# sick child on Halloween?



## karemore (Oct 7, 2008)

My 4 year old is sick. She starting coughing in the night and has a runny nose.

My mom was here on monday, called tues that she was sick, then yesterday went to the Dr and is being treated for the flu.

Chances are my daughter will have to stay home saturday both for her sake and for the sake of others she may expose.

At 4, Halloween is a HUGE deal. We have a party to go to in the afternoon, and then were planning to have dinner and trick or treat at my inlaws. I'm not even comfortable having her hand out candy if she has the flu.

How have you handled this in the past if your child had to miss halloween?

(I hope I'm worrying for nothing and she'll bounce back by saturday, but my mom is sick enough she needed a Dr. and she never gets sick. )

Karen


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## SweetPotato (Apr 29, 2006)

That totally stinks! My dd is about to turn 4 and has been waiting for Halloween since April-- it really is a big deal for little ones. Do you have a playgroup or similar gorup of friends and moms that you could invite over for a costume party after she's better? I know we always try to get as much mileage out of the costume as possible- and the kids love dressing up again and again. I would definitely skip the party on Halloween Day, but if she's been fever free for over 24 hours and isn't coughing and sneezing all over, I'd be tempted to take her out to a few houses that night- make sure someone else rings the doorbells for her, she doesn't reach her hand into the candy bowls, etc. and keep a bit of space from other kids. Or if you're friends with some neighbors, ask if they'd mind if she came around in another week when she's well-- we live on a cul-de-sac with 8 houses, and I bet that 5 or more of them would be happy to do this for dd, as long as I talked to them first (you could even take over some treats before hand for them to give out to her- just as long as you arrange a time when they'll be home)


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## Porcelain Interior (Feb 8, 2008)

Honestly (since you were all exposed to the flu) I think your entire family should stay home and NOT hand out candy.








It does stink, but you can always do a party with your own family.


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## Aquafina (Oct 2, 2006)

You can do what the "Gilmore Girls" would do dress up & go door to door in a week for candy down the street.

I could just see Lorali and Rory missing halloween & deciding they were going to do it when they wanted to.

They had a christmas episode like this they celebrated it a few weeks later.

Just my thoughts.I am a gilmore girls fan


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## Tigerchild (Dec 2, 2001)

We are in a similar situation, though my kids are older.

I came down with suspected H1N1 this past friday, and could not get out of bed until Monday. We'd tried to keep me as isolated as possible, but one of the kids kept sneaking into our bed. Tuesday morning, DS2 woke up with a raging fever. We tried to keep HIM isolated, but twin brother snuck up and cuddled with him as soon as he got home from school. So the next day DS1 (twin) was sick as well. Their fevers vaccillate sometimes wildly between 101 and 103, just like mine did. I believe DS2's fever broke last night, so far he has had no medication and is fever free. We THOUGHT we were doing a good job isolating DD, but guess who crawled into bed with her last night instead of coming into our room like he normally does? Yep, you guessed it, DS1. Still, she doesn't have a fever yet, she may have had it earlier this year. We shall see.

In any case, DS1 is definitely going to miss the very big deal Halloween party at his school. Perhaps DD as well. And pretty much if she gets sick tomorrow, that means ToTing is out. This thing seems to have a 2-3 day fever cycle (I have heard it taking longer for some people though). And it defnintely affects kids differently. When I had it I felt like someone had run over me with a steamroller and a jackhammer, three times each. Meanwhile, yesterday, my two hovering-around-102 boys were giggling and climbing furniture and dancing and wrestling and demanding snacks every 2 minutes. (they do seem to feel a little worse at night, typically).

It's easy to be tempted to take kids out when they are acting fine, but I think that a new virus is not something to screw around with, and you definitely wouldn't want to inadvertently expose a new baby, someone with a new baby at home, or a pregnant woman.







I discussed the idea that we can't go ToTing if someone is still feverish a few days ago, and we've been discussing options since. So far the favorite option is to still dress up and take pictures, make a special funny halloween cake, and then I will buy them each 2 candy bars of their choice at the store (the full sized kind). They are still really disappointed that they may not get to go door to door, which is their favorite part. But they also know stuff happens--we got hit by the gutbuster purge-at-both-ends stomach flu last year right before Christmas, and we agreed we'd rather have this than that.


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## ollyoxenfree (Jun 11, 2009)

Since you have some advanced warning and time to plan, is there a new Hallowe'en tradition you could try?

Maybe:
-baking some Hallowe'en themed cookies (cats, bats, ghosts) or a cake and letting her decorate them.
-a Hallowe'en hunt around the house for treats that you have hidden.
-do some Hallowe'en crafts - making ghosts out of cheesecloth, carving some small pumpkins or gourds,
-rent a couple of Hallowe'en DVDs and watch them with pumpkin-spiced popcorn

Hope she feels better quickly.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

I was always sick as a kid on Halloween. I always handed out candy and watched movies on tv with hot chocolate while all my friends were outside freezing. My mom always made sure to have lots of "extra" candy of stuff I liked so I wouldn't feel deprived of not going ToTing.

That said, I never had any thing communicable on Halloween, so that changes things for you. Could she get dressed up in her outfit and hang back while you hand out candy? That was always my favorite part, seeing what other people were dressed as.


