So here's the thing. Tomorrow is my oldest's son's first holiday event. It is a friendship feast at a park and I am sooooo looking forward to it! We have had to miss a couple fun things due to a cold going through our house and I am just really ready to get out and let the kids play and mix and mingle with other mamas. So the thing is my baby had a low grade fever today, just 99.7 under the arm, but that's really 100.7 or so orally.... He has had a bit of a runny nose for a few days but I have been giving him some allergy meds my doc suggested and he has been great, until today. He did have his 1yr shots last week and he is teething like mad. His appetite is ok and he is generally happy, a bit more cranky than normal, but playful etc. His fever popped right down with some tylenol and he was his normal little self. I really want to take him tomorrow bc it was a family thing with me my mom and all three of my boys. He will be in a stroller most of the time but you can never control if a child comes to hug him or play with him etc. SO, what would you do? Take him or leave him at home with grandma and just take the two older boys? Thanks for any advice, I know this is such a sensitive time of year with sickness etc, I don't want to infect anyone just have fun as a family!
Well it was a moot point anyway bc my oldest woke up with a hacking cough and so that was that... But we never got around to carving a pumpkin this year so that is going to be a super fun thing today with the kiddos and we are going to grub on the sliced apples and carmel sauce that would have been our dessert so that's life. Ironically the baby woke up today totally fever free, go figure! I am taking the big boy to the doc tomorrow to get his chest listened to bc his cough sounds awful. Geez, Suzanne W, if I wanted to be insulted and told I didn't have common sense I wouldn't have come to a mom support community for it.... other than that, thanks ladies!
Nope.
Sick kids should be kept home out of consideration for others!
I know it's disappointing, but it's the right thing to do in my opinion.
Fever means he is contagious. Do not take him anywhere but bed. He's teething and got shots, that is a miserable mix. He will not be able to be contained when he sees all the fun going on. Leave him at home with grandma.
I think this is the third time in a week that a variation on this question has been asked.
Rule of thumb: IF YOU OR YOUR CHILD ARE SICK THE SICK PERSON STAYS HOME. It's part of the Mommy contract is that sometimes you have to sacrifice the things you want to do to care for your child.
You do not want to make it worse by taking him out and you don't want to expose anyone else to whatever he has.
I would leave him at home. He's a baby, and doesn't know he difference. As a parent, I appreciate when other parents use common sense, and respect the other families in contact. To me, that means keeping a child with a fever home.
I understand you want to have a family event, but it really isn't right to knowingly take a sick child around other children.
Have respect for the other people there and don't take him... respect him and his need for rest/recovery as well. The fact that you're asking this question tells me you already know it would be the wring thing to do...
I will go against the stream here and I would go.
It is NOT true that a fever means that he is contagious. My DD had fevers from ear infections and runny noses pretty much for the first 18 months of her life... we would have never left our home if I stayed home for every cough and sniffle. In addition your child just had a round of shots to which the fever may very well be related.
Once we attended a friends wedding on the opposite coast and DD sported a 104 degree fever - we took her to the ER the night before the flight and even the pediatrician there said that it was "just" an ear infection and she was ok to go, flight and all.
I know I am in the minority, but I am just not a germophobe...and as long as my DD isn't miserable, we are going.
Good luck.
I would take him . If he's fairly happy and comfortable his body is just fighting something off . Not to worry . have fun !
Please don't take a sick child anywhere but the doc or emergency room. It's not fair to the child or the others he will be exposed to.
i must be old school.
a 'sick' baby should clearly stay home (although most colds and snot and fevers do NOT require doctor visits.) but a baby who isn't running a fever, is eating fine, and generally cheerful? no way would a little runny nose keep me home.
khairete
S.
Thats not a fever. I would go! Have fun~
He will be mostly contained and in the stroller. So long as he isn't miserable, or his fever doesn't come back higher than what you described and he doesn't have any other symptoms, than I would likely take him and make sure that kids don't come and touch all over him. But it may just be easier on you, him and the other kids at the party if you leave him home.
"If you kept a child home everytime they had a slight cold. they would be home 3 weeks out of 4."
