[threelittlegems]

DS1 was very ill for the first five years of his life as he had kidney failure, then a transplant and immune suppression regime. Fortunately over the last few years he seems to cope better, and although still immune suppressed, he seems to deal with viruses better now.

However, I cannot express to you how disheartening, how awful it is, to finally get your child out of hospital and into some type of normality, only to catch another bug at playgroup or wherever, and be back in hospital again.

So yes, when we went to the park, or anywhere, my heart would sink when I saw a snotty nose, or heard a cough.

A couple of examples made me really furious. During preschool, which DS1 missed a lot of, a parent phoned me in the morning to say she was taking her daughter to preschool with a head cold, just in case I wanted to keep DS1 home. Which I did.

Another time we were about to walk into the playcentre until I heard a mother on her phone out the front asking her partner to bring down the panadol because X had a fever again. We had just got out of hospital so we decided to turn around and go home, than risk it.

I understand we all have busy lives, and it's impossible to stop viruses anyway.

But if you know that someone in your group has impaired health, please think seriously about that before making a decision as to whether it is appropriate for your child to attend anything.

And OP, you have no idea where your child's illness came from. If you confront the mother, you are going to look like an idiot.

If I had of been in that situation, I would have removed my child from sitting next to the snotty child in the first place.

This post has been edited by threelittlegems: 01/04/2012, 03:02 PM

[FluffyOscar]

You know OP, I wouldn't think much of a parent whose child had been sick with a cold "for a couple of months" and hadn't seen a doctor about it. It would probably be some sinus infection needing antibiotics. Not that it would necessarily be contagious to your child, but imagine a child, or anyone, having a sinus infection for a couple of months when all it needed was a course of abs...

[Leeloomina]

If my DS was sick I wouldn't go anywhere near playgroup because I wouldn't want other kids to catch anything.

That's me. Other mums in the playgroup keep their sick children away too. I guess it's a non-issue as all the kids in the playgroup are over 1 yr old and no one mentioned anything about low-immunity of their kids.

As for PPs' suggestions that it could be allergy/hay fever, I am not so sure, besides the runny nose the kid had a chesty cough which was what prompted me asking the mother if her child was sick.

And OP, you have no idea where your child's illness came from. If you confront the mother, you are going to look like an idiot.

Oh no, I wasn't planning to say anything. But I do intend to stay away from the playgroup (and shopping centres etc) when new bub arrives, for a couple of months at least. I don't think I can handle sick DS with a newborn.

Unless your child is immunosuppressed or has some sort of immune disorder - why are you even concerned?

I am not concerned, I was just tired and frustrated and looking for someone to blame

[kissy10]

Hate to tell you this, hayfever/allergies can also cause coughing. I have been sneezing for 38 years, unless medicated with antihistamines.