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Chicken Pox 'party'

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Jules

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Chicken Pox 'party'
Posted: 07-27-07 01:09am

My son Max is 2 years old and I have a friend whose daughter is the same age. We usually meet up on Fridays but my friend rang me last night to say that her daughter has been in contact with another child who now has chickenpox. She wanted to know if I still wanted to meet up.

I'm not sure what to do. I know that the younger you are when you get chickenpox the milder it usually is so I'm inclined to say yes, bring her over. At least I will know to look out for symptoms then and Max will hopefully get over it quite quickly. However, I feel bad knowingly exposing him to an unpleasant disease.

What do you guys think? Is the chickenpox party a good thing or a bad thing? What would you do in my position?

NB/ We do not have the chickenpox vaccine in the UK.
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oh_mommy

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Re: Chicken Pox 'party'
Posted: 07-27-07 01:53am

Jules wrote:
My son Max is 2 years old and I have a friend whose daughter is the same age. We usually meet up on Fridays but my friend rang me last night to say that her daughter has been in contact with another child who now has chickenpox. She wanted to know if I still wanted to meet up.

I'm not sure what to do. I know that the younger you are when you get chickenpox the milder it usually is so I'm inclined to say yes, bring her over. At least I will know to look out for symptoms then and Max will hopefully get over it quite quickly. However, I feel bad knowingly exposing him to an unpleasant disease.

What do you guys think? Is the chickenpox party a good thing or a bad thing? What would you do in my position?

NB/ We do not have the chickenpox vaccine in the UK.



if you think hes ready for it why not? i mean it would be nice to have it done and over with... but you also gotta think how he will react with the itchyness... are you prepared to have an ichy child on your hands?
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HcoBrunette06

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Posted: 07-27-07 02:04am

i don't think i would... im sure it won't hurt her feelings if you tell her not to bring her over, i mean, afterall she does have chicken pox Laughing im sure the lady would understand. and just because he gets them once does not mean that he won't get them again. i know the saying is if you have them once then you don't get them again, but my boyfriend had them twice and i know several other people who did, too. doesn't mean hell get them more than once, but i'd just try to keep him away from it.
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sick_mama17

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Posted: 07-27-07 02:11am

Jay is 4 and hasnt had it yet, I hope he gets it soon. If he hasnt had it by the time hes around 9 im going to look into getting him vaccinated for it. We do have the vaccine if you pay for it privately. I probably wouldnt meet up with your friend because like you said, I too wouldnt feel right about knowingly exposing him to it. Confused

Morgan
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Becky

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Posted: 07-27-07 03:18am

i wouldn't. my little sisters friend had chicken pox and my mum kept her away from her. she's 6 but my mum has never had chicken pox and it's not always certain that he would catch it. he might be one of the lucky ones and never catch it
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kaerbear

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Posted: 07-27-07 04:09am

boy that's a tough call. my brother's friend got chicken pox when he was in his 20's and it was really rough. he's got scars that look like acne scars on his face now. mind you, my little niece had chicken pox when she was about 18 months and she has 2 little tiny scars on her face. 18 months was so young for her to have it. when i read chicken pox party i immediately thought of my mom and sister and i just sitting on the floor in a circle while my niece just went from one to the other to the other. she would sit in your lap and just put her head on your shoulder and just sit there for a few minutes then go to the next person. she was so miserable she didn't even cry or anything. i think she had some rare case where it went into her throat though. oh god i hope my kid doesn't go through that. anyway, i had em when i was 3 and i was fine. never had em since.
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Jules

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Posted: 07-27-07 08:17am

Thanks for your replies Wink

I decided to go for it and have my friend over to play. Her little girl doesn't necessarily even have it yet, she's just been in contact with someone who does and I figured that I'd rather Max get it young than suffer later like I did.

Just gotta sit and wait now Sad
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Bridget

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Posted: 07-27-07 08:35am

i'm still very confused about chicken pox and vaccines. i need to remember to ask finn's doctor at his next appointment.

i thought the later in life you get it, the worse it is and that it's dangerous to have as an adult. is this correct? if so, why are we vaccinating? don't we want them to get it?

i had the chicken pox when i was around 6, i think. i don't even remember it now and i do have a couple tiny scars from scratching and picking, but nothing noticeable to others.

i guess if i were to expose my child to it, i'd do it when they're around 5 or 6 and easier to communicate with. i wouldn't want my 2-year old to have it only because it's probably more uncomfortable to them and i'd want them to know not to scratch and pick.
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arcadia

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Posted: 07-27-07 15:33pm

My best friend had them when we were 8. She had her birthday party while she had them & my mom wouldn't let me go. I never got the chicken pox, & I have still never had them. I got the vaccine when I was about 10, & I'm sure it's worn off by now. So yeah. I desperately wish my mom would've let me go & get them. If one of Gabe's friends has them in grade school, I will definitely be sending him to said friends house.
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Jolie_3110

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Posted: 07-27-07 15:43pm

The saying that the younger a child gets it the milder it will be is a lie!!! When Aydan first started school at 4 he caught it within the 1st few months. He got it pretty bad and poor little thing used to itch all the time. He was quite happy for us to put calamine lotion on it though even though this was really cold because we could explain to him that it took the itch out.
A couple of weeks later my younger son Lucas got it (he was 2 at the time) and he was covered! Seriously I dont think there was apart of him that didnt have a spot. He spent the whole week crying and trying to rub up on anything just to scratch! To make matters worse he screamed at having the lotion, he wasnt old enough to understand that it was in his best interest! It was honestly a horrible experience!! Crying
or Very sad
I think 4-6 is the best age for them to get it although there is no way of getting this to happen!! Just hope that if your little boy gets it he only gets it mildly! but this then means there is more chance of him getting it again!

Dont think there is a problem with Adults getting chicken pox. The problem is Adults can catch shingles from children with chicken pox, if they have never have chicken pox themselves! (does that make sense??) Shingles is PAINFUL!!!! believe me!!!
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