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## bebebradford (Apr 4, 2008)

awww poor babe! I'm so sorry!
BUT you can have a great night anyways.. just keep her hydrated with tons of Oj! Raw garlic is great too!! You could crave pumpkins at home.. watch scary movies.. and let her run around in her costume all day! Hopefully she recovers by then! If not, just make the most of it mama!


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## gcgirl (Apr 3, 2007)

That is hard. I like the suggestions of some PPs that you start some new Halloween traditions like baking cookies, or watching movies with hot chocolate. You could also wait until everyone is better and trick or treat in the house, or set up a Halloween-themed treasure hunt so they can find candy.

I was seven when I got chicken pox, and I was sick over Fourth of July, which meant missing out on my next-door friend's birthday pool party as well. It was a crappy day, but that kind of stuff just happens sometimes. And Halloween will always come around again!


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tigerchild* 
It's easy to be tempted to take kids out when they are acting fine, but I think that a new virus is not something to screw around with, and you definitely wouldn't want to inadvertently expose a new baby, someone with a new baby at home, or a pregnant woman.

I completely agree. The kids and I all had what was likely the swine flu recently. Trying to take care of myself and two sick kids was just beyond awful. And according to the CDC, children are contagious for longer than you would think:

"People infected with seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu shed virus and may be able to infect others from 1 day before getting sick to 5 to 7 days after. This can be longer in some people, *especially children* and people with weakened immune systems and in people infected with the new H1N1 virus."

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm

I love *ollyoxenfree's* ideas, and I love the idea of rescheduling Halloween with some neighbors. I think my 4 year old would be all over that.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

Ds is sick. We have h1n1 (I had on the weekend & was swabbed because I have ashtma so we know for sure that is what we are dealing with). He's only a year so really no big deal as he doesn't know the difference but I'm definitely disappointed, I was looking forward to dressing him up & the works. Now we won't even be handing out candy & are being really strict about not going anywhere until this thing is completely finished in our house (what I've read seems to indicate that even if the fever is cleared if you have a cough you are still contagious).

I like the ideas of doing some home things, baking, crafts, scavenger hunt. That sounds like fun.


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## newbymom05 (Aug 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Porcelain Interior* 
Honestly (since you were all exposed to the flu) I think your entire family should stay home and NOT hand out candy.








It does stink, but you can always do a party with your own family.

I totally agree with this. This has me rethinking ToT for my well child--many people in our neighborhood have had swine flu or been exposed to it and I didn't even think about the risks of going door to door. I also have a 4 y/o--I don't even want to think about the fall out if I nix ToT.


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## naturalmom8 (Oct 30, 2009)

Just spend time at home. The child's health is most important, plus they won't get anyone else sick. You can still have fun at home!


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## naturalmom8 (Oct 30, 2009)

PLUS you can avoid the flu. It might be prudent even for "healthy" kids to skip Halloween this year.


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## SunshineJ (Mar 26, 2008)

Are you sure she has a virus and not something else? If you're not absolutely certain, I'd take her in tomorrow and see - if it's bacterial then she can be put on antibiotics (IF you're ok with that) for 24 hours before ToT and not be considered contagious. Just a thought - I know how important Halloween is for little ones. Otherwise, I like the idea of having a Halloween party with her friends maybe next weekend (and you can get all the stuff for it at 75% off!).


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I agree with everyone else. Do something else special this year.


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## Surfer Rosa (Jun 3, 2005)

We're in the exact same boat. E is 4 and will be missing a party and TorTing. (and this is the first year I made costumes, boo!)

We're going to make a "haunted house" in one of the rooms. We have a ton of costumes so we're going to go t-or-ting around the house, with DH and me taking turns being different people behind each door and handing out a little something to DD.

We'rer probably going to make a special dinner too! hope you find a way to make it work


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## NaturalMindedMomma (Feb 5, 2007)

well, if she is well enough to WANT to go out, then maybe do two streets with a plastic mask as her costume and use hnd sanitzer between houses.. Ask people to put the candy directly into her bag. I mean it's not like she is going to be touching the people and if she has in a mask it will keep the other people safe from airborn stuff. After 2 streets you can go home and play games or something?


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## karemore (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks everyone! She does have the H1N1, we went to the Dr last night. She's much worse today and certainly will be no shape to go anywhere tomorrow.

One of the dozen times we were up in the night I thought of hiding some goodies around the house like we do at Easter.

We also didn't get our pumpkins carved yet, so I will save them for tomorrow night.

Susie's BF called today and offered to get some extra candy for her and drop it off at the house which was very sweet from a 4 year old!

Thanks for the ideas, we'll do what we can to make it a fun and special night at home.

Hope everyone else has a safe and healthy Halloween!

Karen


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## Juvysen (Apr 25, 2007)

My 3 yo is home with a fever today







Her brother had it a couple days ago - it was a one-day thing for him. I'm hoping it is for her, too. I'm planning on carving our pumpkins tomorrow, though, and maybe we'll do some other special halloween thing (in our costumes, of course!) but DD's gonna be disappointed that she doesn't get to go around and get candy.


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