Should I expose my 8 month old daughter to Chicken Pox?

[Happybunny]

Hello

I am going to visit my sister and her daughter in seven days time, however, today, her little one has developed Chicken pox. We may be in the clear, but it may be possible that her daughter's spots are still weeping and not crusted over by the time we are due to go; which would mean April would be prone to catching it.

Has anyone got experience of a young baby getting chicken pox? Is it better she get it now, or should I wait a bit longer and hold off our visit? I have heard that babies under one do not get immunity from an infection and they can get it again Is that a load of bunk?

Any advice would be great as we are not sure what to do.

 

[Sherlock]

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068701/

Personally I'd rather LO gets it sooner than later. Mainly as less able to scratch and can keep nails short and its usually milder anyways.

I have never heard about babies under 1 not being immune later fwiw. I've known a fair few babies under 1 get it anyways.

 

[beanie]

hmm whilst I would prefer my two to get it younger its not something I would deliberately expose them to.

 

[kelsey]

my youngest got cp when she was only weeks what 2 weeks old - and i'm glad its over with.

 

[widowwadman]

Please do not deliberately expose your child to an infectious disease. Chicken pox can have some nasty nasty consequences (including pneumonia, myocarditis and other nasties) and are not to be taken lightly, even though most people get through it ok.

 

[pilkers]

Evie has been exposed to it and didn't catch it. There was an outbreak at nursery. I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of her catching it but if she was to get I'd prefer her to be younger really for the reasons Sherlock outlined.

 

[LucyBee]

hmm whilst I would prefer my two to get it younger its not something I would deliberately expose them to.

I agree

 

[mrs h]

Hi my son had chicken pox when he was one and it was awful as i couldnt explain to him to stop scratching, he has quite a lot of chicken pox marks on his face now as a result.
I wouldnt advise letting a very small child get it as they cant tell you how bad they are feeling and you cant communicate to them

 

[bonny]

Loiue had it when he was 18 months (kate brought it home from school) and it was AWFULL. He couldnt stop scratching didnt understand thats he shouldnt scratch, he was covered from head to toe including inside his mouth eyes and ears and it followed with a nasty chest and ear infection. Took him a good month to recover. Kate who was nearly 7 had few spots and coped fine with it, because i could explin that she should scratch ect. I think it all depends on the child and maby not how young you are when you get it. But i could be wrong.

 

[Happybunny]

Thanks for the replies.

My neice is 18 months and she is having a bad time of it. We've decided that if she is still contagious when we are due to visit, we will not go. We don't want to deliberately expose April to a nasty illness just yet - there is time enough, when hopefully she will be a little older and better able to understand.