Children with colds taken on play dates...

[slfk3]

So Monday there was an organized private soft play arranged, you had to book for a set group of less than 20 children. Took my three and when we got there a little boy was coughing away, his mum said not to worry, they had done Covid test and it was negative.
Yesterday I pick up my three from first day of school and they are full of cold, sore throats, glassy eyes and lovely green snot. This morning they now look too rough for school but no fevers or coughs to justify Covid test.
Needless to say feeling really frustrated that it seems okay to take children who are clearly not well out for voluntary play dates! I get if you have work and they have school it's trickier to not send them, but for fun/voluntary things surely they should be kept home!?! Or AIBU because mine now miss the second day back and maybe tomorrow too...

Sorry but if I didn’t take my DC places when they had colds then we’d never go out.

DD2 was permanently snotty for 4 years. You are possibly being a bit precious.

Coughs and colds are inevitable over the winter. You can't really avoid them.

Here we go again. My DS has a cold currently that he must have picked up at nursery (we hadn't seen anyone else for weeks at the point he started having symptoms). Over the weekend he developed a bad cough, so we got him a covid test which was negative. Had plans for MILs birthday on Monday to meet at a park and still went because he was well in himself and had a lovely time. Colds are rife throughout winter, would you have everyone keep their children home when there's the slightest sign of illness? If you're that bothered about the risk, keep your own children home

I don't keep my kids off school for colds. They're a part of life and inevitable.

I wouldn't stay off work with a cold, my children won't stay off school with one or avoid anything either. Colds are inconvenient but are too common to stay home sick.

Soft play isn't exactly germ-free... Your kids could've picked it up just from being there. I agree with PP, if we stayed at home every time DS had a cold we'd never go anywhere. I do usually let other parents know as a courtesy that he's sniffly. Are your kids genuinely too sick to go to school or has their school tightened up their sickness policy? My work is now sending any child with any sickness home, even if it is patently clear it cannot be COVID. Must be frustrating for parents...

I tend to tell people we are supposed to meet that my DC have a cold and would they rather not see us. About 80% say it’s fine and I’m happy the others feel comfortable to say let’s rearrange.

Couple of days off maybe for a cold but symptoms can last a week - no way would I keep my child home for a week with every cold. It’s a pain yes but are you really going to keep yours in for a week now till no more symptoms?

I get sending them to school with colds, but we aren't in winter, haven't been anywhere in contact with people since lockdown so it's the only way they will have picked up germs. They didn't say ahead they were poorly just showed up and had been poorly enough they had a Covid test to check so not "just a cold/cough". Just frustrated mine our now poorly enough to need a day or two home after one day at school plus the worry that this is the future with schools being hyper vigilant about coughs/colds etc.,

Never said don't send children to school or anywhere with a cough or cold, just given Covid especially it might be a good idea to not do optional play dates if you have had Covid symptoms. It feels inevitable lots of children going into cold/flu season are now going to needlessly pick up germs which result in Covid symptoms but aren't Covid and need to miss school and parents work because of children who aren't well being sent out and about.

That reads to me like you would like other parents to stay at home when their kid is on the mend, so that you don’t have to stay at home at all?

I think we’re all just going to have to accept a winter of tests and paranoia.

So you think people should isolate even if they've got a negative test? I think your being precious.

No its not winter yet, but its around this time of year that colds start circulating. My sons been at nursery for a month now and has had a cold on and off since. Its totally impractical to keep children at home for every single cold they get.

It's a cold 🤷🏼‍♀️
Totally normal at anytime of the year.

I would be annoyed that the play date went ahead knowing their child was full of cough and cold just because of all the hassle it causes.

YABU!

Both my kids have colds at the moment, we’ve been and done everything as normal!

Neither have coughs or temps. They’ve got the snotties. I wouldn’t even contemplate it being covid with my kids as it’s a standard cold.

Still not talking about a cold, talking about had a fever and cough, doses on on calpol and taken to play date where they continuously coughed all over things.
Not taking about preschool/school, nor being on the mend. Specifically still ill child going out for fun while ill in August which last I checked was summer and definitely not in cold/flu season.
The interesting thing will be how schools handle it as part of why I am okay keeping mine home is if I send them in today and they feel unwell at school and school decide to ring me to send them home then I would have to isolate the whole family for ten days or get everyone tested. Hence why I thought maybe given Covid people would be a bit more careful about keeping poorly children home rather than spreading germs where avoidable. Luckily I work from home so it's just annoying they are missing another day but I'm sure for others who will inevitably find themselves being told to keep children home till they can prove it's not Covid because their child picked up a cold may find things more difficult.

You didnt say that in your OP though did you? You said that the child was poorly enough to be tested for COVID, which could have meant just having a persistant cough.

Ordinarily I would say colds are part of life but I think it’s a little different just before this long awaited school term starts and with covid meaning any cough keeps them off school. So in this particular instance I can see why you’re annoyed.

If I didn’t take my child out with a cold, we’d never go anywhere! It’ll be snot central here now until at least April.

If I’m meeting friends, then I usually do the courtesy of dropping them a text to let them know DS is a bit snotty. I’ve not had anyone cancel yet. I wouldn’t think twice about taking him to a play group, knowing half the kids there will be just as snotty.

Same with coughs (pre Covid, I would be much more wary now, again out of common courtesy, but if there was a negative Covid test then carry on).

I wouldn’t take him along if he seemed particularly infectious or something a bit more than sneezes and snot. So fever, weird rashes etc, I wouldn’t take him.

Ffs no wonder school openings look tricky if people are being this selfish about totally unnecessary visits like soft play.

Normally I'd say we all need to deal with colds, but right now it's so tricky, and likely means that multiple other children and parents are going to have to take days off school and use sick leave or unpaid leave to take covid tests and isolate at home waiting for results.

Whatever your personal thoughts about covid, that's the current reality, surely people see how difficult this is?

OP, you really don't need to be particularly poorly to require a COVID test. I had one last Friday because I'd had a cold (sore throat) since Wednesday and then developed a cough. Negative results came back Saturday evening, so less than 36 hours of self-isolation. Once you've tested negative you can stop isolating (this is what the notification email says). It's also really not a big deal to get tested, between the three of us we've been tested 7 times. You really can't expect other people to follow stricter rules than required by law because you don't want to be in a situation where you might have to isolate or be tested.

And if the kid in question was well enough for soft play he clearly wasn't that ill.

MN is a weird place. So most people on here think it’s ok for a cold/cough play date etc but there’s a thread where a mum said daughter was sick once because she drank too much water too fast and everyone’s saying she is totally selfish etc to send her to sxhool

I can see why it's annoying, but persuading a child they can't go to a long planned play date is pretty difficult and I am guessing the parents really wanted their kids to have a fun time - they did the test and followed the rules, so I don't think it's reasonable to still expect the poor kid to stay isolated.

It's tangential to the thread, but I wonder what will happen to the health of today's young children who have potentially missed out on having their immune systems given a work out by normal childhood diseases like coughs & colds.