I have a 9-month-old, and we often visit the library for baby story time, playing, and, of course, books. Today, we went just to pick up some books and see about some playtime. They have a children’s area with toys and toddler tables. About five minutes into playing, one of the other children, a toddler, had a gnarly cough. I decided to remove my baby from the area and didn’t encourage her to keep playing with him. He was about 3 years old, and since she’s just a baby, she can be a bit of a nuisance in his eyes anyway. But I didn’t want her sharing toys in that area.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who removes my infant from situations with sick kids!
As a parent of a toddler with a chronic cough, I would be embarrassed if she was hacking around an infant. I’m too terrified to take her to play with other big kids if she has a terrible cough, let alone coughing among newborns.
I have severe health anxiety, so I would definitely do the same if she were a newborn. My kid was born in September, at the onset of flu/cold/rsv season, and I was a freaking insane person for taking her anyplace. The store. Houses belonging to family or acquaintances. Restaurants. If someone sneezed in our way, I would flip out. So I’m with you on this.
I’m actually glad you brought this up. My daughter has had a runny nose and cough ever since we had Covid 10 weeks ago. She developed double pneumonia shortly after that. Her pediatrician hasn’t been much help and keeps prescribing cefdinir repeatedly. She has an ENT appointment on the 21st, and I had planned to ask about allergy testing, which I still will, but now I’m also going to mention this and see what they say.
Oh, I agree. If I heard my toddler clawing away at a baby’s face, I would absolutely intervene. I would understand if the other parent chose to distance her baby from us, and I would sincerely apologize. My infant does not need pathogens from daycare. I can’t keep my child at home forever because he has a cough or a runny nose, but I do my best to limit intimate contact with other humans who may have a weakened immune system.
I did the same thing few weeks ago. A father brought two plainly sick children (in pajamas, with extremely red cheeks and coughing their heads off) into the library’s play area. We left as quickly as we could.
That’s exactly what occurred today. However, the cheeks were not crimson. With her last cold, we learnt that if one of us becomes sick, we can’t escape it. We finally got over her last cold and she’s sleeping through the night again, which wasn’t a big deal but it was three weeks of stuffy or runny nose. Runny in the day and stuffy at night.
This enrages me as a primary care physician who specializes in pediatrics. Those crimson cheeks could be caused by a cold or Parvovirus B19, which has “the slapped cheek” appearance and cold-like symptoms. While the virus is not lethal, it is irresponsible to transport any youngster with these symptoms into another child-friendly environment. And, if you teach them, many children (age appropriate) can wear and tolerate masks, allowing you to get them out of the house. It’s called teaching respect. Also, it’s most likely the covid epidemic all over again; “let me get mine, and I could give a f**k about others.”
It depends on the other symptoms. If it isn’t your child and you don’t know, you can take whatever precautions you like. If it is your child, the other signs will indicate what is communicable, etc. A simple cough, for example, does not usually
It is dependent on other symptoms. If it isn’t your child and you don’t know, you can take whatsoever precautions you choose. If it’s your child, the other symptoms will reveal what’s contagious, etc. A simple cough, for example, is usually not
