Sick at home with LO

jennme

Hi,

         I'm also posting this on Aug 2013 board. So I am stuck in bed today with what I think is the flu. I almost NEVER get sick so this was a surprise. I'm pretty sure I know where it came from considering I hardly ever go anywhere since LO has been born lol but anyway….

I was feeling so bad that I didn't want to risk passing anything on to LO so my Husband decided to take the day off work and take care of LO so that I wouldn't be around him/get him sick. Im starting to wonder if this was a bad idea…DH doesn't have any sick time so no pay for taking off today and Im guessing other Moms who don't have a choice have to stay home with their LO's when they are sick. What do you ladies think? DId I do the right thing? What would you do? If you do have to stay home with LO when sick…how do you prevent them from getting sick as well? 

TIA!

=Lee=B

It would depend how sick I am.  If I am physically unable to meet my kids needs for the day then I'd try to have dad stay home.  But, if it was purely to not have to be close to my baby to prevent passing germs then no, I wouldn't have had my husband stay home.  By the time you exhibit symptoms you have been sick for awhile already and the most contagious period is usually past.  So, likely baby has been greatly exposed to the germs.

I would just try to wash my hands more so I don't smear germs on baby more than needed and try to have a laid back day. 

That said, what's done is done...enjoy the alone time.  Make the most of it and REST!

Also, the FLU can be a scray illness, especially with babies but remember that about 99.9% of the time what we call the flu is not the FLU.  I made that number up so I'm not sure what the real stats are but we as a whole tend to refer to EVERYTHING as a cold or flu.  the "flu" is rather rare.  SO, odds are you have a bug of some sort. 

 

steelerbaby29

Not to be rude, but your husband is already home so people's opinion on whether you made the right decision or not is irrelevant at this point. I also agree with previous poster that it would depend on how sick I am. If I was physically unable to take care of my son (vomiting, constant diarrhea) then I would have my hubby stay home. Your baby has already been exposed to whatever you have, so all you can do is disinfect your home as much as possible and wash your hands frequently. Your LO may or may not get sick, all you can do is hope they don't. Stay hydrated and rest so hopefully your not sick for very long.

jennme

Thank you both for your opinions. It's not ever the opinion that matters just looking for what others do in the same situations.I guess I asked the question the wrong way. I shouldn't have said "Did I do the right thing?" I should have just asked " What would you do?"I agree, I will try and just get some rest since he is already here. I probably just felt guilty for keeping him home (even though he did not make me feel this way at all) So I wanted someone to make me feel better about it lol plus I really did want to hear what other Moms do in these situations. I probably freaked out about passing something on to him because I'm a FTM too. Normally, I would have thought it through and not sought opinions lol. Oh well.

=Lee=B

It's normal to panic the first time you get sick with a baby at home!  Second guessing your decision to keep daddy home is perfectly fine...better to think it over now and have a plan for next time so you don't keep panicking and having daddy stay home!

For the next time, I think if I were in your position I would send daddy to work work...if you ended up being sicker than you thought you would be and can't take care of your baby then call daddy to come home.  Usually we feel better if we have busy with something so if you sent your husband to work you would make it through the dad.  Whereas, if you had him stay home you would feel miserable and feel like you never could have made it through the day without him. 

Point being...if you keep your husband home it would be to allow you time to recover and have someone care for your son NOT to protect your son from your illness, as he's already been exposed.

Hope you feel better soon and your LO stays healthy!