June 2013 - the terrible twos aren't so terrible

[Biscuitswithtea]

Here goes with a new thread!

Pre size 1 is micro, available from large supermarkets. There's mini before that, but I think only neonatal have those, that's the size they put DS1 in at first. DD had our leftover micros for her baby dolls when DS1 finally grew out of them.

Glad you're home now!

Biscuits they must have literally unplugged the lamp from my friends baby to give to you. Glad to hear you are home especially given the heat of today.

We were at Sick Kids today as well getting an update from the consultant on DD2's kidney. They seem pretty hopeful that hers is a mild condition that may need no intervention. Met a colleague on the way out though whose 2 month old was admitted with a suspected bacterial infection a few days ago which puts things in perspective

Congratulations Biscuits! Fab news!!! Does she have a name yet? Can't wait to meet her on our next play date.

I'm glad you're back home, Biscuits.

Does anyone have any recommendations for warm waterproof jackets/ coats? We have waterproof jackets which are quite thin and lovely winter coats that aren't waterproof. I'm after one for nursery.

Look at Spotty Otter. They have a variety of options. They're not cheap, but they are good. Sizing is big too. DD is happily in 2-3 and she's massive!

Cup - we have had second hand waterproof jackets from Boden that have been great. He has a Seasalt waterproof (a bargain off Ebay) in the sidelines waiting for him to grow into also.

Thank you both. I hadn't heard of Spotty Otter, Hungry, I will take a look.

I love Boden for clothes for DD, Biscuits, but haven't looked at outerwear for some reason. I'll look at them too.

I have a Seasalt waterproof coat myself which I love; I didn't realise they did them for children! They'd have to be significantly cheaper though! I'm hoping things don't go missing at nursery.

Am not sure Seasalt still do kids clothes, but this was about a fiver off ebay and is as good as new. It's like a mini version of their adult waterproofs :)

I got Lil's jacket from Marks and Spencer last year. Down jacket that was fully waterproof. Other friends recommended Trespass as well

Thank you. I'm so indecisive!

I've just seen a JoJo one that I like and it looks suitable for cold weather but a single review saying that their child wears it in spring/ summer is making me doubt myself (even though others say it's great for winter). I'm spending far too much time thinking about this!

Do NOT send her to nursery in a Jojo jacket! Polly comes home from nursery looking like she's been coal mining! How did the Men B go? I know I should but I am also aware that more kids die from chicken pox and there's not a mass panic to vaccinate against that

Where did you get that statistic from, Bean? There's been 500 Men B deaths in the last decade and about 20 per year for chicken pox.

Part of the issue for me is the profound disabilities they can be left with if they survive Men B. If chicken pox had the same risks in the same numbers, the vaccine would be in the NHS schedule and there would be a push for all kids to have it.

Ours are having the jabs a week tomorrow. It can't come soon enough.

And I just can't not have it done now I know they can have it. I'd hate to have that regret.

I also think that the thing with CP is that your child is very visibly pox-y and you know they're ill. If they go downhill, you know what they've got and so do medical staff. Meningitis doesn't always get picked up until it's too late to prevent death / serious injury.

Actually, it's 10% of about 1,870 who die. And 1 in 4 is left with life-altering side effects such as limb loss or brain damage.

Source: BBC - www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23422973

Haha, if Sainsbury's did them that's what she'd be getting! I like their thin raincoats (and Monsoon winter coats).

Men B. We've not had a great day. Actual jab was fine, no crying (didn't even flinch!) and she said it didn't hurt! And she was happy with the Peppa plaster that she wants to keep on forever. However a few hours later she became miserable and got a high temp. Her temp has been high all day (reduced temporarily with Calpol). She's been worse than DS was after having it as a young baby! Her arm has been really hurting too so I made a good call choosing her left arm! And I'm glad she had it first thing (though she's already woken up once, sweating and inconsolable).

Thanks for that info, Hungry.

I just feel that the risk from chickenpox is much smaller; most children get it and most are fine. If you get meningitis then your chances aren't great.

I've been so indecisive re the chickenpox vaccine. I think we're going to leave it. Chickenpox will be awful but then they'll be immune hopefully and won't have to face a lifetime of boosters (more relevant to DD during childbearing age although it's awful for anyone to get as an adult). If they don't get it by a certain age then I'll reconsider. I might change my mind next week!

