Can I take baby with a cold swimming?

[Skyla01]

Stupid ftm question. My LO has her first cold. Snotty, sneezing, a few coughs. Unsettled overnight but no temp and not too out of sorts. We have swimming class tomorrow. Can I take her if she seems ok in herself? Or is it bad etiquette in case the other babies catch it? Also not sure about cold symptoms in covid times...

In normal times I would take them if they seem okay in themselves. Not during this pandemic though if they are sneezing and coughing!

Tend to keep babies away from each other when ill.
And giving the times if she's coughing etc you may be asked to leave.

I wouldn't. Snot is awkward to wipe while in the pool so would avoid swimming as impractical. Also if coughing I would not be going to a baby class at all. Not fair on others especially when people are more nervous about coughs.

I wouldn't. If baby has a cough you are meant to get a PCR or you can just keep them at home as it sounds like they are very wee. But more importantly babies illness turn quickly, and you don't know which way, most babies would rather be snuggled at home with a cold, than taken to a stimulating swimming lesson.

There is also the worry that this is going to be a bad winter in terms of RSV (causes cold symptoms but can develop into bronchiolitis in some babies and they can become very unwell with it) so it would be kinder to keep your baby at home and not spread it around.

no I wouldnt for two reasons

• so the other babies dont come down with it
• if I have a cold the last thing I would want to is get into the swimming pool :-(

Definitely not! It isn't fair to spread it around and being in the cold water won't do your baby any good either.
Also remember delta symptoms tend to be more coldlike with a runny nose, even though the government don't seem to have caught up with that yet.

I wouldn’t fancy swimming with a snotty cold, would you?

I wouldn't go swimming with a cold, so why would you take a baby?
Also, how do you know it is just a cold? The Delta variant presents with cold symptoms, so that would be a definite no.

no keep her home. If anyone else gets a cold theyre all going to have to test for covid. Its so disruptive at the moment, its really not worth it. You should probably all test yourselves for covid though

No! You’d pass her germs to all the other babies and what if one of them is asthmatic and so vulnerable to colds turning into pneumonia? Don’t take any sick kids swimming.

Ew

How would you wipe her nose?

Thanks all. For the record her symptoms are pretty minor. I thought it would probably be best to skip swimming, however wanted to check I wasn't over-reacting / over-cautious.

If it's just mild sniffles and your baby seems happy as usual I would say it was ok before covid unless there are babies under 6-8 weeks in the class. Now people are a bit more concerned about spreading illness. If the cough isn't "persistent" and there is no temperature then I would probably call the swim school to ask.

I wouldn’t in case they asked if she’d had a covid test. Or ask you to leave.