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What would you do???

My SIL lives 140 miles away from us and hasn't met our 8 week old son. She has 2 daughters, one had chickenpox 2 weeks ago and her 7 month old has just started getting spots over the last few days. She's coming up to visit MIL this weekend and wants to meet Jensen, would you expose him to the virus? Half of me thinks he's going to get it at some point but the other half of me thinks I don't want to make him unneccessarly ill while he's so tiny. What would you do? If DS did coontract chickenpox how ill would/ could he get?

Thanks Blue Gecko and Jensen 8+2
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Replies

  • I probably wouldn't want him to get it at that age. My son is now 9 months and is far more robust than he was at 8 weeks (obviously!). I would have panicked big time if he had chicken pox at that age but it wouldn't worry me half so much now.
  • Chicken pox is really bad for young babies so I wouldnt risk it. From what I have read, once the spots appear you aren't really infectious anymore but I know some play schools wont let the child go back until the spots have gone or at least fully scabed over.

    I read an article once about a baby getting it and ending up in ITU so i'm quite paranoid!

    Serena and Evie 10+5
  • He's still very tiny and personally I wouldn't knowingly expose him to anything until after six months.

    Chicken Pox can give them a high temp and make their mouths sore so they have difficulty feeding, in this weather I would be worried about dehydration.

    Some babies catch it and don't even notice though, but I don't think it's worth the risk.

    B x
  • I wouldn't risk it just yet - and arrange to see them another time x
  • Have done a quick bit of investigation. Chicken pox is very serious in babies 4 weeks and under. Jenson is older than that but still very little. Have a look at the nhs website and see if there is anything on there.
  • I wouldn't risk it hun, IMO

    xx
  • He's still very tiny and personally I wouldn't knowingly expose him to anything until after six months.

    Chicken Pox can give them a high temp and make their mouths sore so they have difficulty feeding, in this weather I would be worried about dehydration



    I didn't know it could make his mouth sore! I've had battle establishing breastfeeding so don't want to compromise that.

    Thank you ladies x
  • Thank you, I've already had a look at the NHS site. My son's health has to come first, why are they making me feel guilty though, grr...
  • if the spots have scabbed over they're no longer contagious, but if the spots haven't doen that yetr then i would keep clear...like u say, he's so little still and his health is far more important...i wouldn't even take ds swimming until after his 8week jabs, so for me exposing to chicken pox would be a huge worry, from about 6 monstnh on when they ahve a more robust immune system then yeh, but even so i'd prefer closer to a yr. xx
  • hiya!
    The scabs could have come by the weekend i guess!?
    Dont let them try to make you feel guilty though,thats unfair,he's your no 1 priority though and i'd keep away.
    However my friends 3 yr old got them a few weeks after she'd had her baby,as she was bf it passed on her imunity to the virus and he never got it. Then my friend rang me in the week after we'd seen them when ava was three weeks ish, her son of six months had got it and she was worried ava may have contracted it,again she didn't although the timing may have been off anyway. When sara was little and at nursery a few times it went round and she didn't catch it which i really thought she would. Saying all this i'd still,if it were ava, not knowingly take her there tbh,just incase
    Xxx
  • No, if babies get chicken pox within their first year they can get again so it's pointless imo
  • My twins caught it from their big sister at 9 weeks old and were fine. They had a few spots but nothing major. I'm glad we've gotten it out of the way. Our GP says it was mild because of their immunity from my breast feeding and it's unlikely they'll get it again. It was far worse for my 2 year old.
  • No, if babies get chicken pox within their first year they can get again so it's pointless imo


    This is not entirely true ....if ANY one gets chicken pox mildly then they can get it again but if they had a normal bout of it then the likely hood of them getting it again is low ....in answer to the op ,if u can avoid it easily i would ,my ds got chicken pox when my dd was 9 weeks old ,there was obviously no avoiding it and she came out in them too but she was ok ,no temp or anything just veryyyyyy spotty image
  • i personally wouldn't risk it. My friends 2 kids have just had it and i have kept well clear, my youngest is 8 months and i just feel he is too young as it can be quite nasty. I know most kids catxh it eventually but just not yet.
  • Why not ring NHS direct and get the facts on when they are contagious and not, That way you'll be better placed to make the decision. If there was any doubt though, I wouldn't risk it xx
  • DS2 is 3 months old & has just come down with CP, 2 weeks after DS1 (nearly 2 years). Fortunately, he only has a few spots & they don't seem to be bothering him at all. However, I would have been much happier if he hadn't caught them yet, especially as I've been told by nurse that he probably won't get immunity as he's under 6 months.

    There is lots of conflicting advice around on when CP is contagious ranging from 5 days after spots appear to when all the scabs have dropped off. General consensus from nurse, HV etc was once all the spots have scabbed over, which is typically about 5/6 days after they first appear.

    Xxx
  • Hiya hun, just had a quick google and seems there's no evidence to say that chicken pox can be caught by indirect transmission by an immune carrier ie your sil if she's immune to chicken pox. So if she wanted to meet Jensen without her lo's there the evidence suggests that would be safe x
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