What Do You Do?

[Miaow]

We went to visit BF's parents Friday and EJ's cousins were there who both had a cold - BF was of the opinion dont let the others near her at all, grandma was basically they have to come in contact with it at some time etc (i.e you cant keep a baby away from this sort of thing all the time) It obvious that our children are going to come into contact with cold at some stage you cant really stop it and it probably does help the immune system develop (well I hope so). The others didnt really get overly too close to her but it seems it was enough..

Anyway as of last night EJ now has a nasty cold - running nose, watery eyes, hacking cough and a sore throat. Went to the docs today and she's now on antibiotics. She luckily hasnt had any real fever though and panadols helping the sore throat.

Just wondering what others feel about this matter do you keep your kids away from others that are sick with slight colds etc (Im not talking major diseases here) , or just hope that your child wont get sick? Is some exposure to common things like colds better than none?

[poshBecks]

I try very hard not to share our germs around when any of us are crook. Lets face it, being sick sux, so why would you wish it on anyone else???!!!! :rolleyes:

[Miaow]

I agree completely try to minimise it as much as possible - We didnt know the others had colds when we went there etc but they also werent really sick as such just cough etc... She wasnt coughed on at all but they were near her at times... Also me and my BF also have a couple of symptoms of a cold also

[the_queen]

I think when bubba's are really little, ie under 6 months, the best approach is to keep them away from sick people.
Catching a cold does help boost their immune system, but the downside is that the poor little bubba has a cold and is sick and miserable and it's not very nice!

[Miaow]

Im not happy that she got the cold from them :( but I did think that if they didnt sneeze on her or touch her that she shouldnt really catch it - this obviously was the wrong idea.

[poshBecks]

The germs are EVERYWHERE!!! So unless they all washed their hands every 2 minutes it was bound to happen.... :o

[Rhys'Mum]

My little man got bronchiolitis at about 8wks and it put him in hospital for a week. Apparently its highly contagious and effects you and me and older kids just like the common cold but in a very little person it goes to their chest and is pretty nasty. According to the handout from the hospital sharing toys or touching the same surfaces is enough to spread it.

Given my experience I would keep any sick person away from a baby under 3months even if its 'just' a minor cold. Obviously with siblings its not so easy, but I would minimise contact and be scrupulous with surface hygeine just to be sure.

Once they are a little older though its another story for me. If someone is desperately ill or got gastro I keep him away but if its just a snotty nose and he is otherwise OK I let him go and deal with the consequences.

[nkenward]

I think there is a need to minimise contact - depending of course what it is. But the old saying was when a child had chicken pox - some kids were told to hang around to ensure they got it - just so they didn't get it later on.

I know we don't want our kids to get sick - but they do need to build up their own immunity to illness, so they can cope better next time, and sometimes avoid them altogther.

[onabreak]

My daughter has had a cold a week ago but now she just has a runny nose. I try and keep her away from other kids so she doesn't spread her germs. As I don't won't other mothers going through the same thing trying to give medicine, wipe horrible noses and put up with whinging. But eventually every bub will catch a cold sometime in their early life.