Travelling with Chicken Pox

[nightrider68]

We travelled on a ferry a few years ago with one of three having chicken pox (not to DLRP though) - we made her wear a hooded jacket and kept it up
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Also spent a lot of the journey on the outside deck !
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Not sure whether DLRP have any procedure for spotty children.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

The rules on Medised have changed and they now won't sell it for a child under 6. lots of medication rules have recently. I was recently recommended by the GP to get Sudafed for my 4 yr old daughter only for the pharmacist to refuse to sell it to me. But it's the antihistamine which helps in the itching, which is why the hayfever medication available in syrup form is useful for chickenpox.

Really? I was recently able to buy this is boots for DD when she wasnt very well.

 

[britchic4]

Really? I was recently able to buy this is boots for DD when she wasnt very well.

It was effective some time in April I think, so the pharmacist should have asked how old the child was and refused when you told her/him. Lots of the cold/cough medicines have changed too, in fact there are very few cough medicines left for an under 6 yr old. Calpol and Nurofen are still fine though.

 

[petentaz]

May I suggest that you do a few things.

Firstly speak to the Ferry Company (as others suggested) stress that he should be over the period where it is contagious.

Secondly visit the doctor to obtain a letter to state that they are now not contagious. This may smooth your passage when if stopped and questions. It is always better to have it with you and not use it, rather than be stopped.

Thirdly taking Calpol (or any paracetamol based medicine) along with a Brufen based medicine may help. Try giving them at slightly different times will have a longer effect.

However on a slightly lighter note, my son had Chicken Pox when he was young. He was covered in spots apart from an area on his check. This was then known as his "kissing spot" as it was the only spot we could kiss him goodnight with out hurting him.

A few days later his sister came out in spots, but she only had 7 spots on her whole body.

By the way I might have this wrong but bicarbinate of soda in the bath helps heal the spots and stop some of the pain and itching. (Its an old wifes tale but it seemed to work for us)

Pete n Taz

 

[PoppyAnna]

You might just get away with it. Although it's likely your youngest child will be contageous but not show the signs. This may seems a silly question, but is your child well enough to go? my two were pretty poorly with it when we had it all over christmas 2005, youngest DD was just three months old luckily they didn't get loads of spots like you see some children and I was offended at the time by unintelligent family members (themselves with small children) that wouldn't come around even two weeks after. Be warned that if your youngest is under one and doesn't get it badly then they can get it again in the future. Are you still noticing new spots each day? It's usually 5-7 days after you notice that there are no new spots.

Prepare yourself for some questions and enquiring looks though, although you may know your child is okay, if my girls hadn't had it, I'd be pretty peeved if I thought somebody had taken their contageous child to DLRP. It's one souvenir I wouldn't want to go back home (and to school) with. What if you come into contact with pregnant women?

As for treatment, we found calomine lotion made the itching worse (I also remember this from when I had CP in my 20's) we stuck to Oilatum in the bath and the occasional dose of Piriton (eldest child only).

Best of luck to you

 

[PJackson]

Oh no!

My DDs have just had this in Feb & March this year. And what most say is pretty right - it took 5 days for DD's spots to stop appearing and then another 2 days or so for them to completely scab over. He will have lots of scabs by the time you go - my DDs still had scabs (partic the baby) 5-6 weeks later in places!

Defo correct about Medised and I have to be honest and say I'm surprised any preschool would administer a medicine as strong as Medised to little ones - I would have thought Calpol would be the norm? Medised is very strong stuff (and yes I have used it on my DD1 before the rules were changed but would be cautious now) - it can easily knock out children/almost drug them and cause hallucinations - one of the reasons it was stopped for under 6s....

Also, just a watch out, if Macklyn does get it you are v limited to what you can give him - he can only have Calpol (if over 3 months) on a regular basis I believe - no piriton (antihistamine) under 1 years so he may be pretty off with it tbh. My DD2 was 9 months when she got it (exactly 2 weeks after DD1) and tbh she was v uncomfortable when she itched - we had nights of hardly any sleep as she just couldn't sleep with being uncomfortable In the end the out of hours Doctor said to give her a half dose of piriton but only because she is a big baby (more like 15/16 months at the time!).

