Stop Chickenpox spreading to sibling?

[Blueowlnight]

My 3yo has caught chickenpox. She has had the vaccine and so only has a handful of spots, and she weathered a fever over the weekend so hopefully through the worst.

BUT I have a 5mo baby, not vaccinated, and wondering if anyone has had any success/tips at not spreading the infection across siblings? Idk if eldest being vaccinated helps?

also tips for surviving the isolation with two children and no childcare 😰

Baby will have already been exposed to it before the spots came out. Keep washing hands and sanitising things but there's not much else you can do. Hopefully the vaccine means the viral load will have been low enough for it not to pass onto your baby. Fingers crossed the spots scab over quickly!

My DC got chickenpox at 9 months old and had 3 spots with hardly any symptoms…I hope it’s the same for your LO if they do get it.

The issue you have is they are most infectious before the spots come out and take 1-2 weeks to show. I doubt there is much you can do right now other than hope for the best.

As someone who survived covid with little kids it’s not as bad as you think. Go out for a walk in the morning (when oldest needs to run off some energy) but avoid people, do an activity then have lunch and watch a movie in the afternoon.

If one has it so does the other unfortunately as the older was infectious well before any symptoms showed.

This happened to me though - my then unvaccinated 3 year old got chicken pox and 2 weeks later his 5 month old brother had it too.
It really wasn't that bad for the 5 month old - he was very spotty and has a few tiny scars which were upsetting but otherwise he made a great recovery.

If there are no other health issues at play with the baby you should be alright and it will run its course just stock up on calpol and dunk them in oaty baths to sooth the itching (put some porridge oats in a sock or small bag and chuck it in a warm bath)

The only annoyance is the baby could catch it twice as at 5/6 months the immune system isn't developed enough to have full immunity. Mines also had a bout of shingles which is not fun for anyone and also meant he gave his whole nursery room chicken pox before we realised what his shingles rash was.

I don’t think you can prevent it - you maybe lucky, but perhaps set up an online shopping order for food and drink for you all including treats for yourself.. Ensure it includes calpol and that you have creams to relieve the spots.
The only consolation is that it’s now over and done with for future planning of holidays etc. hope they get it mildly.

They're infectious for 1-2 days before spots come out and until they scab over. There is also an incubation period of 10-21 days so you won't know for a while whether it has been passed on or not.

My ds had chickenpox at 5½ months when dd gave it to him (she was 3y old). He also had shingles age 3. Childhood shingles is more common if they have CP under 1 year.