If your toddler is sick- like cold, virus, low fever- how hard do you try to keep them away from your baby?
C was just at the ped for a check up but came down with a little virus- low fever (100-102 max), cough, runny nose, cranky. Baby is only 5 weeks old. She is breastfeeding so I'm hoping that I am building and transferring immunity to her.
I'm trying to keep her from getting in the baby's face but wondering how much of a losing battle it is.
honeydew / 7283 posts
Ugh - I do try, but it's pretty much a losing battle. I try not to drive myself too crazy because I figure they've been sharing germs for the past few days when she was probably already contagious anyway. You might have better luck now with a non-mobile baby than later. Maybe they haven't shared as many germs.
Sending you healthy baby vibes! 
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@MrsF: yeah clearly the baby isn't grabbing at the toddler and her toys at least. But all the toddler wants to do is hug and kiss her- which is sweet but not great for germs. I'm trying to at least make her kiss the back of her head instead of her face... Also being very thankful it's a cold and not a stomach bug!
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
You really can't unless you have someone who can take one kid. DD2 got her first cold pretty early on, especially since she came in the winter.
honeydew / 7283 posts
@Foodnerd81: I'm always thinking "at least it's not a stomach bug!" (although my preschooler got a stomach bug last week and somehow the baby was spared!").
I think sickness is pretty much the plight of the second child (M started preschool last year so the baby has had WAY more illnesses than his big sister had in her first year). I hope you can avoid it until your DD2 is a bit older though!
pomegranate / 3768 posts
We try to keep toddler and baby apart as much as we can when DD is sick. DH even made her wear a face mask around the house so she's not coughing all over the place! 
squash / 13764 posts
Impossible. Dd caught her first cold at 2 weeks old 
with a fever I would be much more nervous tho...
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@hilsy85: yeah the cold I figured was inevitable. I hate the fever though! It's been low, usually 100-101, only hit 102 once.
nectarine / 2115 posts
Can you wear baby? That might at least keep her out of sister's range!
kiwi / 557 posts
A few days after Christmas my toddler woke up with a 102.4 degree temperature. I immediately called my mom to come take care of him (DH was at work) then the baby (6 weeks at the time) and I spent the next week in my room. I would come visit with the toddler then change my clothes and wash my hands before going back to the baby. It did no good since we all got it anyway but at least the baby got it the least severe and developed no fever. Good luck
nectarine / 2641 posts
DS1 had two stomach bugs in the first month of DS2's life. It was awful. I told DS1 he could only touch baby's clothes and even then tried to separate them as much as possible. Baby didn't get sick. Good luck!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
So hard. Ds2 was a summer baby and had his first cold at 3/4 weeks and has had several colds and bad congestion since! Thankfully no fevers yet.
We just try to tell ds1 who is three no kisses and lots of hand washing when he's under the weather
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Man to man defense. The good news is that at 5 weeks, lots of hand washing and not letting them touch helps
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
@Foodnerd81: it's hard! Big C got little C sick an awful lot her first year of life. It's inevitable, no matter how much I cleaned and lysoled!
Our rule was "you can only kiss the baby on her toes" and it worked, but didn't really prevent the passing of germs.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@mrsrain: I could physically separate them a little more, but the transition is already so hard on a 2.5 year old and she is starting to show signs of jealousy, so I really don't want to make it worse with me always holding the baby away from her, if that makes sense. She's jealous of my attention but loves her sister so much.
Of course if she gets a fever I'll regret it!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@Jess1483: 2 stomach bugs in a month is awful anytime, I can't even imagine that with a newborn! You poor things.
nectarine / 2115 posts
@Foodnerd81: that makes perfect sense! I'll be in your shoes soon enough, so I'll be watching to see what (if anything) ends up working for you! 
pineapple / 12566 posts
I kept them separate as much as possible and told the older one he couldn't touch/kiss the baby while he was sick, which he mostly obeyed. She still caught her first cold at 3 weeks though. 
honeydew / 7303 posts
I mean, I tried, but there's only so much you can do. I would always try to keep Ds out of reach. He has actually been much less sick than my Dd as an infant.
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