I don't mean to scare you Jon, CP is really not always that bad, but I've just had a friend whose DD was hospitalised with it (she is 2.5 yrs) - her spots got infected and it turned v v nasty indeed. My DDs both also got infected spots - had to have antibiotic cream from GP to help - fortunately I caught it quickly.

They are looking to possibly vaccinate against CP in this country - maybe try your HV and see if they could vaccinate Macklyn - I know you can pay and have this done privately but I believe it doesn't give 100% protection (Bit like single MMR jabs)... may lessen any CP if he does get it.

As a Mum, I was honestly never too worried about CP but having had both my DDs get it earlier this year and having experienced what we went through, I honestly would not have put my child through a trip abroad at the time unless they were well over it - I found day 4/5 the worst with both girls....

What awful timing for you - I guess you'll just have to see how it goes I would have thought you could cancel on your insurance though if need be. Not what you want to do I'm sure, but if Macklyn does get it when you are away and he turns out to be quite ill..... You really can never tell.

PS - I was told by my GP and lots of other people that DD2 probably wouldn't get it as she was breastfed and under 1's tend not to get it - she still got it and quite badly (was told it would be mild!)....

Good luck with it all! It's an awful decision to make!

 

[Rachie B]

Sorry can't really give you any advice with what to do, but just wanted to say that my daughter got chickenpox at 4 weeks old! My eldest daughter came out with chickenpox the day after my youngest was born, then 2 weeks later all 3 boys within 3 days, then 2 weeks later my little baby got them! She also had shingles last november at 16 months.
.

oh poor thing !
that it quite rare for so young

Jon I hope you can still get to go & hope the baby doesn't suffer too much if / when he gets them

x

 

[cap'njack.]

Thanks for all of your advice everyone

I've spoken to the ferry company and they say that Kacee will be fine to travel however they aren't sure about Mackyln because he could/is contagious.

I'm really in two minds as to weather or not to cancel the holiday. Our insurance would be next to useless as the ferry cost was £38 and the holiday was a Sun £9.50 offer so that was only £38 too.

I'm currently thinking of going, but giving DLRP a miss if Macklyn does come out in spots.

If Kacee has scabbed over and Macklyn isn't showing any signs of CP then it would be no different than going to DLRP at anyother time, literally hundereds of the kids at DLRP could be contagious, just not showing.

It's kind of a moral dilemma. Do I take Macklyn knowing that he may be infectious, or do I not take him just incase he is??????

 

[mommy2ash]

that is such a tough call i honestly cant say what i would do. i wouldnt want to pass on the chicken pox to anyone but i wouldnt want to ruin my holiday and then turn out that he didnt have them at all

 

[dixonsontour]

We were in Florida when my DD then 23months got chickenpox!

She came out in spots the friday when we were supposed to fly home the saturday. Airline said she couldn't fly for 7 days after spots appeared and we needed a fit to fly letter. (oh the hardship another 7 days in Florida!)

She was poorly for a few days but then we did start venturing out, when she was fully scabbed over(not infectious)

I think the problem is the risk of your younger child getting it.

My MIL/FIL took my twin nieces to Gran canaria a few years ago. First niece got it so they were delayed a week, second niece got it another week then FIL got shingles another week unable to fly - I think a weeks hol ended up 5 weeks! We thought it was hilarious until it happened to us...

Obviously we had been in Florida with Anna infectious - we just didn't know it until the spots appeared.

As long as Kacee is scabbed over (not infectious) and the baby is not showing any signs I would go.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

It was effective some time in April I think, so the pharmacist should have asked how old the child was and refused when you told her/him. Lots of the cold/cough medicines have changed too, in fact there are very few cough medicines left for an under 6 yr old. Calpol and Nurofen are still fine though.

No-one asked anything...weird. You would of thought Boots would of been on the ball.

 

[dixonsontour]

Just to add if you do go with a 'scabby' child be prepared for stares! Obviously most people see the spots and think they are infectious...

People can be very rude we found - demanding th know if DD had chickenpox...I was like a stuck record she is not infectious...

I think it was worse in USA as they vaccinate against it so they are not used to it.

DD had picked hers up from nursery the fri before we left so it had taken a full 14 days to show up...