And good points, hungry.

DS has been vaccinated against it and I felt there was no way I could leave DD out with the option to vaccinate privately being there.

It used to be my job to churn out stats for the department of health! I worked on the NHS vaccination programmes. That has left me interested in perceptions of risk. Men B is a horrific potentially fatal illness but it's rare. Chicken pox is common but is also fatal in a tiny percentage of cases. Because it's all around us we don't think of it as that bad but it can be and we are the only western society that doesn't vaccinate. When I used to work on the immunisation programmes MMRV was going to be introduced but then the Wakefield thing happened and it was felt that the public wouldn't tolerate further vaccination being added to the schedule. But for Andrew Wakefield you almost certainly would have had them vaccinated against chicken pox but by the time that passes the recession was biting and the money was pulled.

What annoys me about men b is that parents have been scared into paying hundreds in private clinics because of their perception of risk. I will pay what it costs happily- about 180 quid- but get very annoyed at the profiteering I've seen happening in recent months

Meningitis Now have just informed me that in 2014-15 there were 418 cases of meningitis b - just in England! Only 101 of those cases were in under 1s.

I agree re profiteering. Recommended cost £75 per dose. Boots charged us £95 per dose but because of high demand have increased prices to £110 per dose for anyone booking from today. Independent clinic was charging even more!

Although if it's meant to peak at 5 months I'm wondering if they meant to write over 1s (I didn't ask for figures).

A child in DH's family died from it so it's close to home.

Just checked with DH and they were 3 or 4.

My MiL's cousin's baby died from it, so it's close to our family's hearts too.

We booked Boots when it was £95 a shot, thankfully.

It's all a risk analysis, isn't it (combined with my postnatal anxiety!)? The chances of getting it are low. The risks if you do are exceptionally high.

With CP the risk of getting it is high, but the risk of dying is tiny in comparison to the numbers who catch it.

We've swerved CP so far. No idea how. I'm sure next school year it'll be our turn.

Exactly that. A school friend of mine died from chicken pox and I would never let them catch it if it could be prevented. If nothing else it's two weeks off work looking after them as clearly they would never get it at the same time!

I'd like there to be CP vaccine available as part of the standard schedule - my friend's daughter was in intensive care with the pox, she had spots on her brain (?) and down her throat which was causing breathing problems. Horrific - thankfully she's a healthy 9 year old now. Another friend has a son who has had chicken pox 11 times in 9 years, because he has a compromised immune system and people often don't think it's a serious illness so don't isolate when they should (though I know it's infectious before spots appear!). As a result, I'm very against "pox parties" because why would you willingly put your child at risk in that way? And pox parties remain a fairly common thing round here, too.

Another friend's baby had viral and bacterial meningitis, one after the other, by the time she was 5 months old. She stopped breathing and had to be resussed. Again, she's now a healthy 7 year old and amazingly has no complications from either bout - she was under audiology and the eye clinic at the hospital for a while as they suspected damage but there isn't any. Her younger sibling was vaccinated asap!

I think I need to book M a preschool booster, is it 3y4m it's due? Fun times...

Absolutely. I think it's a great shame that it's not included on the NHS schedule. People think it's harmless when it really isn't!

I agree that it should be a standard vaccination on the NHS. I would like mine to be vaccinated but am worried about it wearing off in the future (as there's uncertainty regarding how long it lasts). In countries where it's a standard vaccination and it has been pretty much wiped out this isn't an issue. I read somewhere that the WHO recommend vaccination where at least 80% of people are vaccinated.

I think I read there's an mmrv (mmr with chickenpox vaccine added) which I can't imagine being that much more expensive for the NHS?

Yes MMRV is what was going to be introduced prior to the Andrew Wakefield situation. Generally yes you need to hit 80pc to wipe it out but the advantage we have is that vaccinated children will get an immune boost everytime they encounter chicken pox circulating in society which it will continue to do here, so it's less of concern for the vaccinated child. The problem of it wearing off is more of a problem if you are vaccinated but live somewhere where a high percentage are but less than 80 pc. So it still exists but not enough to give you the immune boost. Does that make sense? Society needs children to get chicken pox so that adults get the immune boost which also prevents shingles. But the best thing at an individual level is to vaccinate.

I miss this being my job! It's very interesting