, and dd2 has a dodgy medical history, but I do feel resigned to getting it over with, and don't feel horrified at the Mum bringing her kids in...if I was really really worried about dd2, I'd get her vaccinated against it, I think.

Bramshott · 29/04/2008 11:55

I'd go. I think your raincover idea is a good one. Can you leave the buggy parked in the corridor and pop in quickly?

Yes, your DD2 may get chickenpox, but equally she may not, so you can't keep her in 'just in case'

Bramshott · 29/04/2008 11:56

FWIW I think Amyjade knows very, very well about infectious childhood diseases and their consequences

littlepinkpixie · 29/04/2008 11:56

foxy, i understand what you are saying, I know that chicken pox is usually mild, but for my DD it could be very very serious, which is why I would prefer that people didnt intentionally put her at risk. Obviously if she catches it then we will just have to deal with it, but if i knew that she had been infected by someone deliberatly taking out an infectious child I would be upset by that.

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