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bubblegum1986
05-06-2016, 06:45 AM
Hiya.

New to this forum :)

Just after a bit of advice. Sorry if it seems like a silly question.

I've not long started childminding. Been doing it for about 2 months, watching a 1 year old and have 2 preschoolers of my own. My 2 kids now have chickenpox and my mindee was in contact with them the day before the spots appeared which means she'll probably get them too.

question is. Should I have an exclusion policy stopping her from coming to my setting until both my kids are no longer infectious? Although by then she will probably have them. If so, do I then have the exclusion policy in place again ? Even though my kids have already had it and are the ones that passed it on in the first place? I'm so confused! Again, sorry if it's a really obvious answer. I'm a total newbie to all of this.

Thanks in advance x

sarah707
05-06-2016, 06:59 AM
Welcome to the forum!!

Sorry to hear your children are ill I hope they feel better soon.

It's important to follow Health Protection guidance - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522337/Guidance_on_infection_control_in_schools.pdf.

You close until your children are scabbed over - and you exclude any children with cp until they are scabbed.

Hth :D

tulip0803
05-06-2016, 03:10 PM
Yes - as Sarah says - You must close your setting whilst your children are infectious. This means closing until all of the spots have crusted over. You must exclude any child with chicken pox even if the other children have had it as it can be caught more than once. I have a mindee who has had it twice in 2 years. If you don't close you are working against childcare regs that state you should protect children from infection and exclude those with infection. If the parent says it is ok, it isn't! - a parent cannot sign away their child's right to health and to be free of infection. You could be closed down for not protecting a child from infection, there is a difference between a child being infectious before we know and being infectious when we do know. It can be difficult to catch so your mindee may not get it, my daughter still hasn't had it despite it going round my setting, nursery and school, she is now 12!

I hope they recover quickly x and you are lucky that they have both got it together (although it may not feel it) my friend's 5 children got it one after the other, just as one crusted over the next got it, all through the holidays.

You can put bicarbonate of soda in the bath to help with itching & to help dry. there are some virasoothe medications for chicken pox that you can get from the chemist. Calamine cream I found better with my older 2 than calamine lotion as you could put it on the spots rather than having to plaster everywhere.

PLEASE DO NOT give them neurofen type medications under any circumstances while they have chicken pox as it reacts with the virus and can cause complications - calpol is fine x