There's your answer. In fact by taking sick kids out you are exposing them to more germs while their immune system is already down. So the cycle repeats itself. Parents who do keep living life even when kids are sick do seem to find their kids are always sick. I've noticed a trend amongst the more cautious parents who keep sick kids home that their kids are only sick, overall, a fraction of the time. (Of course all kids go through periods where they seem to catch everything for a short time period, but as a GENERAL rule, kids that stay home and rest and heal when sick are only getting sick a fraction of the time.) My kids catch colds like everyone's kids, but they only catch them maybe 2-3 times a year. And I follow the advice of the old time grandmas and keep them home when they are sick, give them lots of healthy foods and supplements, and make them rest. And it does seem my kids recover quicker and they really stay healthy longer than the kids that are still running around everywhere. I hope your little guy is feeling better soon and that you can all enjoy a happy, healthy Thanksgiving! :)
Our pediatrician's office says that 100 is not a fever. I would take him if he is not any worse tomorrow.
Take him and keep him glued inside of stroller. If he becomes too miserable go home.
Don't punish G. to stay home with him.
Here's my experience ... I once had a playdate at home for my son and the other kid had a cold. The mom said it was something he has come down with just that morning and I didn't think much about it because almost every kid has a runny nose during winters. Well, the next day my son came down with the same thing and it was so much worse than just a cold. He had very high fever for 3 days, started wheezing and was on neb treatments for many days.Got a ear infection because of the bad cold and was put on antibiotics.The fever was so high his pediatrician asked us to use both tylenol and ibuprofen to bring it down. He stopped eating and lost 2+ pounds. All this was less than 2 weeks before his birthday and I kept praying he got better in time for his birthday and the big party I had planned for him.
So after this experience I am always careful when I take my son out when he is sick or leaving him around kids who are sick. Maybe the other kid got better with just a cold(I never told the mom about my son getting it) but somehow my son was just out of another viral infection few weeks ago and this next cold was very bad on him.
My suggestion for everyone who thinks it's ok to take kids out even when they are sick, please understand that the other kids who get the same illness from your kid might not handle it as well as your's do.
If you kept a child home everytime they had a slight cold. they would be home 3 weeks out of 4.
I do keep obviously sick kids home.. fevers, vomiting, diahrrea, big deep barking coughs..
but for a runny nose and a 99 temp.. off we go..
Personally I wish people would follow the rule that when you are sick, you stay home. You have no way of knowing if this is from teething/shots or if it is a virus. In fact, since you said there was a cold virus going around your house the logical conclusion would be that it IS probably a contagious virus. So if it were me, we'd be staying home. It's not that you don't want to inconvenience someone else to catch your cold for Thanksgiving. It's that you don't want to give someone a cold that can't handle it well. When my sister's daughter catches a cold they end up in the ER 50% of the time because it goes into croup. When my second was a toddler we ended up with ear infections for every "mild cold" she came down with. My mother went to church one Sunday and a family with kids sat down behind her. They were all sniffling and coughing like crazy. A day or two later she came down with a nasty cold that turned into bronchitis and pneumonia and she ended up hospitalized. So please be considerate and keep the baby home.
I do not take my kid out when he is sick, running temp, or on the verge of getting a bad cold. I wouldn't at 8 , and I definetly wouldn't if he were a baby. I'm a little leary to doing this, especially if it is around other kids.
It seems that if you have to ask you know you should keep the child at home. Yes, you want to party and celebrate but do it when the child(ren) are well.
Bringing a sick child to the party only causes problems for other people and their children by being exposed to what the sick child has. Think common sense. Oh I forget this new generation does not have that.
Sorry but stay home. This is this part of parenting that no one tells you about. For 18 years your life is not your own it belongs to bringing up a responsible person with knowledge and common sense to know what to do in a situation.
Have a good holiday season with children that well and not sick. No one likes the ER on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve.
The other S.
PS I lost a good paying job because my child was ill and would gladly do it again. So we don't always get what we want as a parent.
We normally stay home if someone has a fever, stomach problems, or is miserable otherwise we live life. I always tell another parent if my son has a cold if we are getting together so they can make the final call.
Babies are tricky... teething can cause a low fever like this, and the crankiness.
I am usually very cautious about taking sick kids anywhere, but this doesn't sound like a description of being sick to me. I'd go unless some other symptoms come up.
