3 year old with chicken pox and 3 month old

[billabye]

I've just discovered what I'm certain is chicken pox on my 3 year old. She had a very mild dose at 2 year old so I was expecting this.

I also have a 3 month old who is ebf. Is baby likely to catch them and is there anything I can do to reduce the chances?

Also, other than piriton what's the best treatment for the older one?

I'm feeling really stressed

My children both got chicken box at the same ages - the baby got it worse but you know what, it's not that bad - I found that the baby suffered less as she could sleep a lot of it off - I was breastfeeding which obviously is a comfort - and they can't get bored or scratch themselves.

Yes that's a point about comfort from bf. And I can also fold over scratch mitts on sleepsuits if she does get it.

3yo is in good spirits so far. I'm dreading her being off school though and struggling with both on my own. DP works long hours and we have little help from family unfortunately.

We had the pox and almost the exact same ages - I was breastfeeding and the baby got 1 spot! Assuming she had some immunity from the milk.

Apparently if they have it before 1 they can get it again so assuming she will have it later properly.

We had this, was also bf big a 2 month old. The baby had hardly any spots and was mildly under the weather so wasn't sure if they were immune.
Younger sibling (obv wasn't around the first time) then caught it and I was expecting the now 5 year old former baby to get it but they were a bit out of sorts for a few days but it never developed so I've always assumed they did have a full blown infection but were protected by my bm antibodies at the time so developed immunity.

Bf big = bf'ing

Mine got it within weeks if each other at similar ages to yours. It was fine, if not much fun. Baby was also EBF and Dr assured me she'd be getting good immunity via my milk. She got off lightly - very mild case - so I think there's something to be said for getting it over and done with.

Piriton, calpol and icecream. That's what you need. And maybe a small gin for you :-)

Sounds like a plan. I'll get ice cream (and !)

Thanks all

vira sooth helped for the spots

My friend's dds 3 and 4 months, got it recently. Well the 4mo got it from the 3yo. 3yo was a bit poorly, 4 month old (ff) had about 5 spots and slept it off with no bother at all.
I know you'll be worried but chances are it won't bother your baby very much at all and she'll never get it again.

Vira soothe, piriton child version, baby paracetamol. Dd would start screaming when they wore off, so I could see they actually do work.

Piriton given and virasoothe applied before bed as she was starting to itch. She was falling about the place laughing as it tickled so she's still in good spirits so far. It was nice to see her giggling

Day three is meant to be the worse, so if you get to day three and she's still relatively chirpy then that's a good thing. My Dd woke on day three absolutely covered, in pain and unwell, she had just turned one. We found deep like warm baths really helped.

My son had it at about 8m, he was fine (except one bout of peculiar crying/shouting in his sleep? I remember reading that adults sometimes hallucinate if they get a bad case of it, suspect it was the baby equivalent!). Otherwise he didn't even try scratch and was largely himself, just looked a bit gross.

Hope your two don't have too much of a time with it.

Day 3/4 is the worst IMO. Have you got any onesies? Great for stopping toddlers scratching.

DD gave it to DS who was 4 months at the time. He did not get off lightly. He was covered and miserable, and wouldn't let me put him down. I had to call in help to look after DD. EBF and I had chickenpox, so don't trust on natural immunity, it doesn't always work that way!

We're on day 4 today and it's not been too bad so far. Piriton and virasoothe helping. Unfortunately the itchiest ones seem to be on scalp and face.

Did your baby have them at the same time as older one? I was imagining a gap inbetween but I suppose it would depend on them getting them from the same source or the baby catching them from toddler. We go on holiday 3 weeks today so hope if baby gets them it's asap!

Unless they caught it from the same original source i think you're more likely to have a gap as i don't think you're contagious during the incubation period until just before the spots.

I would expect baby to get it two weeks after they were exposed which was probably a day or two before eldest started with it. You will most likely be ok for hols but it might be a bit tight if there is a two week gap!

Ours had it five days apart but almost certainly both caught at nursery rather than from each other

My baby had it 21 days after the toddler. I thought we were clear :(

Oh and oat bats with cup of bicarbonate were amazing. I put the pats in a sock and squeezed as much juice out of them as I could, then at the end squeezed them a little more and rubbed all over the spots. Lots of calpol, but don't give ibuprofen as some doctors think it can cause infections.