What do you do with your sick kid????

hollanr3 · December 2014

FTM wondering what the protocol is for bringing a sick baby or any age child to family events?!?!

I know it's a case by case situation depending on what the sickness is how contagious it may be.

My SIL took my nephew to the great grandparents house day before Christmas while he was vomiting and had diarrhoea! He was better but still had bad diaerhoea on Christmas day while everyone was there. So it basically contaminated the house and all the food grandma was preparing for the family!!!!

Grandparents are sick, my husband and now me....am I out of line by thinking he should have stayed home with his Mom and not gotten the family sick??

I say keep your sick kid at home!

What would y'all do???

lgsdesigner · December 2014

I text/call the people that will be there, tell them what illness said child has, and ask them if they would like me to stay home with the child, or if it's okay I bring them (as long as they are not contagious).

ETA: Sorry you are all ill. He should have definitely been kept home.

la79al · December 2014

I go on a case by case basis and also look at who is going to be there, size of the space, etc. DD1 was sick, starting last Sunday. She mostly had a sore throat and started getting cold symptoms. I took her to my aunts house for Christmas Eve. No one in our house had gotten sick, aunts house is big and airy and there wasn't going to be anyone there (infants, elderly, immune compromised) that could have gotten very sick. We skipped Christmas at my grandparents house because the house is small and my grandparents and a baby under 6 months would be there, not worth the risk. DD2 woke up feeling warm on Saturday but she had been up most of the night Friday. I took her to my dads house and she slept on the sofa the whole time. My mom won't let me out of family events for sick kids unless the kid is absolutely miserable. She feels like you get exposed to germs everywhere anyhow.

Hawk&Eye · December 2014

DS had rsv almost 2 weeks ago. I didn't take him out of the house for several days and after that no where infants and small children would be. Rsv can be contagious for up to 3 weeks so I haven't taken him to daycare yet.

That being said, it has to be case by case. This was a confirmed rsv case so I had to take it seriously and avoid the wee ones.

lala5507 · December 2014

I kind of follow the school rule. My kids' school says they have to be fever/vomit free for 24 hours before returning. So I follow that in our personal life too. Now a runny nose is different. My dd had a runny nose from November to March during her first year of preschool. That would have meant not going anywhere for basically the whole winter.

emu0013 · December 2014

I think taking a sick child with diarrhea and who is vomiting to a family function or anywhere else for that matter is irresponsible and selfish. Why would you want to drag a vomiting child out, and then expose them to everyone else. I can see taking them with a cold, that would be fine.

rivieramaya · December 2014

I follow the school rule as well - vomit/diarrhea/fever free for 24 hours.

I think it was pretty irresponsible that she brought him and feel bad for how miserable that child probably felt.

Unknown · December 2014

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Jerseymommy11 · December 2014

lgsdesigner said:
I text/call the people that will be there, tell them what illness said child has, and ask them if they would like me to stay home with the child, or if it's okay I bring them (as long as they are not contagious).

ETA: Sorry you are all ill. He should have definitely been kept home.

I do the same!

LimaD · December 2014

If it's just a cold, I take DD with (except for one case where I knew there would be a couple newborns there. we stayed home that time)

I totally agree that with diarrhea and vomiting the poor kid should have been taken care of at home! Poor thing probably would have preferred to be in p.j.s cuddling on the couch than to be around a bunch of people and activity. Sure, it'd suck to miss a family Christmas, but for the sake of the kid and others I agree she should have kept him home

rels09 · December 2014

ramy3 said:

If it's vomit and diarrhea and/or a fever, I keep my kids home.

Runny nose (clear snot), a slight cold, cough, something like that, I don't keep them cooped up. If I know there will be an immune compromised person there (newborn, elderly, etc) I will ask before bringing even for something minor.

Same here! We can't stay home for every cold, but anything more serious, we do.

MAdams728 · December 2014

We stay home for pretty much any illness. I become livid when I find out that sick kids, and adults, are at family functions. It amazes me how selfish, or just flat out ignorant some people are. We had two different family members bring confirmed flu and RSV cases to Christmas.

ElleMuffin · December 2014

I agree with the school rule! But if my kids only vomit once we'll still go. My kids are known to vomit due to eating followed by rough play, trying to choke down food too quickly, or from sheer over excitement.

CTcoffeequeen · December 2014

My son is immuno compromised so he cannot be around anyone who has been sick recently. However I make that my problem and not other people's. If we are going to an event where I know everyone I personally reach out to all and ask if anyone has been sick lately. If they say yes, we stay home. Most all of our friends are aware and are wonderful but I definitely take matters into my own hands and never assume people won't venture out when they're under the weather. If we are going to a large event it's out of my control and we make the choice to go and suffer the consequences or skip it. 6 hospitalizations in 8 months=we skip most large gatherings.

CTcoffeequeen · December 2014

In case that didn't have a clear point-sick people should stay home, but that's just not a reality 100% of the time. Don't ever assume people will keep their sick kids cooped up.
We took my son to see santa this year and less than 24 hours later he was throwing up. Looking back the benefit did not outweigh the risk.

manacita · December 2014

I quarantine the hell out of my kids. Anybody with a stomach virus stays home for 24 hours after the last vomit or poop. Anyone with a cold is home until there is not fever and minimal snot. Anything more severe and we're camped out at home like creepy hermits. I have this luxury as a sahm though.

Here is why: when ds was 6 months old he got rsv from a friend who 'had a cold.' His case of rsv was so severe that he was sick for 3 weeks. I also got it and was miserable. Our doctor couldn't put us in the hospital because it was also the middle of a flu outbreak. So there we were, my little guy and I laying around the house hooked up to nebulizers, oxygen machines, and at one point, an iv for me. All because his friend 'had a cold that wasn't a cold.

So now we stay the hell at home. I do not mess around with illnesses any more. It is never worth it to me to put little babies, pregnant ladies, old folks, or immunocompromised people at risk. Add to that workig class people who can't afford to take time off from their jobs or people without health insurance. I just can't justify it.

Snapdragon750 · December 2014

Usually the policy at schools is not to allow children to attend within 24 hours of vomiting or a fever, so if I had a child with either of those symptoms within 24 hours I'd call ahead and ask if it was okay. If there were elderly folks or babies around I wouldn't even ask; I'd just keep my kid home. If my child were actively sick with something more than a cough or the sniffles, we'd stay home not just for the sake of everyone else but for my child also.

But take what I say with a grain of salt, because my children almost never get sick so I've really never been inconvenienced by this.

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