 

[PJackson]

Gosh that is a hard one - I suppose at least it hasn't cost you 100s for the trip. It's really Macklyn that is the issue now.

Jon, imho, if it were me and knowing how ill my DD2 was (she was 9 mths as I said earlier) because we couldn't give her anything, make her comfortable, I personally wouldn't go - there is a risk because Macklyn is so small, if he does come out with it over there he could be v poorly, however, on the reverse he could be just fine and just get one or two spots? Having said that, before my two actually had, had the pox I probably would have thought we'd be fine!!

I had to use the emergency (out of hours) GP service twice in the night when DD2 was ill and also the GP during the day for trearment for the infected spots - she said they got infected because they were on the underside of her arms and everytime we lifted her (tried all ways to avoid!) they kept getting 'disturbed' so got infected They were quite nasty and obviously sore/v hot etc.

It really is a tough call but with a baby so young it is a big risk. Watch, he'll probably not even get it tho and if you did cancel it could be for nothing - you need to get your crystal ball out !

 

[britchic4]

It is a hard one. I felt awful sending my DS to school when DD got it, as I knew he might come down with it too, but I couldn't keep him off school just in case he got it. He'd been in contact with it at nursery twice before and not got it so I sent him. He did get it and after him a big portion of the class got it.
DD was mostly OK but DS was really quite poorly and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in DLRP. He really couldn't do much but lie on the sofa. So with that experience in mind I probably wouldn't go, but that doesn't mean Macklyn is going to get it badly of course, or even at all!

 

[ToastedTeapot]

I think you're right, it's a moral dilemma. We're off on Friday, taking my 20m old son who hasn't had CP, and I'm pregnant again. You're right, there could be scores of children at DLP whilst we're there who are infectious but their parents don't know, but I'd be furious if a parent knowingly took their child during the incubation period and infected us (although, who would admit to doing this? realistically I'd never know)

A friend's twins had CP a few months ago. The first one had had them a week (all scabbed over) by the time they were due to go on holiday, but because the second was in the incubation period they didn't go (they claimed on TI). As it was, the second twin came out with his first spot on the day they'd been due to come home (3w after the first twin's first spot) which means they wouldn't have had questions or anything on the plane, but I think it's a conscience thing.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi ToastedTeapot,

Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread, or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038 ,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm .

 

[Lisa_C]

It is a very hard decision on what to do for the best. Did the parent of the child who had the original case warn you they had CP? Or do you know where they picked it up from at all?? To be honest, I wouldn't be angry if my child came back from DLP after being infected, I'd be more angry if they got it just before (as you have) and ruined my break for me!

I would be, as other posters have said, more worried about Macklyn. I know others have mentioned that they have known babies to catch CP but it also works the other way. It's the high temperature etc before the spots come out that I think is the most worrying.

Maybe you should consult your TI as I know mine states that if you knowingly travel with a sick person in your party then you are responsible for any medical costs incurred etc. Just make sure you are covered.

 

[ToastedTeapot]

Hi ToastedTeapot,

Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread, or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

Thank you v much for that nice welcome.

 

[cap'njack.]

Kacee caught it from Nursery and I knew he would do as there was a child there three weeks ago who obviously had CP but the parents kept saying that it was just a viral infection.

I've called my insurance company and as Macklyn shows no sign of any infection then we would be ok to travel if Kacee has scabbed over as we have no way of knowing if Macklyn actually has CP or not, so we are covered in that respect.

I think it'll be a wait until Saturday night and then make the decision from there as to how the boys both are.

I'm also not adverse to going on the holiday but staying away from DLRP. Maybe we could do that instead and visit Paris and Versailles???

 

[britchic4]

While of course you shouldn't take your child where there are other children or pregnant women when you know they are infectious, ie when they have the spots whichaven't yet scabbed, nobody should feel guilty that they carried on a normal life in the period before the spots come out, when you have no idea they are infectious. It wasn't inevitable Kacee would get it, both my children and I'm sure lots of others here have 'survived' outbreaks at nursery without getting it.
As long as Macklyn doesn't show signs of having it before you go, the main issue really is would you want to be away from home - and presumably in a small caravan? - if he did get it?