Toddler and chicken pox

[JBaxter]

Would you or have you taken your toddler to a chicken pox party or exposed them to someone with shingles on purpose?

[sunnygir1]

I would, but not while pregnant or with a baby, so dd will have to wait until the next opportunity.

With the vaccine out there I am even more convinced that I want my kids to have it while they are still children. I would wait until they are big enough to weather the fever though, and my kids are robust with no health issues.

[rachelsmama]

I sort of did. I knew one of their friends had been exposed and let them play together anyway, and it turned out the friend was contagious. My only regret is that ds was still in diapers. Chicken-pox and diapers are a slightly unpleasant combination.

[LindsC]

I totally would. We never got the opportunity to expose DS and the state required he have the chicken pox vaccine so that he could attend daycare. We delayed it until he was 2 years old, but could not delay it any longer. Hopefully we will have the chance to expose DD before she is due for the vaccine.

[nolonger]

I would in a heartbeat if the opportunity presents itself, but I'd send my vaxed 18 year old to his father's until the toddler wasn't contagious any more just in case.

[cagirlintexas]

Just came across this and I have to say yes I would and yes I did. I actually drove from Houston to Dallas and back to Houston in one day with my 2 year old to get him chicken pox. 10 days later he came down with it. We had a number of chicken pox parties at our house and were nice enough to pass it on to a number of other children. I did take a number of precautions though that I though were reasonable. I had DH's titer checked before hand. Mine had been checked before pregnancy. I also checked found out who we knew who hadn't had them and avoided them. We also avoided pretty much everyone we knew during the period were he could be contagious. I was very careful but I really feel like I did the right thing by having him get them.

I should add that I was really determined to find chicken pox and it took some work. I was on a ton of yahoo groups, started my own yahoo group, and was all over the internet looking.

[broodymama]

I did, this was back in mid-February. My youngest was 18 months and while the pox in the diaper area were really bothersome, overall she handled it the best of my three kids (and it was not a mild case).

We don't see chicken pox too often, and I wanted to get it done now before I had an infant again.

[katmann]

I exposed Ds at 14 months, but he didn't get it. I reasoned that I wouldn't have another chance soon.

I think maybe because he's still largely bf, I might have passed on my own antibodies, preventing him from getting it. Or the exposure wasn't thorough enough.

I would do it again, though. My friend's one year old got it (not on purpose, but during foreign travel) and he was uncomfortable, but okay.

[azdesertrn]

I did expose DD to chicken pox when she was 17 months. She ended up completely covered including the diaper areas, but never seemed really uncomfortable. There was one night she was more restless and kept moving around in her sleep, but she played happily during the daytime. She loves to be outside so we still took her outside but avoided contact with other people- except a few that were trying to catch it.

In the house I had her in cloth diapers with no cover so I could change her as soon as she was wet so it wouldn't irritate the ones in the diaper area. We kept a long sleeve t-shirt on her to keep her arms protected. She didn't seem to try to scratch though- only looked itchy that one night when she was wiggling around the bed.

[Peony]

Yep. I exposed DD2 at 18m and DD1 at age 5. Next CP "season" I will be looking to expose DS.

[mamadelbosque]

Not yet but if I have the chance was DS2 is over 1 yr old I probably will... if I knew of one before then, IDK... I'd seriously consider it for sure though!!

[greenbeanmama]

Yup. My son had them on his first birthday. He had over three hundred spots, but wasn't bothered by them at all. In fact, his pediatrician had us to to her house to share the pox with her three-year-old!

The only complication was that my 16-year-old sister hasn't had either the pox or the vaccine, and we were supposed to visit over Christmas, when my son might still be contagious. My sister didn't get them though.

Now we're looking for another pox party for little sister.

[hipumpkins]

I did bring my kids twice to meet and play with kids who had been exposed. Still no pox for us
I am on various groups hoping we can expose them.

[PatchChild]

We've tried to get DS to get them but no luck so far. We'll keep trying.

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Yes i would my ds caden hasn't had cp and my little sister had it last week and i said she could still come to play with my lo's but my dad and his gf didn't think she should, i personally think it is much better to get them when they are younger (not too young obviously) and agree about the nappy thing both ds cameron and dd. caitlin were both in nappies and their poor little bottoms, although it never really bothered them.
i'm just looking out for spots because we were at my dads a few days before Tazmins spots came out.

[hucifer]

I suspect that my 3yo may have it now, but I'm not sure. He woke up with about 9 little red bumps on his abdomen, and a few on his arm. He says they don't itch and they don't seem to bother him. I'm taking him into the pediatrician today to see if that's what it is. How does a doctor diagnose chicken pox? By visual examination alone? Or is this more of a wait-and-see kind of diagnosis?

If it is CP, we would gladly share.

[JBaxter]

bumping BECAUSE Im pretty sure it worked. I'll call my ped tomorrow for an official confirmation

Chicken pox in maryland

[hipumpkins]

Originally Posted by JBaxter

bumping BECAUSE Im pretty sure it worked. I'll call my ped tomorrow for an official confirmation

Chicken pox in maryland

I'm so jealous.

[lisavark]

I just have to say that this thread cracks me up. I am totally planning on exposing DD to chicken pox, and measles and mumps if I can, but I hadn't thought about exactly when we would do it. Now I'm thinking I might wait till she is solidly out of diapers (she's semi-finished with them right now ), but I have to figure out how to time it so I'm not pregnant again yet. I'm in no hurry, though. I might wait till after my next baby is old enough and then try to expose everybody at once.

[JBaxter]

If you had chicken pox , mumps measles or rubella or had titers drawn then you are find during pregnancy. Your immunity protects the baby.