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12-23-2012 at 8:24 AM
Hav=Fath
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Hav=Fath is online. Last active: 05-21-2013, 4:19 AMSilver

If you had a newborn in flu season

How would you handle visitors? Our town is under siege from the flu... it's bad. Our hospital doesn't have any beds free, the doctors offices are closing at times because all the staff is so sick... blech. 

I have a good good friend who had a baby last week and didn't realize it had any issues before birth, but upon birth realized he does have a problem (rectum didn't form properly) and he had to stay in the hospital for almost a week. He'll be coming home for the holidays to return in 1-2 weeks for surgery. I don't think this friend realized how bad the flu has gotten here in the last week, so I text her to tell her how bad it was going around. She said she had no idea and said she wasn't sure what to do about visitors, what precautions she should take.

If you had a little one at Christmas (when company is high anyway) and you knew everyone under the sun wanted to come, what precautions would you take?  Obviously wash their hands really well, and I told her to question visitors before they come as to if anyone in their family had been sick/had fevers? Any other suggestions? Would you tell people not to come unless they're super close friends/family? 


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12-23-2012 at 8:34 AM
penguingrr...
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I'm so sorry for your friend. How stressful that must be! I'll be honest, I'm the first to take a kid out (mine were both out the day we got home from the hospital) but in that particular circumstance I'd have that baby in a bubble and not let anyone visit. I would go as far as keeping my older kids home from school until after the surgery with that virulent a flu going around (and I normally only keep home for fever and/or vomit with no exceptions). The last thing she needs is her newborn exposed to this flu before his surgery. And while I get the flu shot and my family gets the flu shot, I have little faith in it guessing the correct strain and in this case I wouldn't risk exposure in case it is a different strain than the flu shot guessed this year.

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12-23-2012 at 8:35 AM
JenS2203
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JenS2203 is not online. Last active: 05-20-2013, 10:10 PMBronze

For a baby that is just weeks old, I would probably talk to people before they came and tell them if they feel sick to please wait to visit. I don't worry about colds as much, but the flu could be really bad. Plus the little one doesn't need to get sick right before having surgery. I would think anyone who is sick would understand.

For people that do come visit, hand washing is a must.

My area doesn't seem to be affected right now, so it wouldn't have crossed my mind if I had a baby right now.


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12-23-2012 at 8:40 AM
ToBeMrsT
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I would be super cautious. I would make sure everyone has had their flu shot. I wouldn't let any kids around the baby unless they are part of the immediate family. I was pretty germ crazy when my kids were young.  Ds was born Jan 4th and we kept him home most of the time, but he was my first and I didn't have anywhere I had to go.  

 
12-23-2012 at 8:41 AM
id012
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Honestly I probably would just say no visiters. I know that sucks and I'm not over precautious in anyway but if the fuis ggoing around that bad I would have to say no. Tell her to Skype everyone with the baby lol.
 
12-23-2012 at 8:54 AM
CnAmom
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I would cancel on the family thing and do a small holiday at home. I'm sure that most of her family will understand given the circumstances, and if they don't understand they suck anyway. The thing here is that not only is she risking having a sick newborn, but if he does get sick they may have to reschedule his surgery. One holiday isn't worth having to prolong the probably already agonizing wait to get that done.

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12-23-2012 at 8:55 AM
Hav=Fath
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Hav=Fath is online. Last active: 05-21-2013, 4:19 AMSilver
Thanks everyone! I had Hadley out on day 2, but it was July, different ball game altogether. I didn't mention, the good friend i have that works at the hospital said over fifty percent of people had the flu shot, apparently it isn't covering this strain. Also, tamiflu doesn't seem to be working on this strain either.

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12-23-2012 at 10:00 AM
MesmrEwe
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Both of mine were born this time of year...  IMO, I would just say "if you aren't feeling 100% please don't come near the baby"...  Kids actually tend to be better than adults sometimes!

The dynamic your friend is dealing with though is a medical issue which is going to require a trip to the hospital for corrective work.  There's only so much cleaning/sanitizing that the hospital can do, but there is going to be exposure there to many people and they won't know if the kid before them in the hospital room was there for being sick with the flu or surgery..  Stick with "common sense".  Hand washing only goes so far when people are rubbing their nose with their wrist, touching their hand to their hair, biting nails, touching door knobs, using a "community" hand towel in the bathroom, etc.  In other words, there is very little that can be done. Switch out the bathroom towels with a roll of paper towels or individual disposable towels. Remember that hand sanitizer DOES NOT EVER replace PROPER HAND WASHING!


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12-23-2012 at 11:25 AM
KC_13
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I had two babies born in winter and didnt take any precautions. My son was at a Christmas Eve party at 4 days old and visited tons of family on christmas day. I excepted my family had enough common sense to know to wash their hands/not come around when they were sick. We had no issues with illness.

With that being said, both my kids were born healthy. Since your friend's child is going to need surgery in a few weeks I would just say no visitors (outside of immediate family) in that scenario to err on the side of caution.


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12-23-2012 at 2:45 PM
Usm123
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My preemie came home 3 weeks ago after 4 months in the NICU. We are requiring anyone who will be around him to get the flu shot. We are limiting visitors to healthy close family and sanitizing like crazy. Everyone else, see you in April or May!

Tell her to use the drs as an excuse. If anyone says anything because you are protecting your child, they don't need to be around.

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12-23-2012 at 3:56 PM
chickaboo1...
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Honestly, I got the flu shot in October (there is some benefits to the baby), my guys were preemies- born in early November, stayed in the NICU for 17 days- came home right before Thanksgiving.  We had NO visitors.  It was made plain that I needed to keep the boys healthy- no visitors until after Christmas, and then it was no children and nobody that has been sick or has a fever.  We oursleves did the whole hand washing thing.  You not ONLY have to worry about the flu, but also RSV with newborns.  I was more concerned about RSV- I did not want my guys to get it and have to be rehospitalized.

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12-23-2012 at 4:58 PM
QueSyrah
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In that situation, I'd keep him home and not allow visitors.  I wouldn't play around with my child's health so that people could ooh and aah over him.

I had a healthy full term newborn with no complications. So we just asked people to wash their hands before holding him and to stay at home if they felt they were sick. 


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12-23-2012 at 8:22 PM
ExpectantS...
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For a healthy baby, I wouldn't overly cautious and just ask those who are actively sick to stay away and have others wash hands as soon as they enter, but in her case I would keep the baby away from everyone except immediate family who are healthy until after the surgery unfortunately. 

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