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Son exposed at preschool - should I cancel trick or treating with friends?
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Anonymous
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When I picked up my son (4 yrs old) yesterday I learned that one of the kids in his class had come down with a fever the night before. Apparently her two brothers had the flu before her. I asked if it was confirmed H1N1 and it was not...just assumed. (And interestingly enough I only learned about all of this because I had been asking some other questions related to his teacher being out sick - in other words, it was not actively advertised. There's a note outside his class about there being a confirmed case of strep throat at the center, but nothing about H1N1. Go figure.) So, bottom line: We have to assume that my has been exposed. We have a trick or treat outing scheduled with friends and their kids for Saturday eve. What is the ethical thing to do? Should I keep him home even if he's showing no symptoms? I know he can be contagious w/o showing symptoms and I would feel so awful if he woke up sick Sunday morning and had exposed the other kids. On the other hand, if he seems perfectly well, it bums me out to think of keeping him home. Just curious what others would do.
On a side note, when I dropped him off this morning one of the other parents in the class said very casually her daughter had already had it - so to my surprise this isn't the first time he's been exposed apparently. On one hand I get why some people are treating this casually since most cases are pretty mild, but it would have been nice to know! Not to mention that I'm 35 wks pregnant myself. |
Anonymous
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Keep your child home if he is sick.
If he is not sick, send to school and go ahead and do planned events with other kids. |
Anonymous
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OP - I wonder if you are in my school? That sounds just like DD's 4s class. In ours, a whole family was out with it, with a boy from her class sick too, and we were never told. I found out from talking to his mother at drop off yesterday (his first day back).
There have been several kids in our class get sick (including the birthday boy just after his birthday party on Sunday that nearly every kids (not mine) attended). Some got sick, some didn't. I wouldn't hold your child back for being exposed. Just watch closely and hold back if symptoms develop. Have fun trick or treating. |
Anonymous
| Totally, keep him home. |
Anonymous
Why would you keep a perfectly healthy child home? And home from trick-or-treating only? Or woudl you also keep the child home from preschool until.... when, exactly? |
Anonymous
| a child had H1N1 at my kids school on a Thurs. We called our ped. on Friday to ask if our child should attent a b-day party on Sat. and Sunday. They said it would be fine. |
Anonymous
| I'd let him go trick or treating. |
Anonymous
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I would also let him go about his normal activities. In my family of 5, two got sick with flu and the rest of of didn't. The two were my youngest, and my 14 y/o son and we parents were fine.
Another friend (adult) has it and her kids (3 of them) and DH don't. So, just because you're exposed, even repeatedly as I've been, doesn't mean you're going to get it. Trust me, there's just as much chance the kids you're trick or treating with tomorrow have been equally exposed and/or incubating as your son. Nothing to quarantine until someone is actually sick - just the nature of the beast. |
Anonymous
| Would you want *your* kids trick or treating with a kid who'd been exposed, even if he wasn't sick? I wouldn't, no way. |
Anonymous
But you ARE. It's not scientific, but I'd wager everyone's kid has been "exposed" in the past 24 hours. When you think about being at school, playgrounds, grocery stores (carts!), playdates... you're exposed to sick people who haven't come down with symptoms yet. You start shedding virus about 24 hours before you develop symptoms (sometimes even longer). How do you control for that? How long should a healthy kid be quarantined before you're confident? I'm just saying, even the CDC has said the days of quarantine are long gone. The horse has already left the barn. |
Anonymous
Oh, and I let my daughter play at our house with a friend at whose sister was sick. And once, I invited DD's friend to go to a ticketed event with us because my DS was too sick to go. I told the mom DS had flu-like symptoms and she STILL sent her daughter with mine. Quarantining healthy kids doesn't make sense to everyone. |
Anonymous
| I think it's crazy not to let your kids trick or treat if they're not sick, even if they may have been "exposed." Unless you're going to lock them away for the forseeable future, there's no point. Are you also going to refuse to go out for the forseeable future? What about your spouse? You or your spouse could be exposed to someone who has/had H1N1 and then give it to your kids the next time you go to the grocery store, to work, or open the door to a neighbor. A bit of realism is in order here. For most people, H1N1 is no worse than regular flu. People die from regular flu too... |
Anonymous
This wouldn't particularly bother me, no. I accept it as a fact of life, as I have no intention of keeping my children home in a bubble for the next two months. |
Anonymous
Many kids are probably exposed without the parents being aware--we can't just live in a bubble. I don't see the problem with letting the kid trick or treat with his friends if he's feeling well. |
Anonymous
agree My daughter's school has it in the upper grades, and the younger sibling of a child in my daughter's K class - PLUS the children's nanny - have had H1N1. Yesterday, the school had a Halloween celebration. I brought my 18 mo. We've all been exposed; some are just affected more than others. If your child isn't sick, why would you "ban" trick or treating? They're exposed each day in school, during after school activities, and in stores. You're overreacting. |