Do you purposefully expose your child to CP?

[grumo]

And at what age would you do that?

[Robyn]

I tried. When my son was three, I had him share a drink with my sisters son who had chicken pox.....and he didn't get it. Then, a few months later, a boy in my son's preschool had them and he was in the office waiting for his mom to take him out of the school so I had my son hug him.......and he still didn't get them. Last year, my husbands friend had them and I while he was still contagious, I had my son drink out of his drink and he was sitting next to him.......and he still didn't get them. He has a very strong immune system because the way I feed him and all the antioxidents he gets everyday and can't even catch a cold. But every chance I get, I will expose him. I really don't know what is a good age is to expose a child, but I wouldn't expose a child (in my personal oppionin) untill the child is at least two.

[OdessaEarthenMama]

I am wanting to expose my 3 year old daughter to it since they just made it mandatory for the cp vax here in Iowa. My only problem is that I do home day care, and would not want my day care children exposed to it.

[DaryLLL]

I exposed all 3 of mine to it. My oldest did not catch it until she was no longer bfing (age 3-4 yrs) and had a bad case. The other 2 were abt 18 mos, still bfing and had only abt 12 small dots, no fever, over it quick.

I think you would need a full play date or two to really get them exposed. A quick shared drink or hug probably wouldn't do it.

[Hera]

I did and my dd got it....she has a lovely scar right on the bridge of her nose by her right eye. That's the only thing I have to regret, as her case was reasonably mild. Since I knew she had been exposed, I was able to feed her well and give her supportive supplements and herbs. She was about 3.5 at the time. It was also positive because I was able to keep her home during the time that she was contagious. It starts as a mild cold, and the spots come out later.

Another friend exposed her kids at the same time, and her older (also 3) ds had a pretty bad case, with pox in his throat. He was pretty miserable. She was about ready to take him out to be vaxed for everything else and to heck with it.

It's a tough call.

[goodpapa]

My son....

....had his measles at 18 months--- it was easy, but not planned.

When he can talk I'll be looking for CP and mumps.



Ray

[Jazmommie]

well,my dd got them at age about 9 months & was exposed by her older (7) brother -I did limit their time together for a couple days -less exposure = less pox???
She did great -so did he -
he came home tired & went to sleep-woke with a fever then got spots over the next 2 days.
I used homeopathics.

[grumo]

thanks for all the responses. so nobody thinks that 2 is too young to go out and expose your kid to cp?

[pumpkinhead]

You can be exposed and develop an immunity to CP w/o ever displaying symptoms of the illness.

That said, I'd rather have my child NEVER get the illness than purposely expose him just to develop an immunity which isn't to say he couldn't still get it again. It's playing Russian roulette with your child's health.

You can still get shingles even if you were exposed and developed CP as a child.

I would rather save my kid ANY and ALL discomfort and pain that it is in my power to.

GOODPAPA:

I've read the story of your son's measles. I would respectfully like to ask if it's possible that what he had was actually Roseola? The symptoms you describe sound very much like those associated with this illness

http://www.nightimepediatrics.com/Pa...u/roseola.html

[Jazmommie]

My dd had a rash after having a fever about 100-101,then the sun hurt her eyes(she wore sunglasses ),she had no Koplicks spots in her cheeks-(inside) -I thought she had measles-Dr said no-it was not measles ,or rubella-German measles-it was Toxic Exanthum-fever with a rash.
3 weeks later ,she got viral pneumonia.

If she ever gets blood drawn -I will have her titres tested.
We had roseolla right before the chicken pox(age 8 & 9 months)-high fever -104.6-up & down for 3 days then a rash.

[Katana]

I'm not in any rush. If they run into someone who has them, I won't freak out, but right now, I'm not purposely trying to find anyone.

My mom tried for a couple years to expose me and my siblings but we didn't catch cp until I was 6. Our school district was on strike at the time so I didn't miss any school. I had a pretty bad case of it, but my younger brother, who was 4 at the time only had 3 spots.

I figure that eventually, they will come into contact with someone who has it, and we'll just see what happens.

[Tanibani]

I can't remember... I think my DH had it when he was under 2... his older siblings had it, and it was a mild case for him. What I've heard is (this was before the CP vax) that the younger, the better... i.e. 2 or 3 is OK.

But caution... a friend tried exposing her daughter throughout her young life. Her DD finally got it at 12/13 (or so) just as the cusp of puberty... and it was hellish. She was it inside her vagina, inside ever where! Her DD was mad at her mother for years. The DD is now 21.

My son is 3.5. A few months ago a friend had it. The 4.5 yr old had it and the 1.5 yr old had a much milder infection. I wanted to expose my son, but my DH wimped out. He felt our son wouldn't be able to handle it "don't scratch." Well, he would if it wasn't such a bad infection, kwim?

Anyway, a friend sent her DD (same age) over, but she didn't catch it.

[irishprincess71]

I would wait until at least 3 yo personally. In all of my experiences with CP I have seen no indication of age being a definitive factor on the severity and a 3 yo is much easier to explain things to and deal with an illness than a 2 yo.

My friends DD had it a 11 mo and it was MISERABLE. The child was so sick and covered from head to toe. I had it at 6 1/2 and I had it in my throat, ears, vagina, bottom of my feet even. I remember being completely miserable too. My sister was 3 1/2 at the time and she had a really light case. I had a friend who had it at 26 and she was so bad that her children started crying when they saw her because she scared them (she had gotten them on a trip - the CP not the children).