chicken pox?

Question

i want my children to catch chicken pox whilst they are young (2 and 4) as its meant to be a milder illness when they are young. What do you think of this

They have not been vaccinated as we don't vaccinate against chicken pox where i live its a common childhood illness

i DO NOT want to put my child's health in danger im not that kind of mother i am just asking for opinions as my mother did this with me and when you read up on it, it says the illness is much milder when you are young

Answer 1

I have had chicken pox twice. The first time it was mild, the second time it was awful. I had pox everywhere and I was definitely old enough to remember the calamine lotion and oatmeal baths. I was 8 when I had the second outbreak.

My husband has also had chicken pox and now has outbreaks with shingles. When he has an outbreak, he is in terrible pain. He usually gets them on his head.

As far as age is concerned, I really do not think their is a way to determine if they will catch a mild case or not.

I do know, that just because you are exposed does not necessarily mean that you will have them once and never again.

I am attaching a few links that talks about what to do when they get pox, and who is most at risk for complications of pox. They also have some other interesting points about the aging population.

It looks as though past age 10, the risks increase. I am going to ask about the vaccination at my son's checkup and weigh all of my options. To be honest, I am usually pro-vaccinating, but with chicken pox I am not too sure. It is still a relatively new vaccination (in comparison to others) and working in health care I have seen kids who were vaccinated and still got them. So, I guess I am nervous about older individuals who never get pox and them getting them when this vaccine wears off, or worse women who become pregnant and the vaccine wears off and they get pox. Chicken pox for both mother and unborn child can be very dangerous.

In some ways, I think exposure before age 10 may be the best bet.

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bhealth/0,,3qbw,00.html
http://www.chmed.com/old/cpox.htm
http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10203

I hope this helps and good luck to you.

Answer 2

I think you should call your pediatrician and ask about the chicken pox vaccine that is now available.

You have no guarantee that your children will not have complications if they get chicken pox. They may also end up with scarring from it. Worse yet, if they get chicken pox, as adults they can get shingles-- horrifically painful and sometimes disfiguring.

My daughter got the chicken pox vaccination when she was little. That's a much better proposition, IMO, than letting a child get the disease.

Answer 3

I opted not to have my youngest daughter receive the chicken pox vaccine, with her doctor's approval. My older children all got them before there was a vaccine and before our youngest was born. I tried hard to expose her early, but she ended up not getting them until she was in first grade. I intentionally exposed her about a dozen times, but when she did get them it was a surprise because we didn't know anyone who had chicken pox at the time. It is not necessarily true that chicken pox get harder as the child gets older. When my 3rd child had them she was only 8 months old and she had a terrible case. She was covered head to toe with pox - in her hair (well, on her scalp as she was bald), in her ears, up her nose, in her mouth. The ones in her diaper area took weeks to clear up since it was always too moist to dry up. She spent a lot of time in the playpen naked. I knew a lot of people who had their children vaccinated for chicken pox but the children still got chicken pox. I preferred to let my daughter get her immunity naturally instead of by the vaccine because it was a pretty new vaccine when my daughter was little. For years before the vaccine, parents always exposed their children when they knew someone had them to get it over with when they were young. I think it is fine to let your little ones get chicken pox when they are young, but it is not a guarantee that it'll be a mild case.

Answer 4

Um, thats a bit crazy hon! Ecspecially when there is a chance they never would get it, however I understand the logic of not getting shingles. But you must keep in mind that chicken pox can be deadly in very young children. My brother-in-law, who is 40 yrs old, has the mentality of a 5 yr old because thats the age he got it and caused scarring on his brain! Just let nature take its course. Its better for a child to get it a bit older then younger when their bodies are so delicate and still developing. Also be careful of asking such questions online since you are implying that you want to put your children's health in danger.

Answer 5

That is what I did, whenever a friend called all in a panic because their kids had chicken pox, my response was "Really?! me and the kids will be right over.

Answer 6

If they get vaccinated, then they are immune to chicken pox at any age.

Answer 7

I think you are completely INSANE! Have you ever heard of shingles? I have them... you know what they are? They are CHICKEN POX that lay dormant in your nervous system until something in your body triggers them. THEY ARE EXTREMELY PAINFUL. I have them off and on all the time. My doctor tells me that there is NO cure. I have to take pain medicine and acyclovir every time I have a break out. I have break outs on my back, my ribs and I've had three on my face where one left a small scar. Most people don't notice it but I do and I hate it. The first few days of shingles my whole body tingles like I got bugs crawling all over me...my mom is a nurse and she gives me benadryl which puts me to sleep... IT IS BAD! Don't you DARE expose your babies to chicken pox!!! Your post makes me want to cry... If God wants your babies to have chicken pox he will give it to them do NOT expose them on purpose.

Answer 8

particularly, i does not do it at 18 months. whilst it may be real that that's extra advantageous to have them "till now" as adversarial to later.. i think of they propose, as a newborn vs. as an grownup. ANY formative years ailment must be much less stressful while your newborn is extra waiting to communicate how they experience. i could not even think of intentionally subjecting my newborn to an ailment at that age. whilst i'm not adversarial to vaccination, if I have been going your path I purely does not positioned my newborn in harms way while she wasn't waiting to verbalize what replace into happening along with her. My female had a number of formative years ailments.. roseola, hand, foot and mouth ailment, and so on. and a variety of of alternative undesirable fevers with submit-viral-fever-rashes. while she replace into under 2 and least verbal, it replace into the toughest on everybody in contact (purely think of how powerful he will experience unable to communicate any might desire to you.) in case you wait till he's older, a minimum of he can communicate over with you approximately his indications and you will handle them for this reason. To do it at 18 months purely seems merciless to me.

Answer 9

It's alright people actually have parties where if one of their children has chicken poxs they will bring all the kids to the house so hopefully they get it or are exposed.

Answer 10

if they're vaccinated there is a chance they will never even get them... but there is know way to "make them" get them. if they catch then okay if not then its okay too... i never got them but my cousin got them when he was 22 and it was prettty much the same as if you get them when you're young.